shortgal

Kat, I keep my calories ,which I am fairly faithful with writing down, between 1000 and 1200. I did weight watchers a couple years ago and it took me ten months to lose thirty pounds. Half of it came back real quick and I fought to keep the other half off while waiting to get the band in. That almost one year I was on WW, was very helpful in learning portion control and making good food choices. I weigh and measure my Protein at most meals at home. My downfall when I was on WW were the weekends. (*paragraph below) Now post band, I have a treat once in a while, but mostly I eat salad, meat like beef, (more often chicken), fish ( tuna, salmon, shrimp, sole or flounder) with a veggie. A lean cuisine for lunch, a yogurt, apple or a Protein Bar for a snack, maybe a 100 calorie pack. I dont eat much bread but I will have a piece of whole grain bread or a Fiber one bar for the fiber once or twice a week and my morning Cereal is a high fiber one b/c the high protein diets can be low in fiber. I'm great at not drinking with eating and waiting the hour but that is b/c I never drank much when i ate, so that rule was kind of easy for me. It seems to be more of an issue when I go out to eat, b/c the drink is in front of me. I wait one hour after a meal and I have a bottle of flavored Water. I actually find myself checking the clock when I finish eating, so I'll know when the hour is up. I get about three or four bottles of water in an average day and exercise with all the trips to the bathroom! I'm trying to make all these things a habit. I figure bodies like routine. If I used to eat b'fast everyday at a certain time, then my body and stomach expected that meal at that time every day. So if I subsitute a smaller portion and a higher protein, lower carb cereal at the same time every day, my body will get used to that and expect that and be happy with it. Same with lunch and dinner and the band is definitely helping my stomach to say, yeah this is OK. The message the band sends is a little weak, (I have to really pay attention) but with more restriction is should get stronger. Looks like you were recently banded. What food stage are you on? Is there a band rule you're finding more difficult than another? One that's easy for you? I see you went to Mexico. Many people on the forum have and loved the experience. Was that how it was for you? do you have a local Dr for fills or are you close enough to go back to mexico for them? Oops, this paragraph was supposed to be in a different place* A long Ct. winter meant not much walking (after surgery) which I was doing before surgery, just to prevent weight gain before banding. I have begun to start walking again, but not as regularly as I was last fall, but managed to walk three miles in just under an hour three times last week. I want to make it closer to five days.

Wasa: I'm sorry you're having complications. I used your name because you echoed some of the things I said earlier in this thread about the longevity of our bands and I added bariatrics being a profitable business. Minds ,even basically honest medical ones, can get turned in the wrong direction when profit is involved. And hospitals, feeling the pinch from HMO's are not immune to believing a profitable clinic ends up helping the general population by funding ct scan machines etc. No way, I was saying you contributed to your complications ( since I didn't know you had a complication or what complication you had) and did definitely not mean to imply you had contributed. I meant people in general that have slips etc. We might know the number of people percentage wise with slips but the possible cause and personal contribution (if any) are unknown. I am still being advised that I should strongly limit any NSAID intake. Just like some are advised no carbonation or caffeine and others are told it's ok. How can they get accurate stats, based on different instructions and which people follow them and which don't. These things influence stats, so we have to questions there legitimacy. I've read many of your posts, you're knowledgeable and I'm sure you are seeking the right medical advice for your complication. I was once in a medical trial. It was for lithotripsy of gallstones. The two trials were laproscopic gallbladder removal and lithotripsy treatment of the stones. I don't feel I was fully informed about the trial and after being told I would be treated free ( which was not why I tried the treatment b/c I had ins that would pay) the hospital billed my ins co. anyway ( and my ins co paid). This was many years ago before the new HMO's etc. I ended up having my gallbladder out traditionally (open)anyway. At the time of the trial I was in a school program and could not take six weeks off for traditional surgery. I had the surgery after I graduated, but was a lot of pain waiting to take the time off. Later, I guess I felt like a guinea pig and I felt mislead about the "free" treatment. Again sorry you have complications and I sure didn't want to make you "out" yourself on the specific problem you're having.

I love that line by Hastings! And it will stick in my mind, too. First usually what we feel is not really hunger, but boredom, loneliness, happiness, sadness etc. but even real hunger is not an emergency. It's not like I have to go hunting all day and track and kill some beast before I can eat! Great Line!

Welcome Pat, Sounds like you are ready to begin your lap band journey. Hope all goes smoothly for you.

