elysenoland

I'm sorry if I took it wrong, but it seems as though you spend a lot of time saying things like 'well it worked like that for me for a day or two and then didn't work, so good luck'. As you know, it's hard to read intent on here, and it's also hard both on here, and in real life, to be around people who are negative a lot--especially when we are all fighting the negative feelings we have about ourselves and our choices. I feel bad for you, that your experience with the band has been so poor, and I was only trying to point out, possibly, what some issues may be....as I, and several others on here, have been through the same thing at some point or another. If you read the majority of the posts on here, both by myself and most of the others, you will see that we try very hard NOT to be negative, but to stay upbeat and positive and say, well I may not have lost anything this week but at least I didn't gain, so no, I don't believe I am negative. If anything, in my post I was trying to encourage you to be positive instead of so down about the band all the time. I sincerely meant what I said, that I hope you find your path and that it all works out.

LOL DD....your excitement is infectious. Congrats on your Sweet Spot.....can't wait to find mine!! I'm guilty of sleeping with the bugg too....I'm so addicted to the dang thing. Very Very cool that you could only eat part of half of your sandwich...those Subways are so good it's hard to stop so kudos to you for paying attention to your 'full' signal and calling it quits! I'm anxious to follow your weight loss now, bet it's just gonna fall off!

OHHH JMS I have a great snack for you! South Beach makes cereal bars (they're in the grocery store by the granola bars) and they have one that is s'mores....oh my gosh, they are SOOOO good, and only 120 calories, I have to beat my cockatoo off of me when I eat them, cause she's wild for junk food too....that's usually my lunch. Also, in the freezer section, there's muffins and...get this....chocolate brownies.....only 100 cals each, and they are normal size! Made by vitamuffin-or you can order online www.Vitalicious.com. They aren't fantastic, but they're a pretty good fix for those of us trying to be conscientious!

WannaB, I understand that you are frustrated and down about the band, but please dont rain on someone elses parade. We have and are all struggling with the life changes that we need to make. Which means, unfortunately, eating less carbs and moving more. We all know this. It's basic simple math. As someone already said, calories burned minus calories in needs to equal a deficit. I had a slump for three weeks where I lost nothing. When I looked back I realized it was because I was sabotaging myself. I wasn't making good food choices, and even though I go to the gym 5 days a week I wasn't giving it my all. If Weight Watchers helps you eat better, then by all means do it. The band was NEVER intended to cause weight loss by itself, it is a tool to help us all, it's not magic. We still have to eat protein, then veggies, then carbs, in small amounts, just as if we were dieting. The tool part comes into play by making us feel full sooner, and although some of us aren't there yet, we still keep fighting our head hunger (which I suspect is what you are fighting). I don't eat till my stomach is growling and snarling. I eat about 3/4 c of protein and then 1/4 c of veggies. Do I still eat chocolate? You betcha, but only once every couple of weeks. I've found that when I cut out refined sugars I didn't crave them after a few days. I still drink diet coke, but coming from drinking two cans of pepsi a day, I figure that's a great stride forward. In fact, although I haven't found my sweet spot, I have been very conscious of what I put in my mouth and how much I move during the day. If you are having this big of a problem, I'd highly suggest you buy yourself a bodybugg and accurately log in what you eat every day, it will tell you how much you are burning. There's the simple math, done for you. Since I've started my bugg, two weeks ago, I've lost 8 pounds and 4% body fat. This journey is a struggle, we all knew that or we wouldn't have had surgery. We've all struggled with diets and eating and eating and eating. Food addictions are just as bad as drug addictions, but when you are a drug addict, most often, your drugs aren't laying around or waiting in the pantry or fridge for you. I suspect that most of us are fast eaters, as that seems to be a precursor for obesity and avoiding the 'full' signal. I wish you the absolute best, I hope you find your path and get to where you want to be. Elyse

Jewels--believe me when I tell you, I hear you. I don't have much restriction...don't get that 'full' feeling, and am hungry three hours after I eat. I have 8 ccs in a 10cc band, and get very frustrated at times. Everything I have lost has been sheer willpower and gym time, not the band. If anything, I'm thinking the Bodybugg was a better investment than the band. I went through three weeks of not losing one single pound and wanted to SCREAM! I literally watch the clock to see when I can eat again, and try to make good choices about what I put in my mouth (but even I am guilty of making poor choices every now and then). I find that when I am really frustrated is when I make the bad choices...and say 'screw this, I'm eating what I want'. I track what I eat religiously, and am only eating between 750 and 1000 calories a day. I'm tired all the time. I have to force myself on the elliptical to do 5 miles, and believe me, the last mile and a half is not pretty. I haven't really ever felt restriction, except right after my second fill, but that was gone in a few days. I know I'm fighting head hunger a lot of the time. After fifteen years of eating whatever I want whenever I want, it's hard to get over. I, too, hear everyone talking about restriction and am baffled. You'd think at 8 ccs I'd be feeling something!

Well, it's 70 here today, so I broke out my shorts from last summer......none of them fit, way too baggy! YAY! Guess I'll have to go shopping.....bummer. I had to go last week cause none of my workout clothes fit, first time I've been able to buy Large instead of Xtra Large in quite a while!

Ok count me in. But mine's for June 1.

