MistyD65

Last week: 278.6 This week: 277.6 Woo hoo! Down 1 pound! I took two 1-hour Nia exercise classes this week, but I still need to get in daily walks. You all should check out Nia - it is so much fun! The studio I go to has "Nia for Goddess Bodies" - I like that term lol. Nia Technique - Fitness, Health and Wellness, Personal Growth Training For everyBody I had my first fill this week and I have a lovely yellow and purple bruise there. Turns out my port has tilted and the dr had trouble until he realized that, and went after it from a different angle. Thank goodness he had numbed the area beforehand. I didn't feel a thing! I now have .6 cc's in a 4 cc band. Not really noticing any restriction yet, but I'm not rushing things. I know that it can sometimes take a couple of weeks for it to become apparent. Plus, it's only my first fill. Oh gosh, and I had the munchies sooo bad yesterday, for the first time since surgery. I think it has to do with anxiety over Hurricane Ike's descent onto Houston. And I did give into it a bit. I ate a few Pringles and a couple of Cheetos, but mostly nibbled on some shaved ham and a bit of cheese. Could have been MUCH worse. lol Keep up the great work everyone!

I was only at 300 calories during my first week post-op and was really weak and shaky. I managed to squeeze in 200 more calories a day, and spent the other 2 weeks of my liquid diet right around 500 calories. That helped, for sure. I didn't try to push exercise because I just didn't have the energy because of the low calorie intake. But I made it through, and you will too!

When the library called me to tell me what I already knew (closing for Ike), I took the opportunity to go ahead and reserve a meeting room for next week. So, we are on the books for next Saturday 9/20 at 2:30 in the Cy-Fair College Library. Save the date!

Happy to do it! And we are on for next Saturday 9/20 at 2:30 at the Cy-Fair College Library!! Save the date!

To unsubscribe, go to your subscriptions page and at the bottom of your list of subscriptions is a "Move to" menu. If you click that, you have the option of deleting subscriptions. Sounds like a good idea to me too!

I just got the official word that the college and library will be closed from this afternoon though Sunday. And with Ike forecasted to make landfall Saturday morning, we'd all better plan to stay home and stay safe. I will contact the library about reserving the meeting room again. Shall we try for next Saturday, the 20th? Maybe I can get it for 2 PM, so I can still get to my exercise class at 4:30. You all should check this out, it's called Nia and it is so much fun! Studio NiaMoves Fitness & Movement Studio The studio offers 2 weeks free to Houston area residents and you can try out as many classes as you want in that time. The Saturday Nia class is for "Goddess Bodies" - us full-figured gals.:rolleyes2: Only problem is that the studio is in the Heights - if some of you are interested, we could carpool. It is really worth the drive for me! Batten down the hatches, check your flashlights and get ready to ride out the storm! Stay safe and see you all soon! Misty

Yep, and I just got official word that the college and library are closing this afternoon and won't reopen until Monday. Booooo Ike! So everyone, stay home, stay safe and let's try again for next Saturday. I'll see if I can get the meeting room again. I'll keep you posted!

Mine is 2 inches above my belly button and about an inch to the right of it.

I just got back from my first fill. Turns out my port is tilted about 45 degrees. Dr. Bonnor was finally able to access it by changing the angle of the needle. Said it could pose some difficulty later, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. He put in .6 cc's. He believes in a conservative approach. He said every time he's tried to be more aggressive (usually on a patient's request) it has not worked out well. I'm fine with that. If this fill will help me stay full for another hour I'll be happy!

Hi Bandster Buddies! I finally heard back from the library and we have a meeting room reserved from 4 PM - 6 PM this Saturday, September 13 at the CyFair College Library. The library is located on West Road, off of Barker Cypress on the Lone Star College-CyFair Campus. From Barker-Cypress, turn west on West Road and go down to the 2nd entrance (I think it's actually numbered as Entrance 3). The library is on the left as you approach the college from that entrance. Our meeting room is 131, to the left just as you enter the foyer of the library. It's a HUGE room lol. If anyone would like to carpool from Katy, we could meet in the Kroger parking lot there on Fry Road and Park Row. I've got an Expedition, so we can pile 5 -7 people in there. I would want to leave the lot by 3:30 at the very latest. Just let me know if you are interested in that. I hope everyone can still come. Please note the time change from what we discussed earlier - 4 PM.

