GoingforGoal

B52, accepting you are thin is a whole new topic. Despite all the supportive evidence (ha! like BMI 23, Weight 150, size 4-6 or xs-s, and hearing people say I'm "small" "thin" "tiny") it just doesn't resonate with you that indeed you are thin. I actually have to tell myself, yes you are thin because I'm this weight, this size etc etc. But per my previous post, the mind just doesn't make the connection AT ALL ahah. That and we will forever nitpick at ourselves. I know our original goals are to be healthy, but when you reach your goal weight you can start picking on little things to improve. And until you get those rectified it's just another thing to get frustrated with. But at least I'm at a place that I'm happy despite any future tweaks (ie toning). This is the first time in my life I've been comfortable in my own skin. So much so I wore a bikini this week in Florida for the first time in my life. I was ok with everything but my arm scars from surgery. I have to work on accepting that new flaw..but that's a tough one.

Hello Carolina I didn't read this entire post (sorry), but just wanted to say that I'm one of those who comes infrequently when I use to come daily. I really enjoyed the older format but am struggling with the new site. As a successful bandster, I have different needs. One of them is to just socialize with other vets who don't have the q's, but understand the lifestyle. So when I need a kick in the butt, when I have a q about moderation/maintenance etc I have some one to bounce a q off of. But again, it's the social aspect I needed just as much. Noone understands you better than an ex-obese person who also got a band and also made goal. That is a very hard combination to match in real life. But in the new site I don't see my buds in the chat rooms, emails have died down etc so I've lost that social component. But like everyone else, I too need to keep myself mindful of my band and my wl. I come on here just to remind myself of rules, what I committed to, what I accomplished etc. And when I can, I will extend a thought or two. I'm more of a chat room kinda gal..but still a bandster regardless

Hi there! I wanted to share something I discovered having been both obese and now 'healthy'. One of the reasons we are so unaware of our actual selves, is because our mind is only aware of our core. When I was overweight, despite my dress size increasing, I never actually felt as large as I was. For example, ever try to squeeze between 2 chairs at a restaurant and say I feel I'm thin enough to get through but when you do you hit both chairs and you can't fit after all. It's because your mind is aware of your core (the stuff under the fat), not your true circumference.If it weren't for extrinsic factors like mirror reflections, scales, dress sizes, pictures etc we'd be completely oblivious of our true forms. And because we feel our cores, we dilute ourselves into feeling normal sized and we focus our attention on our positives (especially those that reinforce our normalcy) like collarbones, a pretty face, curves etc. The truth is, those same extrinsic factors are what gives our mind the reality check it needs to keep our bodies in check. I am 100 lbs lighter, have had extensive cosm. surgery. I dropped from a size 22+ to a size 4 and guess what? I feel the same. I still have to rely on mirrors, scales, pictures etc to show myself what I look like because the feeling of my core body is the same and I need those visuals to prove that indeed I'm smaller, curvier, etc than before. The bonus is that when I slide through chairs I astonish myself when I clear a tiny space without touching... if you want to make a good joke out of it..just say 'boy, my core is thinner than I thought' <wink> I hope this makes sense. It's just something I noticed because as the weight came off, I always felt the same. I guess I always expected as I lost weight my sense of body would be different. That only happens when i look in the mirror. I am only speaking about shape, not improvement in things like mobility and stamina or obvious observations like I take up less space in airplane chairs and I can fit my 10 year olds tshirts ha! But it sure explains why I never felt my back fat until a picture surfaced.

Deep tissue bruising usually starts to surface after 4 days, so it is normal since your muscle, fascia and fat was excessively manipulated during surgery. Pain/discomfort is the #1 feedback you should listen to when exerting yourself. If you feel it, slow down and/or stop. Exercise is not the focus at this time, give yourself another week for light exercise (ie walking) and up to 6 weeks for gym exercises. Your body needs to heal. If you overexert yourself you can cause an inflammatory response, weakened immune system/illness, increased pain/discomfort prolonging healing etc. Additionally your intake is poor and should be used for your body's essential energy needs to heal. Stay on top of your pain meds as needed, stay hydrated and take it easy.

I'd recommend some of the larger department stores like Kohls, Macys, JC Pennys etc because they have multiple departments and brands that will allow you to not only choose specific styles, but experiment with sizes. Once I got down to a size 8/10 I was able to fit into some junior sizes (ie jeans) that looked and felt much better than some of the slouchy mom jeans another dept would offer for example. But once I got to the single digits I wanted all the premier brands I was always too heavy for like banana Republic, Michael Kors etc. It was a double reward, fab clothes and the ability to wear a size 4/6 in designer wear- it was just a reminder of how far I came.

