christa94

okay. i am so not thrilled. last week i posted that i had started taking in the 1000 cal a day and drinking the 2 protein shakes a day and drinking water and that i had finally seen the scales move after 4 weeks of nothing. that must was a fluke or something because though they were lost, they have been found!! this is so frustrating. i am doing what i am supposed to do and yet, nothing. this will be going on my 5th week with nothing. it is really starting to piss me off. i didn't spend darn near 10,000 to lose 18 pounds! and yes i know that i was gaining before but this is ridiculous!! i talked to the nutritionist from the clinic where i had the surgery performed and she said i don't need a fill. they gave me 3ccs at the time of placement of the band. according to her, i just need to relax and take in 1000 calories a day and have 2 protein shakes and plenty of water. DUH! not working. and according to her i am doing better than the average of 10 pounds a month. how when i lost 17 pounds the first 20 days post op and nothing since then! it will be 7 weeks since the surgery come this thursday and i am not just feeling like i am doing oh so great! it is very hard for me to continue to make healthy choices and do the right thing when i see no results for my troubles. that is the problem i had pre-surgery. going without my favorite high fat foods and exercising (which i like) and going for healthy with no results was discouraging to me then and it is beginning to get discouraging now. i just see visions of 10K swirling around in the toilet going downward because this is what i am beginning to think i did with having this surgery. then on top of all of that, the clinic where i had the surgery done won't send me the surgery notes so that i can see a doctor over here and the doctor here doesn't automatically take patients that had the bands placed in mexico. he has to review the file before he will say yes or no. the clinic in mexico claims they gave me surgery notes, but they didn't. so, i am just in an overall pissy mood about all of this today. i am just venting.

well, my scale is moving again after 3 weeks of hanging out at the same weight. i did follow the advice of others and it helped. i too thought eating next to nothing would ensure weight loss. but, not true. i have now bumped up to the 1000 to 1200 calories per day. drinking more water (at least 32ozs but haven't gotten up to the 64 ozs.) i have my 2 protein supplements a day and exercise a couple of times a week. on some days i have to resort to eating something high calorie to make it to my 1000 calories but i generally make healthy choices. so, stay encouraged everyone and keep doing what you know to be the right thing. thanks for all the good advice!

so, if i increase my water and protein intake that will start me to losing again? i have been getting more water in, and no, at first i was not taking in hardly any protein. now i drink a protein supplement in which i get at least 40g from that and the other 20 i know i get from food. we shall see how it goes from there.

i have been on soft foods now for about a week and a few days. it seems like since i have gone to soft foods, my scale has not moved down anymore. what gives? i don't have alot of calories and i move around alot. is this normal?

barbara, hang in there you have been such a source of strength to others!

well, i haven't posted in a while. but, here is an update. scale still hasn't moved. this is week 3 of that. i am now drinking way more water than i was initially. i am up to at least 32ozs a day. i know i should do more, but trust me, this is a struggle. i am trying to get up to those 1000 calories a day, but that is challenging too. i have 2 friends that had the gastric bypass done. one had it done 2 years ago and one almost one year ago. the one that had hers done 2 years ago is not losing too well. the other has lost 200 pound and still losing. they both tell me not to worry and that it will pick up again, but what if it doesn't (the weight loss that is)? i exercise too. i feel like i am whining. i am very grateful though to be maintaining at the weight that i am. that is progress seeing as though i was gaining constantly before. so, i should be grateful. i just didn't spend $9000 to just lose 17 pounds and that be it. does anyone understand me?

so, do any other women experience a change in your menstral cycle since being banded? i still feel like i am carrying around 2 watermelons on my chest full of water! and my period came a whole 5 days early this month. i have only lost 17lbs but in the past, when i lose weight my period changes from when i am heavier. does that make a shred of sense? on another note. i seem to be going through alot of emotional changes lately. i don't know if they are band related or just feeling the crunch of pre-wedding stuff. i feel like i should be further along than i am with the band. i know it has been about a month. but, i really wanted to be down by more by now. well, not true. before the surgery, my one month goal was to lose 12lbs. i did that, and more. but once the scale started going down, i wanted to continue to see that until i had lost at least 30lbs. and i know that most real weight loss does not occur until the first fill, but remember, i got 3 ccs in my band at the time of band placement so, i didn't expect to be stalled for a week and a half. i should just be happy that my scale isn't going up continuously like it was pre-band. everything was too tight and my wedding dress was going to need to be let out some, now it will need to be taken in. so, i am grateful. but at the same time i want more. but, alot of my clothes fit better. so, there is progress. another thing, someone suggested that i need to eat more calories in order to lose weight. well, let's see. honestly, most days i get between 300-500 in per day. once i eat, i am just not hungry. or thirsty. i get a little Water in first thing in the morning. then because i feel full from that, i wait about 45mins. to an hour before Breakfast. then once i eat that, i am full for another 3 or so hours. then i try the water again. then i am full til dinner. and i try to make low calorie healthy choices. i don't see how i can get more in. i don't like that stuffed feeling or the uncomfortable feeling of waiting for the stuffed feeling to go down. my fiance is constantly asking me what i had to eat today or asking about my food choices and stuff. i know he is just concerned but it is annoying sometimes too. i have told him i don't need him being the Protein police or anything else. i know the rules of the band and i intend on abiding by them! again, maybe i am having pms or just whacked out because of the wedding.

