coolcrystal

STOP! I sometimes think that people think we got the bypass and not the band.. how much do you expect to lose the first month? 30 lbs? no.. you are doing good.. And yes, this is normal. As you start to eat normal foods you aren't going to lose that much right away. Your body is healing and heck, I even gained 2 - 5 lbs at one point and flipped out as well, so I guess I can't say too much. But yes, this is totally normal. Expect to lose about 5-10 lbs a month and sometimes you might even plateau for 3 weeks and only lose 3-4 lbs that month. It's perfectly normal and fine.

I have been on both ends of the weight scale issue.. I use to be in my 120's and I've been almost 300 lbs... Since I know what it's like being thin, I never want to be that thin ever again. I hated it. Most women hate you.. they are jealous B_tches because you are a threat to them... men just want down your pants and they hover over you all the time smiling and trying to flirt with you... I hated it. I couldn't even go to the gas station without some guy blurting out stuff to me.. I think that's why I stayed big for so long. I loved it. It was safe. I didn't have to worry about mean women and pervert men.. But then my body just hurt all the time.. My overall goal is to get to like 150-170 lbs. Nice and in the middle for me... Healthy with my body shape and yet, nothing threatening to other women and not skinny enough for men in today's society to turn into crazy perverts.. But heck, if I got to 200 I'd be SUPER happy.. I wouldnt' care if I lost anymore after that. lol. As for tummy tuck, I have no clue..

I'm a little concerned..I see a few people acting like it's okay to not eat and to live on shakes and not be hungry at all. The point of this band is not to turn us into anorexics... perfect restriction is having the ability to eat a small healthy meal.. not live on shakes. Yes, in the morning you are tighter, but you can still eat something .. I can get down some tuna... or some yogurt or oatmeal with fruit... at breakfast time and I can eat a small healthy salad with grilled chicken... and chilis/soups...for lunches and dinners.. Heck, last night I had sushi.. If you can't eat normal foods you are not being responsible with this band. This band is not to make it to where we can barely eat.. if that's what you think, you're wrong... I don't crave what I use to eat like breads and fried foods.. all of that is gone.. and I'm satisfied with a small meal.. that's what the band is for.

Congrats girlie!!! I want to wear a belt again someday. lol

Thanks for the compliments.. I still have a long journey ahead of me. lol.. Mac, I'm sorry you are frustatrated, but you have still been averaging 5 lbs a month and that is really good.. That's all my doctor wishes for his patients.. 5-10 lbs a month.. Before the band I was gaining 5 lbs a month.. So, just imagine if it was flipped... You ARE doing good.. I know it is hard seeing what others have lost, but honestly I think there are more folks that have lost between 25 - 40 lbs on here than folks who've lost 50-75.. honestly.. What you have lost is pretty normal for the Febsters... There are just a lot of folks who rarely post or show what they've truly lost. I think everybody is doing really good.. even those who feel down about what they've lost, or don't feel like they are doing that well, to me, they really are, if they'd only see the bigger picture and that is to not look at others results and just look at their results, it is good! Coming on this forum is what keeps me going.. keeps me motivated.

My lapband doctor once told me "Don't ever let yourself get too tight.. you WILL be miserable". And, oddly after two months my fill got unbearably too tight when I got stressed about something... I started throwing up and couldn't even barely get my safe food down (Wendy's chili). Which I can always get down... During that time I also didn't lose any weight at all because I wasn't getting hardly any calories down. I immediately got an unfill and boy, am I happy. I've lost 5 lbs just since the unfill ... I've never been happier. You could just be having some swelling from the fill, but if in a few days you are still having these problems, just get a slight unfil of like .5 or so. Don't let yourself get miserable. We didnt' get this band to starve to death... Good luck!

Nah,, you'll be fine... no worries.

It's not quite 6 months yet.. it's been like 5 months and 2 weeks. Down 53 lbs. I posted this in the main general before/after photos too, but I'll post on here as well..

