2muchfun

Ahh, ya big baby. It's no worse than a skeeter bite! tmf

Apparently you haven't been reading this forum for long? You are following the same path most of us have followed for years. I know, I followed the same path as you except I wasn't ready to throw in the towel at 60 days. You've lost 12 lbs in 60 days. You probably won't have this much success from here on out. I don't know what you are eating, how much you excercise or if you are in the green zone? Calories in vs calories burned will be your new challenge. I lost 12 lbs the first 10 days and nothing for the next 3.5 months. Then, fill #3 helped me find a little restriction. Also a very good nutritionist pointed out where I was going wrong with my food choices. I've lost 25 lbs since late March. You will follow a different path than me or anyone else but you need to find some patience. It can be frustrating I know but it will come in time. Only expect to lose 4-6 lbs per month from here on out. And, expect to see week if not month long plateaus along the way. Some people don't experience this but they are far and few between. Good luck! tmf

I am.

You don't own a scale? I always find it interesting to hear how other doctors work with patients. My doctor didn't want to see me for 6 weeks post op. That was fine with me(1 hr drive through crazy traffic) but I can understand the anxiety of patients wanting affirmation that they are progressing. ^5 to you. tmf

You haven't filled in your profile so we can only assume you're post op? I eat 5 times a day. 3 normal band meals and two snack meals. I think it's different for everyone. I read where many people eat a meal and aren't hungry for 4-5 hours. Lucky them. That's not me. I get hungry every 2.5-3 hours except after dinner. I'm losing and I'm sure I could lose more if I avoided the snacks(healthy ones) but dieting equals discomfort for me and I don't plan on being uncomfortable for the next year. That's what destroyed my prior attempts at losing weight. tmf

Marci, I see you've lost so much weight. I sincerely hope this plan works for you. I looked at your before and after. I don't think I've ever seen such a transformation? I mean really, it's really amazing!! I hope I get even half the results you did. But I'm not wearing the skirt tmf

My band has a mind of it's own. Soon you'll see what I mean. I can eat chicken, salmon and even steak but there are days that my band says, "uh, no, not today pal" and I'm at the sink or toilet sliming my guts out. BTW-You'll lose any modesty you once had over table manners once you find yourself "stuck". Our journeys are similar, only I didn't know what you seem to know at this stage. Took me 4 months to get it. tmf

Not a lot of bandsters out tonight? Can't help you from personal experience and I hope I never get to find out. If you can eat whatever you want, it could be any number of things other than a slippage. Since you are new to this you are probably in "Bandster Hell". They usually don't put much saline in your band at first. You do get a lot of restriction from the trauma of surgery. The swelling in the band area behaves much like you are in the green zone but most bandsters aren't. This usually goes away 2-4 weeks after surgery. You suddenly can be extremely hungry and food just doesn't make it go away. I had this but for me I got enough restriction from the band that it kept me from overeating. But I could eat anything I wanted and nothing got stuck till fill #3. Hope this helps? tmf

I can't add much to this. I never had the big cravings after surgery but I was extremely hungry for 4 months of "bandster hell". I wanted everything I ate pre op and I mostly did eat those foods. But, the band did give me enough restriction or, I was mentally banded enough to eat less and not gain. For some reason I now crave vegetables and salads. Fortunately my band likes those foods too and they're filling to boot. Good luck, it sounds like you've got this band thing down much more than most. tmf

I like his technique. I had to endure 6 fills and 3 months of not losing. The only thing that would concern me is I think the docs like to sneak up on restriction because they're afraid filling too fast could cause some irritation in our band area which would result in some inflammation. But if I had to do it again, I'd do it your way. tmf

We had a taco salad over the weekend similar to Hummingbirds. I have a salad about 5 days a week. I prefer a mixture of spinach and various lettuce types. I can eat cucumbers, radishes, carrots, tomatoes and broccoli. I can add chicken to it like we did last night but salmon seems to be a problem. tmf

Make a commitment to know as much as you can before surgery. I took 2 years to get to that point and I don't regret it. It's been a good 10 years since I've wore some of my old clothes and it's a great feeling. 10 for you is definitely possible. tmf

You can edit/correct your own post if you click on the edit button next to the quote button. tmf

Lately I've found myself wandering around the kitchen, opening the fridge and pushing around some leftovers. Then walking away without eating anything? That's a real change for me. In the past, I'd find something. Peanut butter/jelly on toast, or just toast with a cube of butter on it and so on. I subscribe to a blog by Michelle May, M.D. and I received this today. It really makes sense and unconsciously I've been incorporating this into my daily habits. Seems to be working. Don't Pull That Trigger Focus: Whenever you want to eat or continue to eat, that is your trigger to pause and ask, Am I hungry? or Am I still hungry? In essence, you are creating a new trigger for yourself - wanting to eat now triggers you to pause and check in. This pause creates a gap between the stimulus and response, allowing you to respond instead of react. Explore: If you're not hungry, get curious! I wonder why I want to eat right now even though I'm not hungry. What was the trigger? Accept: Don't judge yourself. You wouldn't judge a machine for having a switch! Instead, say, Hmmmm, isn't that interesting? Strategize: Choose how you will respond. I could eat anyway if I want to. For now, I am not going to activate this particular sequence of events. Let's see...what else could I do until I'm hungry? Take Action: Each time you choose not to pull the trigger, you weaken its connection. It's as if the wires rust and eventually break. Further, each time you choose a different action, you create new connections. With practice, you will hardwire these new pathways - like insulating the wiring. Eat Mindfully, Live Vibrantly! Michelle May, M.D.

