gkeyt

There is no way to "spot reduce". The first place you tend to put weight on is generally the last place you'll take it off. Your body probably prefers to keep body fat there, and will only give it up when it has to. Doing core training will make your core stronger, but it won't get rid of the fat over your abs. You'll just have to keep going toward your goal. The only thing that might help is if you aren't lifting weights yet (or doing some resistance training), that can help you burn more fat when you develop more muscle. Sorry, wish I had a better answer!

I always heard the average loss was 60% of excess weight, not 42%? If you spend some time around here, you will find lots of people who have lost 90-110% of their excess weight. You will also find lots who have lost less than 10% of their excess weight. You can easily see how that statistic was arrived at. There were LOTS of great replies (esp Wheetsin and Mac) so all I really have to add is that the monetary value of your band isn't just in the number of pounds you lose. For me, the #1 reason I chose WLS, and banding in particular, was KEEPING it OFF. You can lose 40 lbs by dieting, but was it worth the cost to you if you gain it back in 4 months? If I only lost 40 lbs from banding but I never gained it back, I would still have considered it a success. That 40 lb loss pays health dividends that are well worth the money, at least to me. But you can definitely expect to lose at least 60%, and I'd say closer to 90%, of your excess weight with the band, IF you are willing to make the necessary diet and exercise changes. No excuses! I'd hesitate to say that everyone can lose 100% of excess weight--maybe they can, maybe they don't really want to or don't care about the difference between 90% and 100% lost. But if that is your goal, and you are willing to do what it takes and know REALISTICALLY what the band can and can't be expected to do, then you can definitely reach it. For me, I'm at about 62% lost after 13 months, according to my surgeon and the BMI table. But, I'm at 75% of my goal, because my goal weight is slightly higher than the BMI table, due to my body frame. When I get to my goal, if it seems reasonable to go further, I will. :biggrin2:

Without cardiac symptoms, do you know why your cardiologist wants a stress test? I am no expert here, but in my anesthesia training we learned that cardiac stress tests are used less frequently than they used to be used. I am guessing that your history doesn't really present the current triggers for doing stress testing, but I don't know your particular situation. It sounds like they are denying coverage because they don't feel it is indicated. In that case, I would imagine that your cardiologist would have to have to tell your insurance company why it is necessary in your case to preauthorize it. Coverage for preoperative testing has decreased dramatically in recent years because it doesn't affect outcomes as much as it was thought to before. That doesn't mean that you don't need a stress test, but it does mean that they tend to resist some preop testing that your providers order. I'd start with the insurance company to find out exactly why it was denied, then ask your cardiologist about it. They might be able to find out what they want from a cheaper test (although stress testing is less invasive and less expensive than some other tests).

I only rarely can stand the thought of wasting calories on alcohol (and the increased snacking that happens after the alcohol), so I rarely drink anymore. When I do, I stick to wine, usually. It just doesn't seem worth it to me. But then, I'm 34. It might have been different at 24, I don't know.

I don't think there are any US surgeons that wouldn't have a lap band available for you to touch and feel (probably Mexican surgeons too, but I don't have experience with them), even if they don't pass one around at the informational seminar. My surgeon passed it around at the pre op classes and let me see it in the office. If they don't offer it, just ask in person, I'm sure they will have one for you to handle. As for restriction, people have different opinions about it. Some people feel that "restriction" is when they can only eat a tiny amount of food before the band forces them to stop, or barf it back up. But from what I have read about band complications and successful bandsters, that is actually past restriction, and into the territory of "too tight". Some people like that, but over time your stomach can revolt against a band that is so tight. A better gauge, in my opinion, is that you start to feel satisfied after about 1 cup of food, or less, depending, and that small amount of food keeps you satisfied (i.e. not hungry) for at least 3-4 hours. The band should act more like an appetite suppressant, if you want to think of it that way, than something that makes you barf if you eat more than a little bit. In other words, you really shouldn't "feel" anything, except not hungry. But like I said, a lot of people swear by tight restriction. Down the road, many of those people experience complications, so I would caution you to work with your surgeon closely to make sure they don't get your band any tighter than you need. The hard part is learning your new "full" signals--they are more subtle than before banding. You don't want to be eating until you feel stuffed, that is way too much food. It's hard to learn how to know when to stop before you get there, and sometimes I still miss it and get more full than I wanted to, even after over a year. And this can be especially hard to learn since most of us are used to eating until we are FULL, pre-band. Full is different from satisfied! Hope this helps, and good luck to you!