Everybody has already posted, and they are correct. You need to eat more calories. I eat about 1200 calories a day. A normal day for me is: 8 am - can of tuna 9:30 - handful of granola or trail mix 11:30 - southwest chicken salad from Chick Fil A with vinagarette dressing or a cup of chili from wendy's, or pho Soup or turkey plate 3:00 - banana or another afternoon snack 6:00 - soup or chili, or some other random chicken meal with veggies.. 8:00 - small snack. piece of cheese or some peanuts.. every now and again I'll be naughty and have a shake or frosty or something.. I do like adding whole grain carbs in there every now and again.. through crackers. I think getting a good amount of carbs in is important, though it doesn't look like it in the above. I dont' eat as many as I use to.

As for the bread products, I rarely eat bread stuff, but every now and again I'll have some pumperknickel(sp) bread, and some whole wheat pasta one time, but it filled me up really fast and I couldn't get enough protein in, so I stopped. I have eaten super thin crust (practically cracker) pizza down twice since being banded, but again, it is very rare and when I'm having a "naughty" meal to jolt my system back into losing, which is what works for me.

LOL, trust me, it's addicting... you gotta put those sauces in there though or else I don't know what it tastes like.. but man.. I eat it like three times a week at least. YUMMMMMMMMMMM

Usually these bands can go tighter than that given amount. I asked my doctor this question too. He said that mine actually goes bigger than 10cc and can go up to like 12cc if needbe. I wonder if a smaller band would have been better for you?? and I know you are frustrated, but don't leave the group or anything. Keep coming back here because I think it helps coming on here ...

I remember the first time coming here and hoping one day I could post a picture in here, and though I'm not at goal yet, I think I've come a good distance to post a before and "so far" picture here. Since my weight potrudes from front to back, I'm just posting pics taken of me from the side. I actually look almost the same from the front except my face has shrunk a lot, but the difference is from the side.. I don't know why I'm so nervous posting in here.. lol. Now if I could just get rid of that upper fat roll, I'd be REALLY happy.

Sweet!!!!!!!! It's nice when that happens for sure!! Gratz :wink2:

Sweetie, don't give up... how much can you get down? are you possibly too tight? I know this sounds weird, but for a month I only lost 3 lbs because I don't think I was getting enough calories in. I had to get a slight unfill and I have dropped 3 lbs in a week just since the unfill. I don't know how long that will last, but my weightloss acts very funny. I'll hit a plateau for a long time and then drop 3-5 lbs in a week.. very weird... and Quit looking at what others are losing... you are not them and they are not you. Everybody is losing at a different rate. There are some that have lost over 70 lbs now, but I can't let that get me down and neither should you. I know there are some who have lost under what you have lost... You haven't even been banded for 6 months yet. If you divide your weight by 6 (even though it's less than that), you've lost over 5 lbs a month! That's really good. Please, don't get discouraged..

Nope, I've never had any problems doing crunches, sit ups or any strenuous activity at all. I waited until a month after surgery before doing any major workouts, but I do crunches/situps all the time and have never felt it or gotten sore. Matter of fact, the only thing that has ever hurt my port is when my 21 pound cat decides to step on that spot and put all his weight on one foot directly on it.. and even then, it's not that painful, it just irritates me. I think a lot of this has to do with where your port is placed too.

I spoke with my friend who's a nurse at a party last night and she said that with weight loss like mine it's pretty normal for this to happen but to monitor it for the next two months. She said to keep a little journal of it and if it happens again twice in a row that I need to schedule with my gyno. I think it might also have been because of the stress of my band suddenly getting super tight and me getting the unfill, the whole thing was so stressful and I think that might have jolted something.. so I won't panic quite yet..

I tried to do a little research on here to see if somebody had talked about this before, but nothing. Are there any other women who had two menstrual cycles super close together? I just got off my cycle a week and a half ago and I started again yesterday! This has never happened to me before.. I always start every 26 days to the T.. And I'm not pregnant (I checked that yesterday just to be sure).. but this is a full on cycle with cramps and everything... could it be from the weightloss? I don't think 51 lbs in 6 months is super rapid weightloss.. but I did hear that rapid weightloss can trigger this sort of thing.. any information you have or if this has happened to you, please post something.. thanks.

