ssankofa73

Peaches Congratson losing the 40 lbs pre-banding. That's signficant. 2 years ago I lost 40 lbs then I gained back 30 of those lbs before being banded. You made a smart move!

Peaches Is your ticket correct? Did u lose 60 lbs in a little over 2 months? WOW!

Only4me I already had an appointment for the middle of October scheduled. I wasn't told to come in every 6 weeks.

Like I was telling my sister yesterday, I know I feel a difference in me because I am eating a lot less than I would before the band but I don't know if I have that satisfied feeling. As I think back on how I used to eat, I probably thought that "satisfied" meant, I'm in a little pain after this meal and I finished all the food in the container or on the plate so I'd better quit eating. Now I'm just learning what satisfied means. For me right now it means, I know I could eat more but I really don't feel like it. If my fill hasn't kicked in by the end of next week then I'm going to schedule another 1. The Dr. said 2 weeks is when most people feel the effects of it. I don't think there is anyway I would be full on a 1/4 to 1/2 cup of food right now. Indio, did your doctor say that you should feel full on a 1/4 to 1/2 cup of mushy or solid food? Just now, I ate 1/2 cup of creamed spinach and 1/2 of small chicken meatballs. I think I might be satisfied because I know I could eat more but I'm not hungry. I'm not full because I don't feel like I'm busting. I'm too scared to push myself to having that feeling because I don't want to stretch my pouch or have band erosion. Is 1 cup of food too much food for 1 meal guys? Does it matter whether its mushy or solid food? Thanks in advance for the input everyone. Walking record 45 minutes around the local high school track.

Cazulay Congrats on losing 42 lbs!! That is a lot of weight gone in a short period of time. You are really working your tail off. Weight loss is tough with and without the band. My friend is starting the process to get the band and she was questioning me about it today. The band is truly just a tool. There is so much in terms of meal planning, exercise, support groups and getting used to the signs that your body is giving you that there is no way that this can be seen as a quick fix. Being successful on this program is a challenge that all of us are facing from meal to meal and day to day. Its comforting to see us doing well. Indio Thanks for the compliment....ur weight loss has been awesome too.

How much is everyone able to eat per meal? I'm able to eat 1 to 1 1/2 cups of food. I never get anything stuck, PB or slime (not that I'm lookinfg forward to it). I was told by my fill Dr. that if I eat for more than 20 minutes during a meal, I've eaten too much. That's a mistake that I'm trying to correct now. I saw the the 20 minute mealtime in someone's recent post, too. I just want to know if my new eating habits are normal or if I'm eating way too much....especially since I just got this fill yesterday. Walking record I walked with some of my sorority sisters around a high school track today for 45 minutes. We're planning on doing it again tomorrow morning.

Only4Me I think you're right. The Dr. kept saying that I was losing weight so I didn't need a fill but without the exercise and stopping myself from eating more than 1 and 1/2 cups of food I would have been in dire straits.

Indio I just got my fill at lunchtime today. That's why I need to stop complaining, lol. Only4me If you don't mind my asking...How much weight have you lost since getting the band? The Dr. who did my fill told me that I was losing weight without needing a fill and that's why he didn't want to give me one.

I'm missing the chewing already. I really need to stop complaining.

Only4me I saw a male doctor who said he was doing his laproscopy internship. He was a South Asian looking dude tall, skinny, darkskinned with curly hair. Dr. M something but I can't remember his name. Given the comparison in our history, I'm surprised I had to argue for my .5cc fill and they gave you a 1.5cc fill. Did you have to talk them into it at all?

Thanks Jackie. I ate twice since the fill today. Each time, I had 3/4 cup of thick soup. The 2nd meal included a 100 calorie fudge pop so that puts me up to a full cup of food. That meal was about 45 minutes ago and I'm hungry. Oh man, I need this to start kicking in pronto. I thought it already did earlier today but this hunger tells me differently. The Dr. said it could be 2 weeks before I feelthe difference.

Hi Suzy. You may want to join us over on the lucky sevens thread instead of starting your own new 1 if you want a lot of us to respond. In order to get your ticker, go to tickerfactory.com, set it up then go to quick links at the top of the lapbandtalk.com page. You will see a drop down menu and one of the choices is edit signature. Go back to the ticker that you have set up then copy and paste the 1st code for it into your signature. Hope its works.

