Abi

Hi there, did you arm ever firm up?

am in a 4cc band, weighed 243lb when band was put in a year ago and now weighs 185lb. i didnt feel much restriction till i got to the 1.9ccs. i believe i am currently at 2.1 or so ccs now. as a matter of fact i feel very tight when i eat certain foods, like beef. it really did not bother me that i was in a 4cc, i thought they picked the 4cc because i was in the 40 to 43bmi range..or maybe it was my wight vs my heigh. whatever the case i was loosing 1pound a week which was good enough for me. now i pay attention to my calorie count with sparkpeople.com and try to exercise three times a week. am not loosing a pound a week...but am not doing excellent with my eating and exercising either...however am not gaining, which is most important.

Hello Massa36 I have Egyptian blood in me and i know i look a lot like my mother, so as for elasticity....not all that great. I have however done well compared to other people i see on TV loosing weight. I think with the band, elasticity is generally better because we dont loose the weight as fast hence the skin gets time to shrink. the worst of my sagginess is my tummy and my arm. I am planning on doing a tummy tuck but my surgeon would rather i dont do the arm only because i dont scar that well. october last year i had a breast reduction and my scaring is not as great as others. I however am loving my breast at this size and happy i did it. My surgeon seems to think i should wait it out with my arm, so i've decided to live with it right now. my belly is not hurrible but i'll feel better with a tuck. As for water, i know my surgeon had said i wont be able to gulp down water and would be able to only sip, i find that to be untrue. am thinking maybe its what they want me to do but am so used to drinking a glass of water in two seconds that i still do that now. so for me i can drink a gallon without any problems. When i started loosing weight, i think my midsection is where i started loosing. in general my whole body is going down, except i think my arms. it shows on my face, neck and chest. the rest i think is gradual. so now that am down 58lb a year later, most people see me slim from the back but my belly still make me look somewhat big. overall i am happy, its the best think i could have ever done for myself. Good luck to you.

you know like they always say, the lapband is only a TOOL. you still have to do the work. you have to eat right and exercise. if you continue to eat all the wrong things you will continue to gain or loose slowly. my doctor warned me that if i dont eat the right thing i can even gain. i had to join sparkpeople.com to monitor my food sparkpeople is free, i also use calorie-count.com to figure out foods not listed on sparkpeople.

Hello tropicana I hope i am not too late replying this thread in May but i just wanted to say that i am Nigerian to be specific and banded May of last year. My struggles with weight i dont think is genetic but my lifestyle and the kind of food i eat. When i was in Nigeria, i would eat the same foods as i eat now (I've been in America for 12 years), but then i noticed that in Nigeria, i did not have a car and was forced to walk 2miles in the morning to work and 2miles back. then i thought what suffering. Did not realise it was the help i needed. I think this to be true of most Nigerians. Althogh we consume a lot of cab foods, we were forced to burn it through mandetory exercises. Since I've been in America going to the store up the street would require me taking my car. When i first got banded, my problem with my nutritionist was what to eat. She wanted me to eat salads, measure my food etc. well the problem with that was i grew up eating pounded yam, garri, spinach...cooked in oil and all kinds of additions, ogbono etc. I was never taught about counting calories and my nutritionst, could not count them for me cause she was not familiar with these foods. But well after a year of this struggle and loosing 58lb, i can tell you, that my success came from counting calories (calorie-count.com) and monitoring my food (sparkpeople.com). I've had almost a total life change. Although i still eat pounded yam, rice etc, i just dont eat it as often and my portion is very small. I HAVE had a lifestyle change. The best thing i could do for myself was the band surgery. You kind of find our way after a while i think. So if you're thinking of doing the band, i would say go for it. Most of us AAs may find it harder because of the kinds of food we grew up eating...soul food, fried food...you know all the truly good stuff. Once we change our eating habit and portion we loose as much as anybody else. Good luck to everyone.

Well when i put may band in almost a year now, my surgeon had said there is no harm in keeping the band in for life. As a matter of fact, it is expected to be in for the rest of my life. Although some people may take it out, or unfill completely, you are running the risk of gaining all the weight back. the whole idea of the band is to help you eat small portions and be full. the band is only a tool and once that tool is no longer there, you are likely to go back to eating as much as you used to and the weight will come back on. I personally do not plan on taking out the band, unless there's some kind of problem that am hoping will never happen. to take out the band, you will require surgery, the same as you put it in. i have read threads from people on this website whose been banded for 5years. I dont think most people think of taking it out.

