Humming Bird

For me, the 3 meals plus snacks causes me to "graze" all day (yesterday). I find my numbers on the scale tend to be much better when I stay busy and let myself be a bit hungry between meals. Head hunger or real hunger? Who knows, but if I do the snacking thing I get so off track I tend to gain weight. I need to focus my mind so that if I need some sort of snack it doesn't turn into the all day graze thing.

I guess it would also depend on how much he/she is putting in at each fill. I reached my sweet spot at fill number 2 with 5.3cc. I think I went for about 9 months without going back after that and then the next time was another 10 months. Right now I'm at 5.2cc and maintaining. It's frustrating until you find your sweet spot, but then should be pretty much smooth sailing.

If all else fails, there are many surgeons here in the U.S. that charge around $10,000 and include aftercare in that figure. I financed mine and the min. monthly payments started out at around $100 per month. (I would guess you are paying more than that for the health ins.) I did my best to make large payments and paid off the surgery in about 18 months. I had no insurance hoops to jump through and was banded a couple weeks after my first consult. I understand wanting to use the ins. if you can, but just saying all is not lost if you can't do it that way.

Six month to a year from now, when I'm at goal, will this be me? Will I be blogging, "I am now five pounds under my original goal weight and I am getting used to my new shiny bald head."? I dread the thought of how I will look if any more hair falls out! [ATTACH]308[/ATTACH] I have tried everything, and I do mean everything, to stop the dreaded WLS hairloss! I supplement my protein, take biotin, multi vitamins, B12, B complex, Nioxin vitamins, use Nioxin shampoo & conditioner, take other remidies for hairloss ......... The list goes on and on, but NOTHING HELPS! Should I start shopping for wigs and hats now? [ATTACH]309[/ATTACH] I already have a large collection of shoes so that I have the proper shoe to match outfits. Now will I need a hat in every color and style? Visions of The Cat in The Hat, thing 1 & thing 2 and the two children keep dancing around in my head. The room is filling up with hats! I have heard that nothing tastes as good as thin feels. Will being thin feel better than being a bald woman? Will I eventually accept the fact that I no longer have my golden silky locks? Will my ears look big? Oh my gosh, will I need to get earings to match the hats? Will people look at me and ask what the prognosis is? Will I be subjected to melon head and bald jokes? Will I look as cute as Britney and Demi do bald ? I think NOT![ATTACH]310[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]311[/ATTACH] Maybe I will try out new styles, lengths and colors. [ATTACH]312[/ATTACH] Will I find out if blondes have more fun? It is so frustrating ! It makes me want to pull my hair out! oops! bad choice of words. Better not do that!

For the proper fit I always have to go try on bras. I would have a hard time ordering one without trying it on first. I go to JCPenny and try on many before I find a style or brand that fits my body the right way.

To post a pic: Put the pic in an album in your gallery first. When you open your album, there will be a large pic and then below that there will be a thumbnail size. Right click on the pic you want to post (large or small) choose 'properties' a window will come up with the url you need to copy copy the url then come to this thread and reply click on the insert image at the top of this reply box (at the top of the window you type your post in) clear the http that is in the box and paste your url.

try this thread http://www.lapbandta..._1#entry1568264 To post a pic: Put the pic in an album in your gallery first. When you open your album, there will be a large pic and then below that there will be a thumbnail size. Right click on the pic you want to post (large or small) choose 'properties' a window will come up with the url you need to copy copy the url then come to this thread and reply click on the insert image at the top of this reply box clear the http that is in the box and paste your url.

Mine was at a seafood place, but I avoided the bread. It was very good

At first, the band was on my mind 24/7 just like being fat was before getting the band. Now it has become more a part of me and it isn't on my mind much at all. After almost 2 years, the band almost feels like a body part I've always had. It all becomes sort of second nature. I even forgot what the old way of feeling "full" feels like. There are many foods that I will never be able to eat again, but now they are like the foods I wouldn't eat before just because I didn't like them. Before the band I would never eat things like liver or brussel sprouts just for the simple fact I did not like them. Now my list of foods that don't appeal to me is just longer. It's not like the deprived feeling I thought I would have. After a few episodes of being stuck or PBs or slime, my brain has been reprogramed and it is very rare for those things to happen.

