sparkplug

I believe God helped me decide on getting the band and curing myself. My belief is that God helps those that help themselves. As far as Bandarama (whatever her name is) being on total liquid diet. Done that, I am so over FAD diets, maybe her God told her to do that. She will be getting bariatric surgery down the road just like all of us when she is tired of YO-YO dieting. I have learned a lot about fad diets and my own eating habits since being banded and she thinks that liquids to get off the weight will work. Ha Ha, it will come back twice as fast when you do eat. There is not a single diet out there that I have not tried in 60 years and this is the answer, love it or lump it honey. That's all I can say is God be with you my dear!!!!!!

You will have people support you in this battle and say nice things to encourage you. I have a few co-workers that have been my support from day one and God Love them because when I had no weight loss for a few weeks, they noticed my clothes hanging on me. And you will have co-workers that say NOTHING because they either are jealous or oblivious to seeing you lose 50-60 pounds. Whatever is going on, keep in mind this is a journey for you for what your reasons are, not what other people notice or think. I have been a yo yo dieter my whole life and at the ripe old age of 59, I GET IT! This is about me and I am happy with losing 88 pounds and being a size 10! No more meds and I feel like 29 all over again. The first 50 years I pleased everybody else, now this last 50 years is all about ME! Whoppppeeee!!!

I went into a severe depression a month after surgery, thinking what the heck did I do to me. I also ran into the guy that talked me into having this surgery instead of pushing for the gastric operation. He kept apologizing for encouraging me to have this surgery and I told him it was not his fault. I hated everything and everybody UNTIL the weight started to melt off of me and the sizes dropped down. I did get over it and have a new life now and saw the same neighbor that recommended the surgery and he could not believe his eyes when he saw all the weight I got off and how I looked. Now he is trying to talk his wife into getting the surgery and she is not happy with how I look, she won't even say "hi" to me anymore. Must be she liked me fat and not appealing to her husband and now that has changed.

I am almost 4 years out and love my band. But I have days I hate it too. Everybody on here is right, this weight issue is a lifetime struggle and you have good days and bad days. I would have never lost all my weight without the band. I have no fills and do not ever feel the need to be that tight to not be able to sit down and have a meal with my husband. I had gained 8 pounds last year and finally put my mind back in the game and lost it again. I am comfortable where I am and try to change the bad habits I have which have made me the perfect yo yo dieter for life. I thank the good lord for getting this band and saving my life and adding many more years to me. Good luck and this is a decision that you and you alone will have to make.

4 years out and I still take my chewable centrum and caltrate calcium chewable and starting taking 4000 mg of biotin because I seem to lose a lot of hair daily. I feel great but still worry about my hair thinning. I also try to have a banana every night in my protein smoothie because I do not get enough protein during the day and the banana helps stop the spasms in my feet. Never stopped vitamins and don't see them every stopping either, feel great!

I am 4 years out with no fills and to goal. My BCBS of Arizona funded through the county does not cover the doctor in Las Vegas where I had my surgery. They told me I need to get a new doctor in Arizona. I called a couple of bariatric doctors and explained the situation and they said unless you have a problem, you should not need to see them. Not sure that was the answer I wanted but I go to my regular physician once a year and get blood work and get weighed in. I never had any fills and don't plan on getting any so that is not a problem for me, but just wondering if you really need to go to the bariatric doctor for a regular check in? My family doctor wants to make sure that all is well and thrilled that all my blood work comes back without needing any medication again for another year. I walk a lot and watch the calories so this is not a cure all getting banded, but it has saved my life no doubt.

Pick up four 5 pound bags of potatoes and tell me that is not a lot of weight to lose. You are doing fantastic, give yourself some credit. This is not an easy journey like a lot of people think. I hear people say that this is an easy way out of losing weight, NADA!! You still have to work at it and you seem to be doing really well. Pat yourself on the back and look forward to the next 20 pounds.

