TulipStar

6 months and 65 lbs lost since the bodybugg...and what looks like a permanent bodybugg indention in my arm :thumbup:

There are a lot of banders doing WW on this thread. I think there was a thread about this a couple days ago. Just search by the term "weight watchers".

katiebug, I have heard of Trichotillomania and know someone who suffers from it, but I have not experienced it myself nor do I know someone who has it who is banded. I just started to really notice the hair loss at 6 months post-op. I think I took the survey originally at 4 months po and said I had no hair loss. Oh well...it's just hair and I did have quite a bit to begin with...

NO, you can't see mine at all or feel it. But my dr. did put a smaller port in when I had revision surgery in November 07. The fill dr always has a problem finding it unless he/she is very experienced.

A lot of people have their opinion about this. Personally, my Dad has GB 7 years ago and he almost died from complications. Then he quickly lost the weight, but he looked sickly and he always had horrible diarrhea (AKA dumping syndrome) and he would have to run to the bathroom during every meal. Then he started to eat "around" the surgery and has put back on over 100lbs of the weight that he lost. He stretched out his stomach. So he asked the dr to go back in and make it smaller again and the dr said no bc the stomach lining was too thin now. So, I guess my main reason for getting the LB instead of GB are: 1. less complications 2. Adjustability, if I find myself gaining I can add more fill or I can also remove fill if I get pregnant or want to go on vacation and eat. 3. reversability if I need to 4. slower weight loss is healthier

No regrets except I wish I would have done it sooner. I was also mistaken that I thought it would be so easy. It is really something that I have to work on.

I LOVE EAS Iron-Tek 100% whey protein in chocolate. It's a powder and when you mix it, it tastes like a chocolate milkshake. I usually mix it with water, and a couple ice cubes and put it in a magic bullet. yum

Sometimes they give you a little fill to start. My band holds 10cc and I didn't feel good restriction until about I was at 6cc fill.

Yes, fat cells just expand and shrink. The only way to remove is via plastic surgery. But if you remove the fat cells from a certain area and then you start to gain weight back, the weight will just make fat cells in other areas multiply. I remember an article with Jamie Lee Curtis who said she had some type of lipo and then when she gained weight she gained it in her back which gave her a fat back above her bra.

most don't feel real restriction until after the 3rd fill. I was still able to eat chicken until about my 4th fill. Now I either can't eat certain things or for example with chicken I have to make sure it is with some kind of sauce and eat teenytiny bites.

I've only lost 70lbs and I have loose skin. It pools around my thighs, my batwings...even starting under my chin where my 2nd chin used to be. But, you know I can always cover up with clothing and no one but me knows that I have the extra skin. If I was still 70lbs heavier, everyone would know I was fat. Skin happens :tongue_smilie: It is based on genetics, how many times it has been stretched, age, etc. I am young, but still have the excess skin. But I also lost over 100lbs before and then gained 60lbs back and now I have lost 70lbs. I also read in my lapband book that you should give yourself 2 years for your skin to suck up.

Wow! that is embarassin. I almost always have to run to the bathroom at a restaurant but have never not made it. My very first PB was at home after I attempted to eat some Lean Cuisine chicken. I thought I had to burp, so I tried but it was a PB and it went all over the floor! That was awful!

I had the same sensation before when I had a tummy tuck 4 years ago...they called it "zingers". I do experience them since the band as well.

Sit down and have a serious talk with your closest people who you need support from. That's what I did. I started with my husband (he was dead against it) and told him that I just needed his support..I asked him to come with me to a seminar and when he did he learned that it could really change my life -- OUR life. He then thought is seemed safe and like a good option for me.

Bag 'em and get rid of 'em!! I always second guess myself and leave something in my closet then the next time I try it on...it's wayyy too big!

an Irish setter or 2 cinder blocks and an ostrich egg!

I fly a lot too. Most of the time it doesn't affect me and most of my flights are long long flights to Europe or Asia.

Congratulations....perfect timing!

It moves really slow. think of micro-particles breaking off and falling into the lower stomach..that's why the quick feeling of full and "stuck" if we eat too much too quickly.

WOW, what a great start!! Congratulations!

I didn't have to do anything the night before surgery...just no liquids or anything to eat after midnight. The morning of surgery I woke up and went and got a mani/pedi to relax before going to the hospital.

Go with the one you like best. Otherwise, which one has done more lapbands?? The lap-band hasn't been around for that long...less than 10 years in the U.S.

Don't you mean meals (plural), lol. I focused on things that I thought I wouldn't be able to eat again, like steak, ribs, sandwiches, pizza, chicken...you name it, I had it.

It depends on your Dr's instructions. Each has a different routine. My Dr had me on solids at 2 weeks post op and told me to "try" to eat anything I could. At that point, because it was before my 1st fill, I could eat whatever I wanted. However now, after my 6th fill I can't eat steak anymore.

WOWZA!!!!!! You are doing awesome. Congrats...what a great birthday present!