Wheetsin

What size band do you have?!?

Ok, found two more. First is the side pic that goes with the front pic above. Second is about 8 lbs lighter than I am now, wearing the skirt I'm wearing in my befores... so should still be pretty accurate. Sorry about the little pics, I posted these on my Atkins board and we were limited in the picture size we were able to post.

Ok, completely forgot to have hubby take some pics lastnight but I did go to my old Atkins folder and find my before, and also find a "during" where I weight 6 lbs more than I weight now, so it gives a pretty good idea. I actually wore the green shirt/jeans outfit yesterday, so I know it should be a pretty good representation of about 65 lbs down and about 140 left to lose.

"do you eat whale blubber?" That's silly. Everyone knows Canadians just eat poutine.

Things like this are so hard to describe. There's no real easy way to say "it feels like this" because it's a unique feeling. It's like when someone asks you, "What does <whatever> taste like?" and the best you can come up with is trying to explain that it doesn't really taste like anything else because it has its own unique flavor. So here's my best effort. I'm going to get gross on you. Have you ever been suffering from sinus drainage or a head cold, or maybe allergies, and when you try to swallow if feels like there's a big wad of mucus in your throat that won't go down? Or even better, before you swallow, you can feel a ball of slimy unpleasantness sliding down the back of your throat? It feels kind of like that, only instead of in your throat, you feel it where your band is.

Right, I just used the picture to convey the idea I was trying to describe, not to evaluate whether or not her particular shoes in that particular picture are the right size or not.

Here's what comes to mind when I read your questions... 1. There's no way I voluntarily went through my first surgery so that I could NOT make this work. 2. The band is not just a "diet", as your question seems to suggest. The band is a tool. You have to be mindful of what you eat, the band will not make choices for you, but it will help you feel full more quickly (eventually), and will add a powerful element of b-mod that diets only do in ineffective ways. 3. I've psyched myself up for diets, but even after being on them for a year+ straight, I never believed I would be following them in 5 more years. I never saw it being a lifelong thing. That's part of why I lost & gained - I could diet, but I couldn't commit. It took me over 4 years to come to terms with the band being for life, accept what that meant, and decide I was ready for the committment. 4. Your willpower can quit. Your band cannot.

Normally I take a bite, and by the time I've chewed and swallowed it all I'll be ready for another bite, but I'll also know if I'm not because I'll feel it. I will feel one of three things: 1. Something "sitting there" or "going through" - basically just feels like it says, something is making its way through the band. Not a feeling that makes me want to write poems, but not bad - more of an "awareness". When I feel this I will stop until I'm sure it has passed, normally a few minutes. 2. What I think is my version of "first bite syndrome" - hurts my belly to either side of my bellybutton, and is more painful than #1. May take as little as 10 seconds or as much as 15 mins to be gone. It comes and goes, like a delayed throb. When gone, it is followed by throaty gurgling for several minutes. Once gone I can resume eating like normal. 3. Something "stuck". So far I've never had something stuck clear, I've always had to PB it up, or MAYBE once it cleared but I still PBed up the saliva so it doesn't count. This feeling hits pretty immediately. It may feel like #2, but way more intense, and doesn't lighten up at all - no "throbbing" quality. Pain is there, and there to stay. I know (after just 3 times) that I've progressed to "have to PB" when my back starts to hurt between my shoulderblades, and my sides hurt. #1 and #2 never cause pain in these places, but every time I've had to PB I've had it. If I PB, I'm done eating, often for the entire day, but definitely for the next few hours. It really has a way of sapping away your appetite. When I do resume eating, it's warm, thin Soups. I don't think I have enough restriction for it to control my intake yet, and I've not yet picked up on any kind of a "soft stop" - so I guess I'll have a few more chapters to add to my "weird PB feelings you can't describe" book after my next fill.

Me too, I've actually vomited twice in the last 20+ years to be specific, but a PB is not the same as vomiting at all. Similar action, totally different outcome. Vomiting means the contents of the stomach: food, acid, bile, whatever. PB does not. A PB should only include whatever got stuck, and whatever you put on top of it that couldn't get by, or maybe just slime (but that's getting into the technicals of lab-bandese, and there is no universal consensus on the words in that language!) PB should never include acid. Vomiting usually involves several "spasms", too, whereas normally when I PB I wretch once. I may have to wretch again later, but it's just one "Bleeehhh....", not "BLEH! BLEH! BLEH!" Also isn't nearly as unpleasant because there's no burning, and the whole acid factor again... it's just saliva & food. I can keep myself from puking, for the most part. I can do nothing about a PB. When I have to PB I have to PB and there's nothing I can do to stop it short of dying, and even then my band would kick my esophasgus and make it push it up, just to spite me. Sounds like you got stuck, and got lucky. :Banane20: It's also interesting that people feel PBs so differently. I don't feel a thing in my chest, but it will make me wish I could pull my spine out.

Hi and welcome! Good to see a fellow diver! The ticker site should give you a URL you can use to display your ticker here. If you aren't sure what that means, search for "ticker". I know someone posted detailed instructions here before.