I am 4 years out and to goal, losing 88 pounds. I, just like the rest of you, mourned food. I cried the first month and wondered what on earth did I do to myself. I was upset, sad, hateful what I did to myself and did not know what to do. It seemed like everybody around me could eat except me. After all the pain was gone and I was seeing the weight fall off, I was seeing that this was the life saving miracle that I had been praying for. I am a food addict and have to keep in mind every day that I am accountable for everything that goes in my mouth. I just had a year of losing the 8 pounds that I gained the previous year and I feel wonderful. I am not on any meds and am in my size 10's and feel like I am on top of the world. Believe me it is worth it. I have been a yo yo dieter my whole life and I will be turning 60 soon. Keep focused on the end result and you will see that you made the right choice.

I don't know much about this product, but I am 4 years banded and still have a protein shake almost every night. With no fills, I have trouble eating so many things but that is okay because I have lost my weight and keep it off. I make a smoothie every night with some kind of fresh fruit either strawberries, blueberries and a banana add some water and protein and I feel great. I read on this website that most people do not drink shakes after being banded and at goal, but I cannot get enough protein in me with food alone. Everybody needs to do whatever makes you feel good and healthy and know that no two people are alike. Everybody I know with the band have different issues than me. The other two women I know can eat normally with the band and fills and are gaining the weight back. Go figure???? I think this is a very informative and supportive website but everybody needs to do what is right for them and use the information sparingly to their needs. God love these people sharing information on this website and good luck to everybody on here, we are all in this together.

I have one question, where do I find all of these people who don't notice what you eat????? The people in my office where I work, always ask, is that ALL YOU ARE EATING after staring at my plate throughout the whole meal. I never hear them say anything about the piglets that stack their plates a mile high, but they are so concerned with the little bit on my plate. I do not do their luncheons anymore, I go out to lunch and if it is something during the day with doughtnuts or cake, I keep far away. There are, however, some people who have supported me and say wonderful things how great I look because of this.

Deb that is funny! I went to a couple of bariatric meetings in our town and this past week they had a psychiatrist who does the pre band exams and he calls that COPING with the obstacles in our way of our weight loss. As I lost my weight I coped much differently than that. When my co-workers stuff their faces with doughnuts and they say can't you have just one? No thank you, I really do not want to get up to 300 pounds by eating that and usually it cures them of asking. I usually go for a walk and when I get back the doughnuts are all gone. Talk about vacuum cleaners. I also am a reformed smoker who quit 12 years ago and I absolutely hate being around smoking and smelling that smoke on people's clothing and hair. I copy with that by standing far away from them because like doughnuts, smoke gets me sick to my stomach. We all have our coping mechanisms and you need to do what you need to do. As you lose weight and become happy with yourself, you will find that it does not bother you as much and you will just walk away like I do. It does get better as you go along, trust me you will be so thrilled by the weight you lose and nothing will matter at that point.

Do what you feel in your heart is right for you. My doctor steered me away from gastric bypass and said the band is best and even though I was not sure of his thoughts, I found he was right. As far as my dh he has gained over 40 pounds since my surgery 4 years ago and I am at goal with the 2 pounds more to lose that I gained last year. I am off all meds, no fills and still trying to re-learn how to eat to stay slim. Do what you feel is best with the opinion of your doctor that you trust. Good luck and keep smiling.

I did great the first 3 years, never getting stuck with no fills in band I was coasting through life at goal. Christmas day I got too big for myself and had some overdone ham which I love to chew but did not chew enough and got stuck. Almost 3 hours later from dying of pain and not being able to swallow my own saliva, I had to have some hot coffee to get that out of me. It was never going to move down from walking and jumping up and down and everything else they told me to do. Was on liquids for 2 days afterwards from being so swollen and sore. Now I am almost 4 years out and a few weeks ago I got stuck on a couple of crackers with peanut butter. If I had something to drink with it I am sure I would not have gotten stuck but I thought I was okay. Again after 3 hours of suffering with no power from a storm I tried repeatedly to get it up or down. Same story, finally got it out and sore for days. I never thought I would get stuck because first of all I have no fills and second of all, I thought I was doing so good. It only takes one episode of being too hungry and eating too fast or not chewing enough. It sounds like you are doing great and I hope you never get stuck, but it does happen to the best of us even at this stage of the game. So you see, this has left a scar on me mentally which tells me I WILL NEVER GET ANY FILL of any kind because I never had such pain and suffering in my life as when I got stuck.