Hi Bandster Buddies! I finally heard back from the library and we have a meeting room reserved from 4 PM - 6 PM this Saturday, September 13 at the CyFair College Library. The library is located on West Road, off of Barker Cypress on the Lone Star College-CyFair Campus. From Barker-Cypress, turn west on West Road and go down to the 2nd entrance (I think it's actually numbered as Entrance 3). The library is on the left as you approach the college from that entrance. Our meeting room is 131, to the left just as you enter the foyer of the library. It's a HUGE room lol. If anyone would like to carpool from Katy, we could meet in the Kroger parking lot there on Fry Road and Park Row. I've got an Expedition, so we can pile 5 -7 people in there. I would want to leave the lot by 3:30 at the very latest. Just let me know if you are interested in that. I hope everyone can still come. Please note the time change from what we discussed earlier - 4 PM. If I do not have you on my email list and you would like to be, let me know.(I sent this same notice out through email today). I'm looking forward to meeting you all! Misty

To quote our Jack, **Super Moderator**: "Restriction is unrelated to 'gaining weight'. 'Over eating' is related to gaining weight." Restriction or not, you still have to change your eating habits for the Band to work. You say you are eating 5 lbs of food at a sitting? Maybe you were exaggerating for effect. But if not, there is the root of your problem. You should probably be eating about a cup of food at a meal, and it should take 15-20 minutes to do so. With little or no restriction you will probably be hungry within a couple of hours of finishing. If so, eat another 1/2 cup. On the other hand, if you have really been eating as much as you say, you have probably stretched out the small pouch above your band. You also said, "I know im not eating all the right foods but if I had restriction i should still be loosing." Actually, you could be almost completely restricted, but if you are eating mostly "slider foods" - milkshakes, ice cream, creamy high-fat Soups, mashed potatoes - those foods that go down easily, you will still gain weight. This article by Jack really puts the changes all Bandsters must make into perspective. http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f15/art-science-philosophy-living-band-74427/ Take a few minutes to read it. It may give you an "a-ha!" moment. Don't give up! You can do this!

Hooray! :thumbup:

I had an upper GI about a month before my surgery, then again the day after, to check that things were moving through my band. No lower GI, thank goodness.

3 hours after 1/2 a Protein shake? Yeah, I think being hungry is a given. Even with restriction, which you probably don't have yet, a protein shake is going to pass right through the band. If you can, you may try splitting your shakes up more and having them more often. My doctor has his patients drinking 2 ounces of a Protein Drink every hour while awake, then 2 ounces of other fluids every 15 minutes as desired. I did that for about a week, then started drinking 4 ounces at a time, not so often. And LOTS of water! Hang in there. This is the famous "Bandster Hell" between surgery and first fill. Things WILL get better!:thumbup:

I'm afraid if you weigh every day you are setting yourself up for discouragement. I admit I did weigh every day the three weeks after my surgery, while I was still on liquids. But once I moved to real foods I started weighing once a week on Friday mornings. Your body weight is going to naturally fluctuate each day due to many factors, so weighing daily isn't really a good indicator of how you are doing. Don't expect a drastic change with your first fill. From what everyone says, it can take several fills before you reach that "sweet spot" of restriction, where the food in your pouch takes 3-4 hours or more to pass through the stoma into the stomach. And it will do nothing for "head hunger". I've been fighting that this weekend. I know I'm not really hungry, but I find myself wanting to eat because I'm anxious about a few things. And I am NOT going to let myself start turning back to food for comfort. That's how I got here in the first place. I'm having my first fill tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it, and a little nervous too. I've not had any troubles with PBing at all, and I want to avoid that, but I know that with each fill comes the chance that something you've been eating with no problem could become a problem food. So I'm going to do liquids for at least a day or two afterwards, or whatever my doctor tells me to do. Then I'm going to be REALLY careful as I add back soft foods. Keep the faith! You've only been banded for a short time. And stay off those scales!

Not getting enough calories can be as bad for weight loss as getting too many. Do you know how many calories you are taking in daily? I've seen many people report that eating in the upper range of recommended calories each day got them off of a plateau.