I had something that sounds similar, but not exact, a few years ago. It lasted 3 days. I would get lower stomach cramps that would come and go like clockwork, about every 20 minutes. They would last about a minute. Then sure enough, about 20 minutes later it would come back again. Between cramps I would feel fatigued, but not tender. My doctor at the time told me he thought it was my body reacting to something I ate. It was in the intenstinal part of the abdomen, so it made some sense, but for the most part I think that was his way of saying, "I have no clue." Sound anything like what you have?

It would be a little concerning if you weren't nervous.

Thanks for the kind words, all! Just saw this question: Wheetsin has the weight loss you've had possibly inspired your mother to consider it? She called me the other day, and among other things told me that she saw somewhere that a bariatric surgeon specializing in AGB is coming to her city. I don't think it's someone who would be affiliated with the local hospital, so my best guess is that someone is opening a private practice there, or some kind of center not affiliated with the hospital is opening. But, if the surgeon IS affiliated with the hospital, then there's a chance her ins. would cover it and I know that if she could get ins. coverage for it she'd consider it more seriously than she is now. It's a long story but the hospital system in their city has a monopoly on all of the state employee insurances (that situation is getting better, but still not great) and pretty much controls the city... e.g. all the city officials work there when voted in, or are offered jobs there once elected. I know that particular hospital system is 100% against supporting bariatric procedures. Not only do they offer 0 coverage of any kind ("Meet with our dietician" is their answer"), they won't even let the local support group use a room after hours - they had to arrange meetings at the library. But we can keep our fingers crossed and hope it's an unlikely change of policy. Her latest thought is, "Maybe I can just eat what you eat, but without the band." I told her that wasn't going to happen. So then she thought maybe it's something she could wean herself to... cut back part of her portion size at a time, and over the course of a few months get to where she was just eating my portion sizes. I haven't talked with her since, but we're going to visit this weekend and I have 'splaining to do. She doesn't see that AGB still requires holistic devotion to weightloss.

Hmm - really good idea. Does it taste like a normal omlette, or does it taste like a boiled egg omlette? (to me eggs in a pan and eggs boiled have very different taste)

I hate seeing people wear ill-fitting shoes. Like when some ladie's toes have to curl down over the edge of her shoe. *shivers* I was buying shoes and I usually go for as close to "heel even with shoe" as I can, without going to "foot over edge of heel". If that means there's a little extra show length (because the freak big foot shoe sizes don't usually come in half sizes) then so be it. The shoe lady told me that was all wrong, that there should be 1/2" between your heel and the edge of the shoe. I'd never heard that.

That's really funny! New Mexico... ah hah hah, where we smell our wine corks and only eat gooey cheese! I work with a guy who wants to go to England, because he's been told the New England colonies are pretty in the fall. You know... their old colonies are just mediocre, but the new ones are a must-see. Oh, and shortly after 9/11... this one guy I worked with... you know the type... says one day, "I can't figure out why in the hell all the news is making such a big deal about Islam. It's not even on the damn map, so it can't be THAT much of a threat."

Keep in mind it's not just bandsters who do that, it's everywhere. I too have been involved in threads where the impression I get is, "You're too new to be able to have an opinion" (in general, not directed at any one person) but when you think about it - this is also the prevalent attitude of most messageboards, internet communities, and IRL communities. I see it at work, with school, in organizations I'm a member of... everyone who has had the experience "knows best" - for lack of a better word. We start a new job and we're at the "ignorance on fire" stage, where we don't know what has to be done or how we fit into the picture, but dammit - we're going to do whatever it takes to get it done the best it has ever been done before. The people who have worked there for 10 years find it amusing. The people who have been married 40 years find the recently engaged amusing. I find people talking about how hard they have to work on their undergrad classes amusing. The new guy who hasn't experienced "the busy season", the teenager with their first car... whatever. And feel free to substitute "amusing" with whatever word is appropriate for the situation... in the cases P'nut is talking about, disgruntled may fit, or jealous, or annoyed... whatever. I believe that at some point most people have looked at a "junior" and thought, "You really have no idea..." Now what they think after that thought is what makes or breaks the deal. You can try to help, or you can sit and laugh or scorn. I have seen some sr. posters having an almost disgruntled attitude towards the more recently banded - and I'm not talking specifically about here so much as the online banded communities in general. I wondered if this had anything to do with the likelihood that the newly banded is experiencing the rapid, up-front weightloss while the more senior banded is likely experiencing more of a struggle to get the last few however many pounds off and has become a little jaded about their experience because of their struggles. In the instances I have seen, there does appear to be some resentment in the message. Again, this is not specific to or directed at LBT.

If I had the rest of that Vin Diesel pic, I wouldn't be here at work posting, I'd be at home uh... being very good to myself...

