deckedout

Dr. Fitzpatrick is in Portland and she does my fills. I think it was 185 for the first appointment and 165 after that. She is really great and takes as much time as you need to talk about how things are going and changes you may need to make. She does her fills blind, but has done 3 for me and for my hubby with no problems and only one stick each time.

Simon775, don't believe what they say about not losing the first year just because you don't have as much to lose as someone else. My hubby and I were banded at the same time. He has lost 107 lbs of the 172 he wants to lose, I have lost 52 of the 66 or more that I want to lose. Before your first fill, practice those bandster rules. I tried to make sure I was drinking lots of Water, it becomes more and more difficult as you get more fills, so you need to practice. Freeradical, It seems many of the bands hold more than what they "say" they hold. Hubby is at 9.7 in a 10cc band and the fill doc is not the littlest bit worried. She said she has put up to 13cc in one of those. If you still drink with your meals, STOP right now. Myhubby was doing that, and didn't really feel much restriction. When I made him quit before he could get another fill, he tightened right up within a few days, and now is quite tight and hasnt needed a fill since October. Still losing well. My meals are different as I am usually very hungry and pretty wide open at night, but VERY tight in the mornings. I exercise AT LEAST 50 minutes 5 days a week swimming andmy DH and I have started walking about 25 miles a week to train for the summer walking season. Lots of exercise really helps the weight loss.

Usually your GYN can act as your primary care if you see him or her on a regular basis. If they weighed you each time you went in, then the office should have your weights for at least as long as you have been going to that doctor. Will your GYN give you a letter of recommendation? Lots of woman see only their GYN as a primary care.

I have just in the last couple of days, discovered a group called Volkssport, they make walks that you can take, 5K or 10k. Great stuff. Hubby and I just did an 11K today. It was within a mile of our house to start, but we didn't even know it was there. The volkssport people put out a map and exactly how far it was. They also have some free walks, or you can pay 3$ and earn credits toward Patches and pins, as well as other incentives. We are near the Orgeon board, but still in Washington, so we have quite a few different walks to chose from. Give it a try, it is MUCH better than walking on a treadmill, especially if you can find someone to walk with you.

Oh yeah, I also cut out ALL liquid calories. That means no more mochas in the morning, no more hot coffees in the afternoon, no more alcohol in the evenings (except on a rare occasion). I have started drinking green tea at work, hot because it seems like I am ALWAYS cold. OF course the rain where we are doesn"T help much.

I have now hit 50 lbs lost! Wow, this week has really been IT for me as far as weight loss goes. According to my scale, I had plateaued. Now I know that the battery was bad, and I was probably losing but the scale wasn't reading it right. So, today I was 146 which puts me at exactly 50 lbs. That is a LOT of weight on a 5' 2" frame! Oh yeah, someone at work told me that people are REALLY talking about how much weight I have lost. Some are having a hard time believe that I am doing it by dieting and exercising. They think I am taking some drugs or something. I thought it was kind of funny, but I did make sure to let a few people know that I am NOT taking drugs. Oh yeah, another thing that is really helping in keeping the scale moving, or getting moving again, is that I have really, really upped the exercise. DH and I are training for a half marathon. So, we have added walking for 6 miles 3 days a week to our schedule. It takes us about 97 minutes to walk the whole thing. So my exercise schedule now looks like this: Swimming 45- 60 minutes Monday- Saturday (6 days a week about 600 calories a day burned) Walking about 97 minutes Sunday, Wednesday, Friday (about 450 calories burned) Pilaties Fridays only about 250 calories burned Yoga Mondays and Thursdays about 250 calories burned I am feeling GREAT. Lots of energy most days.

