live2canoe

First of all congratulations on the weight loss you did achieve - that is no small matter. It has to be very discouraging to have gained a good portion of it back. I never lose did the you were able to, and I gained some of mine back too. Do you still feel restriction? If not, maybe all you need is a simple fill. If you do feel restriction, but have gained the weight back due to eating 'band friendly' but high fat, high sugar foods, maybe a plan like Weight Watchers would help you get back on track. All I know is that you've already made huge strides - please don't beat yourself up.

Welcome to the "Slow Loser" thread on LBT. A few orders of business to begin. First, we need to elect a leader. Someone who will voice our opinion clearly and with wisdom and humor. Our Leader will support us in our efforts and remind us of our NSV's and to not be discouraged. I nominate - Vinesqueen. I can think of no on here on the board more eloquent and positive in her day to day outlook. (she has no idea about this, by the way - this is my own little invention - but I still think she should be our leader) Second - we need to define "slow loser". I would propose that a slow loser is someone who is losing (or lost) less than 1 pound per week (average) during the first year of banding. Third - Our Mission. Our Mission will be to stick together as a group. There is always strength in numbers. As we see newly banded people losing more in a month or six weeks than we have lost in 6 months to a year, we will join together and remind each other of how well we're doing. We'll chant the LBTSL ( that LapBand Talk Slow Loser) mantra of "It's not a race, it's not a race" over and over again. Will you join me? Will you, a slow loser, a turtle in the weight loss race, make your voice heard amongst all these rabbits? Mostly will you let me know that I am not alone out here in bandland? Looking forward to hearing from all of you.

Please write back soon and let us know what the Neuro Guru had to say. We're all pulling for you!

Oh My Word!!! I have no idea how you did that! That is SO AWESOME! Good for you. Being proud of yourself is ever so much more satisfying than a Turtle Sundae.

That's great!!! She is very lucky to have such an informed and supportive mom. Please continue to let us know how she's doing. Good Luck

Hey Penni - I don't know how you did it with 4 kids. It's just me and my son since he was a baby. It was hard when he was young, but he'll graduate next year, and I'll only be 43! Let the good times roll, baby!!!

My fills are done by a physician's assistant (PA). She NEVER misses!

AS you can see from my screen name, I do a lot of river trips. This bad boy carries two very large canoes and all the gear I need for a long weekend. It's also a great shuttle vehicle. At the beginning of a river trip, after we unload all of our stuff at the 'put-in', or where we begin, everyone drives their car to the 'take-out', where we are going to end up after 3 days of paddling down the river. Everyone leaves their car at the take out, and we all pile into one 'shuttle' vehicle, for the ride back up to where we left all our stuff - hence the need for the quad cab! And yeah, Baby - it's got a Hemi!

Too cool!! My son is going to be a Senior this year. I can hardly believe it. We just had his Senior pictures taken. If I could figure out how to get them downloaded off the DVD they gave me, I could post some here. Congratulations, Penni!! You have every reason to be proud!

Hi Sarah - I'm just a couple of months away from my two year mark. The most I've lost is 40 pounds, so you're ahead of me! And truth be told, I've put back on at least 5 of those pounds. I've steered clear of the scale for quite a while now, since it serves no purpose except to depress me. I'm not doing the things I really need to do to lose weight. My band keeps me from totally going backwards, but she and I are definitely at a standstill. Congratulations on your upcoming wedding! Concentrate on that, instead of the silly scale. It's much more fun and has more meaning, anyway. Good Luck!

Welcome to LBT. There are many bandsters on this board who hail from the Great State of Texas. AS far as the hints for before and after surgery, all I can say is read read read. Do a search on LBT and many many threads will pop up, all with great information on them. Avail yourself to the resources here. If you have a specific question, go to one of the different sections on the board (general discussion, support, etc.) and post a question there.

Well - like I said, we still don't know if you're close to goal weight or not. But, to answer your second question - they leave the lapband in when they do a tummy tuck.

Then you should qualify for lapband surgery.

I still love sushi, but - Beware the seaweed wrapper. One of the worst pb's ever!

Co-morbidities are conditions that are weight related that put your health at risk. Some common weight related co-morbidities are diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease. Back and joint problems are considered co-morbidities,too. Most doctors will not perform lap band surgery if your bmi is below 40. There is an exception if your bmi is above 35 and you have two or more co-morbidities.

Good for you. We have several bandsters from Down Under here on LBT. Welcome and congratulations on your new life.

First - welcome to LBT. We're happy you're posting. Second - congrats on your weight loss. 100 pounds is aweso,e Are you close to your goal. Weight loss always slows down as you get closer to your goal. Give us some more information and we'll be happy to answer your questions.

Can you tell us what your BMI is? Also, do you have any co-mordities? That would make a difference.

I drink with my band - but I find that things change along the journey- like right now wine is giving me nasty heartburn, so I avoid it. Early on, I couldn't drink beer, the carbonation just made it too uncomfortable, but now beer, when consumed slowly, is just fine. Listen to your body and your band. If it hurts - don't do it!

Ahh Vines - I am truly hopeful that by the time Pitunia decides to turn back on, it will be too late! She will already have been removed to a jar filled with formaldehyde and be sitting on your desk where you can jeer at her whenver you want. Please keep us all posted!

Look at your teeny, tiny little waist!!! That's awesome.

Hello My Fellow Turtles!! Haven't written in a while - haven't even really been lurking much - but I wanted to check in and say that I am still the mother of all turtles (although I realize that Vines remains our Queen!) and having a wonderful summer. I'm at an OK place emotionally with my weight loss (or lack thereof) and turtle-dom. Thanks so much for keeping this thread going. You aremuch better bandsters than I could ever hope to be! Hugs and Kisses all around.

Melanie - The machine that looks like a big rotating escalator is a very demanding machine. I call it the gauntlet of death. I can do an hour, at a very good pace, on the elliptical machine, no problem. I can barely squeak out 10 minutes on the gauntlet, at the very lowest setting. Oh sure - it looks easy, but believe me the thing is a KILLER!

Crystal - That is one awesome, terrific NSV!! I would love to see you when you've got your groove on like that - workin' the room and making the men squirm!!! You GO GIRL. Congratulations on showing them all how it's supposed to be done!

I have had this problem for a few months now and found a simple solution that works for me. First, I don't eat after 7:00PM. That seems to be the worst culprit for me. Second - I drink a big mug of herbal (usually peppermint or chamomile) tea before bed. When I follow these two suggestions, I usually sleep right through the night. The other thing I've noticed is that my symptoms seem to crop up when I've been sleeping on my stomach. Not too sure how to prevent that one, though.