ElfiePoo

You had surgery two weeks ago and already had a fill? How are you with eating and drinking? Are you burping after eating or drinking? .

One (two?) Optifast shakes a day and bowls of lettuce with mustard? I'm sorry but even according to Optifast standards, that is not a nutritionally sound diet. I rarely comment on how people choose to lose their weight but I agree with a previous poster who said this sounds almost anorexic and hope others don't use this as an example of how they should be eating. You did say something that has me puzzled. You said you this is all you can eat before you get 'unfilled'. So does this mean you deliberately get filled too much so this is all you can eat and then get unfilled so you can eat more? :blushing:

You obviously didn't read my post. I was eating a nutritionally sound diet at 800 calories and *not* losing. I was eating significantly more calories than that on a less than nutritional diet (no starches, no fruits, no vegies other than salad) and lost 70 lbs in 3 months. My body was reacting to the lack of calories. According to the many nutritionists and doctors I've told this experience to, it was because I had so severely restricted my *calories* that my body's metabolism slowed down and became very efficient at storing those calories because it thought I was starving. .

Just tried to add you, but wasn't sure which one you were...devil in a blue dress? Melody

Caz, PBing is a good sign to stop eating whatever you're eating or slow down and take smaller bites and chew more thoroughly. .

Well at least you have your priorities right. .

If I take my carbs down to about 30gm a day or less, I can eat 2000 calories and lose a lot of weight fast. I lost 70 pounds in 3 months doing just that. Increase those carbs to 60gm or more and I'll stop losing and/or start gaining at 2000 calories a day. I was essentially eating Protein and fat with some salad. Not nutritionally sound according to the 'experts'. I was on an 800 calorie diet for a month and lost nothing...and was constantly stomach growling hungry...and was eating 'nutritionally' sound meals...again according to the 'experts'. So I'm going to guess it has less to do with 'nutrition' and more to do with calories. At 1200 calories, I'm able to eat more protein which helps keep me more content. Plus, I have enough calories left that I can eat vegies and some starches. My meals are more varies and satisfying. Everyone needs to do what they're comfortable with and successful at. Bottom line is there is no one perfect diet for everyone. .

Been there, done that. I had them take 2.75cc out of my band in mid-July because I was getting stuck on everything but the bad for you sliders. I'm back up 2cc and have some restriction. I'm thinking *maybe* another .25cc or less and I'll be at the sweet spot. .

I 'eat' 6 times a day...3 main meals and 3 mini-meals in between. Breakfast is usually a low carb, low cal Protein shake although I had oatmeal with 1/2 c. unsweetened almond milk yesterday. lunch and dinner is 3-4 oz of protein, 1/2-3/4 c. low carb vegies, 1/4 c. starch. Mini-meals between meals and one in the evening are either another low car, low cal protein shake or a hardboiled egg, 2 oz of cheese or something similar. I try to keep it around 160 calories or below and low carb. .

Oh how I miss my guest bedroom! Over the last couple of years I've been downsizing my business to the point where it now fits in the remodeled attached 3 car garage. So a couple months ago we moved it in and put the warehouse up for sale. However, that was our only guest bedroom/suite which means when my parents come to visit (once or twice a year), we now bunk in my youngest son's bedroom on his twin beds (he has a futon as well and that's his preferred bed at any time) and give my parents our room. The beds aren't bad...they're just not *my* bed. ;-p Fortunately, they're only here for 2 nights. I still have some restriction on how much I can eat and do have to pay attention to the bite size and chewing. I made lasagna for dinner last night and was only able to eat a very small piece with about 1/2 cup of salad...and I was happy with that. Lots to do today, most of it outside, so I'm hoping the weather will stay as nice as yesterday...although I hear we're expecting rain. Have a good one y'all! Melody .

Elcee: Good luck with getting the red wine out of the carpet. They say club soda works at getting wine stains out of clothes but I've never tried it. OxyClean (not sure if you can get it there) works pretty well on all stains and you can use it on colors. How'd the modeling go? Denise: You just have to marry the right person. When I mess up my computer, I just call my IT person...."Oh honey..." Although I have to admit that sometimes it's like being married to the shoemaker. Everyone has shoes except you. Melody .

I have a 14cc Realize band and when I 'complained' about not having any restriction after my many fills, was told that most Realize band patients do not experience any restriction at all until they get to about 7cc. That was my experience. At 7cc I did have the occasional stuck feeling if I took too big a bite but that was about it. At 8cc I have to pay attention to the size of my bites and how well I chew and I have some limited sense of 'enough' so I think I'm close but not quite there. I know that at 8.75cc I was overfilled so my sweet spot is somewhere in between. .