I don't mind telling people I've had surgery if they ask. I always clarify that it was NOT bypass (of course!) But I would draw the line at people asking what I weigh. When friends ask how much I've lost, I tell them. No strangers or mere acquaintences have gotten that personal, but if they did ask how much I weighed before, I'd probably say, "More!" I don't mind revealing how much I have lost, but no one needs to know what I weigh now or what I weighed then. As a nurse I'm used to educating people about health stuff, so I guess telling people about the band seems natural to me. I like letting people know that there is a safer way, but also that it's not a magic bullet for weight loss. I would feel uncomfortable doing the dance of telling people I did it with "diet and exercise", but that's just me. Of course it's true, but I mention the band because it helps people at least understand that WLS isn't all gastric bypass. But there's nothing wrong with telling people whatever you want--why do folks think it's okay to be so nosy about how we lose weight or what our medical history is? I've never understood that.

Wouldn't it be great if they did classes about the reactions of friends and family when you do your preop classes? I don't recall this being mentioned once but it is a huge issue and most of us learn how to deal with it (or how not to!) by trial and error. Seeing a counselor is an excellent idea especially for dealing with this kind of issue (whoever posted that they were seeing one--good on ya!) Someone else posted comparing WLS to winning the lottery. I think that's a pretty good analogy. Friends and family have their weight issues too, and it's easy to see WLS as "cheating" when they are in the midst of their own struggles. For us, we've gotten to the point that we see our dieting and exercise attempts are getting us nowhere. We'd like nothing more than for our friends/family who have the same struggles to have a tool like the one we've just gotten. But they feel abandoned, insecure, jealous. Sometimes feeling that way can spur them to make their own decisions about their weight (and that can be really uncomfortable to have to think about). I recall a few years before I had lap band surgery, I had a friend who had RNY and I was at first concerned for her, then supportive mixed with jealous. She was always much larger than me and became very slim (and she had always been beautiful, so now she is a knockout). It made me uncomfortable, but when I started realizing that my weight was getting worse, not better, with the years of dieting, her journey helped me make my own decisions about mine. I think another thing is that siblings are always going to be competitive in some way, whether we realize it or not. As kids we all competed with each other for our parents' love and affection, even though we loved each other and our parents loved us equally. This happens with all siblings. And we get firm ideas in our heads (esp. the older we get) about who we are: I'm the funny one, sister's the thin one, etc. It can really mess with our sibs when we change this--suddenly I can become the thin one AND the funny one! Or whatever. I don't know that there's a magic answer to how to deal with these issues. From my experience, time is the best solution. It takes time for our friends and family to see that while we are changing physically, we are still the same people and we still love them and aren't going to abandon them. And we do have to be sensitive to how much we are gabbing about our successes. That's why I still come to LBT and other online support (the support group at my surgeon's was terrible so I stopped going to that). I learned early on that I was really BORING talking about WLS all the time. I was totally obsessed with the topic from the time I went to the seminar until several months after my surgery. That is why I started a blog, so I could get all my thoughts about it out without making my husband's eyes glaze over, or my friends and family annoyed. (My hubby's been an awesome support, but in the beginning he was scared, and post op I think he got a little tired of it for a while) As time has gone on, my urge to talk about it constantly has diminished, and people have asked me more questions about it. I take that as a cue that they want to hear about it, and otherwise don't really talk about it. Anyway, to the OP, I think if you are sensitive to how it is making your sister feel, and find some other avenues to talk about what's going on with you until she's more comfortable, that will help your relationship. Eventually, with time, she'll probably see that you aren't really changing even though you are losing weight, and things will get better. It's understandable to want to share this amazing experience with those closest to us, but we have to be sensitive to their feelings too, even if they don't make sense to us.