Kat225, No offense taken. I guess I felt the need to explain my position becasue I was described as "cold" and the person alluded that I felt superior to others because I choose to use some willpower during the time between banding and a good restriction level, so I was a bit defensive. I apologize to you that I felt I had to defend myself against your post. I have said many times, that I understand "bandsters hell" and there have been days when i struggled, too. I tried to suggest that it is possible to control our choices, even if we can't always control the quantity and similar phrases. I mean we have all dieted before, so isn't it possible to try dieting one more time until we get that long awaited restriction, that we all crave and know we need. That was the message I was trying to get out there. That sitting around waiting for restriction was not helpful to our cause. Your opinion might differ from mine, although I don't think it does very much and I agree that people have a right to their opinion. I took offense to the words "cold" and "negative" ( not used by you) going around the thread simply becasue some of us choose to try hard to stay on track. I do not feel that makes me superior, perhaps just further in the journey. If the other person got that from my response then I guess she wasn't ready to accept the message. Actually you have echoed words I have said for many years. We don't tell an alcoholic to have three small drinks a day, we don't tell a drug addict to have three small hits a day or a smoker to have three small cigs a day, but we are told to just have three small meals a day. Well, you can live without cigs, drinks and drugs but you cannot survive without food, so where does that leave us? Thanks for the response, Kat! I appreciate it.

Did you try posting in the SC state group or in the "fill Dr's" section on the forum? Maybe you'll get a few more responses there. I hope your local TX doc can help you with a referral to another local DR.

My Dr has no food restriction the day of fill, but my appts are in the a.m. and I usually don;t eat, but I will have a Protein shake, if I feel like one. I prefer nothing be in my pouch, just in case. I am to be on full liquids for two days, then soft food for two, then try solids again slowly. I tend to get a tight feeling for 2 to 4 days,(from swelling from the fill process) starting the evening of the fill. It generally loosens up after that. Once you hit the sweet spot, the restriction should stay longer. As you lose more wieght, you might need one or two small fills. Hope that helps!

I don't feel different, yet. I am still Mom to my kids and my husband does not treat me differently. My friends seem to react the same way towards me and I still feel I have the same sense of humor and not just the "funny fat girl" kind of humor. But I do think it takes time to get our head to match our new body. I am just getting into the "regular" department stores, so sometimes I think someone is going to tell me, I am shopping in the wrong place, so I can be afraid to enter certain stores ( like Victoria's secret)thinking they don't have sizes to fit me. But I know they don't really care, either way, it's really me that has the problem. Do we need to define ourselves with one word, such as fat? You could also be tall or short, blond or brunette, kind, generous, cute or perky. I have a friend that has always been thin. she does not like to wear shorts and she told me because she has a lot of veins. Well, I NEVER noticed any veins, I only noticed her nice, thin legs! And with her legs would never worry about wearing shorts! We can be our own worse critics. I hope you find a way to get over this "lost" feeling and find a new inner you to match your new outer you.

From April 6 to April 20 is 14 days and you've lost 11 pounds. That is over 3/4 of a pound PER DAY! Please try not to be so disappointed, that is a great weight loss, the scale will go down again. You're most likely feeling the effects of your old dieting attempts, where we always failed, so you're worried this will fail. It's less than 2 weeks from surgery, give it time. Your feeling is common, time will fix it! My ticker was once at the beginning and now it's more than half way and I was worried just like you, not so much anymore!

TxArcher: Wow, you're smaller than you thought! Shopping in regular stores is great! Good for you! You can ask Santa for a whole new wardrobe next christmas!

Yes, and that is not the only place the troll has been. And one could think that he has not been back on this thread to finish his story because there is no story to tell, or at least one that is believable. So instead has he left his own thread to troll the other ones? He comes across as sweet and caring in some of the posts but the PM's to me are definitely a harsher tone and that is why I have blocked him on my PM list.

Headhunter: You have been added to my blocked PM list of users. :thumbup: All my love, Shortgal!

The person on Big Medicine, if we are both referrring to the same person ( female) had a Molina band.

The OP has PM'd me AGAIN! Says I am ignorant but then asks if I want to "hear" his whole story, because he's willing to share with me. why would he want to debate with someone he thinks is ignorant? I think I already said in this thread that I am bored with his story, as it takes too long for him to tell it all and I've lost interest. If he has a problem, I am sorry about that, but I can't do anything about it or help him with his problem, so why PM me? The people with interest in his story are the ones that also have complications. The people that are happy with their band and not having problems don't care other than the fact they are sorry that someone has to go through it becasue they know that one day they might be the one with the problem. But if you don't have a problem, it's hard to relate to their experience. We're sorry when the band doesn't work for people. I'm glad he's found A NEW WAY TO LOSE HIS WEIGHT. I don;t need a new way to lose my weight other than the band because at this point my band works. Maybe I'll be interested in another way of losing weight, if and when, my band stops working for me. Until that time, I prefer to remain blissfully ignorant, thanks.