Maybe they were talking about alcohol? Because you do tend to get drunk faster. If not alcohol, I'm not sure why they would make that one of the big rules. I drink coffee, tea, water ...... all the time when I drive. I also live in a very rural area and do a lot of driving. It's nice to have something to drink on the way.

That's great news! Life is good . Nice job Dave.

It is so hard to respond to relationship stuff. So many things come in to play and we bansters here don't really know you. Here's my two cents anyway............... If you have a strong relationship pre-op, it has a better chance of staying strong. In my case, I have been with my husband 25 years. We shacked up for 5 years and our 20th anniversary is this month. Things have been strong with us from day one and he has seen me every size from 7 -24. We are still very much in love :wub: . The WLS may prolong our life together, but I didn't give it so much thought. I would say we are more active together since I can enjoy without the extra weight.

Bread Pasta rice steak pork carbonation eggs tortillas french fries (really anything fried or breaded) I'm sure there is more, but that is what comes to mind

Not that I'm promoting doing it without exercise.......... but , I lost 100 pounds in the first year with zero exercise. At my age and place in my life, I don't feel the need to have a hard body. If and when I ever want to put on a bathing suit I'm sure I would look better if I had worked out hard all this time. I'm pretty happy with my results anyway

I agree with not letting him get away with bad comments. Go back and get a fill. Over time the fluid in the band can decrease a bit and you will need a fill so you don't gain. I went back after not having a fill for almost a year. I got a fill back to my original sweet spot and it has helped. I agree with what skylily said for a response if he has something bad to say. Go get your fill.

There are plenty of success stories out there. Keep in mind that when we have been banded for awhile and nothing is going wrong, there isn't much reason to post. This forum is a great place for people who are having an issue to post a problem and get help from fellow bandsters. There are plenty of success threads here. Look for them. There are also several threads just like this one where people are put off by all the complications they read here and want to hear some success. In my own case, I was banded almost 2 years ago. I have not had complications. I dropped 100 pounds in the first year and have not "worked" at it one bit. I don't think it's hard work at all. This is the easiest weightloss of my life. I do believe the band is sort of "magic" because I have put in very little effort. People who are working hard don't like to hear this. There could be band complications in my future, but for now I'm not going to dwell on that. I am glad this forum is here so I can talk to other bandsters when and if those complications happen. Your lapband journey can be a good one, so try to focus on that and not other's complications Reading the complications can keep us aware, but please don't let it get you down.

I have told everyone from day one. I would never go on the T.V. news or anything, but am very open about it. In almost 2 years I have only had one negative comment and that one was from a little old lady, so I just let it roll off. I agree with not wanting to lie about how I dropped so much weight.

That really sounds like a small comment that I would just agree with and let roll off. When she said "some of us have to do it the old fashoned way" , I would have just said "yes, that's true" and gone on about my day.

I agree with what the other posters said. This is one of the sure signs of being too tight and can cause all sorts of problems. I really think you should call your surgeon's office and get in there ASAP/today. They can take out a very tiny bit of fluid and you just may find yourself at your sweet spot.

I agree that sugar will make me crave things. I always choose sugar free, but it has nothing to do with my stomach, weightloss, or the band. The reason I choose sugar free is that I look at teeth all day long and at tooth decay. Sugar is not anyone's friend when it comes to that If I didn't have teeth I might not always choose sugar-free ... who knows.

hope that helped

-- left click on someone else's ticker , it is a link to the ticker site -- choose "create your own ticker" -- choose "weightloss" -- choose a ticker and then a slider -- enter your weight / BMI / start date info **** copy the bb code -- go to "my settings" here at LBT -- then choose "profile" -- then choose "edit signature" -- paste the bb code in the signature message looking box **** then scroll down a bit and "save changes"

ok .... I have not used a ticker in ages, but set one up and wrote down all the steps........ will post it in next post....

Click on someone else's ticker . It is a link to the site where you can set up your own. If that doesn't work, there are many other threads here that go through it step by step.