niche

i'm black jeannie! i am black, so that works out and my mother's name is jean... maybe this computer is onto something!

i see, it is basically a sleeve pouch with the intestine connected downstream at 1 point instead of cut and reconnected at 2 points. thanks for the info!

in the lapband with VSG, it seems like it might be a good idea because the VSG has a banded stoma but it was not adjustable. so the band might actually be a good improvement on the surgery. also, can anyone tell me what a mini-bypass is? i don't understand the difference b/w the traditional one and this.

1slowloser, do you have good restruction? i ask as i only lost 15 lbs in the forst 3 months or so because i had no restriction.

the slightly padded microfiber bras might help. i recently got one at target.

this is a before and half way there. a friend sent me the 'after' pic this afternoon and i was wearing the same shirt i was wearing during vacation in jaunary so i thought i'd share.

today: - walk run interval 30 mins 4mph/7mph (1 min intervals) - 180 arm exercises - 300 ab exercises i have been soooooo unmotivated in the last 2 weeks. i don't know what's wrong with me! i found out that i didn't lose any weight this past month, so i got to get my butt back in gear. i've cut out the drinks and made a new committment to exercise. wish me luck!

thanks for all of the info guys! i am definitely one who does better with cravings and results with a low carb diet. i don't think that everyone does well with the exact same diet and paul, i totally agree with your assessment that a lot of diet info is put out there by parties who are pushing some agenda or another. i mean the food pyramid itself is basically a propaganda tool for the grain industry. so i'm gonna keep trying to be sugar/processed carb free!

if you were banded in the US and a woman starting under 300lb you most likely have a 10cm/4cc band. especially if 1.5cc is giving you incredible restriction. i have a 9.75cm band and it took 3.4 to give me good restriction, if that helps you at all.

i'll join the chorus here! i'm literally almost NEVER physically hungry but i think about food all the time. once i got to my current level of restriction, i am very seldomly hungry.

thanks Elizabethsew! that's great info!

i just called inamed to see if there is some sort of product support number to guide a doctor through the unfill process if they are not familiar with the device. i'll let you guys know what i find out.

single girl in the big city here. i've had two men since the surgery in november. the first one i dated from 1 week before the surgery till february. i told him that i was having my gall bladder removed and he sent me a beautiful card. (sweet) so when we did get intimate, it wasn't a surprise to him that the scars were there. but i did eventually tell him about the band. the second guy was more of the situation i think you're talking about. we dated for a few weeks and it was clearly headed to the bedroom so i made sure that it was on my terms. soft candle lighting. cute undies (more for my confidence than his enjoyment :eek: ) and he never mentioned a thing. whether he noticed or not and just didn't say anything i'll never ask. actually, when i did end up telling him, it was when he cooked me dinner for the first time and i didn't want him to think i didn't enjoy it. so i pretty much agree with everyone else here. i don't have too much of an insecurity about telling guys about the surgery. as time goes on i am getting more willing to tell people. i told a girlfriend of mine who is one of those people who has battled her weight and does this by going to the gym up to 3 times per DAY. so, as you can imagine, she had worse things to say than any guy i have told.

today i took a leisurely treadmill walk at 3.7mph for 3 miles. i twisted my ankle last night and didn't want to push it.

today: - 35 mins interval session: 1 min @ 7mph, 2 min @ 3.7mph. - 150 crunches - 3 sets of 10 lunges and squats i kind of slacked off on my resistance today. i was tired after the intervals. that's really kicking my butt, but it's good to step it up.

i haven't had a bad one either. although my mother still doesn't really understand the operation no matter how many times i explain it. i actually had a wonderful experience telling some cousins of mine about the band this weekend. i was at a family reunion this past weekend and i saw two cousins who are close to me in age. they are prob about 100 lbs over weight at this point and they have gained about 30 or 40 lbs since i saw them 2 years ago. when i saw them then i casually spoke about weightloss surgery and they were horrified that i would consider doing this. but once i saw them this weekend and my whole family was commenting on my weightloss, i knew i had to tell them even though i was afraid of a bad reaction like the last time. when i told them, they almost cried and said that they had been seriously thinking of WLS and that they appreciated me sharing this with them. they were both mostly considering the band and they were so happy to talk to me about it. so that has to be my BEST instance of telling someone.

i was banded by dr. ren and have nothing but great things to say about her and everyone that i know who was banded by dr. fielding is very happy with him.

today: cardio - - 5 min warm up @ 3.5 mph - 25 min intervals: 1 min @ 7mph, then 2 min @ 3.5 mph - 5 min walked backwards @ 2.5 mph resistance- - 400 reps of ab work - 180 arm and back reps

i am not one of those people that never considered gastric bypass. my decision was weighed between the two. i only had 80 lbs to lose, so it seemed more doable to me that i could cut down on food and do more conscious behaviour modification to lose. if i had say 200+ lbs, my personal decision may have been different. also, if i were a real sweet eater, my decision may have been very different. also, i think that the 70-80% ewl stat is more like 'at some point' GB patients lose this. i don't know if that is the longer term number. people that i know who have had GB go really low then get to about where band patients are. after a while their pouch expands and their intestines begin to absorb more nutrients. so over time, their anatomy is not at the 'optimal settings' that the doctor created in the beginning. i think that the adjustable nature of the band may allow you to benefit from recalibrating over time. i would guess that in the long term, the band might allow you to actually modify your behaviour and learn new ways of being. but i think it's great that we have different choices for surgeries to deal with different situations. even the GB has different degrees of malabsorption. then there's the duodenal switch and the vertical gastroplasty. i would just encourage you to read as much as possible before committing to any surgery and think about what your obesity is caused by and which surgery has the best chance of helping you. best wishes!

i think the restriction is key, but in my experience it takes about 2 weeks to get off the carb cravings on a low carb plan.

today: tried something new. i did interval training on the treadmill. 5 mins warm up @ 3mph, 1 min run @ 7mph then 2 min walk @ 3.5 mph, all at 2% grade. i definitely feel different inmy legs. my hamstrings are pretty sore and i really sweated. i was feeling like the straight walk was hitting a plateau in terms of challenging myself. so we'll see how this goes - 3 sets of 10: squats, lunges - 60 secs of standing on 1 leg on instability disk - the 100's - 100 crunches - 50 oblique crunches - 50 elbow-to-knee things - 25 pelvic lift (for lower tummy) tomorrow i'm headed to LA for a family reunion and i'm actually looking forward to the hotel gym! now that i know what to do with the weights, it'll be fun

damn baby you are doin it!! telly, 5lbs is 5lbs! you are one hard core hot chick!

sunday: - 6 mile walk and no resistance monday: - 4 mile walk - 18 sets of 10 arm and back exercises - 350 crunches and pilates exercises today: - nothing yet. i think this will be a day off. HAPPY 4th of JULY!!

yeah, i've never had flouro. i think it's usually overkill. you just sneak up on the right restriction. worst case scenario, you have a bad night and get an unfill the next day. i guess the only case i'd really believe in flouro for every fill is someone who has their fill doc hours away.

today i took my day off. i went to 2 birthday parties last night and overslept. ah, well. but i'll let you ladies know what i get into tomorrow!