thanks everyone for your input and support. i need to chill. i AM mega stressed. i failed to mention that my mother and family are totally unsupportive of my upcoming wedding (my husband is white and i am black and he is older than me) but that is another thread!! she has not been nice during this planning phase and it hurts. but, again this is not a psychological venting thread so i won't go into the saga of it all. then i got offered a new job , accepted it and then declined it because i thought i was making too many changes at once (getting married, the ring, moving out of my apartment and preparing to move in with my husband once we are married, i do have a daughter). i don't want pity or anything from anyone i am just living and experiencing life like everyone else. but i just feel like i don't want to deal with another major life change right now. i am trying to de-stress because i know stress is a killer on the body! thanks again for your kind words and advice. i am aiming at getting in at least 1000 healthy calories a day. i may have to start getting up earlier in the morning!!!!

yep. i have been getting some exercise in since i had the surgery. i am going to try for the 1000 calories. but, i am afraid that is going to make me gain. my fiance is not too pleased about the period thing. he wants us to have a baby soon after we get married and my period doing different things each month is an indicator of ovulation issues.

well, they said that is how much was needed for the band to be tight on my stomach. i haven't had any problems with it. i was most shocked too!

JULY5FORME, try eating on a smaller plate. 3-4 ozs of food on a dinner plate looks like nothing. but 3-4 ozs of food on a salad plate looks like you are having a big meal. it is a mind game, but it helps me. now that you know that you are an emotioner eater, you have fight it. before you put something in your mouth, you have to ask yourself, "how am i feeling?" am i sad, mad, happy, etc. and if you answer yourself yes then you know you are gettting ready to eat for the wrong reason and put the spoon, fork, or whatever it is down and go do something else. if you have true physiological hunger, then eat. i used to be an emotional eater and a binge/purger so i know how difficult it is to retrain yourself and to really get in touch with your feelings and not allow yourself to pacify yourself with food when there is really an emotion that needs to be dealt with. but, it can be done.

i only eat about 3 ozs at a time.

canned fruit is also easier to deal with. maybe you could peel the skin off and not eat that part.

vinesqueen, i do understand that most people don't see weight loss until their first fill, but i have in essence already had a fill. at the time that my band was placed, the band was filled with 3 ccs of saline. it only holds 4. so, i don't reallly think i am falling under the norm here. but, i will hold tight. i certainly don't think i need to go get a fill.

i had a little pasta yesterday. it was fine.but then again, i chew most of my food a minimum of 30 times.

yep. i was banded on 6/29. lost 17lbs. started soft foods and my scale hasn't moved since and that was a week and 2 days ago. i am not happy about that. i have had one slime/pb but all has been good since.

does drinking alot of Water really help us to lose more weight? before the surgery i used to drink 72 ozs of water a day to help me lose weight. unfortunately, it did not help. i peed alot and that was basically it.

i haven't even bothered to talk to my pcp about it. she is very opinionated and would have discouraged the surgery. not alot of people or physicians know about or understand the band and how it works. i think they get it confused with the bypass surgery, as if it were the only weight loss surgery out there. continue to do your research. and you make the final decision about and for yourself. i wish i would have had the opportunity to have the band when i was 23 and shave off some years of the ridiculous weight loss struggle!

i have to agree with seminole on this. i USED to believe that ministers and religious people and people of faith were out of the cheaters club. but, i have too much personal experience to hold that point of view any longer. i work for a pastor and he is also over several pastors. i was very shocked when he began making passes at me and wanted to advance things to the next level, and didn't really take no for an answer. any man can and will cheat if he is not committed to his vows.

leila, what is an open alternative marriage? i have never heard that term before.

that is a good question. what do you mean by cheat? a man or woman can cheat emotionally and physically. usually it is the emotional that comes first and leads to physically/sexually cheating. my vote is that most men cheat. please no attacking responses to me for saying that. it is my opinion. i could be wrong. every man that i know has cheated or still cheats now. again, this is just my opinion.

can't say that my doctors recommended it. they recommended at least 15 times. but, i had a pb on the first day of mushies and since then, the lesson i took from that was chew until you just can't chew anymore!! since i have adopted that principle, i have not pb. sometimes i don't make it to 30 chews, but sometimes i make it to 50. i eat on a salad plate or a saucer. it looked to depriving for me to eat 3 ozs of food on a huge dinner plate. it almost looked like, why bother?? but on the salad plate, 3 ozs looks like alot. i ate with a baby spoon the other day, and to be honest, i liked it. i knew my bite size was correct (something i sometimes wonder about). the bigger the bite, the more you are going to need to chew and the more (in my opinion) likely you are to swallow something before it has been chewed enough if you are not careful.

i am not a teacher, i have a desk job. but one thing i find, is i can't rush myself. i have to take my time a chew chew chew. if not, problems can occur. i hold onto the sheets for too long in the mornings and don't end up eating my breakfast until i get to work. which could be a problem if i am trying to get my 30 chews in and the telephone rings! but, when i have my lunch, i leave my desk and go somewhere where i can concentrate on nothing but eating and it be a relaxed environment. same thing with dinner. i am kind of nervous because on saturday my friends are throwing me a bridal shower. i am nervous about eating there because it takes me a good 45 minutes to eat 3 ozs of food now because i do chew forever. i don't want to rush myself and then pb right there at the bridal shower!!!

alexandra, have you had any pregnancies with the band? i am wondering how that affects weight loss. do people do as well post pregnancy with weight loss as they did before the pregnancy?

well, i do have those signs. some times i don't pee at all during the work day. once when i wake up in the morning. once or twice when i get home in the evening and once before bed. and it is dark yellow. i know that is the telltale sign of needing more water. within the last few days i have been peiing more than that. still dark yellow though. i know, probably too much information.