puddin

I got .2 MORE cc's put in my band last Tuesday. So why do I have less restriction than I had right before? This happens occasionally when I get fills. It lasts until the next fill. I'm not losing saline - we've checked. Does this happen to anyone else?

Teresa, just put the bag down. PUT THE BAG DOWN! We don't want anyone to get hurt! B: My new favorite chocolate banana peanutbutter protein shake (half of it fills me up now!) S: 3 more sips of my protein shake L: Chicken marinara with spaghetti squash. S: Rest of my protein shake D: Probably go out to eat with the girls but I'll REALLY try to make a good choice.

Yeah, my doc gives me that sometimes. Actually, it's his nurses who give me the fills and they are puzzled when I tell them that. I think I go in twice as much as the average bandster just because of my crazy fills.

My problem's not necessarily that it's different from day to day as it is different from fill to fill. If I'm open, I'll stay open for the duration of that fill. If I'm closed, I'll stay closed for the duration of that fill as well. The thing that puzzles me is that if I'm open and go get another fill, sometimes I'm MORE open with more restriction and will be until my next fill appointment. Strange things.

Oh my goodness, you all are doing SOOOOOO well! I can't believe how everyone is shaping up! Teresa, do people gain when they come back from vacation? I gained while ON vacation the week before last, but then promptly lost it last week. I think a lot of the vacation weight was water weight, hence losing 3.5 pounds. But hey, I'll take it! Fill's kicking in! B: Metagenics chocolate protein shake w/ 1/2 banana, 2T peanut butter & 1/2 scoop chocolate unjury (and I could FEEL the restriction!) L: Sweet pork taco S: carrots with garlic hummus D: WW Turkey & mashed potatoes frozen dinner S: Another protein shake

Oh goodness, you'll be 4 months out by that point. You'll be JUST FINE, not to mention you'll be lookin' hotter in your swimming suit! Have fun!

Let me tell you about an experience I had today: I buy my Protein shakes from a lady whose husband had the gastric bypass surgery 20 years ago. He would have died 19 years ago but his wife has learned everything she could get her hands on about medicine and has miraculously kept him alive on Protein Shakes and other tasteless food. Well today his intestines finally stopped absorbing food altogether (she says) and nothing is working. They are afraid he's going to die. I was mortified for them. He's such a wonderful man - what a terrible loss if he dies. But I realized how grateful I was that I chose an option that didn't involve risks like that one. Now I'm definitely not saying that it's not the right option for some people, but I feel like the band has given me the opportunity to teach myself how to eat right, so I feel like the success is 'mine'. And I'm eating a sensible amount of food, getting my nutrients in, and losing weight at a perfectly healthy pace! I didn't want a quick fix - I wanted a healthy fix!

Gas X didn't do a thing for me, either! It only slightly helped after a couple weeks and I had gas in my intestines. Gas X won't help referred shoulder pain and gas pain in your abdomen. Walking and heating pads and ridding myself of fruit juices was the only thing that helped for me.

Bumping for responses. C'mon people!

Wow Kee and Teresa - you guys are doing AWESOME! Ahhhh... filled bliss right now. My nurse gave me .2 more cc's today! Despite being able to eat a lot I apparently lost 3.5 pounds last week. I'm convinced half of that is vacation weight though (doesn't really count). Today's meals (on liquids) B: SF carnation instant BF L: 14 oz of megatenics chocolate protein shake with all-natural peanut butter, half a banana, and half a scoop of chocolate unjury (bring on the protein!) S: 3 peach slices and 1/4 cup cottage cheese D: Chicken cordon bleu, peas and carrots, jello salad, and a small peice of chocolate cake (church function dinner) UPDATE: I was only supposed to have liquids today because of my fill but I could tell I was open so I went ahead and had solids for dinner at a church function. I just made sure I chewed REALLY well. However, I could still eat like over a cup of food. What's up with these fills??? 2.0 cc's was enough a month ago and now 2.4 isn't cutting it!

B: SF Carnation BF L: Stuffed bell pepper S: about 10 chocolate chips and 2T peanut butter S: 1 mauna loa chocolate & 1 toffee square (coworker came back from hawaii) D: chicken marinara with spaghetti squash S: About 10 more chocolate chips and another tablespoon of peanut butter (gotta stop this obsession!) Lots and lots of water Going in for a fill tomorrow so I can have a bit more restriction. I can eat like a cup and a half!

I had the same pain and Gas X did squat for me. The ONLY thing that helped me was 1)Throwing away the fruit juices, and 2)WALKING!

Here's what I have to do: I measure out 3/4 cup of food at each meal and eat it. I won't eat again for at least 2 more hours if I'm still hungry. That way I'm not going to overeat if I DO have restriction and if I don't have restriction then I can eat a couple hours later and not overdo it. My fills are very fickle and this is the only way to keep some sanity.

Nykee, I think you're beginning to see the light. For the longest time I was frustrated with your posts, thinking you were digging your own pit. I'm so glad you've decided to get an unfill and go for more solids. I think you'll find that you don't have the desire to carb load after awhile. What a relief it will be to eat healthy solids without throwing them up again!

Man, I didn't even attempt it before I was banded. The band definitely helps you to regulate your portions but it sure is easy to go over your limit. I have to just measure out my food before I eat it so I don't end up with a PB or pain. It takes like 20 minutes for me to realize I'm actually not hungry any more. You'll learn to chew slowly after a couple of PB episodes, though.