Wow, I have a lot of admiration for you and all the other moms who have spoken about their kids and weight. I don't have kids so I can't really offer that kind of advice. But it must be so hard trying to head off obesity in your kids (especially girls) without doing more damage in the process. So many of us started out dieting when we were young, and we ended up having to have weight loss surgery. I did weight watchers when I was 11. But back then WW was very different--I'm sure lots of you did it then too, about 25 years ago? Long before Points, it was a very strict list of foods to choose from. I lost 25 lbs, but gained an eating disorder (bulemia) until I was about 16 (I "outgrew" it--that's another story!) But WW is different now, and it sounds like they are more and more used to seeing kids come in these days. As long as your daughter doesn't have to think about being on a "diet" I think it can be a good thing. All that diet/deprivation stuff is bad for kids, I think. It sets them up for binging, hoarding, sneaking food, and gets that mindset of "forbidden foods" going that got a lot of us fat, too. It sounds like they (WW) are sensitive to this with your daughter, which is great. Points are probably a nice thing for kids because it gives them the concept that they should eat healthy foods most of the time, but occasional treats are okay. You just have to learn how to deal with them. Also she can learn that healthy foods can be delicious, too! Kudos to everyone trying to navigate this hard problem. If your daughter knows she is loved no matter what her weight (and I know she must) that is the most important thing for her growing up. Also all the ideas on increasing her activity are great, even better if she doesn't think of it as "exercising"! Sounds like she'd enjoy some extra time with mom going for walks together. Good luck!

You've got the right attitude now, MermaidPuppy. The great thing about the band is even when we don't do the right things for a while, it's still there ready to work when we are ready to work with it. You might not even need another fill...you didn't really say much about hunger control. It sounds like more of an emotional eating issue than a fill issue. The fill can't do all the work. And I doubt your pouch is stretched if you wash your meals down with liquids--the food isn't staying there long enough to stretch it out. So I'd cut out the liquids with meals ASAP. Go back to your band rules and follow them. You don't have to be eating just 1/4 cup or 1/2 cup, those are bypass rules (1/4 cup is only 4 oz). And you'll find once you stop eating so much sugar, you won't want it so much, and you'll have more energy--but you know this! You aren't a total failure. You just need to get back in the right mindset and do this for yourself. You went through surgery for this, you deserve to get the benefit of it, so give it to yourself! The suggestion of taking short walks was a very good one. Your exercise doesn't have to all be at one time, it can be 15 min here and there. And often you may find that you stretch your 15 min into longer because it feels good to move. And it will make you feel so much better, trust me!

I like this definition of restriction (he's talking about the Sweet Spot here) from a Texas band surgeon's blog: In the Lap Band what we consider the 'sweet spot' is the ideal fill. If I had to think about a perfect sweet spot I'd have to tell you about a patient. One of our patients was 66 years old when he had his Lap Band surgery. Over the course of the first 9 months he lost over 90 pounds! But he was confused and every time we saw him he would say "Doc my Lap Band must be broken. I don't feel restriction, I can eat what I want, and I never have food come back up." That is the perfect sweet spot. The Lap Band was adjusted to the point that he felt control of his hunger and was able to control his eating portion size, but he had no significant restriction preventing him from eating any particular food nor did he ever have any regurgitation of food. Many people who had lap band surgery find the sweet spot elusive and some people end up with a fill greater than they need because they rely on the Lap Band for restriction rather than hunger control. If you are having a tough time keeping many foods down or having more than a small number of PBs (productive burps) you might be too tight and need some Fluid taken it. To summarize, the Lap Band is meant to help you with hunger control. By limiting the amount of food you eat with smaller portions, you can reduce your caloric intake, and lose weight. This can be found here: Texas Arkansas Lap Band Blog from Texarkana: What is the Lap Band sweet spot? Hope this helps!

I'm not sure I understand the question. What does the difficulty getting into your port have to do with the tightness of the fill? Did he give you a too large fill because he thought he couldn't get in another time? That wouldn't be good. Fills can get tighter within the first week, sometimes two. Or they will get looser if you lose weight. but if you get so you are barfing, can't get down good solid food, or ESPECIALLY if you can't drink, you have to have a slight unfill. Pay attention and see if this is a fill that will allow you to get good nutrition--if not, I'd go back. But trouble accessing your port and tightness of the fill are two separate issues. If he's telling you they are related, I'd ask more questions.

Your hormones go a little crazy when you have a rapid weight loss. Our fat stores estrogen and when we burn fat, that estrogen can be released and affect our mood as well as our periods and other stuff. I think a lot of people go through this down-in-the-dumps phase after the initial excitement wears off and we have lost some weight. Doing regular exercise can help your mood and help get some of the excess stuff out of your body. There can be other reasons, too, of course, and for a lot of people it's a really good idea to work with a therapist who is experienced in issues of obesity and emotional eating to help get through these things. So much of this process is mental--the band only does a small part of the work. Good luck and I hope you are feeling better very soon!

