ElfiePoo

Glad to hear everything went well (although the thought of the doc manually flipping the port makes me feel queasy)! Have fun on your cruise! .

Yeah...isn't it amazing when we think about the food we 'used to' put away compared to now? Scary. .

How heavy was the person to start with? I think I lost 20 lbs or close to it on Atkins on the first two weeks (seven years ago) and that was without exercise. If this person is really heavy, had a very sedentary lifestyle prior to BL and was eating thousands of calories...doesn't surprise me they'd lose 20 pounds in 2 weeks. .

I take Excedrin migraine and I just crush them the tablets. .

According to my surgeon, it's just not that easy to slip your band but then he takes a fold of the stomach and sews it around the band. Ask your doc if he did this. If he did, then I wouldn't worry about it. My doc said it would take some serious long term regurgitating (as in bulimia) to slip the band. Try taking smaller bites and chewing more. You might also take that tiny bite and swallow it in several increments. .

Question: If my little demon kitty finds sitting at my feet to be his favorite place, does this mean I've hit another NSV moment? As in I've lost my belly so my boobs are 'hanging low' (no shelf) and instead of my food falling on my boobs, it's actually falling to the floor? Bahahaha...ok TMI I think. Melody

Leigha, I think that's one of those NSV moments...being able to put on hooker boots cuz our calves aren't too fat! I think I'm actually going to be able to fit into snow boots that come up to my knees this year! I am sooo tired of the ones that stop just below the calf because they still let snow inside the tops! Melody

Ok...I'm finally able to put a ticker back up. I decided I'm not going to get depressed at being so close to Onederland and then gaining it all right back up to the initial 35 loss because of being overfilled and eating the wrong things. I'm losing again and that's all that matters. I've also decided to include the original 70 pound loss from my 330 high because my 35+ pound loss came without the help of the band too so why should it not be counted. So there...thpppt (ala Edith Ann). Down another 2 lb this morning and my skin looks and feels like I'm holding a bit more Water than I was the few days previously. Thank goodness cuz it had the look of that fragile old lady skin and I'm way too young for that! So the 2 lb down makes me even happier! So this morning I have a quarter sized blood blister on the ball of my left foot from walking yesterday evening. If I attempt walking barefoot, it feels like I'm walking on a marble. I can still feel it in shoes and socks and it's not painful...just a bit uncomfortable. The skin covering it appears to be quite thick which means I've damaged pretty deep. My husband says not to have them lance it because then I may have difficulty walking for several days...and we're leaving for Disney. Does anyone know if this will heal ok by itself if I just leave it alone? Melody

All good ideas. Before I lost my weight, I'd complain if my husband didn't park the car as close to the handicapped spaces as possible (meaning as close to the door as possible). After surgery, I started parking at the far end of parking lots. Now it's habit. I take stairs instead of elevators and can do 3 flights with no problem. Prior to surgery, one flight and my heart was pounding so hard I thought I was going to die of a heart attack and my bad knee was complaining almost as loudly. .

Your body needs Protein to heal so force yourself to drink your Protein shakes. Also, while it may be exciting that you don't want to eat, if you deprive your body of protein, it will go after your own muscle *and* you'll set yourself up for starvation mode and your body will become very efficient and weight loss will actually be slower. .

When I was discharged, I was told that if I got the flu and was throwing up to call them and, depending on how often I was throwing up and/or whether I was having difficulty throwing up, I might have to come in for an unfill. He said there wasn't much worry of band slippage or erosion unless the barfing was long term (similar to a bulimic) but he takes it on a case by case situation based on how severe the retching is. .

Hooker boots? You mean like Julia Roberts in 'Pretty Woman'? I loved those boots but on my 5'3 body, they'd just look like fishing waders. Unfortunately, even losing another 100 pounds will not make my legs any longer. So...pictures? :drool:

The best thing for scars is Rose Hip Seed oil. Research on women post-mastectomy showed incredible results on scars. RHS oil actual regenerates cells. I used it on mine and they're almost invisible. .

Before you decide on a bypass, find a bypass forum (e-mail me and I can direct you to the one I frequented before I found this forum) and read all the posts. If my only choice is to be fat the rest of my life or do the bypass...I'll take fat. I've known too many bypass patients that have had major medical issues after the bypass. Yes, some do well but you never know which one you'll be until it's too late to do anything about it. Also, bypass is no more reliable than band...unless you 'work' it. Read some of the bypass forums and you'll find a rather large (no pun intended) contingent of people who lost most of their weight and then gained it all back. My surgeon said that a bypass patient will lose 2/3 of their excess weight as a result of the surgery, but it's still up to them to learn new eating habits and control their eating. Unfortunately too many people choose bypass because they think they can continue (and do) eating the way they did prior to surgery and end up stretching their pouch and gaining back all their weight. At 20 years old, bypass seems kind of drastic. .

