TulipStar

1. all dr's give diff instructions for pre-op, even in the U.S. I know a lot who can only have liquids for 2 weeks prior. My pre-op diet was more lenient and I was allowed to have oatmeal for breakfast, Protein shake for lunch and a salad for dinner. 2. Not everyone feels hungry afterwards...everyone is different. I can tell you that I felt very hungry afterwards. There is a time between when u get the band and before you start to feel some restriction. It took me about 3 fills before I felt really good restriction and could only eat a little at a time. 3. You can still eat most food, just a little bit of it. You will have to change your habits by eating small bites and slowly (60 seconds b/t bites). The same goes for restaurants, order a smaller portion like an appetizer...but now that I think about it, UK portions are smaller than U.S. so you will have a "just right" amount, but may still have some leftover.

:hurray: Well put Suzanne!

I thought it was pretty good and informative about the positive aspects of the band. I did notice that the only one that Oprah said "great job, you are inspiration" is to the girl who did it without wls. It was obvious that they thought it was the "easy way out". I must admit I thought it would be easy, but it is so so so so hard. Some kids have tried behavior modification and it doesn't work. I was on a liquid diet at age 9 (ironically, the same one as Oprah - optifast) and then what happened? I gained the weight back and was over 200lbs at age 10. For children who have been dealing with obesity, it might not be too young at 13. I WISH these options were available to me at 13, bc then I wouldn't have had to go through being obese through my teens and 20's. (although I was obese as a child, I don't agree with children having wls) If I could have been "normal" through school, I feel that would have made a huge difference for me.

the band is a tool. It is not instant willpower. If you are having issues like this, you will have them with whatever you try. My Dad had gastric bypass 6 years ago, lost 200lbs, gained 100lb back. He gained bc he "cheats" and continues to eat bad food...although it might be small amounts over the course of the entire day. You can do the same with the band. What has been so good for me with the band is that it keeps me in "check". I can still pretty much eat whatever I want, just smaller portions and when I feel like bingeing, I can't. Now, there are a lot of sweet/"bad" foods that you can binge on with the band. It's your decision not to. I recommend addressing the real issue of WHY you are eating in all these situations. Why are you using food to try to comfort you? This is the most important IMO or else you are likely to either "eat around" the band or have addiction transfer to something else. I have had to do this, bc I am a stress/emotion eater as well. I started some counseling to address my issues and I actually think it's working. A good book I recommend is "Life is hard, Food is Easy" by Linda Spangle. It helps you identify emotional eating causes and ways to stop it. Good luck!

I met with some of the cast from season 4 yesterday and they agreed that the ad placement was awkward and cheesy! We were all making fun of it, "you know what I do when I get a hungry? I chew a piece of wrigley's gum" and "you want to know a quick way to make oatmeal? Try....." It was really funny.

I do still eat out, I just sometimes have to make better choices (like no bread). I do have a drink every now and then... Also, sometimes I just eat some off of my hubby's plate. A couple bites of chicken and I'm done.

I have a bodybugg which they use on the show and APEX (maker of the band) said that the Biggest Loser contestants work out an average of 3 hours a day. Which they would know bc you have to upload your bodybugg everyday. The show might get more interesting now since they are playing as singles. I have always been a big fan and even went to the NBC/MSN biggest loser tour for the million pound match up. It was fantastic to meet players from season 4!

I initally dropped 20 lbs after surgery, but then it was as struggle. I didn't start back on the downward trend until after I had my 2nd fill.

Ahh, I miss the good old days of being able to burn 1000 calories in an hour workout. My body has become more efficient with weight loss and it's getting harder and harder to meet my target burn. I also use a heart rate monitor and I used to hit 85% max heart rate easily. Now I'm lucky if I hit 60% some days.

I think it is so AWFUL of apex to post all those pictures of brownies and iced snack bars on their site. I have to look at them every time I log in and it makes me so mad I REFUSE to buy anything else from them!

