vinesqueen

well, I'm down 30 pounds and I'm hardly a success story by any measure.

oh Leah, I'm feeling your pain. We don't Know what you've done so far 'so why don't you fill us in? I have no doubt that you've done every thingpossible, but it is important to Journal everything so you can take it to your doctor. If your Journal shows how diligent you have been then there is less wiggle room for you docs. They like to blame everything on weight, and if you can prove you're done everything possible, they have to look at other causes" . I have spent the better part of the last year in mental anguish because I wasn't/ couldn't loose weight. I started pushing for answers, pushing and pushing and I might have an answer. I've been diagnosed with Cushing's withwhich is a metabolic disorder. Don't let your doctors push this back on you

I had some what of a flash of insight tonight. It was sparked by a thread called Magic Pill.... http://lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=14566 It occurs to me that in fact, the band is taking the easy way to weight loss. I mean, I can't even begin to count the number of people who've lost 50, 75, 100, 150, even 200 pounds with the band. For the first time ever for so many people, they have success. Not only have they lost the weight, but they have kept it off. They have success. For many, it is the first time they have kept the weight off. So, what's so wrong about taking the easy way? Why does it make it better if it's a struggle than if it is easy to lose weight. Is the weight loss less valuable, less worthy of celibration than if every ounce is a struggle like mine? Why do we get so defensive about this? Why must we holler and shout whenever someone says WLS is taking the easy way? Is it because it is less noble than folks who do this withought the extra tools and support that WLS provide? How many people do we have that have lost weight with the band, but never could seem to lose without it? I know tha6t we have many people that have lost and gained weight over and over without the tool. Has it been harder for people to lose weight with the band, than without? It is my understanding that it is easier for most folks to lose with than without. Our friends who've had the RNY or some other GB lose even faster than we do. Doesn't that make it at some level easier? Do we feel on some level that it isn't "honest" weightloss, or do we perceive that the the general attitude of the public? I mean, after all, we all see the magazines in the check-out isle that So-and-So lost 100 pounds WITHOUT drugs or WLS. I would like to explore these with you. Why do we get so defensive about our WLS? Why do we get so defensive about not taking "the easy way" out? Of course, what the hell do I know. I can't even manage to lose a full 30 pounds.

5'5", 235 pounds, size 20 jeans without the Dunlop look, tops 22/24, bra 42DDD Excellent idea Jill!

I voted that I take supliments, becuase I take multi-vitamines, and feel that they are important for my health. That, and they are highly recommended by my clinic. Just because I don't lose weight doesn't mean that they aren't helping in otherways.

Welcome Anu! Nope, no problem with Lurkers for me either. I just sometimes forget that there are lurkers until I'm pleasantly surprised by a PM or a new thread like this.

Ah, of course it was, but were you losing weight eating the way you were?

I guess I needed to frame this possibly differently. After the incisions have healed, after we've hit that famed sweet-spot with our fills, isn't it easy relative to what we've tried before? Has it really been that much of a struggle for most of us to lose weight after we've lost interest in food? Has it been that hard to lose weight for poeple once they are at their sweet spot? Has it been any where as hard to lose weight as all out many previous attempts to lose? I cannot speak from experince. I have only lost 25-30 pound in a year. That's all I'm going to lose until I get this Cushing's thing figured out and resolved. But I see everyone one else, with the exception of my beloved Turtles, just drop the weight like thier fat is being rendered. How many people on our board have lost 100 pounds in a year? How many have lost 75 pounds? How many lost 50? Was it a big struggle to lose? Or did it just seem that the fat melted away? That is exactly what I think TVgrrl, that there is a lot of guilt associated with weightloss, espcially since fat folks are often made to feel like they are less worthy because they are fat.

I use a CPAP and mine is abolutly silent. You cannot hear it at all, when I'm wearing it. My DH has asked me more than once if I was going to put it on, only to discover that I was already wearing it. As usual, Capt'n Jack is right on the money, get that test done.

