Crishell

Congratulations on your NSV and many more to come. My boyfriend told me I felt different too.

Congratulations. I bought my first pair of 16's last week. It's so exciting. I can't recall ever being a 16. Not even in high school.

When I was first banded, I weighed several time a day. It became like an obsession. I had to stop that because it was getting too frustrating. I now fluctuate between weighing every morning and every other morning but no longer several times a day.

Good to hear from you all. I am fastly approaching my one year anniversary (1/19/08). No hair loss. Weight when definitley decided to have surgery was 320, surgery day 300.5 & current weight 237.8. Looking forward to the big 4-0 (but with less of me than at age 16 ) on 8/14/08.

Well I'm in the same boat. I had a fill (.25cc) last Monday which brings me up to 3.0cc. I had only lost 7.5 pounds in 3 months. That is entirely too slow although I know it is better than gaining. I usually workout @ Curves after work (5 days a week on average) and stay within my calorie range according to what doctor's office told me (1000-1100 cal per day). Usually my mind is so wound up from work that I can't put as much into it as it should most days. But I have no other time options. I even upped my protein to at least 70g per day and no significant change in my weight although I am losing inches. It usually takes about a week for me to feel a difference when I get a fill. Hopefully something will kick in soon.

I have noticed that when I have cold/ sinus stuff going on, I am more restricted. Happened to me 3 times in December alone. I was hardheaded and didn't want to believe that was the issue so I continued to try and eat things I could normally eat. This caused extra PBing which caused more irritation and swelling.

I have two close friends who i share more detailed information with & they have been very understanding and supportive. While my mom is supportive, I do not tell her alot of day to day info about food, exercise, struggles etc. She knows it is not easy but she comes from a different history as in she has experienced "normal" size. I have never been "normal" when it came to weight. I have always been chubby, pretty plus, severely or morbidly obese. She is a nurse and has always been supportive of my decision to have lapband surgery especially since diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol runs in the family. Plus, she understands the basics involved with the band. BUT, I have some over weight aunts and cousins who are clueless. I was always the biggest of the big in the family. While they said nothing directly to me, I heard through second hand that they had made negative comments about my decision. I give them very little info on what I eat, my exercise habits, exact pounds lost etc. All they know is what they see. Now, they make comments like "aren't you through yet?' and at family gatherings they become the food police and watch what I eat and will ask "can you eat that?". Some have the audacity to now ask for my old clothes which they are not getting. Why now do they want to benefit off of my weight loss that they had so much bad to say about in the first place? There are women where i work at that have the same attitude. Some pretend to be happy and supportive but they just want to be nosey. I am happy about my results and would like to share with others to motivate and inspire them but I know some will take it as bragging so I keep alot to myself. I know there is jealousy but instead of focusing on their percieved negative thoughts to justify their not getting the band, they need to ask me for info so that they can experience what I am experiencing-a positive change in my life.

I am 39 year old AAF. I was banded 1/19/07 and so far have lost 65 pounds not including 15 pounds pre-op. I work with several AA and white females who have been banded. I have not seen any significant differences in the amount of weight loss between the two groups. We talk and share our up's and down's all time. We seem to all have the same issues.

I will drink a diet soda from time to time. Sometimes I burp more than I used to. But no pain or anything associated with it.

I was the same way. You will be fine. Don't stress yourself out. My one year band anniversary is 1/19 and I have no regrets.

Desi80 where is the meeting held at JRH and which Monday's? I live in Petersburg so that's actually closer.

I forgot to mention that I was banded 1/19/07 (bandiversary coming up) and on surgery day i was wearing 26's and some 24's.

I just had another .25cc fill yesterday afternoon. That brings me up to 3cc total. The nurse practitioner told me that based on what I had said, she felt that I was almost at my sweet spot. I agree but I wanted a little more because most days I do really well but then there are others where I feel like I could eat everything in sight. Hopefully this last little bit will do the trick. I have been kinda queasy today and my upper back/shoulders are aching. Don't know if it is band related or what since this is a new feeling after a fill.

I work out a Curves 4-5X per week for 30-40 minutes each time (depending on how I feel). I ride bike or do treadmill at work 2-3X per week. I also do some cardio exercises/jogging in place while watching televsion most evenings after dinner.

Hey Y'all. Happy New Year!! I had a very interesting experience over the weekend that is actually an NSV but I am surpprised about my feelings. Let me start with a little history. I have worn as large as a size 30/32 clothing but for the past several years, I had stabilized (for lack of a better word) @ 26/28. On surgery day (1/19/07) I was wearing 24 & 26's. Currently I am size 18 bottoms (with some slack now) and 18/20 and 1X (some 16) tops. I had noticed lately that the 1X tops are fitting a little slack so I decided to venture in to the land of the Misses Dept. I have NEVER been able to do this as i have been fat ALL my life even as a teenager. It felt so strange being there. I have never had a reason to even visit or walk through that part of the store; always been Woman's World for me. I went to return some 1X sweaters and tried on some XL and L sweaters in Misses Dept. I spent some extra time looking at myself in the dressing room mirror. I had on a sweat suit set because I had just left Curves and it was so baggy and I had no butt at all. Further, I could not believe it was me in that size L (even if it was a sweater) and even in a "strange" dressing room because I have Woman's World down pat as far as where things are located. It was a whole new world. It was so strange, yet exciting AND most surprisingly sad. I felt like on the one hand, I belonged or could actually see myself belonging in the land of the Misses. No one stared at me in disbelief or gave me the look like I was definitely in the wrong area. But then part of me felt like a traitor. Like I was leaving Woman's World (WW) and all my WW friends &b family behind. It's all I've ever known. I know I am still basically in (WW) but I can now tell the tides are shifting and I can see it as a possibility of being there permanently. Am I crazy for feeling this way??

