adagray

Thanks for all your great feedback! Amanda, I love that you say I'm so positive. I've always tried and it makes me feel so good that I lift your spirits when days 'aren't so good for you'. Hey, we all go through those days and I know it must by doubly hard when you started on this band journey and now have to be unfilled for pregnancy. Hang in there girl! This is not a race and you can continue your journey after your new baby is born. I love that about the band. It is ALWAYS adjustable!

I should add that during this period, be very conscious of what you are eating and how hungry you really are. You do need to get a grips of what is head hunger vs. real hunger. But, please please please don't beat yourself up over satisfying real hunger. I'm so glad my doctor never told me I had to limit portions after my surgery. I had already done that many many times on Weight Watchers and had very bad memories of starvation. Every pound I have lost has been because I am simply not hungry for it. So, even though my total loss may not be as impressive as others, I can say with conviction I will never gain it back because I never did anything to lose it that I am not willing to do for the rest of my life.

Please don't worry about this or think it is a sign that you won't succeed. Honestly, I feel like so many doctors/surgeons are too strict on the post-op period when we really don't have any restriction anyway. I'm so glad my doctor told me not to worry and that its just for healing. Trust me when I say that when you get restriction, your eating habits WILL come around. Don't stress too much right now. Hugs!

I should add that I'm not against machines. I've got a great Precor (gym quality) treadmill at home. Its great for when I cannot get out to exercise w/others (like right after surgery or when my schedule does not allow getting out w/others). But, honestly, I find machines boring. I can do it if I have to, but I much prefer exercising in a group exercise class.

I have tried EVERYTHING, but I am a group fitness type person and I LOVE jazzercise. If you like group fitness and dance, but in a non-competitive environment and usually without mirrors on the wall ;-> check out www. jazzercise.com. There are women of all shapes and sizes and ages. Every move is customizable to a lower impact if needed. The instructor can even tell you how to modify all floor exercises if you have bad knees, back, etc. I do most of the floor exercises standing up and still get a great workout. I love that there are women of all fitness levels in the same class, but everyone is supportive. Its the only exercise that I really enjoy and its not too expensive either. Many Jazzercise studios also offer childcare. Mine does and my kids love it. :->

If you go to bodychoicenutrition.net, they have the 25g protein shots on BOGO special right now. This is what I use when I need to supplement protein. If you have trouble getting solid protein (like chicken) down, one thing that helps for me is to eat it w/a sauce or I even like cold chicken w/salad dressing. I'm not always that tight, but sometimes I am and then I need some sort of sauce w/my meat.

Yep, its all the working out. Once my kids are out of school for the summer, I have a goal of increasing my workout from 2-3x per week to 5-6x per week. Currently, I can't do this because I have to be driving one kid to school at the same time as the Jazzercise class I would go to on M/W/F. Anyway, its funny as I've been telling people about my goal to exercise this much, everyone can't believe I want to exercise practically EVERY day. I tell 'em well if the Biggest Loser people can work out 9 hours per day, I can work out ONE! LOL Honestly, I would HATE HATE HATE to work out 9 hours a day even if it was my full time job. Its just not worth it to me to lose weight faster.

I just aim for at least 20g of Protein at each meal and 400 calories or less. Typically, my b-fast is less calories than that, though, and my dinner is more. But, that also all varies depending on how tight I feel at any time. For breakfast, I really love smoked salmon. A lot of mornings, I am pressed for time and don't even have a chance to sit down and eat anything, though. So, then I'll just have a protein shot and eat lunch a little earlier on those days. Dinner is usually meat and vegies. Sometimes I will have a very small amount of Pasta or rice too. Lunch is almost always leftovers from the previous night's dinner. I love fish and chicken the best. If I eat chicken breast, then it has to be w/some sort of sauce or dressing, though, because otherwise it feels too dry. If I don't have leftovers from dinner, I have these organic frozen veggie enchiladas I love. I add extra cheese to the top to boost the protein and the taste! LOL Chicken salad and the shrimp salad from costco are also yummy w/some whole grain crackers. Right now, I am doing Jazzercise 2-3x per week. Once my kids are out of school in three weeks, I'll be able to go 5-6x per week so I'm really looking forward to that. I love it and I think it really helps w/the weightloss when I can do it more. As for supplements, I take a chewable Centrum Multivitamin and Bariatric Advantage calcium citrate (2 chews twice a day).

