ElfiePoo

I'll say it again. The number of fills you receive has nothing to do with whether or not you get restriction. It is the amount of fill in your band. If you were banded 6 months ago and still do not have restriction, you need to have a serious chat with your doctor because either (a) he's putting so little in at each fill that you still are nowhere close to where you need to be to have restriction or (:thumbup: there's something wrong with your band...perhaps a leak...perhaps a doctor or tech who's incompetent and completely missing the port when they're trying to fill it. The band is not a placebo. I think it's great you've had the willpower to continue to lose weight in spite of not having utilized your band...but we've all 'been there, done that' with weight loss in the past. At some point, our willpower caves and we eat to excess again. *THAT* is what the band prevents. Talk to your doctor. Find out how many cc's are in your band. Then question why (a) they're taking so long to get you to restriction or (:wub: why you 'supposedly' have 10 cc's (or whatever large amount it is) and no restriction because it's just not possible to have almost max cc's and no restriction. <kicking my soapbox back under the table>

On weekdays I do a protein shake made with banana and milk. It keeps me going right up to lunch. On weekends, I splurge and do an egg and slice of bacon...sometimes a piece of toast. If I'm in the mood for something different, I'll have a slice of toast spread with about a Tablespoon of peanut butter and a sliced banana with a glass of cold milk. .

Moxi, Are you getting stuck and in a lot of pain...or do you just feel a bit of pressure in your chest after you've eaten a few bites?

After reading a number of your posts, I'd say you're well on your way. My mil would probably enjoy your boot camp exercise regimen...and would probably kick the butts of most of the people there. She's an amazing woman. The thing I love most about her is that while she's always 'gently' trying to get me to come to aerobics with her, there's no judgment when I decline, but she's absolutely delighted when I accept.

Every morning when we wake up we have two choices. We can take control and actively choose to deal with events in a positive manner...or we can choose to just passively react to them. We can whine and moan about gaining a pound or not losing as much as we thought we should have or how hungry we are...or we can look at the loss or gain and make a mental assessment as to how well we've been doing with our calorie intake. Then take into account our age and activity level and get right with the fact that the scales reflect exactly what we've been doing. Deal with each day as it comes. Forget about your screwups from yesterday...don't worry about how you'll get through the tomorrow's. Just deal with today and commit to doing your best...and at the end of the day put it behind you and move forward. .

Katy, Did they tell you how much fill they put in? It's possible you have too much of a fill, but it's also possible that you need to just take a smaller sip and then wait before taking another. You may be dealing with just a bit of swelling, but I agree with kiz. If you still can't keep anything down tomorrow, perhaps a slight unfill would help. .

Thank you for your well wishes. My fil was 86 year old and at the end of a 2-1/2 year battle with leukemia. Fortunately, no pain...just increasing tiredness. It's a very close family, but very down to earth. We were all there around his bed with his wife curled up by his side when he took his last breath. Doesn't get better than that. :thumbup: I love the company. I couldn't have picked a better mil if I had advertised for her. She's a darling! Hell because I detest exercise just for the sake of exercise. As classes go, it's not bad. All ages, all levels of ability. The instructor is in her 50's but can kick the butts of most of the 20 year old I know. She works pretty hard but is always reassuring people to work to the level they can. Some of the older women 'stroll' around the perimeter of the gym and then will sit for 5 minutes and begin again. My mother-in-law tires me out just watching her. She gets there an hour early to pull out all the equipment (weights, steps, mats) and then will just walk (ha! speed walk is more like it) for about 45 minutes until everyone gets there. She does the stretches, the weights, the walking and the step aerobics. Every so often the instructor will tell the class to do their best and 'nobody is expected to keep up with Mickey' (my mil). Fat chance. She's 4'10 and a dynamo! After helping her set up, I walked around the gym at a pretty good clip, but she still lapped me at least 4 times. I think I ended up walking for about an hour and a half, only stopping to do the stretching exercises. If I'm going to go twice a week with her though, I'm going to have to do the step stuff or I'll be bored stiff with just walking. OMG...I cannot believe I'm going to be going to aerobics twice a week. It's an evil plot!:wub: .

