tskelli

Anyone else here a member of NA? Would love to chat with ya!

Hi All, Sorry I haven't posted in a while. Was trying to catch up reading all the posts and although I don't have time to reply to each one, I hope you all continue to do well in whatever journey you're pursuing. Having some personal family crises right now, but we'll get through them. The band is still working for me, just too tight some days and too loose on others. Weird how it fluctuates. I went to the doc last Thursday for a follow up and I had lost 5 lbs since I had been there six weeks prior. According to his scale I was 228, 100 lbs less than my heaviest weight, and 91 less than surgery weight. According to my scale this morning, I was 226. Just wanted to check in!

Thanks! I am definitely going to check out WW. Thanks for the tips!!

For lunch I went out with a coworker to a Mexican restaurant. Had 1 steak quesadilla, a few chips with salsa, and a few with queso. Haven't logged it yet, so not sure of the damage. Teriyaki chicken breast salad sounds yummy!

Wow! It's great to read all the positive posts! I'm so glad everyone seems to be holding their own and doing what it takes to get over the hurdles. All of your posts were really inspirational! Let's do this!!! :frown: Logging my food again...day 2. Day 1 sucked BIG time. I'm ashamed to tell you the amount of calories, fat, and carbs I packed into yesterday. And I didn't eat all day long, just ate a lot of the wrong things. I think logging my food is going to be the key for me as well. Awareness is a great place to start. I WILL do better today.

Speaking of getting back on track, does anyone log their food intake these days? I haven't since last year, but started today (fitday.com). If so, do you restrict your carb intake? What's a normal carb intake? I guess WW would solve that issue, right? I'm seriously considering it! Points would be so much easier to track than calories, fat, carbs, Protein....ay yi yi.

I'm sorry you're having a rough time right now. I know you can pull through this! I've had some pretty dark periods through this journey, and if I can pull myself back up, anybody can. Don't beat yourself up. Give yourself a break and take it a day at a time!

Hi Jul - I can really relate! I have been doing this to myself a lot as well. I just gained back 2 of the 3 lbs I lost when my band was so tight. It is not tight now. I don't understand it. I've heard a lot of people say that it fluctuates, but mine seems to go from one extreme to the other. At any rate, I am working to get back on track today, too. Back to the gym tomorrow. Almost hoping my band will tighten back up to reign in some of my out of control eating habits!

Just checking in. Hope everyone is doing okay and having a great day! I decided to measure my food yesterday to see how much I can eat. I can eat almost a cup of food at a time. I'm not really having any problems getting things down now. I even ate bread this morning with no problem. Maybe I was overdoing it. I will still seriously consider getting a small unfill. Thanks again for everyone's concern and advice. How are y'all??

Thanks for everyone's words of wisdom. I will definitely keep them in mind. I haven't decided whether to get an unfill at this point, but I will keep you posted. Ezma, so glad you're doing well! Keep up the good work! Off to lunch. Will check in later!

Hi there, KTBUGG! I've also been banded for about 1 1/2 years (Feb 19, 2008). I'm glad to hear you're doing great. I'm doing good as well. NA is the same here, but most people know I have the band. I guess it's a personal choice whether to share openly about it. There are a couple more addicts in my area who have the band, also. We keep in touch and keep track of each other's progress (or lack of). Glad you're here! :sad:

Thanks, Amy. You're not "preachy" at all. I appreciate you sharing your experience with me. I haven't had a fill since June. Wonder what would make me be so tight all of a sudden? It wasn't like that before. In fact, on August 6th, I asked for MORE Fluid in my band when I saw my surgeon. He wanted to wait, so I didn't get any more. Just a couple of a days later, I couldn't get anything down. I ate a little meat and Pasta yesterday and it went down okay. How much should I be able to eat before stopping? Right now, I can only eat a few bites. Maybe 1/4 to a 1/2 cup. I'm wondering if that's how it's supposed to be. I could eat much more before, though. I seem to finally be losing again, so I'm hesitant in getting an unfill. All advice/suggestions are welcome!

Yes, popcorn and ice cream are my weaknesses. I did end up calling the surgeon Saturday morning. The P.A. was on call and told me to try meat tenderizer. I couldn't bring myself to do it. She said she would meet me in the E.R. to remove all the Fluid from my band if I thought I couldn't make it til Monday. I hung in there, and it seems to be getting better. I do believe something was stuck in there. It's odd to go from being able to eat almost anything one day, to barely getting liquids down the next. I stayed on liquids and mushies until tonight. I ate dinner, including a small portion of meat, and it went down okay (I chewed, chewed, chewed!). I wasn't able to eat as much, but that's okay. As long as I can get some food down. I'll give it a few more days. If it still seem like I'm too tight, I'll pay my surgeon a visit for sure. Thanks, Ezma! You, too! It's good to be back and in touch with all of you!

I'm glad I'm not the only one. It's great to be back and see some familiar faces and some new ones! Wow, Amy! Glad they figured it out and glad you got a new band! Glad to be back and glad you're back! The papaya enzyme didn't do the trick. Tonight I drank pineapple juice and it seemed to help a little. A few days ago, I felt like I had very little restriction and now I can barely get anything down. And certainly nothing solid. Instant grits, veggie Soup, popcorn (I seem to be able to eat that no matter how much restriction I have), and a few bites here and there. That's it for the past couple of days. I hope this passes soon. Oh...the pineapple juice gave me terrible heartburn! But I guess it'll be worth it if it clears whatever is stuck!

Angie, you look great!

This happened to me over the last couple of days. I threw up three times yesterday and was only able to get Soup down. I think I had a piece of meat stuck, though. I came on the site to do some looking around and found a thread about Papaya Enzyme. I went out and bought some a couple of hours ago. It seems to be helping.

Hello, Victorious Valentines!!! LTNS! I hope everyone is doing well. I've only browsed through a few of the posts, but I must say, y'all look fantastic! Sorry I've been MIA. :ihih: Thanks to tapshoes for the prodding to return.

My hair is coming out!! :biggrin: Every morning I have gobs of hair falling out of my head!! :teeth_smile: I started taking Biotin a couple of weeks ago, but it hasn't helped. It's been happening for a few weeks now, and I think my hair is starting to be noticeably thinner. I'm going to search the forum, but I thought I'd see if any other February bandsters have had this problem?

I have had 2 fills. I have 5cc's in a 10cc band. I'm not sure I'm at my sweet spot yet, but I'm darn close. I didn't feel restriction with the first fill, but I felt it immediately with the 2nd one. They put in 2cc's when I had surgery, I got 2cc's on my first fill, and 1cc on this last one.

Karen!!! Yay!!!! You go girl!!! I'm so happy for you! :biggrin:

I hate that it's happening to y'all, but I'm glad to know I'm not alone. I get protein. I try to make sure I get plenty, so I don't think that's it, either. My hair is really thick, and no one has really noticed except me. My husband did say it looked a little thinner, but that's what I get for asking. :biggrin:

Definitely much more burping here since getting the band. And A LOT more since I got this last fill. Oh well...it's a small price to pay, I suppose.

Yes it is! It looks like you have come a long way in that area! Congrats for keeping the weight off!

Wow, Jaime! You look great! Keep it up!!

To be fair, we'd really have to calculate percentage of loss. Can't count pounds in a competition if I started at 319 and someone else started at 250. Guess we COULD calculate percentage and see how we rank, though. A little competition might be a good motivator, but I certainly don't want anyone to feel bad if they are struggling!