My experience was not bad. Was my first time being under anethesia. I remember being cold and the nurses kept calling my name trying to get me fully awake. that was aggravating because all I really wanted to do was sleep. I did not have alot of tubes and monitors. I guess they unhooked those before I was fully awake. I do not recall being in alot of pain initially. I was surprised that it was over. Because there were no room vacancies at the time, I had to stay in recovery for like 3 hours before I got an actual room. I only had the morphine pump thing and I recieved IV for a while. My blood sugar spiked during surgery so I also had to get a couple of insulin injections before being discharged the next day.

Congratulations. I am in the same boat as you. I was wearing 26 on surgery day and today I am in loose 18's. I have started getting XL in misses dept. It is so exciting.

I experienced two types of "gas" pain. The pain in back and shoulders from the gas used with the anethesia in surgery and then gas as in stomach/intestinal gas from food. People say that walking helps with the pain. I experienced stomach/intestinal pain once I moved to soft/mushies. I have never experienced pain like that before. Kept me up plenty nights. I could feel the pressure against my port and hard to lie down. Usually happened mostly at night for some reason. I tried Maalox, Mylanta, Gas-X, you name it. Finally the only thing helped me was Beano (pills found on row with the other gas medicines). I would chew two of those before eating and poof, no gas whatsoever. Was a lifesaver. Keep that in mind if you find that nothing else works. Everybody is different so it is hard to tell you exactly what to expect. I suffered for like 2 weeks before discovering Beano but I survived and do not regret that experience considering where I am at today. Good luck to you.

They were on The Insider as well last night. I was annoyed too because they kept emphasizing no surgery. I don't believe they did it totally on their own. If they really did then that is great but I doubt it. People are different and most people cannot do that and keep it off. They make it look like surgery is the easy way out. There has been nothing easy about my life the past almost year. And most people who lost that much weight have excess skin. Unless they have had plastic surgery, I saw no signs of any excess skin.

I'm addicted too. I am on here several times a day while at work because is faster than my internet at home. It is a source of support and education. Keeps me focus and encouraged. My boyfriend tells me that i am addicted to it and Curves. As if he is not addicted to wrestling and football (watching that is). I remind him that I could have other addictions.

Hope you feel better soon. I have had a cold/sinus stuff going off/on for like past three weeks. I'll feel better, stop meds and then it comes back. When it is really bothering me and draining, I have extra restriction and can only get down liquids. Not even yogurt would work. Needless to day I had a crummy holiday. I had never heard of a connection with cold/sinus stuff and increased restriction but you and I are living proof of it. Once my cold subsided, it got better and I could eat solids. my problem was that I had never experienced restriction to that degree before and couldn't believe it. So I would try different foods that i can usually tolerate, they would come back up which caused more agitation and swelling. What are you taking for your cold?

Don't beat yourself up.Good to hear that someone else is feeling the same as i am. I think of myself as very goal oriented too and I want to be successful at this venture. My 40th birthday is August 14 and i want to lose 30 more pounds before then. But I have also plateaued weight loss wise (although still losing inches) and it is driving me crazy. Been in a plateau for like past almsot 3 months playing with the same 4-5 pounds same as you. I feel very frustrated and it is a daily struggle for it not get the best of me. I have gone back and re-evaluated my food intake, exercise and all to see what I am doing wrong and I cannot come up with anything major although I have made more of an effort to increase my protein to see if that helps. My New Year's resolution was to start going out more and obsess less about a pound, protein, etc.While I am happy & grateful for the weight I have lost, seems like the past year my life became the scale, counting calories, working out at Curves, going to work and it never ends. So you and I must make a pact to have some fun, relax and enjoy life.

I have been having problems with my sinuses, chest congestion and stuffy nose for the past week. Since that time, I have not been able to keep alot of food down. I have had several PB episodes despite chewing carefully and eating soft foods. I even Pbed off of yogurt the other night. Initially, I was hard headed b/c I could just not believe yogurt wasn't working for me so I continued to eat it. That just caused more PB, agitation and swelling which made the situation even worse. I have never experienced restriction this bad. My last fill was 10/8 so that can't be the issue. I saw on previous discussions where folks were saying that stress (holiday or I guess otherwise) can cause increased restriction. I don't consider myself to be currently more stressed than usual. I am thinking that it is more related to my cold/sinus issues. Anyone noticed increased restriction when they got a cold or other ailments? I have been basically surviving off of carnation instant breakfasts for past two days and i am abou to go crazy.

My NYR is to organize my house better and throw out some clutter upstairs. Also to lose 30 more pounds by Aug 14 which is my 40th birthday.

Same thing has been happening to me for the past couple of days; actually I started noticing increased difficulty with food going down on Friday. Good to know that I am not the only one experiencing this. I have not had a fill since 10/8/07. I thought that perhaps it is holiday stress but I haven't really felt any more stressed than in the past although I didn't have my band last Christmas. I was disappointed that my boyfriend decided to go to NY for the holiday (to take the mom to visit the sister) but that is his family so while disappointed that I didn't get to see him, I understand so not really stressed over that. My family is good so I don't really consider myself to have been stressed with any family issues. It is very strange why the extra restriction (for lack of a better way to put it) started. I'm kinda glad it happened though because I had made plans to eat what I wanted over the holiday which included a lot of sweets. I have been very frustrated with this plateau lately and just decided that i was going to eat what I wanted. But that did not really happen due to being too tight & my lovely band putting the brakes on that thought.