It will all depend on how restricted you make your band. Rice doesn't need to be an issue. It's all in your hands. :thumbup: .

Based on my experience, the experience of others and knowledge of basic body physiology... You're most likely going to have some loose skin but your age is a bonus because you still have good skin elasticity. Make sure you stay hydrated. Take a look at the women in your family. Genetics plays a huge part in how long our skin remains supple and elastic. It doesn't matter whether you lose slowly or lose quickly. Given time, your skin will snap back somewhat. I lost 70 pounds in 5 months (which is only 10 less than you want to lose) when I was 47 and thought I would have lots of excess skin. Six years later (the weight is still off) but the skin snapped back. I know it's frustrating to think of losing all that weight and still having a body that you're not happy with, but you know what? Flabby arms are better than weighing 250 pounds. No? .

I'm down 23 pounds since my first consult, 9.5 of that (assuming I did the math right) is just since surgery. I can't believe it's only been 12 weeks since I started this whole process and the change in how I'm dealing with food, even prior to actually getting the band, is phenomenal. .

Ditto...call your doc.

I haven't figured out what hunger has to do with any of this because while your little pouch will give you a full feeling, the reality is that your 'stomach' is still empty. It strikes me that you can have a 'full' pouch and still have a stomach that's growling and grumbling for food because it's empty. I'm never hungry so my criteria for getting a fill would be whether or not I can still eat to excess, not whether I'm hungry. Sorry I wasn't more help. :thumbup: .

'Productive' burp? I get an image of someone burping and food being ejected.

The number of fills doesn't determine restriction. It's the amount in your band. Depending on how much your doc puts in at each fill, and depending on how much fill you need to get restriction, and how long he makes you wait in between fills...you could be looking at months before you get restriction. I had my first fill at 4 weeks and they gave me 3 cc's. I'll get another fill in about a week because I have no restriction at all. They aren't anticipating that I will have restriction until 6 cc's. .

Same here. I was allowed tea and coffee right after surgery. .

If you were building a house and had a hammer in your toolbox, but someone locked it away and wouldn't let you use it...would you passively accept it and continue to try to build that house without the hammer, knowing you were eventually doomed to failure and, worse, blaming yourself because "if you just tried harder" you could've built that house without the hammer? I doubt it. Then why do so many people here passively accept that their doctors 'lock away' the very tool they obviously needed to lose this weight and keep it off instead of demanding that the doctor 'unlock' that tool? It is obvious from the numerous postings on this board and others regarding the practices of numerous doctors that you don't need to wait months for your first fill, nor does there have to be months between fills. On almost every single site related to the band, it says that fills are deemed necessary based on the amount of restriction and the degree of hunger. So, if you are hungry...and you have no restriction meaning you can eat to excess...and most particularly if you are eating to excess...talk to your doctor and demand an explanation for why you have paid so much and gone through so much, taking on the risks of surgery and having a foreign object implanted in your body, if you're still required to lose weight and keep it off in the same manner you did prior to surgery. Take control...and if you have a doctor who won't work with you...find another one. They are not God and they aren't irreplaceable. .

How much you can east post band is entirely up to you. You can get so many fills that you're only able to eat 1/2 cup of food and many foods are simply unable to be eaten (bread, sticky rice, etc.). Many people here choose that route. That's not for me. I only want enough fills to stop the out of control eating when I sit down to a meal. I want to eat like my husband's family who very much enjoy food but don't obsess about it and don't feel the need to go back for 2nd and 3rd helpings. I have no doubt I'll lose more slowly but I'm ok with that. Ditto on the liquids. I used to drink water like a fish. Now I struggle to get my 64 oz in each day...most likely because I'm no longer eating tons of sodium laden foods. .

That's because the results are unique to each individual. I was back on real foods by the end of week 2. .

