hmarko

me too lying down - never had a problem finding port.

Or this is gross but I HAVE done this - bite down on the pill and eat the oil. Anyway I take a liquid omega three vit D combo from Longevity nutritionals (a former atkins associate).

robyn - curious have you ever bungee jumped before? For example I horse back ride and I asked them what if I fall off - and they said the worst thing that can happen is you disconnect your port and you will know that because suddenly you can eat cheeseburgers. Anyway luckily I haven't fallen off yet :thumbup: Knock wood :thumbup:

I am 181 and a size 12P in a Tahari suit which seem to be cut small. I am 5 4" - I lost about 60 lbs and went from an 18 maybe a 20 to he 12. Today people said they thought I was 150. I'm muscular though. Been riding dressage faithfully for years used to weight train once upon a time but now its just the riding (horses that are difficult to move around ie lazy).

The after care is key - you will not lose weight or gain it if you are not on top of getting to proper restriction as quickly as possible. Every practice is different but for me it took 3 fills and since then I lose about 8 lbs a month.

Amanda what is a p90x?

somewhere around there may be less without the display. I would post the sites but not sure if it violates forum rules. you can search bodybugg I think there are two main sites that sell it.

Wow everyone seems to be having such varied experiences. I had not lost weight for 3 weeks and now it is flying off again. I did go to Germany horse shopping and was riding everyday which upped the calorie expenditure. Here is what I do 1) I go to my docs monthly those appointments are prescheduled 2 months in advance usually the first week of the month. I do have to pay a 20 dollar copay but that is worth it. I do feel they keep me on track because I agree with what loveslady said small things happen and things creep up. They don't judge but I do feel they may notice things before I may and they stay on top of things They know I watch my nutrition (see #2) because I do log and when I do eat junk I admit it (I sometimes forget so I bring my papers so I can go back and refer to them). Here is a good example - before my last fill I felt I started eating too much. When I went to my appt I told him that and gave and example (I had 2 burger shots and 4 chicken nuggets). the response was 'in one sitting?' I said yes. Then he asks what did u have the rest of the day. I didn't remember so I checked and sure enough more junk. I got a small fill because I was flying out but it was what I needed. The best nutritional days for me are fish only days. I have been bad about veggies so I added a supplement. When I am not being great about food.... I am doing what I am doing right this second and eating Chinese but I am at my sweet spot so I can't really overdo it. I do not eat chips, chocolate (ok maybe 1 x a month or something; icecream never unless it is a skinny cow bar). I average 1200 calories a day but they can be 700 cals one day 1500 another etc. My calorie expenditure averages 2400 a day (see #3). The net loss works to about 2 lbs a week (you need to deficit 1000 calories to lose 2 lbs a week). 2) I log my food daily (except when I was in germany) 3) I started wearing a bodybugg so its been fairly accurate at predicting what goes in vs what goes out in calories 4) I could be better about exercise - on my weekends I ride that is good for an additional 800 calories usually per day. I used to walk home but have gotten lazy and the gym I more or less abandoned. Then I have these spurts of riding like last week which is daily (in december 2 weeks daily). It does seem to help the weight loss. I think getting to your sweet spot quickly is critical to the success of this thing and as one poster mentioned I knew I was there because I was overtightened (don't recommend that if you can avoid it). Once they took a little out all great for two whole months. Coloradomom - so sorry about your surgery what a bummer. Why do they say that happens? Do you know what triggered it? I did rapid weightloss diet before under a docs care - it was liquid protein only and they told us to NEVER have a high fat diet if we 'cheated' as it can lead to a gall bladder attack as our body is used to the low fat. Do you remember what you were eating before the problem happened? I'm curious because I have had some high fat days and now that makes me be extra cautious. I've heard about gall bladder and WLS but I wonder what the relationship is. I hope you are feeling better soon and back to the gym!!!

I have not had a single problem going out to eat. 1 thing I do is I have a glass of wine as this loosens things up. Then afterwards I usually order fish or safe foods (unless i've tried something at home). I have had skirt steak out (steak is tricky it can't be well done) but the skirt steak I've had before and it melted in your mouth. All types of fish are ok. I NEVER eat bread out. ever. Or pasta. The most obvious thing was that I just eat really slow and someone commented on it (but they had no idea I had a band until someone told them later).

After that fill were you ok on the liquid stage for the two days and then mushies for the two days? Is it just the solids causing the problem? I had this I stayed on mushies longer but even there had problems - got unfilled a bit (but for me the choking in the middle of the night was the main reason). Other than that I would burp alot and foam up very little. Salivate a lot too.

It is air going in and out of the stoma - it was explained to me as a water cooler. I haven't had the problem at all actually but my chiropracter actually FELT it. Weird. Though w/ this last little fill I seem to feel this more.

sparkles your surgeon actually sounds more on the aggressive side on the fills if he adds 1cc at a time a couple weeks apart. Don't worry you will see it will be fine and if it isn't I'm sure he will make it fine. Not only are individuals different but bands are different. With the lap band you have APS and APL (the bigger one) and w/ Realize they seem to require more cc's for restriction from what I read here. I was banded in sept. (APS - 10cc band)...my first fill, because I walked in saying i'm STARVING we went to 5.5 cc's well guess what - i didn't even walk out of that office because I couldn't get 1/4 cup of Water down in 45 mins! So I ended up at 4.7 that day. Then we started going up in .5 increments and once again the 3rd time as I was hungry and didn't lose weight (2.5 lbs that month) we went up in a .7 increment to 5.9 cc. Like thinin10 (I think we had the experience around the same time) - I was waking up choking on my saliva. So 2 weeks later, .3 cc's came out and I still lost 10 lbs last month and 12 lbs that month (dec)! This month we only added .1 cc and I think I'm fine (I was actually at my sweet spot at 5.6 cc's for a whole month but started getting hungry - but could also be TOM related). Anyway right now I'm at 5.7 cc's... and I think its fine. Your docs restriction is at a pretty good pace I think. Anyway this is really a process and a lot of finetuning it seems. My doc wants us in there monthly for the first year and I go whether I think I need an adjustment or not - at least they can keep track of the weight loss. Or do a tiny fill like we did this last time.

