HeatherO

I have lost close to 100% of my excess weight now, and it is still a secret to almost everyone. I have gotten sick a couple of times near others and just claimed a stomach bug. It has not been difficult, but I did cut out a lot of eating out with others. Now that I am at the end of the road, I decided that if anyone is really struggling and could possibly be helped by knowing how I lost it, I would share the information.

She said it all. Not to mention, carrying around a lot of excess weight is quite a workout in itself. If you try to pick up 50, 75, 100 pounds and carry it around with you all day as you go about your life, it is not easy work. It is kind of amazing to think how much more me I used to have to haul out of bed, up and down the steps, etc. I certainly feel light on my feet now. It is definitely hard to lose close to goal. The last few pounds are taking months, lol. I feel your pain, but it is not such a bad place to be. I would take a few pounds from goal going slow any day over being obese and having it fall off quickly.

I agree with what every one has said. I think the key is to be vocal in a support group so that people understand what it takes to find success. Also, excuses about why something won't work for certain people is sometimes used as a crutch when people are making poor decisions. You have to work at it, age doesn't change that fact. There are lots of people at every age that find success . . . and failure. If age gave me an advantage, why did I spend my 20's being obese??? The best support groups are those that get to the root of what success means - back to the basics of exercise, healthy diet and mental conditioning/behavioral adjustments.

I felt almost nothing (maybe a weeks worth of slight restriction) at 6.3 cc's. However, by the time I got my next fill which put me to 7.8 cc's, the restriction was very strong and noticeable. Until you get close to your sweet spot, you really won't feel much of anything . . . but when you are close, small changes in Fluid levels make a huge impact.

It gets easier, there comes a time when you just follow the plan and it doesn't even require effort. You just have to find the fill level that is right for you. Did I have doubts in the early days post surgery where I was suffering and HUNGRRRYYYYY???? . . . absolutely, we all do. It is completely normal. However, now that I am a pound or two away from 100% loss of my excess weight,, I have no doubts this was the right decision for me. There were tough times in the beginning . . . but after a while you learn, your tastes change, food becomes an afterthought instead of your world and life goes on . . . for the better. Give it your all during these early days knowing that better days, and your eventual success, are right around the corner.

If you blow off the post-op diet, and don't follow the banding rules this early on . . . how can you be successful in the future? It is a tough decision to get banded, but those of us who lose the majority of the weight take it seriously in the beginning so that we can have success at the end. For me, I didn't want this to be one more diet plan where I fell off the wagon. It is best to give yourself these 4 weeks to heal properly and get your lives back in order. What is a few weeks when the results could be your ultimate success and a normal, healty fulfilling life at a closer to normal BMI. If you have fallen off of the plan, chalk it up to a mistake, try not to feel guilty, and make a decision that you will do what is best for you, starting this minute (not tomorrow or next Monday) and work it one day or even one meal at a time. It was the best thing I ever did and I have lost almost 100% of my excess weight. We can all be successful at this if we give it our best, no more excuses.

A shower is no problem. You just don't want to get the area overly soaked. So keep direct stream off the area, allow and water to rinse over it. Use a fresh towel and washcloth for every shower while you are healing and you should be good to go.

That is good to know and an interesting aricle. Thanks for sharing. I checked to see which foods are high in choline and found the following: A single egg contains about 130 milligrams, 3 ounces of beef contains about 70 milligrams, a cup of cooked broccoli contains about 60 milligrams, and a glass of milk contains about 40 milligrams. I am happy to see choline is in common foods that I happen to ingest regularly.

I am curious, how did the card work out :0)

:tt1::w00t::tt1: EJMDIVA is Preggerrrssss!!!!!! :cursing::w00t::w00t: OMG . . . I have been looking forward to this news for a long time and sending lots of baby dust. Now we can share our pregnancy stories, lol. Congratulations!!!!!!! I just reread the whole thread, which I really enjoyed. It went through both of our decisions to conceive, ups and downs, and finally . . . we got the end results we were both looking for. Hmmmm . . . so lack of stress with trying too hard to conceive and tracking/charting everything, and spontaneous flings with our dh's coupled with perhaps a few too many drinks may have just done the trick, lol. It seems like that has been the way a lot of us finally got our BFP's. :w00t:

I know my calorie levels in general, but I only count them and track when I hit a plateau or gain a little. It gets me back on track. Other than the first month after banding, I have never kept daily track for more than 1 1/2 weeks at the most. The tracking only gives me a quick feel for how I am doing, and if I am overindulging or snacking, I hate tracking that so much that I stop eating it and after about a week I am back in the right "frame of mind." I think most of this weight loss battle, at least for me, is in my mind. For me, I go by feel 90%+ of the time. Restless Monkey, I havent come across your posts for a while because I had been traveling abroad for an extended period and not online so much. You are doing awesome at 40+ pounds down in a few short months. You always give such excellent advice and I have really missed your posts :0)

That seems so crazy that it would repair itself, but thank goodness for no new surgeries. Is there any chance that the doctor may have missed the port on the earlier fill? As long as the fluid is checked each time, it sounds like you should be good. It helps to be back on the losing track once again. Are you feeling any restriction at this fill level?