Woot! that's wonderful! I remember the first time I was able to run for the bus, a full block, without even thinking about it, I just ran for it. Woot! way to go! and keep up the good work.

My husband is the one that suggested that I get the band.

Laura! Dahlink! Excellent NSV! just wonderful! Okay, you've lost more than I have in your 4 months than I have in my almost year. You are on track to lose more than 70 pounds in a year. Hardly a slow looser.

You are too tight, and you need to get another slight unfill. For some people the difference of even .1cc can make all the difference! I sure feel bad for you, because I spent a month too tight and was MISERABLE and for me, 2cc = too tight. Congrats on your band, welcome to LBT and watch out, people are going to want pictures of that baby...

Man, doctors are so different in their protocols! Okay, we almost never have fills under the flouro, our fill nurses are that good. I can't speak for most people, but the sting from the needle is hardly even noticable. We are told to "take it easy" for the rest of the day after our fills, we don't have to do days of liquids or mushies. And I would suggest eating something an hour or so before you fill.

excellent work maintaining your loss! You say you've been eating all sorts of crap, and yet you haven't gained it all back! Well done! Can't give any advice about the pain, an I'm the elected Turtle Spokes Model, so I can't offere any advice about the plateau, other than stopping the junk Welcome back!

Okay, I was worried to at the title. Don't do that to me!

Excellent Sho! Excellent! Of course, I'm fully expecting you to be within the 25-35% body fat that women SHOULD be at, and that you are actually within tollerance, and TO HELL with the BMI Chart. I don't care what it says, it's a scale and scales lie.

scales lie, lie, lie, lie. They lie like a dog. They only give one things: numbers. And no context for those numbers. There is no account how much of those numbers represent bones, muscle, blood & fluids, and fat. To get a much more true picture of your body composition you need to have your body composition done. Usually done to check your fat free mass, your FFM. Get it done, you will be so much happier knowing the true picture. Did I mention that scales lie?

For me it obviously has nothing to do with being Catholic. Never was, never will be, 'cause it doesn't work for me. Lent for me is sort of mixed. On the one hand it is about thanksgiving, and appricatiating all that I have. I do this by giving up a favorite vice to show my apprication for all that I do have. And i think a little volentary deprivation is good for the soul, it builds strength and resilliance. It also builds willpower and character.

That's my problem, I'm not finishing everything or anything for that matter

welcome to the Banded Gentry!

Oh you poor thing! I'm so sorry you had to go through this. I'm so glad you did what Capt'n Jack suggested, it is exactly what I would have told you to do. Here's hoping you get your answers you need, and next time, DO NOT WAIT. Be assertive in what you need. This is your health, and you have my permission to be as assertive as you need to be. (well, it isn't like you actually need my permission.) (((((hugs)))))

Oh, now I'm laughing, my sister used to work with a woman who would use words she didn't understand... Her mother was very sick... she had a genital heart failure. My sister couldn't help but burst out laughing. This same woman wanted to know if someone was going to drive to Hawaii from Washington. I have a friend from New Mexico, and I thought he was pulling my leg about people telling him he was from a foreign country... when he tried to get tickets for the Atlanta Olympics, they kept telling him that he needed to use the international line for either Mexico.

Welcome to the Banded Gentry!

I don't have a niche either, so I carved one out and made it my own. I don't believe that the newbies are being specifically or even generally ignored. I think anytime you join a new group there is an adjustment period, time where you figure out what exactly is going on. We have our own way of talking and doing things, and that is part of creating a culture. I'm not saying that it isn't frustrating for any newcomer anywhere, I'm fully aware that it is. Another thing that gets my nose out of shape are TV shows that have snotty kids, or snotty parents. Kids see that behaivour and think that is how things are supposed to be, so they emulate the snotty behaivour. Civility is the glue that holds a polite society together.