fluffycat

My 1st fill was just a stick but this past fill felt like an arrow pierced into me. she said it was because the body is still kind of numb the closer it is after surgery. I say BS. It hurt

Spunkey1 I too am a very slow loser. I went for my 2nd fill on Saturday. My 1st fill was 1.5cc in a 4cc band and I must admit I had several vomitting attacks. So I was leary as to whether I should get another fill. But she told me my band was wide open with no restriction. So how come I am PB'ing? I take too large of bites, don't chew enough, and eat too fast. When I got on the scale I was down a whopping 1 pound over the last 2 months! I felt restriction so what happened? I started exercising this past month. My clothes have some room in them now. She put another 1cc in my band. Now what?! If you look on this forum under "slow losers unite" you will find others like us who are struggling. Not everyone drops 1-2 or more pounds per week. My weight has always been resistent and I knew this will be a long slow battle; but, slow and steady will win the race. Good luck!

This is a great forum! I am embarrassed sometimes to post on the other places because my results are depressing. but its my own fault, I accept that. I stupidly told friends when I got the lap band so now they are asking what's up. It does take discipline and commitment, willpower, etc. All those things a traditional diet requires. The good thing; however, is with the lap band, you really should not be physically hungry and I'm not! I fight head hunger. It is a struggle to exercise regularly. For what ever reason, my weight has always and will continue to be a battle. So I will take your advice on the protein. I will celebrate every fraction of a pound that I lose even if it is not comparable to others. I will ignore the short term reactions from my friends and look forward to the long term rewards. And I will recognize all of the NSV and keep my chin up. thanks guys. I need a good slapping around sometimes.

How much does he charge?

My wedding band has been so tight these last few years that my finger seems to have grown on to it. Now it moves freely and I can get it off (still somewhat challenging though). I lost my really nice band years ago and settled for a much cheaper one since my husband thought it was my carelessness. We will celebrate our 20th in June 2009. I sure hope this one is falling off by then -- I too want an upgrade!

I am lazy. What will it take to make me control my cravings? I love sugar. Lap band doesn't help with that.

I must be either eating too much or the wrong things. That scale won't budge! I know i am losing inches though.

It must have been too easy for me to get the lap band because I have not been doing my part. I finally started a disciplined exercise routine at Curves last week. I think I need to go back to the Adkins ketosis diet to jump start my efforts. You all are so encouraging and motivating!

Wow, We all have a lot in common. I live in Jax and I was banded by Dr. Zapata too. I am due for my 2nd fill next weekend. I go to Fill Centers in Moultrie, GA which is a 7 hour round trip. I haven't been working with my band so my results have not been impressive but I am so glad I took this journey. I have a friend with diabetes who is overweight and lives in Jax. She has been contemplating the band longer than I have. Let me know how your process is going because she wants to do this locally. Sandy

ok, I'm still trying to figure out this lapband eating thing. Since I am due for my 2nd fill in 2 weeks and it takes 7 hours for the round trip; I really need to get a grip on the PB'ing. I actually analyze my throw up to see how small my swallowed food should be. Yesterday, meatloaf came back up and it was really chewed up fine. So I am thinking it is not only how much I chew but maybe it's also how fast I am eating. Is it possible that if I eat too fast and my pouch fills up really quick that I am getting stuck? Any thoughts on this?

Here's a question. I eat slowly--very slowly. And I can eat quite a bit over about an hour. Am I supposed to stop eating when my pouch feels full? Or, if my food is passing through my pouch into my stomach fast enough to eat a lot of food in an hour--is my band not tight enough? I am due for my 2nd fill in 2 weeks. Sometimes my band is really tight. If I eat too fast or too large of bites; I PB. Unfortunately, I know how to hack it right up because that happens too often. I have to focus so hard when I dine with others. And I can't allow myself to get too hungry. My fill center is a 6 hour round trip drive so I don't want to go if I really don't need a fill. She does use flouro. How do you know if you are at the sweet spot?

Janet, Congrats GF! Go with the white pants--you look fab in that!

ditto! slow and steady wins the race. now if I would lay off that ice cream!