You can absolutely lose in the second year. The great thing about the band is that as long as you take care of your stomach, you can always go back and lose the weight. Unlike the bypass, where the stomach pouch can stretch out and the bypassed intestine can regrow absorptive villi--that's why the bypass stops working. The band doesn't do that. You caught the dilitation in time to be able to fix it with an unfill and stomach rest--that's great! Some people don't catch them, or are afraid to get it checked out, until they have worse problems and actually end up losing their band. So you are in a good position--frustrating not to have restriction, but your stomach is healthy and you can start losing again. You'll have to work on keeping your portions down and recognizing your full signs so you can avoid dilitation again--plus making sure your fill doesn't ever get TOO tight. Remember, there is NO "honeymoon" period for the band--it can always work as long as it's there and our stomachs are healthy!

As Nip said, your starting weight makes a difference, as does how your body tends to react to weight loss. I always lost slowly when I dieted, and I've lost slowly with the band (but not as slowly, and no regain!). I started with about 75 lbs to lose and I lost about 60% in the first year, which was 1 lb/week for me. I'm working on the last 20 lbs now, and I expect that to take longer. Some people lose faster, some slower. But to me, the important thing isn't how fast you lose, it's whether you are doing it in a healthy way. You have to follow the band rules and you must exercise. Lots of people lose without exercise, but you lose a lot of muscle that way, which is a set up for regain. And you have to know what kinds of things to look out for with the band. There is a lot to learn with this tool, but if you use it properly and take the time to learn things, and ESPECIALLY don't just let problems go because you're losing weight anyway (like frequent PBs/barfs or reflux), you will do great!

Mine both happened around my wedding 2 years ago. I had been thinking about the band for over a year, but I thought I wasn't quite at that point yet. I didn't want to try to lose weight JUST for the wedding--I didn't want to be one of those brides that has to have everything perfect for just one day. And the wedding was great, but I didn't keep my weight steady, I gained, and my dress was tight. But that wasn't the last straw. First, I saw how my father was trying to walk at my wedding. He was only 62 then, morbidly obese for most of his life (much more than I ever have been) and his knees are nearly shot. He can barely walk. I didn't want to ever get to that point. Then, when we returned from our honeymoon, we went to another friend's wedding. When I saw the pictures of myself from that wedding, I was appalled. I couldn't believe how fat I had gotten. I was depressed for about a month after that, and then I decided to seriously look into the band. My insurance was going to start covering it in a few months, so I couldn't have any of my preop appointments before that, but I went to a seminar, and was banded 3 months after they started coverage. Best decision ever!

Some docs don't want you to ever have carbonation. That's a controversial idea, no one can agree whether it has any affect on the size of your stomach "pouch" or not. My doc said an occasional carbonated drink is okay, but not daily. I think ultimately you will be able to drink an occasional beer. Not only does beer have a lot of calories but it also can make you want to snack more, which sabotages you as well, so you'd want to be judicious about when you drink it--not too often! But as for being ABLE to drink it, I doubt you will have a problem. Some people find any carbonation painful once they are up to a good fill level. Others never have a problem. It may take you a long time to get up to a good fill level, so it can be a while before you actually find out how well you tolerate it. But if you can handle the idea of a beer being an occasional indulgence or treat, I think you will be okay. You never know, though: you might find that carbonation is too painful after you are banded. The interesting thing about this lap band process is the things that we were freaked out about having to give up, rarely seem like a big deal after we are banded. It's much easier to give up certain things than we think it will be, and especially when you are enjoying losing weight, it's not that bad. BTW, they are much more strict about the carbonation thing with the other weight loss surgeries, at least it seems that way to me. If you want to have WLS and you want an occasional beer, I think the lap band is probably your best bet.

Sophie, From what I hear, the upper GI (different from a fill under fluoro) is recommended yearly. Especially if you are wondering how well your band is working, I'd look into getting one. I thought I had one scheduled last month, with the new doc (I moved), but it turned out they didn't schedule it, just a fill, so I have to reschedule. I'm holding at the same weight, after last week when I gained a few pounds and then lost them again. Things are going okay...my energy is down, but so is everyone else in my anesthesia school class. I don't think it's weight loss related. Also TOM coming, so I'm hoping I feel a little more peppy in a few weeks. I do think I need another fill. My new insurance doesn't cover fills (or anything obesity related) so I'm not too crazy about going and shelling out the big bucks for a fill unless I really need it. I'll give it another week before I call, I guess. Has anyone noticed that going from one size to the next lower one is different than at higher sizes? My jeans are getting very baggy, but I tried the next size down and they are still quite tight. I didn't ever experience this in higher sizes. I don't remember spending any time really "between" sizes when I was a size 18. And I could gain or lose 10 lbs and my clothes fit pretty much the same...now it takes a pretty small weight change to alter the size that I fit into. That much makes sense if you look at it as percentage of weight change rather than pounds of weight change...but still, this between sizes thing is puzzling. Maybe I'm just paying more attention to how clothes fit now? Weird. Have a great weekend everyone!

