lola0806

I agree with Melody, you should try a food journal. I just started one on www.sparkpeople.com and find it very helpful. The reason I started this was because I went for a fill on 4/14 and still don't feel restriction and can still eat a good amount of food, but I noticed last week when I got on the scale I only lost 3 lbs in 3 weeks and I've been so used to losing an average of 2 lbs a week I became frustrated, I felt as though I am always hungry and the scale isn't moving. So I registerd on sparkpeople and once you enter all of your information about the weight you are at, your goal and your exercice program it will tell you how many calories you need to consume. The range it gave me was between 1440 and 1800 a day, and I've been eating between 1000 and 1200 a day. So I decided for a week that I would eat the extra calories on the days that I go to the gym which is usually 4 to 5 times a week and when I got on the scale this morning I was down 3 lbs. I will try this out for the next few weeks and see how it goes. My next fill isn't until 6/8 so when I see my doctor I'll mention it to her and see if she agrees with me.

Like most of you have said this is a "Life Style Change" and that's how I've been living my life for the past 10 months. But I also know that if I don't have a glass of wine when we go out to dinner or a taste of a dessert or some other treat once in a while I'm afraid that I will binge and go back to my old habits. Every day is a struggle so I take it one day at a time. There are days I wish I can just lose all of my weight and be done with it and then there are days that I am glad that I am losing at a steady/healthy pace. My last visit with my surgeon I had not lost as much as I wanted and I complained to her, we had been socializing a lot more lately and I said to her if I didn't have the drinks that I did, or eaten what I did I would have lost more. She told me that I was living my life and if I didn't enjoy some of the foods that I ate before I am depriving myself and might go off the deep end later on. So during the week, which is the easy time of the week for me, I stick to my "Healthy eating lifestyle" and on the weekends if we go out and I have a martini or a glass of wine or eat something that is not as healthy I don't beat myself up over it or at least I try not to :smile2:. As long as the scale is going down I figure I'm doing what I set out to do. Good luck to all of you.

Hi All, I was banded on 12/23/08 and have had 4 fills. I still don't feel restriction, but I notice if I eat slowly and chew, chew, chew I will start to feel full. I am not eating the portions that they told me I would be eating, but as long as I continue to lose I am fine. I am hoping that with my next fill I will have the restriction that everyone talks about. Good luck to all of you.

The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood has seminars. The group of doctors/nurses that do the seminars is the group that I used for my surgery and they were great. Let me know if you have any questions.

Having my husbands arms go around me Being able to sit next to someone on the bus/train and not worry about squashing them Walking up the stairs from the train and not being winded when I get to the street Starting to have more confidence in myself and a much happier person Crossing my legs My wedding band/engagement rings fit, but are now getting to loose I was nervous to walk into a regular size store because I thought the sales people would wonder what was this fat person doing there, but I did it and was able to fit into a size XL top from Ann Taylor

I think we all obsess once we start to lose the weight and want to reach that goal that we have set for ourselves. I am 3 pounds short of hitting the 100 pound mark and when I went for my fill this week I was so disappointed that I only lost 7 pounds. I mentioned to my doctor that we have been socializing more lately and if I didn't have those glasses of wine or drinks I might have lost the extra 3 lbs and reached my goal. My dr thought I was being too hard on myself and she said that what I am doing is living my life and if I didn't satisfy a craving or have that glass of wine I will go back to the way I was before. As long as I am aware of what I am eating and not overindulging and I continue to lose I am on the right track. So that be hard on yourself, look how far you have come. You are doing a great job.

I also have UHC Choice Plus and I had to deal with a nurse throughout the process and I needed to have the 6 month supervised diet with my DR. Each plan is written differently, so I would definitely log onto www.myuhc.com and make sure you register and you can check your benefits from there. Once you are logged on you should look under my benefits section I found my info under special services and hopefully you will find some info. Here is the number I had used when I first reached out to UHC about have the lapband done, Since I am in NY I'm not sure if it would be the same number across the US, I guess it won't hurt to try one more call :smile: 1-888-936-7246. Good Luck, hopefully you can get someone to help you out.

Jerseygirl, it's great that you will be joining the rest of us bandsters, but you should probably be getting the dietary guidelines from your surgeon. After being on this site for several months I noticed that there are different rules with different doctors. My surgeon's guidelines were quite different than the ones posted. I was on clear liquids only the day of the surgery and on to full liquids the day after and as long as I was able to tolerate/keep down the full liquids, then I was allowed to go to mushies on the 3rd day. Even though I was allowed to eat I didn't much have an appetite the first few weeks after surgery, so I pretty much made sure I ate/drank something every few hours. Wishing you much luck on your journey.:crying:

Same here.....Now I wear winter pjs and a thick robe to bed and double up the comforter for my side of the bed. I'm hoping that being cold will hold me through the summer months. Hated the feeling of needing to take a shower the minute I stepped foot outside the house.

Hi Olivia, I am experiencing the same problem. I am trying to figure out what it is but am having no luck. I thought it might be yogurt, so I stopped eating that and the gas continues, the same with milk and coffee. I seem to experience more of it when I am at work so I'm not sure if it is stress releated. Is that weird? I have tried gas x but it doesn't seem to help.

I also needed to do a psyc eval and my surgeon had recommended someone that they use. He too was out of network with my insurance and I didn't want to pay the $350 fee that he charged so I contacted my insurance, UHC, and saw someone in network. I met with him 2x and all I paid was the copay. He wrote the letter for me and submitted it to my surgeon and to UHC and I was approved and my surgeon was fine with that.

Everyone has their own reasons for telling or not telling, just because I decided not to tell everyone does not mean I am misleading anyone. One of the reasons I started this whole journey was because of medical issues. I had not had a physical in years and when I decided to see a doctor the test results actually opened my eyes to what I was doing to myself. I decided then that I would change my eating habits and I was able to lose 60 pounds prior to my insurance approving me for the band. I have had my 3rd fill and I still don't feel the fullness that people talk about, so as of right now, I feel that everything that I am doing is still on my own and I don't feel that I am "lying" to anyone because it is the truth. If I had continued to eat what I ate before, with or without the band, I wouldn't have gotten this far. The band is here to help us control the portions of food we eat and without making conscious decisions we would all be where we were prior to going through all of this. I guess my "boost" was in seeing a doctor that gave me the confidence and strength in doing this and I know that one day my band will also be a boost for me in helping me keep my weight off.

Like most of you have replied, it's a personal decision. I decided to tell only a handful of people because I didn't want people watching what I eat and how fast/slow I am losing. What most people don't understand is that this is a tool but also if you don't watch what you eat and exercise the band will not help you. My husband thinks that I should tell people because he is so proud that I decided to do something that will help me get healthy and that it is nothing to be embarrassed about. I might down the road but for now I tell people that I am watching what I am eating and exercising....which is the truth.