My doctor has only one employee and she's real sweet and books me whenever I want. Now, the doctor I had originally signed on with is a different story. There were dozens of horror stories on their LBT topic before this site cleaned out all the old threads. I called and emailed them several times to schedule my closing as I had passed all the insurance requirements. No one called me back for 6 weeks and by then I told them I had found another doctor. She sounded giddy that she didn't have to work with me. So, yes, many doctors office staff are not great communicators. tmf

Yvonne, I don't think it says you should eat more? It just gives you examples of what to expect. You only eat 600 calories a day? Your body will slow it's metabolism down to nada if you keep that up. But if it works for you I can understand why you would continue? For me that would be too much discomfort. Band or no band I'd be hungry(no, starving) all the time. I wouldn't have enough energy to exercise let alone move. tmf

I was like you in the beginning. I thought I'd be losing 10-15 lbs a month. Then I did the math. First, if you have a lot of weight to lose, you can lose 50. 60, even 70 lbs the first 3 months if you follow the rules. Most of us only lose 10-25 lbs the first few months. And the weight we lose in the first month is mostly Water. Here's the math: One pound equals 3500 calories burned! Our bodies need about 2000 calories a day to maintain the weight we now enjoy. If you can pump up your exercise routine, that figure could go up 200-600 more calories per day. If you consume 1500 calories a day and burn 2000 you will burn 500 more than you consumed. 500 X a 7 day week= 3500 calories burned or you just lost 1 lb. Burn an extra 500 calories per day through exercise and there's another 1 lb. It's not an exact science and so many things can affect your weight such as sodium intake, medications, menstrual cycles, high carb intake and so on. These can cause you to retain water and it's not hard to retain 2-4 lbs of extra water. So, it's easy to plateau(I do have a great plateau buster program). Here's a great link to a calorie calculator which will tell you how many calories you need per day to lose weight. http://nutrition.about.com/od/changeyourdiet/a/calguide.htm tmf

Let's talk about your fear of the band? Is it the band, or are you afraid to let go of your food security blanket? I know I was. I was petrified that I'd never get to eat all the food I loved that made me feel good. Only now I feel so much better and I can still eat those foods within reason. I can't speak for everyone, and I've read my share of stories here where people are angry at their bands. But most of us love our bands and love the life we now lead. I've got a ways to go but I'm now in territory I haven't seen in 10 years. It is soooo good to be here. tmf

So, I read that our pouches will only hold 3 tablespoons of food comfortably. Any more than that and you will feel discomfort. I also read that it takes about 1 minute for one bite to pass through the band into our lower stomach. If you hurry and eat fast, you're going to plug up the dam and be in a world of hurt until you can pass all that food you shoveled down your piehole. The pouch will only hold 3 tablespoons and if you hurry and eat a 6 oz slab of salmon, you've overloaded the pouch and you will pay for it. There's also studies that show how food gently pushing against the top of our pouch combined with the pulsations as the stomach massages food through the band, will eventually send a signal to our brain that we've eaten enough and we're now satisfied. That's why we eat slow. Unfortunately for most of us, pre surgery, those signals were slow or weak to the brain. tmf

Soccerblue, I think you mean .3 cc's and .4 or .5. 3 cc's is huge. Our bands only hold up to 14 cc's. In fact, there's a effort now to have the term "CC" removed and replaced with MM's. Too many doctors scribble 3 cc's and the nurse or pharmacist reads it as 300. The physician's bad handrwriting can make the cc look like 00. Dennis Quaid's twins almost died due to such an error. tmf

I just had a dove dark chocolate melt away in my mouth only 5 minutes ago. It's my daily treat. tmf

Google\\\\\\ Google Michele May M.D. and you can sign up for her monthly newsletter. Look at some of her videos. She's great!

That would really piss off my wife. So, no! tmf

For many of us, our bands seem to have a mind and attitude of their own. I can go days eating meats and salads and all is in harmony with my band, and then a day will come that 3 bites and I'm stuck for 20 minutes. It's uncomfortable but I've come to expect it. I've thought about a small unfill but I'm losing weight and don't want to rock the boat. If your episode becomes a daily occurence, you might want to get an unfill? tmf