I am supposed to be 2 days liquids and then 2 days mushies. I always try to eat something i am not supposed to. I don't know why, just in my nature to try to "push it" and see if it's really working. Tried to eat some chicken on 2 days post fill and it came right back up. That's how I know the fill is working

that's weird. Also, since my AF is so irregular that might never work for me, especially if I have it for 2-3 weeks at a time! Anyway. I have had 2 out of 4 fills while on AF and had no problems.

I was told to get my first fill at 4 weeks, but bc of scheduling got it at 5.

First, don't work sitting on the sofa. It's hard on your back and lacks support. Back exercises depend on "where" on your back its hurting. Also, I would recommending seeing a chiropractor, if you can. They work wonders! I had some bad back problems about 8 years ago and the regular dr's just said "lose weight". The chiropractor was able to help tremendously.

WOW Zippy! What a story! I was just thinking about how what DR's say have an impact on us and usually they don't think before speaking (some of them)! When I was diagnosed with PCOS 10 years ago, the dr told me that I would never have children. I was devastated! He was obviously not well read on the subject!!

As for the pants, maybe you can cut and sow some elastic pieces into the waistband to give you more room when you sit? Regarding the port flipping...have you had a fill yet? If they try to access the port and can't then you will know if the port flipped or tilted. Then they should put you under an xray to confirm that it has flipped. If it's only tilted (many do get tilted) then they should be able to manually manipulate it back into place. I would definitely bring it up with your dr again. Good luck!

I finally bit the bullet and bought 2 pairs of jeans yesterday which should last me a couple months. The only things I really have been buying is exercise pants and underwear, bc I Lose all my weight in my butt and legs and there is nothing more annoying to me then my pants/underwear falling off when I am working out!! My weight loss goes in spurts, so sometimes fits me fine and then 2 weeks later it is falling off.

Hey Michelle, This is a good forum to come and "let it all out". Venting is a way to deal with the emotions you are feeling instead of eating away your emotions. Finding different ways to deal with the emotions of life (in addition to meds if you need them) is something you are going to have to work through. Hang in there...it will get better, bc it always does!

I got some "zingers" around the port area still up to 6 weeks post-surgery. I thought it was unusual too to still have pain at 2 weeks po, I was still sleeping in a reclining position. It eventually went away...I would say that at about week 3, it started to feel better, but I still had some pain. Anyway, then I found out week 8 po that my port had flipped so part of the pain I had experienced was my port coming unstitched from the muscle. Since I had my revision surgery, it is like night day, the pain I had from the 1st surgery was awful in the port area. The revision surgery port pain went away in about a week. Be patient and take it easy. Good luck!!

I took off 6 days before I returned to the office. I do all my work on the computer, so a sit-down office job. I wasn't feeling so well on the 6th when I went in, so I worked an addtl 2 days after that from home.

Call you insurance for the specifics. Yes, I think ER weight records will work. I also think that the phentermine diet will work for you. Usually the Dr puts you on some kind of diet (like eliminate carbs, etc.) and since it is Dr. supervised, it should count. I took phen years ago and successfully lose 110lbs, but then I gained it back after I built up a tolerance to it. Good luck!

You're the customer TELL them what you want. Everything is negoitiable, so maybe they say they will only give you .2cc's and you say .5 and call it a deal at .4 or something. For me, I am still struggling to figure out my "sweet spot". I have had 4 fills and can eat about 1/2 cup to 1 cup at a time, depending on the food. My issue is snacking, which I have to find other ways to deal with stress that drives me to snack.

Yes, it is possible. Your body may be retaining fluid. Watch the sodium intake and drink plenty of water to try to flush it out.

fwd leap, I think you should be eating bt 4-6 oz of food or 1/2cup to 3/4 cup.

barfing is bad. you should wait for it to go down if you can. in my experience, drinking on top of stuck makes for a bad situation (mine resulted in projectile vomit). It hurts bc it is negative reinforcement. Next time you will remember to chew smaller bites, wait bt bites, etc.