Londoner1

You will also struggle with fiberous foods (which are ALL healthy foods) and it will be much easier to eat junk like chocolate, ice cream and alcohol. You need to find your work arounds on bad days to be able to eat your lean proteins and fibers and not give into junk or not eat on bad days.

The same thing happens to me. If I know I will be at a restaurant with friends, I will make sure I order a glass of wine or a pint of beer to ensure I can avoid getting "stuck" or full after 3 bites. If I actually get drunk, which rarely ever happens, it's as if my band is completely loose and I can eat anything and in large quantities. In contrast if I am stressed or didn't get enough sleep, my band will be extremely tight where I will need to stick to Soups or soft foods like stew or mashed potatoes until I am rested again and feel better. I just go to it. It allows me to avoid awkward social situations since I know which days are tight or not. If I can't avoid a social gathering around food on a bad day, I just have 3 drinks and I'm good to go (without having to excuse myself numerous times) and I am able to eat modest to moderate amounts without people getting suspicious about why I am not eating enough . The band isn't perfect, and I'm surprised by those who have a better handle of this than me because I'm very detail oriented in my life and I can't seem to have a "sweet spot" where what I describe above doesn't happen. My advice is to buy a vitamix blender so you can have healthy smoothies on bad days when you are too tight, and not spend a lot of time being hard on yourself for not being able to "find" a sweet spot or make it work perfectly. I lost over 100 lbs 7 years ago and have gained and lost 20 of the years. You need to be careful about the kinds of food you eat and making good choices because the band only takes you so far. The band will get you out of over eating, but if you aren't providing yourself with adequate nutrition (vs low amount of empty calories) you will not be able to reach your goals. It will get you out of obesity, the rest is up to you about staying healthy and fit.

Brachioplasty can be a tricky procedure in terms of where the plastic surgeon cuts and hiding of the scar. And from my understanding, it is not a commonly done procedure. Has anyone had an arm lift done in southern Ontario where they had good results? I'm looking for the type of procedure where the scar cannot be seen if you are standing up straight and your arms are to your sides. So the scars would be facing your body.

Good idea about the ring! Never thought of that. For me, things normally settle 3 days after a fill, but 2 weeks makes sense. It reminded me that my doctor doesn't allow fills to be less than 1 month apart as he says it can take up the a few weeks to settle. I'm going to ride out the two weeks since I can keep soups down in the PM. In the meantime my body will hate me for the lack of Fiber intake... I'm still praying there is no sort of slippage or corrosion. I'm pushing 8 years now, and I was told the lap band can last anywhere from 10-20 years.

Hi guys, I've been a banded for 7 years now, and had a 6 month hiatus of a de-fill with no restriction. I was ready to get back up again and have been going up in increments of 0.5 cc. I got a fill 4 or 5 days ago for a additional 1 cc and had little to no restriction. This is a big jump for me, and I thought I should have felt something, but nothing! Normally, I feel restriction right away and stick to Soups for the first two days until it sort of settles. This time, it was as if I had the same if not less restriction. The following day I was able to eat sushi, the same amount as my friend who doesn't have a lap band. Then day 4 or 5, I'm so restricted that I can't keep fluids down in the morning, but can some Soup in the pm. I'm not a worrier and if I had off days I just coast until swelling goes down, but I've never experienced the reverse... i.e. restriction drastically increasing a few days later. Now, from reading other posts, I found out, (after 7 years of being banded!) that being on your period can cause restriction. It just so happens that I got my period last night. I'm going to give it a few days before I seek a de-fill or ask my doctor, but have any of you experienced drastically more restriction 4 or more days AFTER getting the fill? My doctor is 150km away so I don't seek help unless i ABSOLUTELY have to. I'm worried about slippage. Hot peppermint tea has always gone down even at the worst time, and this morning I could only have half a cup of that. Any thoughts?