I'm only 2.5 mos out but I'm filled to 50%. So far there are no foods I've had to give up, but there have been some I've wanted to. Ground sirloin/chuck/hamburger for one. Now that I have to chew things so much, I find the texture very unpleasant, and it quickly loses its taste, plus you can only chew it so much and it never quite goes to goo, more like goo with pieces of ligament in it. Blech!! I never cared for hamburger too much pre-banding, unless it was in something else (lasagna...) so no big loss there. I've given up white bread, again - no big loss. I haven't even tried to eat it post-banding. I don't miss it so why bother, plus I know that it causes so many people so much trouble that I'm like -- why bother? I've given up corn for now, but may try it someday. I think it's something I'm likely to have a hard time with, so while I miss the corn salsa on my bol, I'm not hurting any. Let's see, what else... lots and lots of other things I haven't necessarily given up, because I could easily have them, but I'm choosing not to. Things like ice cream (the real stuff), butter, fatty dressings, reguar Peanut Butter (IMO - the low fat/carb really does taste better, esp. the Peter Pan lowfat). I haven't tried steak yet, but I'm not a big steak fan so no real loss there either. Pre-banding I'd order chicken over steak 9 times out of 10. Now if I ever have the problems with chicken that I read about so many others having... then me and my band are going to have to have some words... Edited to add rice - haven't tried it, don't find it worth the risk. If there are a few grains stuck on something else I'm eating, like lastnight the meat from my chicken burrito had a few grains mixed in it, I'll eat that, but not a forkful of rice.

I tried to watch what I ate pre-banding, for a bit anyway, so I only allowed myself 1 since they came out but have you guys ever had the chunk Reese's? The ones that are two or three normal cups all rolled into one... there's a TON of PB in those. Mmmm. Now back to my sad simulation of a "choclate and peanut butter" protein bar.

I met my husband backpacking through Europe. That must be the answer - pack up, and go get your ticket! When I met hubby I wore a size 18. Still pretty big for some, but at 5'10 - 5'11 it's pretty good for me. When we were "dating" (as much as we could, considering we were 6,000 miles apart) he was, in his own words, "Proud to get someone like you." He was convinced he didn't deserve me, I was too pretty, too smart, etc. He actually slipped with his non-native English a few times when I would visit and he'd bring friends over, unanncounced, because he wanted to "show me off". Don't get me wrong, I'm certainly no trophy wife & never going to win a beauty contest, but my "traits" are very different/unusual compared to what's indigenous to his home country. I ask him - if we weren't married, but had been dating this whole time and I asked you to marry me, would you? And he says yes. I ask him - if you didn't know me, and I looked the way I do now, would you ask me out? And he says he doesn't know. I ask him - if we were just friends, and you'd known for me as long as you really have, would you ask me out? And he says yes. So I ask him - "Why would you ask me out if you knew me, even though I'm fat, but not if I was a fat stranger?" And his answer is honest. He's not one of the few men who find the bodies of fat women attractive, and as much as we like to be deep people, we will always always always under any kind of normal conditions be attracted by looks first. That's not to say you can't move past looks, but by definition it's generally the first "screening" criteria. So... now that he knows me, and has found qualities that attract him to me that are stronger than his initial phsyical attraction, my size/appearance wouldn't matter, but if he didn't know that about me, he would need to learn it since the physical attraction, while still there on one level (he loves my red hair, he thinks my eyes are exotic, etc), is not there on another (I JIGGLE!). I don't think you can find love. It's not like a pair of car keys or a misplaced wallet. Love just happens, and either you're in the right place at the right time or you're not. ...or you just learn a whole lot about the other person and use that knowledge to manipulate them into a relationship with you.

Hey mini_me, I'll trade you having 200# to lose, for "only" losing 10 lbs in 2.5 mos any day! I did forget to take before pics this time, but I do have some older ones, from a few years ago... my "before" when I started Atkins. I was actually a little lighter this time around, but not by a whole lot so they could still be fairly accurate. Maybe I'll see if DH can snap a pic tonight. I don't think to post before/afters, even though I keep them in my blog. And thanks guys. Seeing the change in BMI is what really gets to me. I keep thinking how much HEALTHIER of a number that is...

The only time I can't burp is when something is stuck. That's one of my "I'm going to PB" signs - I try to burp, but can definitely feel something keeping it from coming up. Even if I've just eaten I can still burp, I just feel it shifting its way through my mush to get out. Delightful little bastard. I'm the opposite on the toots. I noticed on Atkins that I hardly ever tooted. When I did it was as though I had leased it directly from the sulfuric flames of hell, but it wasn't a daily or even weekly thing. Same thing now, minus the whole sulfuric flames thing. I was gassy lastnight & today, but since banding I hardly ever toot & now it doesn't have an odor, either - and I'm not just trying to make myself feel better when I say that, either!

I can do everything I could before, except look at my belly without seeing surgical scars! Actually I can do more. As for the pounding, not sure, but runners can still run. Does that pound as much as riding a horse? I don't think there'd be a problem, but won't say anything for sure so definitely ask your doc. I'm a scuba diver and was worried I wouldn't be able to dive anymore, issues with increased atmospheres, integrity of the silicone, etc. but he checked with Inamed for me and I got a big thumps up. Sorry, my insurance isn't through Cigna.

And sorry for the detour... :focus: