mellabella78

The Best tasting protien shakes I have found are Called Muscle Milk. There are a variety of flavors that are all amazing. You can get them at GNC or online:) They are my Fav!

Hmmm, thats a hard one. I think you know what I'm going to say.... only you can really answer that. That being said, before I took the risk of another (and far more invasive) surgery I would ask myself this.. Did I do most of the work, or did I expect the band to do it for me? As has been said a million times, the band is just a tool. It's 20% band, and 80% you. I would make sure I did EVEYTHING I could before undergoing GBP. If you can honestly say you followed the rules most of the time, worked out almost daily, and followed the band rules and still did not loose, then yes, I would consider having GBP. If not, I would get my butt in gear and work the band, instead of wanting the band to work for me:) I know it's not easy, I am having a hard time myself too. I just think of how hard I have worked to get where I am. I wish you the best!!

Hey Everyone! I am 6 months post op and have lost over 80 pounds. The last month I seem to have stopped. :cursing: I still have about 60 pounds to loose, and I'm not sure what's up? I have heard that everyone hits plateaus, just wondering what you guys have done to get out of them? Thanks!

You're healing, just had surgery. Give it time.

Congrats to you! I can't wait to see where I am at the one year mark. You should be so proud of yourself!

Do you have a post op visit with your Doc soon? Ideally he or she would have told you what to do. lol, oh well. It should be fine to remove them as long as the edges of your wounds have healed together. It's actually the internal sutures and likely dermabond holding your incisions together. After you have a warm shower they should peel off fairly easily (be gentle). Good luck:)

I had one as well.. It dissolved on it's own after a while:) No worries.

Yes! Good Idea, I need to get my butt in gear. I would like to loose 20 pounds (wooo) by Feb 14th.

Thanks so much Josie, and thank you all for your support! Really appreciated:)

So I eneded up getting a nasty stomach flu Dec 4th and had to be totally defilled due to not being able to get fluids down for 2 days. Not good. Of course this would happen to me before the holidays- and sadly I did not have the self control with an empty band to behave:( Gained about 10 pounds!!! Yikes! Just now started to get some restriction after 3 fills. I feel SO off track now, it's hard to get the weight loss mentality back. Has this happened to anyone else? How did you get back in the game?

I too started loosing hair at about 4 months post op. I am now 6 months post op and still loosing hair. Thank God I have a ton of hair, or I would be freaking out. I am taking Biotin, and getting enough protien, but no change. Thanks for the info!

Yayyyyyyy! Congrats:)

Thanks, this is great!

So 2 days ago I had some nausea and vomitting related to a little bout of the stomach flu. Since then I found it increasingly hard to eat anything, and last night was unable to even get water down. My stomach felt like it was on fire, total acid reflux, and it felt like someone was squeezing it. Oh my goodness. Just a tip from me to you.. if you get the flu do yourself a favour and get an unfill if you start to have pain or tightness. I went to my doc and had to have my entire band unfilled as my stomach was so inflamed. Oh well, I feel sooo much better now. Back to start again in 2 weeks.

Ummm, so I just made some soup for dinner and my brain is looking at all the foods I couldn't eat and now I have no restriction I can... but shouldn't. Ahhhh, this isn't good! LOL

I got totally unfilled today too:( Had the stomach flu... back to square one. Oh well, I feel so much better and relieved I don't even mind:)

As of this morning I have lost 80 pounds! So hard to believe, I am so grateful to my band. I have another 70 pounds to go (still a long way) I know I made the right choice getting in getting banded. Thanks to everyone for all of your advice and encouragement.

Agree with above! You have sutures in your stomach where to attach the band to your stomach.. Do NOT eat anything solid or even mushys at this point!!! Just because you can "eat" and get things down doesn't mean you should.

Congrats Girly! I so remember the day I had surgery:) Good luck and keep us all posted!

This sounds corny... but I try to go back and think about all the reasons I wanted the surgery in the first place. I also think about all the things I want to do once I get to goal, and how I will feel on that day. Another thing I have found really helpful is this question: Did I do everything TODAY that I could in this weight loss journey? Loosing weight is a long process, and can be overwhelming to think of this over such a long period. So to break it down to a daily basis makes me work out a bit harder, and eat a little healthier. Simple, but it works for me:) Good luck!

Just wondering i anyone noticed a big decrease in their loss at this point? I lost quite quickly in the begining, but now have slowed to about a pound a week. Im know this isnt' a race, and Im still grateful for loosing, but I was just looking for your experience and any tips you guys might have! Thanks:)