Been there, done that. Just had a stuck episode on 3 crackers with peanut butter and nothing to drink. It was stuck for over 2 hours with the pain so bad I wanted to die. I have no fills and we had lost power from a thunderstorm so my husband said, do not open the refrigerator so I did not get my usual sip of water after eating. It took close to 3 hours to be able to throw it up and I had to have liquids for a couple of days afterwards because I still had pain and swelling. If we had power I would have just made a hot cup of coffee and either it would have gone down or up much sooner. After 4 years of being banded I cannot go by the rule of no drinking before or after. Sorry, but I have to do what is good for me and getting stuck like that is a recipe for trouble of slipping your band. You will learn what is best for you by experience, just as I have. I cannot imagine getting any fills if I get stuck without any? I like you eat too big of a bite or too fast, I don't know if I can ever master this all the time, eat slow and small. I keep trying and maybe some day it will sink in.

Enjoy your success, it will only get better! I am to goal but lost track and gained 8 pounds over the last year. I have finally got my head in the game and am losing it and have a couple more pounds to go. It is hard and I do remember starting at 235 and when I hit the 199, I held my breath because I had done that so many times before in my life and I was afraid to enjoy it because it has been a yo yo life for me. Keep focused and enjoy every mile stone you get to and don't look back. Congratulations on wonderland!!!!

I never liked the word "FAT", whether I was in my thin stage or heavy stage of life. I myself prefer the word "FLUFFY". I absolutely hate hearing anybody refer to someone as "FAT". I even reprimand my husband, who has gained some weight over the last few years, for saying snide remarks about overweight people. This overweight issue is a disease we have. We are addicts, I have read so much since being banded 4 years ago and I am a FOOD ADDICT, there is no two ways about it. I will always have this fight to keep where I am with or without the band. I had gained about 8 pounds from last winter and am now starting to get it off, it is truly a struggle but if I don't do this now, it will become 10 pounds, 20 pounds, etc. until I regain the 90 pounds lost originally. I will never be cured but am healthy and happy where I am now. Please always keep in mind, we have been up and down before, it could happen again whether you have the band or not and we could be right back where we started. I believe you just had a bad experience and were just venting and that is good. Not good to keep the anger in. Now go on and find a good doctor to take care of your needs and move on to bigger and better things. Good luck.

My husband barbequed yesterday. Hamburgs, and guess what! I again could only get a few bites down but everything I eat has to be put on aluminum foil to keep the moisture in, whether chicken or beef. We all need to learn how to cook and eat differently since being banded. I will do a lot things in the crock pot or oven to keep moisture in. I also see that I almost never can re-heat anything in microwave unless it has liquids with it. It tends to dry it out too much and I cannot eat anything dry even at this stage of the game, I keep that "stuck" feeling in the back of my mind and I decide to move on instead of suffering. We all need to learn a different lifestyle and different ways of cooking to make the most of what we can get down with the band. This is better than having our mouths wired shut to stop food from passing through. My friend tried that and it only worked until they took the wires off. With the band, hopefully it will be there forever. Good luck and work the band sister.

I have been banded almost 4 years with NO FILLS and have days like that. Sometimes I can get hamburg or chicken down and sometimes I cannot. These bands have minds of their own. It has been in the triple digits here in AZ and the last few days I cannot get more than a couple of bites of anything down. Hopefully this will last a week or so to get that extra few pounds off I put on last winter. I love my band and would not be here without it, so I just take one day at a time. Some days I can get good and others are hit and miss. Enjoy the ride with getting smaller and it all seems worth it in the long run.

I could not have said it any better. Great job, I too am 4 years out and I have slid and gained back 8 pounds and am working on it before it becomes more. I have no fills, but this heat wave we are having is helping me to not eat much, got stuck two days in a row on a piece of hamburg. You have done a great job! Very inspiring.