I'm having a VERY hard time today trying to get over the fact that after begging my dad not to tell anyone I got the band he went out and told the world! When I confronted him today about it he just said, "Life's too short to be angry," and admitted he didn't feel bad for telling people because he didn't think it was a big deal. Well he broke his promise and, to me, it IS a big deal. I don't care if he thinks it's silly to keep it a secret or not. It wasn't his secret to tell. I think I'm not so much upset that people know I have a lap band as I am that now I know I can't tell my dad things anymore. I told him today that I'll never come to him in confidence again. I'll go to my mother and I'll ask her to please not tell my dad. She keeps her promises. I don't even know why I'm posting this other than the fact that I'm just so angry over this whole ordeal and had to get it out. Thanks for listening.

Woohoo, I finally reached the 6 month mark so now I can contribute to this study: 304 pounds, 6 months, 0%, 150 minutes, (rather than put how many fills here I think the fill amount is a bit more applicable. My doc (who also happens to be your doc) is slow about fills) 2.2cc fill as of last Wednesday, no diet drugs, caucasian, 53 pounds lost

Stocky, I just noticed that you're going to be banded tomorrow!!!! I'm so excited for you! You've been doing so well on your pre-surgery diet that you're going to breeze right through being banded. I won't lie, though, the liquid diet really sucks. Cottage cheese never tasted so good after 3 weeks of liquids!

Woohoo! I'm back and ready to start posting my diet again. I need a little more accountability. Hey stocky, what kind of chocolate coconut protein shake did you have? That sounded SOOOOO good. Here are today's stats: B: SF Carnation BF L: Marinara chicken with spaghetti squash S: About 15 chocolate chips D: Snow crab legs and sauteed spinach (courtesy of my sister's cooking experiment) S: About 10 chocolate chips and 2T of peanut butter

Cash, I think we're saying the same thing in different words. I wish losing weight were simpler and we could always have some kind of real-time feed on what we're burning and what our bodies are doing. I think that if we do what we're supposed to be doing consistently it will be inevitable that the weight will go, barring we have any major metabolic disorder that forces us to burn only muscle. We've just got to hang in there!

A 3500 calories defecit always equals a pound of loss. The stalls and yo-yo's are the effects of your metabolism going up and down and perhaps your body holding onto whatever water you take in. You just can't get around the 3,500 defecit. It's like saying 1+1 doesn't always equal 2.

Protein also feeds your muscles so you're less likely to lose it. The 3500 calorie rule applies to EVERYONE. It's universal. The difference is how fast we're metabolizing all those calories we take in. That metabolism test I just took said my resting metabolism was 2,027. So if I eat 1,527 calories a day and I didn't move a muscle once during that day, I'd be in a 500 calorie defecit. That means it'd take me 7 days to lose a full pound if I didn't move once during those days. Your body has to take that energy defecit from somewhere, whether it be from your muscles or from your fat.

The 30 pound loss is not just water. It's fat and muscle as well. I heard somewhere once that if you're losing more than 2.5 pounds a week consistently you're losing muscle along with water and fat, which lowers your metabolism. It's inevitable, however, that we'll lose some muscle along with our fat. Vines problem may be that she's lost some muscle and maybe some other problems (my office mate has severe hormonal problems that keep her from losing fat) that may, indeed, be keeping her from losing weight, even if she's eating well. We don't really know what's going on with her body. I had my metabolism tested a few weeks ago and it was VERY enlightening. I learned how much muscle/glucose/fat I'm burning in addition to how many calories I burn sitting on my fat butt all day. I'd really recommend it to people who are wondering what the heck their bodies are burning all day. You can get this tested at some doctor's offices or gyms. I went to the university that I work for and had it done. It was only $30 - not a bad price for peace of mind or at least more info about what you should be doing.

I'm sure that my dad's proud of my decision and he's excited about my weight loss and that's why he told people. But that's not the point (though I can give him an inch for it). The point is that he breached my trust and it'll be hard for him to get that back. While I'm glad to have a father that loves me, I also have a right to be angry with him right now. My entire extended family knows because of him now and the rumors are flying (as rumors tend to get extended on that side of the family). I just wanted something to be mine for once - some kind of success that was mine. And now I'm getting the "you took the easy way out" attitude that I was SO hoping to avoid. So I'm vehemently defending myself to my extended family, almost to the point of crying about it. I'm exhausted for the week. I might just shrug and agree with them from now on. It'll be much easier. I've just had so much anger over this whole issue. I often wrestle with my 15-year-old brother, and boy, the wrestling has been fierce this week! LOL. He even said something like, "Whoa, where's this coming from?" Thanks for all your posts. I'll get over it. My goal is to be over it by the end of next week.

3/2/2006 B: 1.5c SF Carnation instant BF (240 calories, 18g protein) L: Turkey & veggies lean cuisine (150 calories, 15g protein) S: Abt 15 almonds (110 calories, 4g protein) D: Open-faced chicken salad sandwich (380 calories, 31g protein) S: 3 fudge sticks (150 calories) S: 1 WW carrot cake YUCK! (80 calories, 1g protein) Totals: 1110 calories, 69g Protein