Pho is a soup served at any vietnamese pho place... it's very healthy.. its basically broth, chicken breast, bean sprouts and noodles and then they give you a plate of herbs to put in it like sage and parsley and you have sauces you can put in it too. I get mine with steamed beansprouts in place of the noodles. They also have vegetable pho and beef pho as well. It's SO yummy and I can always get tons of protein in with it.

I have been wondering where you've been.. I remember that post when you said you were going on a trip and then never heard from you anymore. I figured you were one of those who didn't need the forum anymore... I hope I never leave the forum.. this is what keeps me going on this journey and keeps me inspired.. Welcome back and I'm sorry to hear about your friend.. and it's nice that you and your ex are still friends I have that with my ex too... we still write, though he lives in CA now, but I still care about him and his family and we were friends before we married.. so it's cool to see another who feels that way.. WELCOME BACK.. don't take another 12 week vacation and leave us ever again. :tt2:

I don't think starting your cycle 24 days later is too much of a big deal. Starting early 1-2 days or late 1-2 days is pretty normal I think.. I only had 9 days in between my cycles.. I'm definitely gonna have to keep a journal on this if it happens too much. I refuse to get on birth control... I have never been on it and never will be on it.

I didn't reach perfect restriction until my third fill, but there are several folks who only ever need one fill, especially depending on your band. I know the smaller bands that are 4cc usually never need more than 2 fills. One thing I stay away from is bread alltogether. I do eat pumperknickel bread every now and again, but it's very rare. I recently had to get an unfill because out of the blue, after having perfect restriction for two months I somehow swelled up from stress or something and couldn't keep much down.. I was miserable.. never allow yourself to get that tight.. it's so painful and I went into starvation mode and only lost 4 pounds in a month when I usually lose 7-10 lbs a month.. some people think its good when they don't eat or can barely eat, but it's not good. it's bad... good luck!

Depends if you are cash pay or insurance.. Either way, my doctor had a date opened 2-3 weeks after I was approved by my insurance. I had to do the pre-south beach diet 10 days before surgery. Most doctors, depending on your size, do require some type of liquid or south beach diet before hand to shrink your liver up. Since I was insurance, my process was longer.. 6 months of dr. visits and then a few days for approval.

Something I do, is on my myspace I have a picture folder for every ten pounds I lose. Every time I lose 10 pounds I post a new updated face shot. It always keeps me going and gets me excited for that next ten pounds and when I get to post my next picture! Right now I'm just three pounds away from my next picture, and oddly, this is how I measure my weightloss when I get discouraged, I'll say to myself- "just 5 more lbs til' my next picture.." or "Maybe I can do my next picture by next weekend".. Another thing I do, is I buy a pair of pants a size below what I wear and use it as a goal. 15 pounds ago I bought a pair of khaki pants.. never owned a pair before, but they were my goal. I knew once I could get those on, I'd feel successful and this morning I put them on and they look great and I wore them to work feeling great.

Well, I'm always preaching about not having your band too tight and getting unfills when you PB, so its now my turn to do it. I haven't had or needed a fill since April, as I always had perfect restriction, but something happened a few weeks ago.. I had my first PB on some tuna that I always eat.. I thought I was fine, but I'm not. I thought it was because of my TOM, so I waited a few days till that was over, and it's clearly not better. Usually at night I'm wide open and can get anything down, but last night I PB'ed on something simple and easy.. so, in a few hours I will have an unfill. I've only lost a few pounds in the last month and I think it's because I'm not getting enough calories in. Kristi (kjeter) and I think it's from the Texas summer heat swelling us up perhaps?? I don't know what it is.. It is odd to hear of a band getting super tight after three months of no fills.. Anybody else having these issues?