Studies show that women who eat about 1200 calories a day lose weight faster and more steadily than those who drop below that so you aren't eating too much food. You do need to make sure you get in your Water because not drinking enough water will also slow down your weight loss. You may find when you start getting fills that you'll eat less Protein just because you're tighter. My meals are usually about 3-4 oz of protein, 3/4 cup steamed vegies and (maybe) 1/4 c of starch). .

Yep, it's because the band is being pulled a bit more taught. As you lose, it will go away again. Mine is back with a vengeance since getting my fill last tuesday. .

Well hello bitchy and grumpy dwarves...sorry you're dealing with yucky weather. It is a gorgeous fall day here. Full sun and blue skies, slight breeze but definitely short sleeve weather. I'm hoping it stays this way tomorrow so I can run the riding mower (with bagger) over all the leaves in the yard. Otherwise my mid-winter snowmen look nasty with leaves poking out of them. .

I've never had to say 'no' because I'm the one who determines whether I'm getting one in the first place. I did set up a fill for 3 weeks ago and then decided to cancel it. Almost cancelled the latest one but decided to go ahead with it and am glad I did. .

Cleo, Is it possible you passed your sweet spot and went from not enough to too much? In hindsight, I've had suppression of appetite in the sense that I no longer desired to eat but it didn't last long. Now I think perhaps I might have just needed a tweak. .

I just use dusting as an excuse to rearrange the furniture. My husband said it's a good thing I didn't marry a blind man. What can I say...I used to move every 2 years and I mean 'move' to another state. For the last 15 years I've been living in the same house. 'Dusting' is my way of dealing with the frustration of not moving. :wink2: Melody .

I look at cobwebs as 'natural bug exterminators'. Then again, I was told by a professional exterminator that if you have lots of spiders, it means you also have lots of bugs. :wink2: .

Day 2 post fill and still no desire to eat. Here's hoping it will continue. Already got in a 5k walk this morning and I think I'm going to start adding in another a few times a week in the evening. My husband has started some sort of fitness thing at work and he's supposed to go out and walk a couple times a week for an hour so I think I'll join him. Think I'll dust the living room today...'dust' being a misnomer for 'rearrange'. :wink2: Melody .

Better twiddling your thumbs than using them to eat, eh? Melody .

How long ago did you have that fill? You should be kind to your band after a fill, eating 'soft' foods. I had a fill two days ago and at this point I'm eating things that can only be classified as 'mushies'. In a day or two I'll try something more solid and if I still have problems will go back to mushies. As long as you can get liquids down, I'd give it a week or so, introducing mushies as you can and then solid foods. .

Yes, doctors and literature are all over the map and I think that none of them are really thinking about how the band actually works. Betsy, you've said a number of times that when you eat, at some point you get a sense of "enough" and you're content for awhile (unless I completely misunderstood your posts). That sounds very much like what that article was saying. Cleo, don't depend too much on 'scientific evidence'. Those who have used lavender oil on burns know that the pain stops almost immediately and prevents blistering if you put it on right away and even some of the most serious burns are healed within a fraction of a time as burns using more traditional methods. Yet you won't find any scientific evidence showing that and the medical community is still using less than adequate means in comparison. Sure, you can get your band so tight that you can only eat a couple tablespoons of food and you're constantly urping and sliming (not directing this towards Cleo or Betsy btw), and if that's what it takes to make someone put down the fork, then so be it...but I want to eat like a normal person and know it's time to put down the fork before I have to open the top button of my pants. I can't just not eat when I'm not hungry because I'm *never* hungry. I eat because I'm never satisifed or content. To be honest I can feel that way even when I've stuffed myself. I know the band can give me that feeling of 'enough' because I've been there in the past. It just never stays. What I realize now is that when I lose that feeling, my band just needs to be 'tweaked' a tiny bit. I know the band won't stop me from pigging out. Even when I was overfilled, I could eat large volumes of food. I just couldn't eat certain foods. So I'm looking for the band to tell me 'enough'. Again, we each need to find the way to make the band work for our particular needs. There is no right or wrong way...unless you're doing something that will cause you physical harm over time...such as being so tight you're getting stuck everytime you eat. .

ROFLMAO!!! You are so right! My scale hasn't budged in a long time...in fact it is going up and down...but my husband commented that my belly and butt no longer 'jiggle'. The muscle underneath is tighter and the fat more 'compact'. Thanks for my morning laugh. Think I'll stop with this post and go off for my morning walk. .

The question should be, "Is there anyone who doesn't fall off the wagon?". We all fall off the wagon. It's what we do afterwards that is important. In the past, when I'd fall, I'd just keep on falling the rest of the day...week...month...after the holiday. Now, if I eat something at lunch that I shouldn't have (or eat too much), I just smack myself on the head (sort of a wake up shot) and get right back on plan. It's probably the only reason I didn't gain back the 30 I lost prior to getting an unfill and no restriction for the last 3 months. .