Beth, Wonderful pictures. It is so nice to be able to put a face to a name. Sorry you are feeling bad, hopefully your doctor can figure it all out. Are you making sure to get enough Protein? Green leafy veggies help Iron too, if I remember my nutrition stuff right. :girl_hug:

I'm so excited. I had to change the battery on my scale, and it appears that it has been weighing incorrectly for a while. We even went yesterday and bought a brand new scale cause I didn't believe the new weights coming off my scale. So, my ticker is now showing 150! But, this morning the scale said 146! :girl_hug: So, I'm waiting a couple days to see if that stays, but I now have 2 scales saying the same thing so WHOO HOO! I have lost 50 lbs in 8 months, wow! I have already met my April Fool's day challenge, so now I'm shooting for 143 by April 1st.

and it says that I weigh 137.1. Woo hoo! I think, yes all my hard work is paying off. I have lost 20 lbs in 12 hours of sleep! It is about time I broke that plateau.:clap2: Double checking is VERY important. So, I step off and back on again, only to discover that I have now lost another 137.1 lbs in the last 30 seconds. Checking myself to make sure I have not become the size of an ant, I have my hubby weigh himself, only to discover my big o' 6'5" man now only weighs 31 lbs!:heh: Now, our lapbands have been great for weightloss, but not THAT great. Anyway, changed the batteries and now the scale works. Apparently, it hadn't been weighing correctly for a while, how long? I don't know, but with new batteries, in the evening, fully clothed, I was at 151! That is more believable and STILL amazing. I can't wait to get on in the morning and see the REAL weight!:faint:

Oh, me either. It took me telling my hubby, I'm 137 and him saying NO WAY for me to realize it wasn't quite right. I think I focus more on that last number until the tens digit moves

Susan, I'm kind of having the same problem, and my last fill was back in December. The past few days I have been having to push to get up to 1200 calories. So far today I've managed to get down 1000 and it is almost 8 so I just won't be eating anymore. Seems like I get really tight for a while, then it loosens up for awhile then tight again. Doesn't really seem related to TOM either. I have increased my exercise and I don't know if that has something to do with it. hubby and I have started training for a half marathon we're gonna walk it. When I am really tight, but know I have to eat something I usually go for cottage cheese. I also found some Pure Protein bars. They have 19 grams of protein and 180 calories. I get them at Walmart, the smores are the best and chocolate chip is pretty good. Peanut butter is awful. Blueberry crumb is good if you like blueberries. I have one that is peanut butter marshmellow. I haven't tried it yet. hopefully it will be better than the peanut butter. They only cost 117 at walmart and go down really easy.

Breakfast: Weight control oatmeal or pure Protein bar Lunch: Campbell's soup at hand and a cottage double Dinner: meat marinated (chicken, steak, or fish, we really like tilapila), veggies, and either Pasta roni or mashed potatoes. Snack: Yogurt, cottage double, pure Protein Bar, or pudding cup. sugar free. NOT eating school lunches (I'm a teacher) has probably saved me 1000 calories a day, not to mention the cash. I bring in a pile of Soups and cottage cheese every Monday, and pick and chose what flavor I want each day. I also have a couple of frozen dinners in case I am really hungry.

Wow, Susan and DonnaMarie, You both are doing great! 13 lbs in what 3 weeks, DonnaMarie, that is AWESOME. Susan, I wish I could lose 3 lbs in a week! My weight loss has slowed WAY down. I'm still losing inches though. My size 10s are getting bigger and hopefully so I'll be in single digits. You should be excited. It sounds like everything is now working how it should, great job!

DonnaMarie, At least you did something at home instead of just looking for stuff to eat. This morning has been tough for me. I went swimming for the first time on a Saturday, and that was great, but then I went to the store and I was hungry. I bought some pistachios and have eaten WAY too many today. However, I was down to 155.7 the morning on the scale, so it IS going in the right direction again. And now I'm full so I don't feel like eating ANYTHING. Hopefully that little binge is over. I cleaned out my closet of 4 bags of clothes that no longer fit. I had to force myself to get rid of some things that I like, but are too big. So now my closet is just about empty. On the up side, I now have PLENTY of empty hangers to fill with new clothes:)

100% but I live in Washington and drive in Oregon all the time :eek:

DonnaMarie, I am just the opposite of you. Can't eat anything in the morning, water goes down slow.. then usually by dinner, I am almost wide open. Sometimes I'm not but the last 2 days I have been really hungry. I hope it is just a stage and it doesn't mean I need another fill. Make sure you go to the gym! It feels great once you get going on it. Although yesterday I was really tired, and I had to stop myself from falling asleep in the pool, LOL. I was swimming along with my eyes closed and everything. But, I did wake up, and without needing CPR!

I was self-pay. Our insurance will only do bypass, and then only if you have a BMI over 50 or over 40 with two co-morbids that are NOT controlled by meds.

