Jenn

Find 0 or low cal snacks. Try weight watchers 0 points snacks. Sugar free popsicles or fudgesicles. Good luck and KUP.

I have been trying to reach 50 pounds lost for about a month now, I've been bouncing between 235-238ish. As a reminder, I started at 283 and had surgery Feb. 7, 2011. I have a follow-up with Dr. Billy on July 6 and really wanted to be down 50 pounds especially since his scale always weighs me a few pounds more than my bathroom scale I got on the scale this morning and weighed in at 232! So it took me about 1 month to lose 5 pounds. I have been on summer break and reduced my exercise from 4 days a week to about 2. Since I've been home I have also been eating out more. Normally, at work, I only have 35 minutes for lunch so I bring left overs or my own homemade lunch. Eating out has definitely contributed to the fact that I haven't lost much. This past week or two I increased my exercise again and started doing my Zumba DVD at home. I also started walking at the beach about 3 times per week. During the summer it's a lot harder to walk at the beach because of the number of people there (and lack of parking) so I am planning on going back to the gym this week. I need to go to the gym anyway because I really want to have brachioplasty (arm reduction surgery) when I get closer to goal so I need to work on building up my arm strength and muscles. I really need to work on my core strength too since this is typically a weak area for me. I am hoping Dr. Billy's scale is friendly to me and shows a 50 pound loss as well. Tomorrow I'm going to start focusing again on increasing my protein, working out more frequently and drinking lots of water - the basics!! Here is an example of a typical meal for me at (almost) 5 months out: Breakfast - homemade breakfast sandwich: 1/2 bagel with 1 scrambled egg and 1 or 2 pieces of bacon with 1/2 slice of lf american cheese (I usually only eat about 1/2-3/4 of this) snack - the rest of my breakfast, water Lunch - 1 chicken soft taco with shredded lettuce, cheese, salsa. About 3 tsps. of beans, water snack - none or if I'm hungry I try to eat some fruit (2 or 3 strawberries or 4-5 grapes) Dinner - 1/4-1/2 of a BBQ chicken sandwich with only the bottom bread, 3-4 bites of broccoli Snack - 1 snack size snickers or 1,000 grand bar (this usually takes me 15 minutes to eat as I put them in the refrigerator) I haven't been tracking my calories lately but I'd say I'm around 1,200-1,400 on a typical day. I usually walk for about 1 hour and burn around 300-400 calories (when I exercise). I just reviewed some of the results from the past plication studies and have been using these to help me set my goals. My goal for 3 months out was to lose about 30% of the weight I needed to lose, which translates to 30 pounds as I want to lose about 100 pounds total. For 5 months out I wanted to lose about 40% or 40 pounds - so I'm doing better than that!! I've already lost 50% of the weight I need to lose. For 6 months I'd really like to be closer to 55 or 60 pounds lost. My goal weight is about 175-180ish which puts me at about a size 12/14. Overall, I'm very happy with my results and hope to continue to lose throughout this next 7 months. I will be ecstatic if I am close to or at goal by my 1 year anniversary. To put this in perspective, when I was originally banded in December, 2001 I weighed 289 and had lost down to 237 by November, 2002 (almost 1 year out). It took until March, 2003 (15 months out) to lose down to 230 (down 59 lbs) and until July, 2003 (19 months out) to lose down to 223 (down 69 lbs) . At my 2 year anniversary in Dec, 2003 I weighed 188, losing 101 pounds. Even though we might be losing slowly, at least we are losing and I really do believe it is much better for our bodies to lose slowly. Take care,

Congratulations on your decision. I hope you have a successful journey. KUP.

I am a banded plication and have been SO happy with my results so far. I had a lap band placed in 2001, lost about 110 pounds but it took me about 3 and a half years. I had two successful pregnancies with the band but after our daughter was born I had a slipped band. After many, many fills and unfills I opted for the plication with the band. My band is completely empty and I plan on never filling it. You can read more about my journey on my blog in my signature. Ps my procedure was covered by my insurance.

Hope everything went well. KUP.

Great! Good luck with your surgery. K.U.P.

I am a revision banded plication patient, however I plan on never ever get my band filled. I was originally banded in 2001 and did fairly well with it until my band slipped. I was considering the sleeve as well but could not get over the idea of 80 percent of my stomach being thrown away. My procedure was also covered by insurance.

Dr. Helmuth Billy, Ventura, CA performed my banded plication. Very happy with my results so far. I need to update my ticker as I'm down to 216.5 from 283 in about 9 months.

I always have a funky pain on my left side but it's because that is where my port is located from my band. Not sure what you are experiencing but KUP.