Hello and Welcome!! Congrats on your decision to get the help you need and surrounding yourself with those who understand your journey and can share their insight/successes etc with you to help you achieve your goals. I have been banded over 4 yrs and have reached goal. You will hear anti-band comments ad nauseam, but let me assure you, you will find far more positive and successful stories. Just keep your head up and find some mentors you trust who want to see you successful. Good luck

Did you get a barium study? One of the things I think of is esophageal dysmotility. Without a barium study, or knowing precisely where the food is stuck and for how long, it would be impossible to know. But you would definitely want this ruled out

Hello, We are similar in that we started around the same weight with similar end goals. I started at 250 and am now 145-150. I lost 100 lbs and am striving to lose more (but now it's about hitting the gym, toning and body sculpting not really fat loss). Like my peers mentioned, losing 100 lbs was impossible without the band. As I got older, had kids etc it just became futile. And thus I came to the conclusion I needed help and I got the band to do just that. I know that the docs and statistics will show that x % of bandsters lose x % of weight. But in reality, this is a generalization. There is a huge noncompliance issue with the band (imho) and it is no wonder that not everyone is reaching their goal weights. But how sad that this than reflects poorly on the bands ability to do it's job for those who are diligent and determined. One of the things I wanted to mention was the lessons learned while banded. Sure the band helps with appetite suppression, volume control, and in many cases carb control (because heavy carb/starch items like Pasta, rice and bread and can be difficult to eat in large volumes or on a daily basis). But this is not one of those programs where things just happen to you. If you are an active participant in your wl, you will soon learn how to eyeball proper portions and thus you are controlling portions, you reinforce positive behaviors like stopping eating when your band/body signals you are full and so eating small volumes becomes second nature, by respecting the band and not trying to override it with sliders and/or difficult foods you soon lose your taste for those problematic foods thus reinforcing healthier food choices. Some of these new habits is precisely what many of us lacked prior to the band. If you stick with it you are adopting new life habits that will support your bands success as it supports your wl. It's a relationship if you will. Than you get to my place, where it's about maintenance. This is probably the most difficult phase for people (with out wls). The band makes it a cinch. I have been banded for over 4 years now and my habits are second nature. I don't have to overthink what foods are right, how much to eat etc. I allow myself to eat anything I desire in moderation and I have a +3 lb rule (if I gain more than 3 lbs than I diet to keep myself in a target area). I don't feel deprived... actually, I feel freed. I did have cosmetic surgery and now have different goals all together (ie toning is my 2014 resolution lol). Take the steps, stay compliant..you can do whatever you set your heart to do!

I think it's twofold. One holidays and life in general getting in the way. And two, the site changes have made it lackluster to come here daily. The nonexistent chat room, the new topics feature gone, the dynamic of having too many wls's and the fact that I don't see my friends here anymore make it unappealing. Happy Holidays in case I don't see you again before year's end

Hello Desert, Exercising is encouraged with any wls/wl program. The band will not prohibit you from doing any exercise. Typically docs will say to refrain from exercise 4-6 weeks after surgery to ensure a full recovery. All your energy needs to go into the healing process and you want to avoid any further irritation which can lead to complications/infection etc. Exercise + diet is always a sure way to lose weight faster. As long as you understand the principles of how to optimize fat loss through exercise and diet that is. Also, body measurements will be an equally important number to track in addition to the scale because as you build muscle the scale may not reflect actual fat loss. The band itself does nothing for the speed of loss. It's a matter of how compliant you are, how responsive you are to the band and how soon you can get to green and feel restriction. I never focus on losing fast, it's a sure way to self disappoint. Rather, expect the standard 8lb/month loss which are typical results with any healthy wl program. The difference with the band, opposed to dieting, is that you'll be able to lose long term and later on maintain with ease. Fills are typically every 4-6 weeks depending on the doc. Some fill centers are every 2 weeks. Everyone is different here, but I was able to get to green around 5 months postop. Complications. They are low. Some are patient induced (ie noncompliance) some are their bodies rejecting the band. But all together the rates are low. Each wls has their risks and it's a matter of weighing which risks you feel you can manage and having a back up plan if those complications were ever realized.