thank you all for your help. I actually feel a little better now. i did a little more exercise....walking, and sometimes during my 2minute bathroom breaks, i would jump 100times in there....i think i was able to free myself from that awful feeling. I still cant eat a whole banana. i agree that i might be a little tight but am scared to go for an unfill, cause i feel i might start to gain again. gaining is like a nightmare to me. after i did the post and read a little more on this website on how people get stuck, i went on liquids for a day and a half, couple with the exercises i think i am finally feeling better. I still will call my surgeon to probably take out .1cc cause i dont want to end up with an erosion, but really i'd hate to gain, its so much work loosing. even after this experience, i've not lost anything...but not gained, thankfully. I want to thank everyone for their advise. this is truly a great website. the support is so very important to me. thanks.

i too would like to know how you know when you're stuck. what are the feelings or simptoms. i also want to know what to do to be unstuck and how long will it take to be unstuck. I've recently been feeling dizzy especially after eating. i think i might be too tight, but my last fill was over two months ago and have been feeling okay with it. over the weekend i ate some beef, maybe a little too much, and i've not been able to keep anything down since then. i get heartburns after everything, even drinking my morning tea. this morning i took a bit of banana and that was it. i had this faint feeling, or lightheadedness, or dizzyness, then i got water to try and push it down and it really hurts, so i jumped around for a while and i felt a little better. am not really sure if the beef is stuck or if am too tight. please clarify if you can or if you've experienced this feeling before.

sparkpeople.com will help you with healthy eating. good luck.

Hi, I usually just read and learn from other people's experiences; but when I read yours I felt compelled to respond. I've been banded for 11months and have managed to loose 50lbs. I've been stuck here for over four months now. I lost three more then gain seven and just started loosing again. There are different reasons why we keep gaining or stuck, mostly for me I found it’s because I rarely exercise and have not been eating right; (and I have one reason for the other for this behavior). Although in my mind I always feel am eating right, until I religiously started to note what I was eating. I started logging my food on sparkpeople.com. I feel this site to be a great motivator. It tells me my caloric intake and gives me easy exercises I can do. The other thing that’s been helping me is walking now that the weather's nice. I sent out an email looking for walking buddies and got some responses. Am however thinking of walking alone sometimes because it gives me time to think of stuff. Try to leave the house and walk somewhere because staying at home for me makes me eat more, am constantly hovering around my fridge. Life's not easy but you're doing the right thing by asking for help. You can never get lost when you ask for directions. Good luck to you and I wish you all the best.:crying:<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>

i am also from RI and was banded 5/19 of last year. i have BCBS or RI and the process was not too bad. i had to go through different test, Dr. Pohl has a list that was given to me at the seminar which was the first step. that took me a couple of months to complete. i had started the process the year before. The band is the best thing i could have ever done for myself so you made the right choice. Congratulations.

I'm having a hard time knowing how to calculate all the African foods I grew up eating, except just eating less of them. Its helping but i often wondered if there's a way for me to know what I'm eating and what i should be concentrating on eating. African foods is full of starch. Like yam, yam flour, Beans, fried platain, rice...lots of rice, fish, chicken,meat....lots of meat, spinach, palm oil, vegitable oil. Most of our food is prepared daily so i've learned to substitute or reduce some things. If there's anyone banded and know of a place i can learn more about african food, please share with me. I had my lapband surgery on May 19th 2007. From the day i walked into my surgeon's office i was 243lb. I am currently 194lb. A week ago, i had a breast reduction, which is wonderful, cause its miraculously taken my upper back pain away, plus i now look better. I am happy I'm able to do these two things in my life. its the best step i ever took. Banded 5/19/07 weight 243 current wieght: 194 Filling: 2.2cc Goal: I'll be happy at 175/170 Surgeon: Dr. Pohl, Roger Williams Hospital, RI

thanks for your help. I love Tilapia. I especially like the red tilapia. its actually one of the things we make at least once a week. its a good thing to have someone stear you in the right direction. I'll keep hoping someone would have complied something, or better still, if i ever get the chance to, might start puting something together myself.

thanks. its hard to do the calorie count. when i talked to my nutritionist, she had only said to watch the portion that i eat. My doctor had referred me to my nutritionist when i asked. things like yam flour is made into dough and then eaten with spinach. in making my spinach i've eliminated palm oil and just use very little vegitable oil. Also i make a big pot of everything cause i have a big family of five kids. We eat rice a lot and its REALLY hard to eliminate it from my diet, but i noticed that i've lost the most this past week due to not eating rice in addition to the breast reduction surgery i just had. I've learned to eat american food...which i call my adopted food... but sometimes i get tired of it and go back to my regular food that my body's known since a very young age. Fried food i try to stay away from....but i'm only human i guess....i love KFC chicken...guess i'm just weak....i know what i should be doing maybe, i'm just looking for an easy way out