I happen to be going to a baby shower this Sunday for a friend. I bought several outfits at the 3-6 month range (since 0-3 seems to last for about a day, lol). She did have a baby registry, but I did not check it since I was at a different store and came across a wonderful sale with some really adorable boy outfits (I even had to buy something for my baby eventhough I have no idea of the sex). I understand the point of registries, and yes they do cut down on duplications, returns or getting something that completely does not match anything else which might sit in a closet indefinitely. However, sometimes I wonder if I am a little too old school. There is something about pre-selecting your gifts from other people that feels wrong . . . I don't like buying from registries for anybody that I am really close with. It feels like there is nothing personal about it. Does anyone else feel this way?

The paper is there more to make sure that you understand that it is best to wait for pregnancy after banding. I waited until I got to my pregnancy goal weight of 150, but I did not wait two years. My doctor only said one year and that a healthy pregnancy can be achieved if you are at a more normal weight and are getting appropriate nutrition. The paper can not really hold you to anything, it doesn't have any legal significance. It is not as if the band will self-destruct or that they will remove it. However, I still think it is best to wait if you can so that you can lose the weight and be at your healthiest for pregnancy.

I agree with this 100%. If I feel nauseous but I do everything I can to avoid throwing up . . . I stay uncomfortably nauseous all day. With an open band, if a little has to come back up and it does come up . . . I feel instantly better and stay good for the rest of the day. I still try to avoid it, but sometimes if your stomach needs to expel the contents, it is almost unavoidable and I feel safer with an open band.

I see your port replacement got postponed. What happened? Do you know when you will get it replaced?

I am currently pregnant and had to have a partial unfill. Before the unfill, I was living with some discomfort after eating, as indicated above and occasional acid reflux issues. It was tolerable and I could still eat a healthy diet without pb'ing with normal Proteins and veggies. I lived with the occasional discomfort so that I could get to my goals and stayed in contact with my doctor throughout the entire process. However, since the partial unfill the most amazing thing has happened. I am still drifting closer to my initial goal of normal BMI, currently at 141 - I am only one pound away. Most of the time I am either maintaining my weight or losing at a snails pace. With a little less fill, my acid reflux is gone and I have no discomfort at all when eating. I feel like a normal person again and can even eat limited quantities of bread . . . but I also keep my diet in check by eating healthy foods and maintain my exercise schedule. I was planning on a small unfill once I reached goal, but pregnancy got me an unfill a little quicker than expected. For now, it has been completely worthwhile. I can keep my eating in check without discomfort and I never feel my band unless I am making a poor choice.

I started out at 800-1000 post banding until about 2 months out where I kept plateauing. I then raised it to between 950-1200 and that has kept me losing steadily through most of my weight loss. Whenever I tried to adjust downwards to kickstart my weightloss, I would stall. This has been the best caloric weight loss level for my body/metabolism/fitness level. I am now up to 1200-1800 calories due to being pregnant but am maintaining at that level.

Please let us know how it progresses. I really hope that it can be resolved with antibiotics and not losing the band.

Mine is in the same exact spot but maybe only 3 inches under the rib cage (but I am also short at 5'3 so I may have less torso to work with). It is really kind of evenly in between my waist and ribs. This has been the perfect locaton for me. It is above the waist so no pants problems and well below the bra line & ribs so no discomfort there. I have also lost my weight and it is not protruding at all.

You understood me just fine, I was wrong :0). My post wasn't correct for the initial question (I misread it as a pb post without seeing the he no liquids going down since I was looking at multiple posts simultaneously). My real initial response (if I had read the initial post correctly) would have been - no liquids down at any time is a serious problem, you need an unfill no matter what, call your doctor immediately. Inability to get liquids down is nothing to play with and you shouldnt expect it to get better over time. I would like to claim multi-tasking errors in judgement, attention deficit disorder, or maybe even temporary lack of sanity on my initial post. :0)

Mindy, you are right. I was responding more to the pb'ing begetting more pb'ing - but wasn't taking it to the level of inability to get liquids down. If liquids don't go down at all, it is more of an emergency situation and an unfill is needed right away.

I just got 87, lol. Talk about timing . . . I finally just got annoyed enough to report it.

I havent gotten any either . . . email that is, lol. I checked my settings and everything looks great. I checked my junk folders and they are all clear.

I was just coming in to post this same question. The system "forgot" my username and password a couple of days ago, I had to remember what it was since my login is typically automatic. I am pretty sure that after that point I stopped receiving all email notifications. My junk folder does not have anything from this site. I also checked my email settings under user cp and it does send instant notification. Everything looks great but my inbox is empty.