Welcome. Please ask as many questions you may have. We are all here to help. Thanks for joining us

Hope this lifts some spirits... I was diagnosed with PCOS when I failed at conceiving baby #2. Had to use fertility meds to conceive him. When we wanted #3 we used fertility meds and even IUI but never conceived. This was before the band. A year after the band hubs wanted to try again. Told him no meds, no interventions...just natural. We tried and conceived first time. I was 50 lbs lighter at that point (195#) opposed to my starting 250#. Before my periods were every 2-5 months, now they are annoyingly regular (lol) Give it a year of wl and get reevaluated. No harm in trying to conceive in the meantime (if you are trying). But the further you get from being obese the more balanced hormones become. Good luck ladies

(Deep Breath In....and Screaming at the top of my lungs) HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAPPPPYYYYYYY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!! Stay beautiful !!! Have the best bday ever : )

Those are your stitches They self dissolve but it's possible for them to surface. Trimming is ok, pulling is not

On the topic of statistics/failure rates.... nobody really knows. Statistics identify the complication and the percentage of patient's who experienced them. NOT who was noncompliant and created their own complications. This is not to infer every band failure/complication is patient induced, of course not. But without real numbers, it's near impossible to determine the true safety of the band when our own medical community won't give us accurate data/presumed causes for these failed bands. As I've always said, one's success with any surgery is highly individualized. A small minority will fall subject to complications despite compliance. It's truly unfortunate because I know how much faith goes into these procedures and for the body or apparatus to fail us just must be devastating. But than you have the other side of the house...you know... the one's going to Taco Bell the day of surgery (YES, I'm talking about YOU!!!). Just like with any surgery, there are ground rules. And we hear nonstop posts about people bending or downright ignoring those rules. It's just sad, because it's safe to predict this person is going to end up slipping or? But than we turn around and say, oh the band failed them. Hardly! It's a tool and needs to be respected. There's a mutual responsibility and far too often people want to rely solely on their surgery as if nothing has to be done on their part. I agree with 5.0. I think there are some excellent centers that have an entire educational arm to their program. These patients seem to get it. And than there's those docs, who are strictly surgeons. We have patient's who are banded coming out asking the most general questions..and you can only shake your head in disbelief. It's simply negligent and unethical to put a patient through surgery, especially one that requires a change in lifestyle, and not educate them on all aspects of that change. So when this person fails or has a complication..do statistics really capture the real risk? I would never assume that if someone had a complication that it was their doing. That's just not fair nor appropriate. But I'd love for some people to be accountable to their actions and admit how they created their own issues if indeed they did, because that's being fair and appropriate to the LB community.

Sweetie Hello Breakfast items: Oatmeal (natural, no flavor or sugar), add chopped walnuts. I add dried or fresh fruit in little bits because I like the flavor, but this can be emitted eggs and ham, Eggs with??? make an omelete or even a quiche cup<<<easy to make Yogurt (plain or flavored) w/ granola (add Protein powder for a kickstart to your protein intake) Don't like to eat in the a.m. maybe stick to a Protein shake just to get your metabolism revved up

OMG it's too early for this... let's see: Since I don't like using minority cases as normality, I will focus on truths that effects most of us bandsters. The false claims: 1. You yack daily lol 2. You can't eat healthy 3. You can never find the green zone and we spend our lives finding it lol 4. You cannot lose all of your excess weight with the band 5. You can expect your band/port to flip, erode, slip and be taken out in it's lifetime 6. Fills are not necessary (sorry 5.0 I disagree, very rarely does someone not need them ) 7. Fills are torturous and you avoid them 8. The followup care for the band is demanding and impossible to adhere to Oh there's more I'm sure...I just haven't had any coffee yet lol

I can tell your mind is in such a good place. I love that you are rewarding yourself so early on with nonfood rewards. Good for you! Just wanted to chat about the calorie target- What kind of exercise do you think is manageable at this time for you? This is THE #1 factor as to which caloric range you will aim for. Right now cals don't matter..give it another few weeks. I think many of us were lingering in the 500s but ended up in the 800s by the end of the month as we transitioned into solids and larger portions. Very low cal range is for ppl who are not exercising. 800-1000 Little exercise 900-1100 Consistent exercise 1000-1200 Marathon runner 1200-1500 These are MY ranges based on the many posts people have shared about their target zones and their level of activity. REmember wl= calories in - calories burned. Change one variable at a time for optimal results. Journal your intake and energy expenditure to fine tune changes if needed. Good luck girl, you are doing everything right!!!

So nice to hear that. And I have to agree. We are all about education and support. Occasionally there's a blip in our communication (but that just ends up being good entertainment and comic relief ahhah). Anyway, 100 lbs is more than doable on the band. There are way too many factors that influence one's success (in any of the surgeries) but for some reason our failure rates are always blamed on the band and never noncompliance. I'm thrilled to pieces that I and MANY others from the lapbandtalk site are here to share their 100+ lb losses and success stories w/ the band.