Go for the vodka, no beer. Also, I would just say to be careful because the alcohol will effect you a lot more if you are eating very few calories. And, it can also make your band feel tighter the next day (because of dehydration). I just went to Vegas last weekend and was drinking a lot more than normal. I ended up so tight I could barely eat. The good thing is I still lost weight, but definitely not the healthy way to do it! LOL

I bring the same big refillable Water bottle I take everywhere. I don't think they can refuse for you to bring in water. It might depend on where you live, though. I live in Arizona where I think we actually have a law that no place can refuse for you to bring your own water. As for the popcorn, I tried to get through the last movie we went to without popcorn. But, when my daughter asked me to hold her very small popcorn for her (which she was not eating), I broke down and ended up eating the whole thing. But, it was a very very small kids size w/no extra butter. I think I would get that again. I ate it slow and had no problems w/it. I know it is not the most healthy option, but if you are only eating a small serving and just twice a month, I think it should be OK.

Nobody has ever told me I took the 'easy way out', but if they did, I'd correct them and tell them I took the 'only way out'. Like you, I've done WW several times and lost 50+ at least three of those times, maintained for awhile, but always gained back due to hunger. I've tried just about every diet out there, but it all comes back to hunger. I can lose the weight, but not the hunger. And, if you are hungry all the time, you'll eventually have to satisfy that hunger. We're biologically driven to do that. So, it becomes impossible to maintain the weightloss. I was afraid that the band may not fix the hunger either, but I took a chance w/it because my mom has it and told me it fixed her hunger. And, by golly, it works. I'm losing weight and I'm not hungry. And, I feel like I can do anything if I just don't have to be hungry. Its awesome. If the 'hard way' means being hungry all the time and gaining back the weight every other year, then forget it. That's no way to live. They can call it the 'easy way', but really its the 'only way' for many of us to attain permanent weightloss.

Its a very very very good tool once you reach proper restriction. I am eating three small meals per day (no snacks) and have no hunger in between. Trust me that staying on any weightloss program is a whole heck of a lot easier when you take real physical hunger out of the equation. I understand where you're coming from because I was also scared by the 'its only a tool' comments. I've done lots of diets before and worked very very hard on those diets and had very slow weightloss and very quick regain. My weightloss w/the band feels almost effortless now compared to how hard dieting was before. I say 'almost' because there are still some rules to follow and I do exercise as well. But, its also easier to do your part when you are seeing consistent results. One of the nutritionists from my surgeon's office I think summed it up very well. She said that the band takes care of two things very well... portion control and hunger. The rest is up to you. BUT, the fact that it takes care of portion control and hunger is HUGE! So, as advice to anyone getting banded, I would just say follow the rules, be patient, and don't compare your weightloss to others. The weight WILL come off and stay off.

Leaving food on my plate... understanding that when my stomach tells me I am done, I am done. I have had some painful sliming/PBing episodes because I tried to take one or two more bites when my stomach already said I was done.

Yeah, I would say you can definitely see the difference! Congrats to you!!!

This is an exciting milestone for me. Yep, I now have a BMI of 34.8... too thin for surgery. Well, according to my insurance that is. Of course, I still have a lot to lose to get to a healthy weight. But, I am down 40 pounds now and boy can I feel a difference. I have a ton more energy and everything seems physically easier. Its the little things that really add up. Its easier to do the dishes, the laundry, pick stuff up off the floor, even just reaching across the big tub to turn the water on and off for the kids when they take a bath. I know that sounds crazy, but I used to feel like I was gonna fall over when I did that because I had 40 more pounds hanging off of me and mostly in the front of my belly.:confused: I was trying to explain to my DH just what a difference it has made and the best example I had was for him to imagine that he had to carry our daughter, Jillian, around all day every day for everything he had to do. She weighs 37 pounds right now. Yeah, its amazing!!! :biggrin: Well, I can now say w/confidence that this band is really working for me. I am one month out from my last fill and my restriction is holding strong. Occasionally I feel a little too tight and occasionally I feel a little too loose, but for the most part I feel just right. I am eating three meals a day (no snacks) and not feeling hungry in between. Went to Vegas this past weekend and still lost two more pounds this week! Woohoo!!!

A pill splitter is really helpful to have around. I can still swallow pills as big as a pea, but I feel more comfortable splitting it up if it is bigger than a pea.

I have an even better one... Buying new jeans that are too small. Letting them sit in the closet for about a month. Taking them out to try on to see how far you have to go to fit into them. And, realizing that they fit already! But, really, all of it is great. I love buying new clothes, but its also nice to fit into old smaller clothes too.

Your doctor must be of the 'no snack' camp like mine. Now that I have really good restriction, I'm not hungry in between meals so its not a problem. But, when I was still getting fills and trying to get to the right fill level, I did need at least one snack, sometimes two, almost every single day. I just did my best to ask myself everytime, is this real hunger or head hunger. I would also drink a lot of Water in between meals and sometimes that would take away the hunger. But, if after all that, I was still hungry, then I had a healthy snack. I would try to stick to Protein or fruit/vegies for these healthy Snacks. When I would go in for fills, I was honest that I had to snack because I was too hungry between meals and my doctor always said that was fine. The GOAL was to get to the point where I didn't need to snack, but the fact that I still needed to was evidence that I needed more fill. So, don't feel bad about snacking. Be conscious of it, but you should not feel like you have to be starving and hungry all the time until you get to the right fill level.