Sweetie, you are not even a month post-op. This is the time fondly spoken of as "Bandster Hell." It's not a time of weight-loss so much as it is a time of healing and letting the band "settle in". True, some people do enjoy a quick drop of as many as 20 pounds during the first week or two, but almost everyone either gains some or stays the same once they go back to soft, then solid foods. I think what has helped me tremendously is having a sample meal plan to follow. (I'm starting my 2nd full week of soft foods after having been on liquids for 3 weeks post-op.) Suppers are 3 ounces of a soft, easily chewed meat or fish, plus 1/2 cup of vegetables; lunches are 1/2 cup of tuna, chicken, egg, or ham salad, or cottage cheese, with 6 crackers or 1/2 cup of peaches; breakfasts are a scrambled egg or 1/2 cup oatmeal, sf/ff yogurt, cream of wheat, or cold Cereal with 8 oz skim milk. I get my first fill tomorrow, and I hope it's going to help me stay satisfied for a bit longer. Right now, I'm getting hungry about 2-3 hours after a meal - usually closer to 2 hours. Just hang in there. It takes some time to get this new tool of ours to its ideal setting, but it will get there! You are not alone. :thumbup:

I was on modified full liquids for 3 weeks after surgery...basically clear liquids plus protein drinks. For the first week I was only getting about 300 calories a day. Once I realized that, I found a protein drink with more calories and added that to the other two I was using, rotating between the three. I was able to get up to about 500 calories, and there I stayed for the next two weeks. I'm on soft foods now, and I've yet to hit the 1000 mark; I think 950 is the highest I've been so far. But I'll be adding more foods in the coming weeks, so I should be there without much trouble.

I think the question of whether you will gain weight back is going to depend on how much you eat, and the food choices you make. I'd say if you want to make sure you don't gain, be extra mindful of your portions and watch out for fat and carbs. On the other hand, this new amount of restriction may be just right. Keep up the good work!

I think I've only been "full" 2 or 3 times since I started soft foods on 8/27. Each time I ate right at a full cup of food. I felt, in the band area, a pain like a "stitch" you get when running. So, I've been assuming that's what the pain was - hitting that full mark, or maybe even a bit over it. If I only eat 1/2-3/4 cup, I'm fine. And I haven't been trying to eat til I'm full; instead, I'm following the soft foods meal suggestions that my nutritionist gave me. All of the meals appear to have between 1/2-3/4 cup of food. When I have finished the meal, I'm no longer hungry. I sometimes feel like I could eat more, and I often want to eat more, but I know that since I'm no longer hungry, that I've had all I need. THAT'S the big change I'm having to make, and I'd probably say most of us have to make - only eating as much as we need, not as much as we want.:shades_smile:

Once you reach the restriction "sweet spot", your Lap-Band will cause you to feel full on a much smaller amount of food than normal, and that food will keep you feeling satisfied longer because of the time it takes to pass through the band and into your stomach. It will not, however, take away the desire to eat. Some people can't seem to overcome that desire and find ways to "eat around the band" - eating things that go through it easily, like ice cream, milkshakes, high-fat Soups, mashed potatoes. That defeats the helpful properties of the band. There is also the issue of "head hunger" to face, and that is probably the hardest to get past. I resisted any kind of WLS for a long time for the same reason you mentioned: If I'm going to have to change my eating habits even after surgery, I should be able to do it on my own. And yes, I have lost weight on my own before, but I always end up putting it back on, and more. After the last cycle of doing that, I decided I needed a tool to help keep the weight off, and Lap-Band is the tool for me. There was a wonderful post last week by "super moderator" Jack that you should read: The Art, Science and Philosophy of Livinging with the Band. http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f15/art-science-philosophy-living-band-74427/ Perhaps it will shed some light. Best of luck in your choices!:lovechoc:

(cross posted in Katy/Cypress Area Meet-up) I checked on reserving a meeting room at the Cy-Fair College Library on Barker Cypress at West Road for next Saturday 9/13 at 2 PM. Unfortunately, they are booked until 4. We can either change the meeting to 4 or come up with another place to meet. Either way works for me! (I've sent this info out via email too!)

I checked on reserving a meeting room at the Cy-Fair College Library on Barker Cypress at West Road for next Saturday 9/13 at 2 PM. Unfortunately, they are booked until 4. We can either change the meeting to 4 or come up with another place to meet. Either way works for me! (I've sent this info out via email too!)

All the stores I've ever bought anything from (all 2 of them lol) opened the packages and installed batteries to make sure that they worked, which is a good idea since you can't take that stuff back!