Jl, Hi there. Did you do your fill under flouro or did you do a Water test to determine how much fill was needed. First, I wanted to give you some reassurances: 1) 3cc is a very typical starter fill. Whether the doc put it in at the time of surgery, or during your first fill, again, 3 cc is normal. 2) Since this is your first fill, you may be more sensitive to the fill. What is happening is the increased restriction around the stoma is putting pressure on your vagus nerve (as it should). However, with all the increased inflammation in the area, the vagus nerve can be aggrevated and send off signals to other areas it innervates (like the diaphragm and chest). These should subside as inflammation goes down. If at any time you cannot pass fluids, or you cannot transition into solids with frequent regurgitation be sure to get an unfill. These symptoms should not persist for long. Also, I hope that they gave you some instruction on drinking only fluids for at least 2 days than slowly intro mushies than solids. This way you do not further aggravate the stoma and cause occlusion. I am an RN and her comment wasn't the most professional. Especially if she failed to follow it up with her rationale or explanation of her expectations. I say, ignore her hahaha. Hope this fill helps you...and the symptoms subside by tomorrow PS 4 years post surgery I still get nauseous with fills lol

Barb, Fantastic, at least we don't have to toy with the fill part. First, I'd like to say that I too had an interruption in my journey, make that two, and found my way back to the bandwagon. First, I got pregnant and than I suffered a car accident that put me into rehab for 8 months. I was fortunate that I only gained 20 w/ the pregnancy and lost it immediately after having the baby. And I gained zero lbs during my rehab stint despite my horrible food choices (my volume was still in check). But January of THIS year I was 195 lbs, my neural symptoms were under better control from the accident, and I was in the right mindset to get back on the my diet. And here's what I did: 1- I rejoined LBTalk after having gone MIA for over 3 years. It was like a recommitment. The more I talked about my goals, my daily decisions, my progress etc the more momentum and motivation I got to carry on the good work. I also met up w/ some old friends and made some new ones who have all been such great support and a huge distraction to the daily grind of losing weight. 2- I looked at my old weights/measurements/pictures. I've never looked at them before hand and I was astonished where I was (despite the setbacks) and where I started. It helped wipe away some of that negative talk going on in my head and encouraged me to keep going. It also kept me accountable by forcing myself to take new measurements, pics etc for future reference 3- I picked up my old surgical materials which outlined my transition diets, foods to eat, rules etc. Sometimes you think you know these things by hard, and you might, but sometimes reading them on paper gives you a chance to get real and identify which rules you really are not enforcing, which foods are no longer a staple in your diet etc. This is a great starting point to identify some habits that need to be reintroduced and reinforced 4- Food. So I am married and I have 3 children. So there's no way I can just go and throw out all the food in the pantry. But what I did do, was write a grocery list of all the staple foods I would be eating. I doubled up buying the things the entire family ate or bought small portions of things only I would eat. I bought a huge variety but the rule way- I only eat from this list. I don't care how you mix them or if you eat them individually- but the rule is- only these foods. The first thing that it accomplished- it drastically reduces your choices. Second, no matter what you eat- it's all healthy for you and it'll be Protein based which will help satiate you. Third, You are reestablishing your base foods. These are your real staples. This is what you should be asking- do I eat these foods mostly or other foods to help identify when you are not eating in moderation later on when you introduce new foods. 5- Bust out the tools- So I got pretty good at eyeballing measurements. But if you haven't gotten to this point, now is the time to use measuring spoons and cups and scales again. No more than 1 cup at any time. Or if you are counting calories, use those spoons to ensure you are not adding too many calories of toppings/additives etc 6-Exercise. Ok so the formula for wl goes wl= calories in - calories burned. You have to keep those variables stable for continual and sustained wl. So if you can't exercise (like me because of my back) you have eat less. if you work out alot than you need to eat more. Some people fixate on numbers that they resist things like adding food because they incorrectly believe it'll make them gain. In reality, if they don't, the body goes into starvation mode and will plateau. 7- So an extension to my last comment is to journal. Get back to writing your foods, portions, calories, protein grams, Water intake and weights so you can catalog your progress. And if you need to make a change, you can experiment and see what is and is not effective. 8- Remember, protein is your #1 priority (60-90 gr minimum). Take supplements like Calcium citrate, Multivitamin and others include B12, Vit D and Biotin. Drink minimum of 64 oz of water daily. So let's put your memory to the test..what foods should be in your pantry?

Barb, I am assuming you never go to green. Unfortunately the band cannot work at it's best if it's not filled adequately to suppress appetite, limit volume intake etc. This is how the band is designed to be effective. Otherwise, it's like having a bike with flat tires as they say. If you are at green, and this is a matter of getting back to the rules of eating with a band than that's much easier to address. Can you tell us more about what zone you feel you are in, your eating habits etc. I find many times we recognize in ourselves where we are not compliant, so identifying that part for us will help us better support you

I did not have to do a preop diet nor 'colon cleanse' lol prior to surgery. However, my husband who was banded same day/same physician as I had to do a 2 week liquid diet. It's a mixture between the physician's practice/philosophies and the patient's health status/risks