Gildy

I am going to Costco today to get the protein drinks to start liquids for a week. I wonder if I should try to find a better blender that really grinds up ice. Mine always leaves big chunks. I will see what they have. I will also look for sugar free/lo-cal gum and candy. I am so orally fixated. I have never been able to lose weight w/o something to chew on. When I was 18, I lost a lot of weight and got in great shape. I chewed Hubba Bubba grape sugarless gum constantly. It was sweetened w/ I think moxital or something like that. Not calorie-less, but I was on a pretty lo-cal diet anyway and ran a few miles a day. I would like to get back into running. That gets me into great shape. Scary to think of going back to that life. It was great, but when I started to slide away from the good habits, I lost all the approbation that had come and felt like such a failure. I never want to feel that way again. I think I am more scared of losing and gaining it back than not losing at all. For exercise today, I will do 30 minutes on the elliptical when my dh comes home. Or take the kids sledding. No coffee today. that will help manage the sugar swings.

Well, I would love to be posting with excitement and enthusiasm. It is there, bubbling under the surface. It wants to come out. I just have to be careful. I have started so many many times before. I remember sitting in a weight watchers meeting in a basement of some office building, being led by a woman wearing a dress that looked like it went out of style 20 years before she lost the weight she was when it first fit her. I remember the sadness I felt being there and the desperation and sense of failure that must have driven us all to sit on these metal folding chairs in this basement, getting weighed and hoping some of the words the leader said or one of us said would be the thing that would make it happen and we could be thin and happy. So here I am again. 5 years post-op. I finally came to the band believing that my weight wasn't my fault and I didn't really need to have control. That my body's desire to be fat was genetic and biological (see all my fat relatives?) and really I had to admit that and to stop trying to diet to be thin. I lost about 65 lbs, mostly during the liquid diet stage and a few months post-op. But then I started some bad habits and also developed some complications and then got pregnant and then had really bad complications (throwing up bile every night in my sleep). So I got the band repositioned and thankfully have not suffered that symptom again. But I also have not gone back to the eating with the band that helped me lose weight. I still use food as my entertainment and comfort and choose a lot of sweet and carby food. So I gained about 20lbs back. I would need to lose 90lbs to get to my ultimate goal weight. Can I do that? I haven't weighed that little since I was 9 years old. To lose weight in a healthy way, I would need to seriously reduce my calorie intake and increase my exercise. To get the ball rolling, I am going to start a liquid diet. This will help me to reset the clock, take the focus away from food and give me time to plan menus.

Thanks Jewel. Yes, I need to get in the groove. I have a good fill now. Have just been eating around it. I will see my doc if I need to change the fill. Take care!

I am going to Costco today to get the protein drinks to start liquids for a week. I wonder if I should try to find a better blender that really grinds up ice. Mine always leaves big chunks. I will see what they have. I will also look for sugar free/lo-cal gum and candy. I am so orally fixated. I have never been able to lose weight w/o something to chew on. When I was 18, I lost a lot of weight and got in great shape. I chewed Hubba Bubba grape sugarless gum constantly. It was sweetened w/ I think moxital or something like that. Not calorie-less, but I was on a pretty lo-cal diet anyway and ran a few miles a day. I would like to get back into running. That gets me into great shape. Scary to think of going back to that life. It was great, but when I started to slide away from the good habits, I lost all the approbation that had come and felt like such a failure. I never want to feel that way again. I think I am more scared of losing and gaining it back than not losing at all. For exercise today, I will do 30 minutes on the elliptical when my dh comes home. Or take the kids sledding. No coffee today. that will help manage the sugar swings.