Finding that sweet spot can be trying and there's no guarantee that your sweet spot will be the same if you get unfilled and then filled back to that point later. I had too much fill and had it taken down to 6cc (from 8.5cc) in July. At that point I could eat whatever and however much I wanted, but since I was still maintaining my weight loss, I decided to wait until we got back from vacation for a fill. However, 3 weeks ago I noticed I was sliding rapidly to the dark side and got a 1cc fill. I still don't have restriction but in the last day or so have noticed that I do have to chew more thoroughly...which means I'm getting close. I started Atkins induction 4 days ago with the full intention of staying on induction through my vacation. This isn't a diet. It's my lifelong change. Giving myself permission to eat because "it's my birthday" or "I'm going on a cruise", etc. is what got me in this position in the first place. I need to learn to enjoy *life*...not plan my eating around life. My .02...don't get that unfill and stay on your eating regimen even on vacation. Don't look at it as punishment and resent it. Look at it as a lifestyle change and be thrilled when you come back from vacation pounds lighter...instead of heavier. .

Ok, so by around 3 p.m. I was struggling with my diet. Not because I was craving, but because I was *BORED*. I just told myself that one bite and I'd be back on the same carb merry-go-round but it was *hard*. I think about that time I was also starting to feel blah...maybe just attitude? When my husband came home from work, I made the mistake of telling him I was struggling from food boredom and he went into the bedroom and came out with my sneakers. We ended up walking 2 miles in 40 minutes...not bad since I cannot even remember the last time I went walking. I have to say the mental battle I've been fighting all day has disappeared so (cover your eyes, Betsy) maybe there's something to this exercise stuff after all. I sort of made him a promise that I'd go walking every evening with him until the snow flies. What was I thinking?

No offense, but not gonna buy that one. If you do the initial weigh in wearing a t-shirt and shorts...and wear those same clothes each time, your weight will be just as accurate. I'm betting it's for ratings. I asked my cousin, who watches it with her boyfriend, what the attraction is since neither needs to lose weight. Their response, "It's fun to watch the fat people with their blubber all hanging out." I didn't say she or her boyfriend were nice people...but I'm guessing the shock value (and it is shocking to those of normal weight) is the reason.

Please someone explain to me why these people are wearing clothing that is so revealing that you can even see their stomach scars?? .

Do you swim laps with a snorkle? .

LOL...I'd count it as exercise too! .

I wish the band had been available when I was 220#...and 25 years old! The heartache I could've saved myself... My surgeon was only 50 pounds overweight and he had himself banded because he was watching his weight (and appetite) increase every year. He was banded because he needed the portion control and wanted to do it before he developed diabetes, heart disease and many of the other problems that run in his family. I'm not sure I would've been banded for 50 pounds, but that is a decision we all have to make for ourselves because only we know the struggles we deal with regarding food. .

Vlp, Just to give the other side of it...I lost 70 pounds in 3 months...without exercising. Don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to convince anyone to not exercise or increase their activity...and that increased activity will be key the closer we get to our goal weight...just that we shouldn't put an excess amount of focus on it. Recent studies (they're on the 'net for anyone interested) have shown that people who did not exercise lost more weight and kept it off long term than those who did exercise because (a) those exercising said they were hungrier after exercising and tended to eat more afterwards and ( those exercising didn't keep up the exercising long term because it was not something they enjoyed. I think the trick is in finding an activity or activities that we enjoy and then making time for them in our life. .

One of the things I've learned over the years is that we need to make life changes that we can live with. If we do things that we hate, we most likely will not stick with them long term and will give up on them and be right back to where we were. Now, some people will say they hated to exercise but now love spending 2-4 hours in a gym. My guess is that they only hated it because it was difficult due to being out of shape and overweight. I, on the other hand, detested exercise even before I was overweight. As a child, I was not overweight and I detested phys. ed or any type of enforced activity. When my parents sent me out to get some 'fresh air', I'd take a book and curl up under a tree. I find walking (treadmill or outdoors) just for the sake of walking to be boring. Same with working out in a gym. These are activities I could never keep up long term. However, I enjoy swimming. I used to enjoy tennis and raquetball even when I was 60 pounds overweight. I swim one day a week now, but am considering getting a membership to our local YMCA so I can swim a couple times a week or more. I'm hoping that once I drop another 35-40 pounds, I'll discover I still like to play raquetball. My husband could use the exercise too. Find what you like to do (or what you used to like to do) and then do it. You're more likely to stick to it long term. .

Good morning, banders! I'm starting Day 5 and feel fabuloso! I'm afraid even to say it lest I jinx myself but I have had absolutely none of the usual first week of Atkins Induction bitchiness, irritability, muscle twitching and carb craving! Oh I did have a nagging headache for 2 days but that went away. I had one or two moments when I just wanted to give in...not because I was craving but because I just wanted it...but I resisted! Yea me! Another NSV moment...my husband put his arms around me to say goodbye when he went off to work and said, "Hmmm...you've lost some weight." Woohoo! I think the only problem I'm having is that my feet ache and, I know this sounds ridiculous, but I think it's because I'm holding absolutely no excess fluid and they're feeling 'fragile'. I really wish I could find a way to hold a bit more water than I am right now. Lots to do today to get ready for my trip. Three more days! I am so geeked! .

Christie, So, did you go on your date or is this something coming up? If you already had it, how did it go?! Melody .