God comes in all shapes and forms and anybody that says that this is "your" god obviously has missed something along the lines. I believe the word is "atheist"? Someone who does not believe in God? I do not believe she meant anything bad about God and I myself pray everyday for the strength and help in keeping this weight off after fighting this battle my whole life. I do believe there was help in something and somebody more powerful than you or I that has kept me off of medications for the last 4 years. My mom used to say that God helps those that help themselves. Too bad you don't have the strong belief that most of us do! Have a wonderful and blessed day anyway!

I think you need to find another PA. They "stink" as far as bedside manner and professionalism.. I am to goal and nobody in the office where I had my surgery treated me or talked to me in that way. I believe I would have gone right to the top and complained in person and in writing and then moved on to another facility. I never had a fill and am to goal and if I ever felt that I needed to get a fill, I would not think twice about going back to my surgeon. They were very supportive especially when they said I was doing so good with no fills that it was my choice if I wanted to do fills or not and I chose not to. I still get stuck occasionally because of too big of a bite or eating too fast but it is my constant reminder to not go back to my old eating habits. Good luck and talk to whoever is in charge and get them to see that this is not what YOU paid for with the surgery. Good luck and keep the faith.

i am 3 1/2 years out being banded. i never thought i would be saying this, gained 8 pounds and cannot get it off. i lost 90 pounds originally and did great, but i have had this issue with popcorn and cannot get it out of my system. i walk twice a day besides what i do at work and eat limited amounts of food. some days i have a hard time eating even without fills. i was hoping this forum would give me the push i need to get back on the wagon.

this is exactly why i did not tell anybody in the beginning. now everybody knows and i found out a few people that took credit for losing a few years back, were banded too but did not tell anyone because they would have thought it was the easy way out. there is nothing easy about changing your lifestyle and bad eating habits that it took you a lifetime to make. i lost all of my 90 pounds with no fills. i am going on 4 years banded and still have no fills. i am off all meds and feel great. now if i can just lose that 8 pounds that i gained from eating too many buffets with my husband. our life is surrounded by food and i need to get back into the mindset of smaller portions and keeping away from buffets. you have done great and do not let anybody discourage you. i do not believe i lost that much weight so soon in this journey. it took me a year of slow losing. good luck

my husband of course was my pillar of strength through this whole ordeal. i had to tell my boss to get the time off, i was off for Christmas holiday week of 2008 and nobody was the wiser. after i lost about 50 pounds, everybody started to ask questions and of course there was the jealous few that would not ask about what was going on. my boss who loves to gossip, called me in her office to get my permission to answer the questions of the curious jealous women and i said at that point, go ahead. i was so good the first two years but this last year has me cheating more than usual. I have gained 8 pounds and am trying to swim it off. i do not regret not telling anyone in the beginning. The pressure i believe would be too much for any yo yo dieter like myself. you need to focus on you and your journey and the pressure of jealous wandering eyes would sabotage anybody trying to change their lifestyle. i guess it is a personal choice but this is what worked for me.

I think everybody makes a good point. I am 3 1/2 years banded with losing 90 pounds. I am to goal but gained 5-7 pounds last winter and did not get off because our pool was out of service. I am back on track this year with a new pool and am going to get back to goal and hopefully get a few more pounds off. I am 59 and am waiting until 62 to retire and then get a "fun" job. My job is very stressful and I find myself eating sliders, POPCORN, is my favorite and trouble food. It goes down without ever getting stuck and with a healthy smoothie with some fruit and protein powder I am good for the night. I have no fill and never had a fill and still when stressed I cannot get good regular food down. I find that if I tell myself that I can have anything I want then I won't really want it that bad and can avoid it. That is how I quit smoking 11 years ago after being a heavy smoker for over 30 years. We all need to do what we feel is good for us and works, I have not found two people alike with these bands, everybody has their own way of handling this weight problem, so keep happy and do the best you can.