Its not restriction.... I had this too. You are likely eating too fast an no matter how SLOW they tell us to eat some of us have to eat abnormally slow! :thumbup: I complained about this up until Dec (my 3rd fill) - I was banded in Sept. They said if it continued I would get tested for my esophagus but my doc said I was eating too fast .. she said chew 30 seconds - put the fork down and wait 30 seconds before picking it up. SO i figured before I go for any tests lets see how honest I am about how fast I eat and started w/ a stopwatch (online/or iphone) and the problem went away. It really was reinforced by my 3rd fill where i was overtightened. The tighter you get the MORE you need to pay attention to eating really slow. So try that. Or maybe its just time and it gets better. Mine went away. Now I just feel the food passing thru. In any case this lap band requires a learning curve and it takes a while to master it.. then you get the days u can eat anything and the days you can't eat a thing :ohmy: But its worth it - its the best thing I've done for myself.

i had this and ever since i ended up too restricted it oddly went away. My theory is that being too tight FORCED me to eat really slowly and with a stopwatch (so chew 30 seconds) and wait 30 seconds; haven't had a problem since. I had more problems before reaching proper restriction so go for it. I'm at my sweetspot at 5.7 cc's.

Hi. I was banded on 9/11 no issues. I am traveling next week and I do like to have Lap surgeon's on hand in case of emergency. I am going to Germany to try horses so will be in the Hannover, Onsterbruck (Sp?); Munster areas. Any ideas? Thanks in advance.

Hi Gen - I think this is the main one because we all get email notifications if anyone posts here whereas the other one no one really checks it. I put up a spreadsheet on google of all our stats - can't remember if you updated it or not. Ah just checked it you found it. I think the little .1 cc is helping. I'm still on mushies and not starving. For the life of me i have no clue when I had my last TOM its making me nuts. I was keeping track on my calendar and sometimes on livestrong diary I would comment but i haven't. I wonder if it is possible that I am totally skipping my period this month or something. This happen to anyone? I am 45. I've totally had cramps it just isn't coming. weird.

they sell shorts w/ a padded seat have u tried that?

I have been stuck for 2 weeks! Went for my monthly visit and I have been at my sweet spot but I don't feel like i have been the last two weeks (and PMS wreaking havoc)... he ended up doing a tiny fill .1 cc. I'm flying in a couple of weeks to the middle of nowhere in northern germany so I'm not into having any issues! i have a feeling this is a hungry pms (sometimes they are tight pms's).

My doc gave me fills even though I was PB'ing and thats because she recognzied i was PB'ing because of eating too fast so do what I did. take out a stopwatch (online; iphone whereever) and keep yourself honest... chew for 30 seconds; wait 30 seconds then take your next bite... see if you are still pb'ing.

Oh a few other things I do which I think are important. I check in with my Dr's office monthly (they ask us to and even if I don't feel like I need a fill i go to just make sure they agree). They want us there monthly for the first year and I think its important. There is also a support group that I go to 1 time every two months (It is monthly but I can't get there always). I think the most important thing is to make sure you are staying on top of your fills; eat slowly and don't eat the slider foods.

I was banded in Sept 09 and have lost 52 lbs. My third fill in Dec was too tight so I lost 12 lbs that month (had to have an unfill mid month). I think I am at my sweet spot now I have 5.6 cc's in a 10 cc Lapband APS. I'm extremely happy with the results so far (they have exceeded my expectations). I am working out only 2 days a week (train in horseback riding). During the week I walk though I have been bad about that and long hours at work have pretty much have me abandoning the gym. I average 1000 calories a day I do log my food and I do own a bodybugg to figure out the calorie burn.

Hey Amanda - well I think you look great. I personally do not like posting pics of myself on the internet where I am fair game unless special access is required but thats me. Maybe posting the video here where the audience is 'safer' and have more in common? I have seen some people post videos here on messages. In any case you look fantastic and its great to see the progress!! Its more of a privacy thing for me- I've had people look me up on linkedin where I thought my profile was private there (well it is now :biggrin:

you basically need to deficit 1000 calories to lose 2 lbs a week (that is if you are counting your exercises properly and your food)

stay on liquid protein (the thin kind) and drink water

I think it was the port area as it is attached to abs (can't really remember). i didn't even get on until I could get on w/ little discomfort (ie diaphragm). Another thing is that it took a long while to get my strength back. My left leg is still way weaker. the weight loss also makes u lose muscle no matter how much your Protein intake is. granted I haven't been weight training - but that is what I should be doing. A lot of work w/o stirrups went a long way to fix that and with dressage we do a lot of lateral movements so I focused on a lot of that too... to get that left leg going. By the last two weeks of the year I rode 9 days out of 14 and wasn't sore at all anymore. Now I'm back to only weekend (due to work).