Lindaa Thanks for the info. I think you're right. I didn't think about the fact that there coud be liquid in the tubing instead of in the band. Breadlady I'm big on self advocacy so all that you just wrote me were put into action during today's visit. It just was written down. The Dr. told me that he wanted to be conservative about this but I told him point blank, I don't need him to be conservative, I need him to be aggressive when it comes to my weight loss because this HAS TO WORK. Thanks for the encouragement, breadylady. Maybe 1 day I'll start journaling weight watchers style again in order to make my point clear to the doctor. This band is my tool and I'm putting in the work and I'll be dog gone if those who are getting paid to help me put in the work aren't going to hold up their end of the bargain.

Hey Ruby!! I just read your Gym post re:the 2 skinny mothers. I'm so proud of you girl! That post brought a tiny tear to my eye. We are just as good as skinny folks and we can do anything we set our minds to.

Hi Everybody!! This is probably gonna be a looooong post but please read it. I just got my 1st fill about 2 hours ago!!! WOO HOO!!! I'm so happy and excited about it but I had to convince the doctor to do it. He told me that I didn't need it because I was still losing weight at a good rate according to my chart. I had to explain to him that I had hit a plateau since 8/27/07 and that it finally broken with a weight loss of 2 lbs last week. I also had to tell him that I'm going off of almost sheer will power not to stuff myself. He explained that my exercise, what kinds of foods I'm eating, will power, etc. are just as important as the band. His further argument for not giving me a fill was that I have a 4cc band and that later down the line if the band is filled up too fast and I stop losing weight before I reach goal then there will be no where for us to go after that. We went back and forth for about 10 minutes and he finally gave in but he warned me that I should not expect a fill everytime I come in for an appointment. Hey....I got what I wanted so that's fine for now. He also said that with the rate I'm going at he expects that I will indeed reach my goal weight before my band is filled up. The fill was nothing in terms of pain. The fill doctor felt for my port about 10 times (I asked him if he needed me to raise my legs and he agreed so that he cou;d make sure he was hitting the right spot). He numbed the area with lidocaine (Sp?) and then took a huge needle and did the fill which I didn't feel at all in terms of pain. I did feel like something was changing on the inside of my body when the Dr. was unfilling and then re-filling the band but I can't describe the feeling. It was just a little weird but not bad at all. After I got the fill I asked him if I could drink some water. I took some small sips but didn't feel a difference. He said that the majority of his patients feel the difference in about 2 weeks. I do notice that I have a little pressure in my back right now (that's how I usually feel after I eat) so its kicking in guys. Interesting note... The doctor accessed my port and pulled out .5cc of blue dye and saline. He said that this is what was left in the band after Dr. Geiss, my surgeon, tested the band during surgery. He then put the original .5cc back in then put in an additional .5cc in as my 1st fill. I knew the surgeon had a left a little saline in the band during surgery but I just thought it was a trace amount...not .5cc worth of saline. So now, I have 1cc in my 4 cc band at this point. The fill doctor told me to only think of it as .5cc though. I'm not sure why. Wlaking record I walked everyday this week except yesterday. I'm going out for a 45 minute walk after I get off the computer.

I think we need to set up an exercise challange.

A couple of years ago a good friend and my sister talked me out of having Lapband surgery. I lost 40lbs shortly after they talked me out of it and guess what? I put 30 of those pounds back on 2 years later. I did my own extensive research did the counseling that went with it and decided that although they care for me, my sister and friend do not know my aches and pains or how it feels to have been overweight for almost my entire life. During your "meeting" with your daughter, let her know that you love her just as much, if not more, than she loves you. Let her know that you respect her opinion but this decision is not up for debate and you are looking forward to your new life after the band.... then end the conversation. Good Luck!

Hi everyone. Just checking in quickly. I made a really good mushy food today but I'm not sure how good on calories. It was salmon croquettes. I used a can of Bumblebee brand salmon that comes with a recipe on the back. The only change I made to the recipe was that I just added a capful more lemon juice, 1/2 oa cup od spinach instead of peppers and Old Bay Seasoning to the mixture. It tasted very good but it's pan fried which means extra fat/oil. It went down easy though. I CAN'T wait for my fill!! Walking record 30 minutes on the treadmill today with little effort. I was watching an episode of weeds which made time go by quickly.