I'm so sorry this happened to you, but so happy to see that you were able to use insurance for your band. I know it is hard to see any positive in this situation, but the fact that your insurance covered the initial band placement means that they will also cover correction of the complications and even conversion to RNY if you choose to go that route. I know the risks w/the band are very low, but complications do happen (as with any surgery). I had already decided if I had complications with the band, I would convert to RNY. I know it is a very personal decision, but realize that RNY is also a very good surgery for obesity. Maybe not your first choice and maybe not something you are comfortable moving to immediately after this experience, but I would recommend getting a second, third, or more opinions from different reputable bariatric surgeons in your area as to what you can do. Hugs and I wish you the best w/all of this. I know it must be heartbreaking.

ITA w/all of this. I thought I might be a little too tight after my last fill, but then it loosened up, then it tightened up, then it loosened up again. The most important thing for me, though, is I'm not hungry. So, even though sometimes I am too tight w/this fill, I'm not hungry so I really don't mind going back to liquids the few times it has gotten too tight. Most of the time now, though, it feels just right. I make a serving for myself that looks too small and it ends up being just right. And, I'm not sliming or PBing lately now that I've become more careful about chewing and the texture of foods.

Hang in there. I was told it would take 4-6 months to get to proper restriction. It does get better with each fill, but it may not be until your 3rd fill or later that you actually see any significant reduction in your hunger. Look at my signature below to see my fill amounts and dates. It wasn't until my last fill (4th fill) that my hunger really went away. It has been awesome since then. Maybe 4-6 months seems like a long time to wait before the band is working optimally for you. But putting everything in perspective, its really a short time considering the lifelong benefit you will get from the band once its adjusted right. We don't have to lose weight fast. Try to take that pressure off of you. The weight WILL come off and stay off once the band is adjusted right. I just went to Vegas for the weekend and lost weight despite breaking many rules. Even if I wanted to splurge at the buffet, there's no way I could. The band is a wonderful tool. Just be patient and give it a chance. I am also surprised that more surgeons do not set expectations right going into this surgery. I was sat down and told that if I expected to drop weight fast right after surgery, then go for the bypass instead of the band. But, if I was willing to be patient, come in for the adjustments, and follow the band rules, I would do great with it. My doctor even went as far as to say I should not expect to lose any weight the first month because that time is just for healing. In hindsite, I'm glad it took awhile to get restriction. It gave me time to practice the rules and focus on exercise. And, getting used to restriction is like learning to eat again. If I went straight from no restriction to the restriction I have now (which is quite good), I would probably be getting stuck all the time and PBing a lot. There is a certain art to eating w/the band that takes time to learn and everyone is different. I've become much more aware of the textures of different foods and my own level of tightness/openness on any given day. And, its something you can't really learn from a book, but through trial-and-error and through gradual adjustments.

If you take medication for high blood pressure, check your BP to see if it has dropped suddenly. I was tired for a few days, then dizzy before I thought to check my BP. In my case it had dropped to 80something over 60something and that's what was making me tired and dizzy. I was taking BP medicine that I no longer needed and it was dropping my BP too low. As soon as I stopped the meds, my BP went to normal and I haven't needed the meds ever since.

I'm donating mine. I've done EBay before, but it takes a lot of time and effort. I find its easier to just donate and take the tax deduction. But, if you have the time, you can make some money on EBay and then use that to buy some clothes in smaller sizes. You make the most money by listing each item separately, but obviously it is a lot faster/easier to list it as a lot.

This is so weird. I made tuna salad for lunch today figuring it was a no-brainer safe choice. I didn't have a mushy stage, but isn't this considered a mushy? I'm four months out, though, and haven't had tuna salad yet. Sounded good for lunch so I made it. And, man did it NOT go down well. I did not PB, but it was just very very uncomfortable and I only had a few bites. This turned out to be a very low cal lunch today! :thumbup: BTW, I am pretty tight now, but I can eat a lot of solids fine... had morningstar farms chik patties earlier today. I can eat chicken thighs, enchiladas, fish, etc.

Nothing will cure you from a bread addiction faster than the lapband. My first really bad stuck episode was w/a dinner roll. I have barely touched bread since then. Usually, I'm just not tempted, but occasionally if it looks like really really good bread, I will break off the tiniest piece and just nibble at it.