Well, I would love to be posting with excitement and enthusiasm. It is there, bubbling under the surface. It wants to come out. I just have to be careful. I have started so many many times before. I remember sitting in a weight watchers meeting in a basement of some office building, being led by a woman wearing a dress that looked like it went out of style 20 years before she lost the weight she was when it first fit her. I remember the sadness I felt being there and the desperation and sense of failure that must have driven us all to sit on these metal folding chairs in this basement, getting weighed and hoping some of the words the leader said or one of us said would be the thing that would make it happen and we could be thin and happy. So here I am again. 5 years post-op. I finally came to the band believing that my weight wasn't my fault and I didn't really need to have control. That my body's desire to be fat was genetic and biological (see all my fat relatives?) and really I had to admit that and to stop trying to diet to be thin. I lost about 65 lbs, mostly during the liquid diet stage and a few months post-op. But then I started some bad habits and also developed some complications and then got pregnant and then had really bad complications (throwing up bile every night in my sleep). So I got the band repositioned and thankfully have not suffered that symptom again. But I also have not gone back to the eating with the band that helped me lose weight. I still use food as my entertainment and comfort and choose a lot of sweet and carby food. So I gained about 20lbs back. I would need to lose 90lbs to get to my ultimate goal weight. Can I do that? I haven't weighed that little since I was 9 years old. To lose weight in a healthy way, I would need to seriously reduce my calorie intake and increase my exercise. To get the ball rolling, I am going to start a liquid diet. This will help me to reset the clock, take the focus away from food and give me time to plan menus.

I finally have good restriction after months of re-learning the band (long story). I'm losing. I'm happy. I also have 3 social events coming up in the next 2 months w/ people I don't know very well. I am not out there with the band. I choose not to tell anyone except my immediate family. How do you who have tight restriction eat when out in groups? One issue is a sit-down dinner party. The hostess sent around an e-mail asking if we have any dietary restrictions. I don't want to say I don't like something like steak because I think that might sound rude. I'm thinking to take small portions if possible and pass things I can't really eat off to my husband. Advice on subtle ways of managing this would be helpful! Thank you!

I got the band 3 years ago. It was great the first year. I lost 60lbs, had great restriction, and felt like myself for the first time in a long time! I started getting reflux at night, waking me up w/ bile or acid in my mouth, as well as asperating into my lungs. This caused a persistent cough. I saw the P.A. at my dr's office. An esophagram showed nothing unusual. They advised me to stop eating 3 hours before bed and take reflux meds. I got pg w/ 2nd baby, got a slight unfill, reflux systems subsided and pg was great (w/o the excessive weight gain from 1st pg w/o band). As soon as baby was born, my reflux symptoms intensified so that I could not sleep at all. Anyone w/ a newborn knows this is torture! Dr. Ren unfilled me and had me get an endoscopy. Turns out I have a hiatal hernia (stomach tissue coming up through the band). I wanted to avoid another surgery, as My Dr. was not sure the hernia was causing the reflux and surgery would not necessarily improve the reflux. I waited and now she says that the placement of my band is probably causing the reflux. She said people who have the band placed higher up on their stomachs tend not to have this symptom. So I am scheduled to have the hernia repaired and the band repositioned later this month. I am awaiting insurance approval. I have been struggling w/ eating all year and even went back on weight watchers for a couple of months. I am hopeful everything will work out after the surgery (and that the approval will go through!). Has anyone had experience w/ re-positioning of the band? Thank you!

I got pg after being banded for about a year. I think having a 2yo and still working pt helped add to my fatigue. I am the rare person who started drinking coffee during pregnancy vs cutting down. I had a small ice coffee in the afternoons and it was immensely helpful in getting me through the day. My doc said 1 cup was fine. Best to you!

Hi - I was banded in Feb of 2005. had a similar experience after getting pregnant about a year after having the band. I had had some reflux symptoms before getting pregnant, but had a partial unfill during the pregnancy and that, combined w/ no eating at night and sleeping w/ my upper body somewhat elevated, helped control the fluids that had been coming up at night. As soon as I had my baby, I'm talking I was still in the hospital, I got the symptoms incredibly intensely. It was awful. Can you imagine giving birth, all you want to do is recover and every time you close your eyes you're wakened w/ bile in your mouth and coughing? I took the baby w/ me when she was just a week old for an emergency unfill. I had an esophagram that showed nothing, but an endoscopy showed a hiatal hernia. I left it for a while. I tried dieting. I really wanted to avoid the risk of another surgery now that I have 2 kids. Dieting of course didn't work. If it had worked in the first place, I would never have had the band! Now my surgeon wants to repair the hernia and reposition the band higher up. She said the repositioning will lessen the chances of the reflux symptom. I have to say, in a way it is good to know I am not the only one who had complications w/ the band that intensified after pregnancy. I am sorry you are going through this though. I hope you get it resolved. If I had it to do again, I would push for corrective surgery sooner. Though I have not had it yet. It seems like the best solution. Best of luck to you! Sneeka D.