Hi Everyone. I had a good exercise day so here goes..... Walking Record I did 30 minutes on the treadmill. A couple of hours after that I took a 5 minute walk to the grocery store. About 3 hours after the grocery store walk I was watching a public television special on an Afro-Cuban singer from back in the days named "La Lupe." The music in the show was so rhythmic that I walked to the beat for 30 minutes. I only broke a tiny sweat but hey, its better than nothing, lol. In terms of my food, well, thats another story. I had about 3.5 bottles of water today. I didn't follow "Ruby's Water Rules" like I wanted to. Breakfast and lunch were ok but dinner?....I messed that up big time. I made pork chops and "fake me out" creamed spinach (spinach blended with cottage cheese...its missing something that should have given it that "ooomph"...Any suggestions Lynette?). I had a whole pork chop, about 3/4 cup of the creamed spinach and 15 minutes later I followed that up with a fudgsicle. That was waaaay too much food for 1 sitting. I'm hoping the extra walking will counteract the extra food. I can't wait for my fill on Friday!!!! Only4me I understand your pain re: eating during times of stress and the black hole. I recently went through a break up with my ex only 3 weeks after surgery. It hurt so badly (and still hurts some)...worse than other break ups I've been thru before and I think it partly hurt so bad because I wasn't able to eat away some the pain. That could be part of the reason why I ate so much tonite. I hope u will be able to get past the pain you are feeling re: your son. Its hard when you can't rely on food as much as before for comfort but you will make it thru just like I will. Just like we all will.

Marcy Congrats on having a wonderful anniversary. I hope to 1 day find a guy who is as romantic and thoughtful as yours. Walking record 45 minutes today around the neighborhood. Good weather. I'm hoping that I lost some weight. I need to get the scale moving.

Hi Everyone My motivation for having the surgery and losing weight is that I have been overweight since childhood and I'm sick of it. I have been on diets since I was 12 or 13 years old so you could say I've been dieting for the majority of my life. I've always been able to lose some weight but then I'd put it on again plus more. Over the last few years I started having numbness in my toes, joint and back problems, shortness of breath during exercise not to mention low self esteem. I finally decided to have the surgery back in the beginning of the year. I'm glad I did it despite the struggles that go with it. A few months ago, my doctor told me that I'm pre-diabetic. I don't want to die a slow and painful death that includes losing my toes, going blind and having to stick myself constantly to check my blood sugar. I was scared that death was coming for me. i also want to look better and feel better. Earlier when I said that I was scared about my fill I think I wasn't clear. I'm scared that I'll gain weight before I get my fill. My weight loss has stalled since last weekend and I haven't lost the 2 lbs that I gained during my period. I was down to 245lbs and I went back up to 247lbs. I don't want my pain and hard work to be for nothing. Failure is NOT an option. Ruby Thanks for the heartfelt post. I feel the same way about our little online support group. Phyl I'm glad that they moved up your fill date. Walking record I finally went for a 40 minute walk today after 2 days of no working out. It felt good to get out there again. I want to fit my workouts into my workdays. I have to find the time to do it.

Phyllser I think u should have boycotted that restaurant. Why would you want to give them your money when they didn't want to accomodate you in your situation? You ended up putting money in the pockets of people who aren't compassionate about your medical needs. Walking record I didn't walk today. I had no time. I gotta get some control because now that I'm back at work, my life is no longer my own and I can't have that. I have a wake to go to tonite and after i get home, i need to do some step aerobics in front of the TV. Even if its 20 minutes it will be better than nothing. My weight has stalled out and I'm very scared I'm going to start to gain it back. My fill is at the end of next week and I'm nervous.

I haven't had a fill yet and I know that I need one.

Lynette Thanks so much, girl. Posting my "walking record" in a way helps to keep me accountable to others. Earlier in my bandster life, I read other people's posts about their excercise and it helped to motivate me to get moving. Some of the posts I read were from people who were way bigger than me or had lost a lot of weight (some even more than I want to lose) so it helped to give me the courage to get started. I'm hoping to do the same for other bandsters out there too. Plus, I'm hoping that others will post more of their exercise so that I can see what is "do-able" for big folks trying to lose weight. You guys would be surprised at how much motivation you all give me. There's a method to my madness, lol.

Only4Me I haven't planned on attending the support meeting. I have to work late. Hi Everyone! Today was tough. I went back to work after having the summer off and I was extra sleepy. Not to mention thefact that I checked my weight and I'm up 2 lbs......not fun at all. Granted I'm on my period but its near the end of it and I usually start losing the menstrual weight by this time in my cycle. I'm also finding that I'm hungrier than usual and I can eat a lot more too. My fill is at the end of next week. I need to call my doctor and see if they can move it up a bit. I DON'T want to gain my weight back. Phyllser That Mongolian place just lost some good business by not letting u eat the children's portions. When it comes to customer service she sucks and possibly lost regular customers. Oh Well....thats the way some poor folks like to handle their business...or lack there of. Walking record 25 minutes this morning before work and 35 minutes this evening after work. I'm trying to lose this extra 2 lbs I put on and I'm hoping that the increase in walking frequency will kick things in gear.