I love mine too! I'm obssessed with hitting that burned calories mark....in fact, last night, at 11pm, I was still a couple hundred calories away from my burned goal, and I was forced to do jumping jacks and run up and down the stairs to make sure I'd hit it! It amazed me that I burn 500 calories just sleeping for 6 hours, and even more astounding, I burn as much calories cleaning house as I do at the gym, maybe I can give up the gym membership and just have a really really clean house??

www.bodybugg.com It's a metabolic tracker, you wear it on your arm, all day and night and it tracks how many calories you burn, you put in what you eat during the day and it tracks your calorie deficit. It links up to your computer via a wireless transmitter and uploads the data to the website. No, there's no membership fee for the first 6 months, then it's like 99 a year. The first 6 months are free with the armband. If you look at Welcome to 24 Hour Fitness MyStore! it's a little cheaper. 24 hour fitness is owned by apex, who made the bodybugg. A note of caution, if you are going to get one....do NOT tell them you have had the lapband done, they'll make you send in a doctors release.

Hi everybody! I had my third fill last Friday, only 1 cc, which brought me up to 8 ccs. I'm not feeling it. Sucks. However, I have lost three pounds since then, but it's just willpower. I may be one of those that have to have it cranked all the way down. Guess we'll see. I got my Bodybugg Tuesday...it's awesome! Really lets you know what more you need to do to stay at that deficit. I had looked at all those websites that tell you how many calories your body burns in a day, just functioning....well, guess what, they were wrong...big time! They said just functioning I would burn anywhere from 2900 to 4000 calories a day--not even close according to the bodybugg. 2900 calories if I go to the gym for an hour, and take an hour walk and clean house for an hour. It was definitely eye opening to see that.

Hi everyone! Had my third fill on Friday, only 1 cc, which brings me up to 8 ccs in a 10cc band. Dont feel much different. I did talk to my PA about calories, he had just attended a nationwide conference regarding the Realize band, and they want their doctors to be pretty agressive in their fills as soon as possible. He advised me caloric intake should be about 1000 calories a day, and should be exercising a minimum of 4 days a week, an hour a day. Strength training is a must, to keep the muscle and skin tightened to prevent saggy skin.

Anna, Most of us have lost through sheer willpower. However, are you drinking while you are eating? That's a big no no....it just washed the food through your band. No drinking till at least 30 mins after you eat. Did your doc use a fluoroscope when he filled you? If so, he would've seen if the pouch was stretched or if the band wasn't placed right.

Mine is arm, chest, waist, hip and thigh.

HOLY CRAP!! How much does this surgery cost?!?! I got the explanation of benefits a few weeks ago--16000, from my insurance company, they wrote off all but about 1400, and paid that, my share of the 1400 was 550. Which the Drs. office accepted. Then TODAY I get an Explanation of benefits again from my insurance...this one for 69000!! THAT'S right--three zeroes! They paid 65000, wrote off the rest. I call the dr. and they tell me, oh thats for the surgicenter, the first 16000 was just for the dr. You're telling me I was in their office for five hours, 2 of that in surgery and it was 81000!!!! No wonder the insurance costs keep rising. Man, I'm totally shocked! Thank God I've got good insurance. I don't know how you self payers do it!

Gentyl--great analogy. When I visualized how much 25 lbs of meat is, it made me feel a lot better! That's a big hunk of fat! Thank you.

Hang in there...I think mine finally broke! I cut back strength training, added more cardio and started eating a little more, and now I'm down three lbs. It was VERY frustrating to not lose for three weeks, even though I thought I was doing everything right. I'm definitely ready for my fill on Friday, as I am getting hungry a few hours after I eat. Does anyone have any idea how many calories we are supposed to be eating? Elyse

I'm curious? Has everyone hit this mini plateau? Same here, nothing for almost two weeks and I've been GOOD!! VERY frustrating!

I thought it was you that recommended it, Heather! Thanks! My gym routine is 30 minutes of high intensity interval on the elliptical (start at about 5, do two minutes, then up to 10 on resistance for 2 minutes going as fast as I can, then repeat, for thirty minutes). Then I do strength training for 30 minutes, keeping my heart rate up....squats at 50 lbs, free weights on shoulders, and arms, cable machine for triceps and obliques. Tons of ab work....on the ball and the incline bench. The last three days I've done P90x....which is a killer. I can barely walk, and I work out five days a week at the gym! I've had my hamstrings and quads hurt, but never my rear end, and it's killing me!

Whoever recommended my-calorie-counter.com---Thanks!! I've been tracking mine for a week now and realize I've put my body into starvation mode. Only eating 1000 calories a day and then working off 600 at the gym. Bad bad bad. So, I'm on a mission to get in at least 1500 calories a day. Very difficult while eating only lots of veggies and meat with no appetite!

Well, I hope the reason no one's been on here for a few days is cause you are all rockin and droppin the pounds. I am still sucking swamp water. Scale hasn't moved in over a week. Stinks!!!

Isn't it funny how you're cruising along doing great and then BOOM you get hit with the hungries. Yesterday was one of those days for me but today, wasn't hungry at all. Hopefully, it was only a fluke for you!

Well, I have hit some sort of stalling point. I know it isn't diet, cause I only eat protein and veggies and am only consuming about 1500 cals a day, and I know it isn't exercise cause I hit the gym 5 days a week for an hour each time, 30 mins of interval cardio, heartrate at 158, and 30 mins of strength. Oh well....a cross each of us most bear. Hopefully it'll shift soon! Just so those of you going through it know, you aren't the only one!

Ugh I hate the protein shakes, but someone on here said something about the Slimfast Low Carb shakes, they have 20 g of protein and aren't as bad.

Heather-- I've noticed that my scale can differ 2 lbs from morning to evening. Don't stress....and don't be scale obsessed...that's the hardest part for me too. I weigh myself every morning and am trying to break that habit. You'll get there!

I don't think 10 lbs a month is unrealistic, that's kind of been my rule of thumb so far.