I finally went shopping and the same size fit.:biggrin: Went home, took off tags and wore that outfit to work on Monday. It was too big! how did that happen? maybe I am smaller in the morning! now I'm stuck with an outfit that I won't wear much. I wish there was a clothese exchange for lap banders close to me.

The Moultrie center is wonderful. Debbie and her 2 grown children run the center and they are very personable. My doc recommended 1cc but she felt like 1.5cc would be better. She was right! If only the drive were not so long from Jax.

I am also 5'3" (barely!). I was a chubby child but took control of my life at 16 and kept the weight off until 34. I averaged between 115-120 lbs and had a lot of muscle mass. At 34, I married and had 2 kids within 18 months. Oh, and changed jobs. Life has never been the same. I had no time to myself until recently. The past 20 years I have tried all kinds of diets, pills, therapy, exercise, etc. but it all fails and eventually the weight returns and brings some more with it. My gyn told me years ago it will never plateau and level out--it will just keep going up. I didn't want to believe that but she was right. Why go to Mexico? I do not have the patience or determination to fight Aetna. And now I can afford it. Why now? My kids are grown and I am through menopause. Why not. I have my fills done at the closest fill center. Only time will tell if my investment paid off. Good luck.

Just wondering-- you have less than 100 pounds to lose and you have a 12cc band--why? You must be a small woman if you want to weigh 100 pounds. How tall are you?

My band seems to constrict when I am not eating. So when it is meal time, it takes a while to get the band to loosen up enough to eat and pass food. Does this happen to anyone else? I usually try a few bites and then stop for a while and wait. Eventually the band opens up more. My food gets cold though.

And yet again, this site is invaluable. Who would have thought?

I love to sleep. At least one nap a day. I was even diagnosed with narclepsy and took pills for a while. I want to do things but my mind just gets so tired. I can sleep anywhere. I heard after losing weight that you get more energy. Right! I wasn't counting on it. I just spent 4 days cooped up with the family while we outlasted Tropical Storm Fay. No internet, no power for quite a while, no cable tv. Guess what??!!! I never took a nap. Not once. I ended up staying up late watching dvd's, using my laptop's battery power, etc. I didn't even realize this all important fact until yesterday when I spotted the DH laid back in the recliner taking a nap. For all the grief he has given me in the past 20 years over my napping--I just had to wake him up! Yeah to me -- this is by far the best, most significant NSV I could ever possibly imagine!

We too lost power for about half a day. The storm was brutal here and hung over our house for 2 days. It took all day yesterday to cleanup. We went to the beach on Thursday to check it out. I have never ever seen conditions like that. the wind gusts had to be 60 mph. I would like to get together with Jax bandsters also. I'm in the East Arlington area.

Karey, Got a question. If you have lost all your weight--what exactly is there to lipo away? I guess maybe the fat cells shrink but are still there? I would love a boob lift someday. How low can they go!!!???

I like the idea of chewing it up for the taste and then spitting it out. I may try that! If it was just a matter of eating healthy and exercising, I wouldn't need the band. The band controls portions-yes. But unfortunately, the bad foods go down just fine. I can't eat dense meats no matter how much I chew. Rice is a problem. Pasta and bread are not yet. Everyone's different. It only takes a couple of tries and you will no what to avoid.

BratKat, You are right on my goal! I am about 189 and can fit into a 16. I want to go to around 130-140 and am hoping that will put me in a size 10. I have always had a small waist so to go any lower would make my clothes not fit as good.

I have good restriction and I definitely know when I am full. It feels the same way as being full before the lap band. What makes you push away from the table after Thanksgiving? What makes you stop eating? You must have experienced that miserable feeling we all get when we eat too much. Its the same way after the lapband. You have to push away from the table and stop. You can still make yourself feel miserable if you eat too much. However, now the portions are much smaller than before the lapband. Thank goodness every meal is not Thanksgiving. We all tend to overeat at times--just don't make it a Thanksgiving dinner at every meal. Then you will stretch out the pouch. Consistently overeating to the point of feeling miserable. By the way, the full feeling is not the same as being stuck. If food is stuck in the pouch, its downright painful. Just put the fork down because it won't pass or get any better. It must come back up. Sometimes the food will pass. but now I know if it will pass or come back up because of the type of food. Dense meat (chicken, pork, etc) will have to come back up. And I chew it to death!