Wasa: I agree about the longevity of our bands and said that to the OP earlier in this thread. You are right, we are guinea pigs in this, perhaps at some point we will all lose our bands. But desperate needs, call for desperate measures. Will the band keep me alive long enough until the next best thing comes along or will it kill me before the obesity might have? No one knows the answers to those questions, but we made an educated decision with the info we had at the time. If I come up with a severe complication, then I might decide the band was a bad idea, if I don't have a complication then I guess I'll think the band was a great idea. Only time will tell, for all of us. No different for GBP patients or patients that try certain cancer treatments. Many treatment plans for whatever the disease are new and long term results can be unknown, but we have to do what is best at the time with the knowledge we and the Dr's have. Another unknown questions, How many people contribute to their complications? Slips? How many people allow their band to be too tight for too long? How many people "cheat" on early post op diets? How many people take NSAIDS, when advised not to? Are these things factored into the complication stats? Of course I realize that many people could have a complication even though they have followed instructions to a tee and some that didn't follow all the instructions might have no problems, but we have to wonder. I have read people say they were too tight, too long, had reflux etc but thought being tight would help them lose weight faster, even though we are taught that weight loss with the band should be one or two pounds a week, they want to push the envelope! If they have problems later, is the band to blame or was it the desire to use the band in a way it was not meant to be?

AND please read ALL my posts in this thread. It was a series of responses. Perhaps some of you are responding to ONE of my posts, but unless you read them as a series it is hard to understand where I was coming from. Thanks!

Kendra, Good news! sounds like you're kicking cancer's butt and losing weight, too. You multitasker, you.

Don't know if he's stopped coming on this thread but he is replying on other threads and like Nicole8wing, he has send me a ridiculously long PM, which I have no intention of replying to.

I agree that food IS an addiction, but if the band allows food like ice cream and chips and Cookies to go through easily, then how can the band ( even with restriction) completely control our eating? I don't remember reading that I or anyone else said they are IN FULL CONTROL of their eating. Sometimes people are just willing to try hard even though they know they don't have restriction. Even many addicts/alcoholics are willing to try a "dry" period. Sure, they usually replapse, but a TRY is possible, not mandatory. God forbid, someone suggest this? If the person's mind set is that they CANNOT do this without restriction, then I guess you're right, they won't be able to do it without restriction. BUT, I can tell you that believing that RESTRICTION is the complete savior can be misleading. Perhaps people misread someone that says they are trying hard NOT to cave in BEFORE perfect restriction becasue they see their own WEAKNESS, not because they see the other person's strength. As a counselor, do you make suggestions that addicts try behavior modification techniques? Did your Nutritionist or Dr suggest behavior modification techniques? I believe that is the same thing we were suggesting/reminding people of so they could be successful, not because we were trying to condem people. If you ( or other people) want to wait for perfect restriction be my guest, but I am not willing to wait for that. The forum is made up of many different people and opinions and the way I suggest someone try something, might not hit home with you but might hit home with someone else.

NIP, I know it's sounds crazy but eat more one day, like 1200 or 1300 calories and try to make some of the extra calories fiber ( like a fiber one bar, or a high fiber cereal. I know it doesn't make sense to eat a little more, but it tends to work. I think our bodies hold our weight as protection, but when your body sees more calories are available, it just relaxes and releases some weight.

thanks! It does take me just under an hour to walk the three miles and it feels good, but winter time gets hard to fit it in consistently, that's why i don;t like to count on exercise for weight control, I'd rather do that by food intake, but when I do exercise I feel good and it's bonus calories burned! Just moving in general is good for us, gardening, house cleaning, grocery shopping it's all some activity.

Molly, you seem to have really turned the corner! Great job!

Well, I've crossed that bridge a thousand times on previous diets. Struggle very hard to lose some weight, gain it back, over and over. Oh yes, I would get a band again anyday. We all want to lose our weight fast, like yesterday, please, BUT this is THE fastest I have ever lost this amount of weight and I have to say it's been so much easier than dieting without the band. It's still hard some days, but overall better than no band. I was told to expect one to pounds a week, so I believed that and it has been true. Do I expect the last 15 pounds to be slower than that rate? YUP? After you lose 50 to 60 pounds, it will take fewer calories to maintain that new lower weight, so it will take even fewer to continue to lose, so the rate at which we lose will slow down or we have to increase our exercise to compensate. None of that is news to me, so I won't be surprised. I think if we look at our weight loss, from week to week it seems slow, but if you look at your weight loss over the past six months, then it's impressive really. You've lost over 7 pounds every month on average! Keep it up and one day, you'll wake up, get on the scale and be at goal!

Welcome Scandido! Advice? Follow your doctors instruction for pre-op and post op eating to avoid complications. Know that you'll most likely be sore for 2 to 5 days after surgery ( sometimes people are a lttle depressed, too right after surgery. Know that you will eat real food again. You are NOT giving up food forever,just temporarily. You will give up the big portions you once ate. You might not lose as fast as you're hoping to, as long as the scale goes down a little, it's going in the right direction. Most of us are nervous before surgery, that's very normal. We were all excited, too! Find the group on the forum of people that are being banded the same month as you. It's great to follow along with people at the same post op phase as you are. There are also groups based on age, or how many pounds you have to lose or info about exercise etc. The forum is a great resource and The band is a great thing!

OMG, Is he still talking? Blah, blah, blah. you know how in the "Peanuts" show everytime an adult talks it's Whah,whah, whah, That's all I hear now.