I went back to work (desk work) for about 3 hours, went home and took a 2 hour nap and then back to work for another hour or so. Went over to my mother-in-law's for an hour visit and then came home and lazed in bed the rest of the day. However, based on my hour drive home from the clinic after surgery, I'd take the car ride over a plane ride *and* make sure you have someone to drive you. I had someone to drive me back and forth from work for several days and am glad I did as I tended to doze off in little cat naps without realizing I'd fallen asleep. .

I have the realize band and on my first fill a week ago, they put in 3 cc's. The doc said most people don't start feeling restriction until 6 cc's...except for possibly a few days or week of restriction as a result of swelling after a fill. I can still gulp down 16 oz of Water without missing a beat and am able to eat to excess which, for the most part, I'm controlling by sheer will power right now. .

I'm going with the "there's no such thing as a bad food...eat in moderation". So if I want a piece of pizza for lunch, that's what I'm going to have. Which is a lot different than having a half of a pizza for lunch. I've never been much of a junk food or sweet eater and I have always had problems controlling my blood sugar since I was 13, first hypoglycemia, then diabetes, and have found that a high Protein, low carb diet with 6 meals a day works best at controlling my sugar levels. So my meals tend to be protein first, good low carb vegies next and if I'm still wanting more, carbs last. During the weekdays, I do Protein shakes all day and then a normal meal in the evening. On weekends, I'll have one egg scrambled with some vegies and a slice of bacon for Breakfast. Lunch and dinner are usually 3-4 oz of protein, a low carb vegie and maybe some type of carb but a very minimal amount. In between meals I do low carb, low calorie protein shakes. You need to find what works for you and what you can live with on a permanent basis. .

What she said. Everyone has their own idea of what they consider 'healthy' eating. The trick here is to find what you're happy with and what works for you. I did go back and look at your morning breakfast and here's my .02. I'd skip the egg beater and go for the real egg. Then choose between bacon and cheese since both are high in fat...even those that are reduced fat...rather than having both. Also, a tip I took from when I lost 70 lbs on Atkins...never eat more bacon than you eat eggs. So if you only eat one egg, you only get one slice of bacon. That keeps you from overdoing the fats. Again, only my .02. Did you 'do good'? Well...what would your breakfast look like pre-band. That will be a better guide than what any of us think. :thumbup:

That's the nice thing about the band...it works in a variety of ways and allows us to eat in a way we're comfortable with...but helps control the amount. I'm comfortable with shakes during the day and I don't get hungry so it's not an issue that they 'slide' through. My danger time is in the evening and that's where I need the band to keep me from eating to excess. If someone drinks shakes all day and struggles with hunger, it's not a good option for them. .

ROFL...love the thread title. I was very happy to see that you just lost weight and not your grandson. :thumbup: What Erin said. If you're hungry and still able to eat, tell your doctor you need a fill. Losing weight has nothing to do with whether or not we get a fill. It has to do with being hungry and/or being able to eat in excess. When I went for my first fill, they asked if I was hungry. My response...I don't think I've been hungry even one day in my life. I didn't get the band to keep me from being hungry. I got it to keep me from eating in excess! I have no problem sitting down and putting away enough food to feed 3 adults...without feeling stuffed. An hour later, I'm looking for more food...and it has nothing to do with hunger. I still don't have restriction but I know there's hope in the near future and so I hang on with self-control and willpower...but if I knew that there was no help, pffft...that willpower and self-control would go out the window at some point...just as it has done with every diet in my past. Kudos to you for hanging on, but make your doctor see sense! .

Agreed. Obviously we need to take in what our doctors are telling us but we need to combine this with what our body is telling us and with all the other information we've sponged up. My doctors know I see them as a valuable source of information, but that I won't always agree on what my care should be and if they want to convince me that their way is the best way, then they need to address the concerns I have. One of the concerns I had with the fills was that so many people's fills are on an arbitrary schedule with no rhyme or reason as to why one person can get a fill at 2 weeks and another has to wait 3 months. In the seminar, my surgeon said our first fill would most likely be at 6-8 weeks. I asked if this was set in stone and his response was "no, it really depends on the individual". That's good enough for me. It means I'm not just a gingerbread cookie. I did say I agreed with you, didn't I? :thumbup: .