That's great news, ThickChick! What a relief. Sounds like you're on the right track with getting the band checked. Just don't let it go too long...you don't want your esophagus to get inflammed by the reflux, and I'm sure it's hard to sleep when you are waking up choking!! No fun! Thanks for the update!

Glad to help, BanTam! :teeth_smile: I didn't know about them until after I was banded, either. And honestly, I may never get one, but it's nice to know it's available if I decide to get it.

That is great! I had a coworker who did that last year. She said it was tough but she had a great time. She also lost a lot of weight training for it. Good luck, you will do great!

Janine, thanks for the update! I hope you will stick with our group and keep us posted on how things go. And I hope it works out for you to be successfully banded again! I think of you every time I do the leg press at the gym now. I lift about 140 lbs on the press, and I used to sort of tense my abdomen to help me lift the weight, but since your band slip, now I let the air go out of my lungs while I lift and do whatever I can to reduce the pressure in my chest and abdomen while I am lifting. I don't know if it helps or not but I am trying to be really careful and conscious of what I lift now just to be safe. I can't imagine losing my band... Where is ThickChickTexas? I think we all want to hear how her mammo went. I got my final report of a huge calcified oil cyst that is non cancerous, yay! So I'm going to have a big rock (4 cm across) in my right boob for the rest of my life, unless I have a breast lift down the road and have it taken out at the same time. I can live with that. I saw a new surgeon last week (since moving away from my old one) and he gave me a fill but first withdrew the Fluid and I was missing over 1 cc! My original surgeon didn't "check" how much was in there before adding more fluid so I don't know if I have a leak or what. But I'm kinda hungry a lot now...the fill was modest, and now that I "KNOW" I have less fluid than I thought, maybe it's a bit of a psychological effect. But I am hungry, and my weight is standing still. So who knows. I'm just trying to work it, and continue to exercise, and if I get to about 3 weeks after this fill and am still this hungry, I'll make an appointment. I'd almost forgotten what it's like to be hungry so much. Grrr! Juli, do you have spring break? Mine starts today, yes!

Some people have odd "full" signs when they have eaten enough or too much. Things like sneezing, runny nose, or a strange pain. Maybe your ear thing is one of those? Dunno, just a thought. But I'd just pay attention and if nothing is wrong and it happens when you get full (only on 1 side?) then maybe that is it. I would think if it was from chewing that both sides would hurt. Just a thought! The band is weird sometimes.

A lot of people have theirs replaced with a smaller, "low profile" port that doesn't stick out so much when they are at goal. You can't have it at first because it is much harder for the fill doc to find when you are still overweight. But sometimes that can be done at the same time as a tummy tuck so you don't have any additional scars. Mine doesn't stick out (I'm 20 lbs from goal) but I have always been able to feel it, and moreso now. It's never been a problem with any kind of activity whatsoever. And the scars are going away now, a year after my surgery. I'd much rather have a port stick out than still be fat.

That is what I have heard, 24 hrs of liquids after a barfing episode (or PB or whatever). I think full liquids is fine, the idea is just to let your stomach rest so it doesn't get swollen. The swelling can cause you to have more PB episodes and set off a bit of a vicious cycle. You don't want that! I'm sorry you had to experience that. The band teaches us whether we like it or not. Good luck and hopefully it doesn't happen again!

Just a little note about heartburn after surgery, if you have heartburn after being banded that is a problem that the band surgeon needs to address. It is not normal to have heartburn after banding, and it's NOT good advice (from the support group) to take Prilosec for a year after banding! If anything, that would mask any symptoms you might have of your band being too tight. It's best not to take any medications for reflux or heartburn unless your band doc tells you it's okay, and only after making sure that your band isn't too tight. The band being too tight can lead to a lot of band complications that can end up with having to have the band removed. Nobody wants that! Good luck!