November Lily, About drinking with soup, my DH says yes and I say no. I make sure to keep water away from me at all times when I am eating. It makes it easier all the time, for me at least, when I get used to it. I eat soup everyday for lunch. I assume that any chunks in the soup will work as my solid and keep me full, I do eat my cottage cheese AFTER the soup just to make sure that it sticks with me. For me, it is easier to consistantly follow a rule than to look for situations where the rule might not apply. I NEVER EVER eat and drink at the same time anymore. Of course it helps that if I try to eat and drink at the same time, I PB. However, my hubby used to eat and drink together all the time, and it didn't bother him at all. WHen he finally started obeying the rule, for some reason, it caused his body to forbid him to break that rule anymore. So now, if HE eats and drinks at the same time, he will PB.

Audree, I am here, just been really busy so it is hard to post. I've been lucky to keep up on my reading. Miss Bandster: I usually eat the same things for lunch everyday. A soup at hand and a cottage double. I keep thinking I will change and eat something else, but I have only about 20 minutes for lunch by the time I get the kids out of the room and get to the teacher's lounge. That isn't enough time for me to eat anything solid and NOT get stuck, so I play it safe. This week is my first week of self-imposed NO LIQUID CALORIES. Of course it was snowing this morning on the way to work, and boy did a mocha seem like it would hit the cold spot. BUt, I stopped myself. I really want to see if I have been sabitaging (SP) myself or if I am really on a plateau. I haven't lost anything for 3 weeks now. I go up and down between 156 and 159 But, I press on. Best wishes, Bikergirl, for tomorrow's surgery. No nightmares tonight!

Denise: I didn't realize you were in Oregon. Where abouts? I'm in Vancouver, WA not BC. Weather today is awful. Cold 40, and raining buckets! I am sick of rain. but, I'm with you, I LOVE the green. Last Saturday it was sunny and warm so hubby and I went walking on the river. It was great. But, now it is back to the rain.

Way to go DonnaMarie! You are on your way! Even if you've had a few missteps along the way, you are back and doing what you need to do for yourself. Keep coming back and checking in. It really helps to have support and be accountable to someone. Do you want to try setting a weightloss goal or any other type of goal, for April Fool's Day? It is 5 weeks away, so if you set a goal, try to make it something that is reasonable, but not TOO easy. Welcome back again.

After dieting every chance I got, NOT worrying about weight loss during the healing phase seemed stupid, but I did it. Everything that I gained during that period was lost within a week of my first fill. Stick to the rules, but if you are actually HUNGRY eat something. Then STOP when your aren't hungry. This is the time to start learning the rules and making them second nature. The hardest part for both me and my hubby was NOT drinking while we eat. Practice that part. the weight will come offf, but you have to learn the rules to make your band the most effective tool that it can be.

I don't think I would play with anything like this. A two hour drive, to me, is worth the ablity to sleep comfortably and to know that everything in okay inside of me. If I was waking up choking, I would be on the phone with my fill doc immediately. I think she would be upset if I wasn't.

Thanks Brewa2000, I love hearing about how other couples are doing as well. plus, How many of the guys are on hear as opposed to the girls? How many have both on? My hubby expects me to keep him up on everything that everyone is doing. Any hubbys keeping their wives up on everything?

Susan, How is it going with your port repaired? Do they fill it right away? I'm not sure how that happens, Let us know how things are going! I'm at that TOM and am totally amazed that I can eat ANYTHING. I had a meeting today for lunch and they served pizza, that I was able to eat! I haven't eaten pizza for lunch in like 6 months. I think things are beginning to tighten back up because I was totally stuck on dinner tonight which was steak, so whatever. I wish I would just stay tight so I could keep losing weight, but it is like I am starving. Although, I feel like I am eating TONS, according to sparkpeople, I am still staying around 1200 calories a day. I'm still shooting for 148 by April fools day. however, that is still 8 lbs for me to lose, so I might not make it. But, I set the standards high for my students, and I should set those high for myself too, I think. Keep checking in guys, when we aren't doing as well is when we need the support. When everything is going great, we can get the positive reinforcement from the weight loss. I havent lost in 3 weeks and have been exercising 4-5 days a week. I'm bumming a bit.