This is taken from my blog... I'm attaching a picture of the amount of food I can typically eat at 8 months out from surgery. I eat at restaurants very frequently for business and socially so I thought this might be helpful for some of you that have recently had surgery or are considering plication. I ordered a BBQ chicken sandwich, baked potato and the restaurant serves biscuits. I ate 2 bites of the biscuit before my meal came, about 3-4 bites of the potato and about 3/4 of 1/2 the sandwich. I normally don't eat the bread on top of the sandwich, but I hadn't eaten breakfast and was pretty hungry! I also had 2 bites of banana pudding and 1 vanilla wafer cookie. I was very full and now I have dinner for tonight! Take care,

I agree with a lot of what you said as well. However, after losing 110 pounds and regaining most of it with a band I definitely favor the slower, more natural way. I am really trying to be more accountable to myself this time around with exercise and diet. Hopefully this will get and keep me at goal!

Spice, good luck to you on your journey. I also have a lapband with plication, however, I am a revision patient. I was originally a banded in 2001. You can read more about it on the blog in my signature if you want more information. I have lost about 65 pounds so far and would like to lose about another 40 more. My band is completely empty and I plan on leaving it that way. Take care and please let us know how it goes.

Too bad they couldn't have taken it out when you had the plication Take care

I had my first consult with Doctor Calvert in Newport Bch. I am interested in brachioplasty, tummy tuck, maybe a breast lift and perhaps, something done with the extra skin on my neck. I want my arms done first so we r researching arms with breaat lift. I am hoping some, if not all, will be paid for by my insurance. The surgeries will be scheduled appriximately 6 months apart. First arms and bl in December (hopefully) then tummy tuck in June. I want to lose at least another 30 pounds before the tummy tuck so hopefully I can get down to my goal weight by my 1 year anniversary in Feb. 2012. I will keep everyone posted when I find out about my insurance. The dr's office said it should take about 6 weeks to hear back. Fingers crossed!!

Hi MsMook I am a revision from lap band to plication with lap band. The reason I chose plication with lap band was due to insurance, they paid for my procedure. I started at 283 and am currently at 219. I have a blog in my signature, please feel free to browse through it if you have any more questions. I am extremely happy with the plication and hope to reach my goal in about 1 year. Good luck to you in whichever procedure you decide.

Hot Mama!! ))

Good points grandma!

Woo hoo!! That's awesome! Congrats!

Before my lap band and plication surgery I had a gallbladder test. The results came back fine so I did not need to have it removed. However my doctor said that if I ever need it out, he would also go in and check the sutures from the plication and stitch it if needed to make my stomach tighter.

Chow, A lot of that information is new to me as well. I will discuss this with my doctor when I see him in October. The increase in stomach volume doesn't surprise me as I think this is pretty common for most WLS. Even if the stomach increases to 250 ccs that only equals about 1 cup. An average unaltered stomach holds about 7-8 CUPS of food!! And Im sure I ate that much before surgery!! I'll post any info. that I get from my doctor.

Well the title says it all. I finally am into the teens. 219 as of this morning. I have it exercise much this week and has not been really tracking my food and then I get on the scale this morning and bam 219. I actually got off the scale and got back on like 3 times just to make sure. As usual, I'm on my phone so I can't update my ticker but Im doing a happy dance

My 7 month surgiversary is coming up on Sept. 7 but I wanted to give a quick update on my progress so far. I was stalled for a few weeks but have started losing again. Because I started back to work (I'm a teacher so I have 8 weeks off in the summer), my workouts have decreased but for some reason, I am losing weight!! I think it's because I'm back into my "work" routine. During summer break I tend to eat out more often with friends but during work there isn't enough time to eat out so I have been bringing left-overs, making my own lunch or eating a Lean Cuisine. I am down 59 pounds - yup, 1 pound away from 60. I am a little behind where I set my goal but I am ecstatic with my progress!!!! I do still workout 3-4 times per week, usually walking for 1 hour a couple times and then I do a Zumba class for 1 hour a couple times per week also. I will do a 7 month update on Sept. 7 and hopefully I'll be at -60! Take care, Jenn

I agree with a lot of what has already been said about the plication. It is a slower form of w l s than others however it is important to remember that no matter what kind of surgery we have we must use our tool to the best of our ability. I was banded in 2001 and I did eventually lose 110 pounds however it took me 3 years. At the rate Im losing with plication I will lose roughly the same amount of weight in about half the time. I am very happy with my results however I do my part also. I work out at least 4 times per week and try to eat "right" the majority of the time. I had w l s to live a normal life not to take tons of vitamins every single day or watch every single thing I put in my mouth. So far for me plication has meant a more normal life.

As of this morning I am down 60 pounds!! Woo hoo! Started at 283 and am now at 223. I'm updating on my phone so I can't change my ticker but I will do when I get home. I am very happy with my results so far. I am a little behind on my goals but I am okay with it though because I am pretty much eating normally just a lot less and working out about 4 times per week. Most of the people in my life do not know about my WLS. I am hoping to lose another 40 or so pounds and would for sure like to be under 200 by my 1 year anniversary. Take care,

Lena tee hee! Yes the fifth graders keep me on my toes!