IAmJacksLapBand

At the suggestion of a friend who heard my rant about crappy gyms full of mirrors where you go and zone out on treadmills and move a few weights, he recommended I look into CrossFit. This week I joined and really enjoyed the workouts, the varied activities, and the people. No mirrors... just people at different levels of experience working on the same goal... to be the most fit they can be in every area possible. I ran and didn't run out of breath. I did pullups and pushups for the first time EVER. I learned how to jumprope at the age of 27. I am very excited for this journey and the friends I will make here. Its not for everyone but is great for those who want a place to exercise with no judgement and that demands alot of effort. The trainer and I came to an agreement. I will not obsess over the scale anymore. I will focus on the body fat percentage as a measure of my progress. Any other bandsters who are Crossfitters as well?

I will be leaving my CF Box in a few weeks for monetary reasons. I just had $2000 in dental work done and need to pay off the credit card. But... I have some equipment at home so I can keep up my WODs. CF has been the most amazing thing for me. Myself and a gastric sleeve patient are the two largest people in the box in terms of extra fat/skin. In the 10 months I have been there I have improved alot. I can do things I never thought possible. I ran a 5k a few weeks ago and kept up with others in the box. I snowboard and mountain bike. Both things made possible by the gains in aerobic exercise and coordination that I developed with CF. I have never had a problem after my last post in terms of hurting my port. Just had a fill in April and the doc said everything was great. When I am commited and do CF workouts combined with a good paleo-zone diet, balanced with about 3 blocks per meal and 1-2 blocks per snack I lose weight quickly. My blocks are adjusted for a carbophile so I eat half the carbs of most other people. Most surgeons will reccomend staying away from CF for several months after surgery. Let your surgeon know exactly what CF is and show him a video of how hard you push yourself. Doing this while your band and port are healing can cause some major problems. The movements we do are natural but rarely done with such intensity. You do not want to rip anything. Your box should be able to give you some less intense and modified programming during the healing process. Maybe some shorter runs, rings dips, ring rows, jump ropes, and basic low-weight lifting. I would refrain from any situps and heavy lifts during your recovery. Remember that even though you feel you can handle it, by increasing your heart rate you increase your blood flow and could rupture something you don't want to rupture. Welcome to the band family! Its really nice on the other side.

I know we have thrown around the topic of what men thought of plastic surgery after weight loss. I want to know if you have had or thought of having a precedure: What did you have done and how much were the expenses? I am about to schedule a consultation to find a surgeon and hope to have it completed by the end of the year.

Finally someone that is headed the same direction as me. I am a CrossFitter but still am having trouble given I have a few more things working against me. Our group leans heavily towards Paleo or Zone diet. I have difficulty with Zone because of the need to be really precise on preparing meals and the fact that I can only eat small zone meals. I am also a vegetarian and am working now to cut out any dairy products. I will eventually be pescatarian (only fish on occasion). Can you point me in the direction of your paleo resources or any meals/shopping guidelines you follow? I am really happy to see another Bandster on this path and enjoying success. I mentioned it to my doctor and was told that vegetarian and anything that does not follow the band nutrition plan is doomed to fail. Not what I wanted to hear.

Just under 200 lbs to lose when I started. 412 lbs in April 2010. I arrived in Twoderville last week at 299. Now at 298. The final goal doesn't seem so far away. i did have a few months at 306 lbs. Then I changed my diet and began a new exercise routine and it just started falling away again. I bought an XL men's shirt at Kohls and it fits. Now I just have to face this coach airplane seat in 2 weeks and I am very scared.

I had been at the same weight, 306 for almost 3.5 months. Started CrossFit and immediately started dropping. I hit twoderville this week at 299.6. I am now concerned about the threads I saw on abdominal exercises and port injuries. My port is right on my front side in a crease in my fat. My core workouts frequently give me a dull achy pain around the port. It could just be the pinch that's causing the irritation.

I prefer the ready to drink drinks. EAS Myoplex Advantage have about 17g of Protein per 8 oz shake with only 110 calories and about 3g of fat. I also like MuscleMilk light. I tried Isopure for a fruit flavor instead of the regular chocolate, strawberry, or vanilla. IsoPure tasted like candy chalk and I went back to my old two. The others in the MuscleMilk and Myoplex line are good, but my goal was to get the most protein with least number of calories. 18 months later and i have 1 Myoplex a day. Still love them after all this time.

I went from round to a pear. I am holding the majority of the excess in the lower abdomen. Shoulders, face, and upper chest look great. Its the middle that really looks haunting. I am on my way to wide cylinder... meaning still a bigger guy, just all symetrical.

My insurance did not pay for the band. I got a great deal in the US and paid only $10,700 for my band...TOTAL. Not to mention the care has been more than I ever expected in terms of service. I have about $12k saved for what I thought would be a tummy tuck, arm lift, and back lift. Looks like I might need to keep on saving!

Who are you working with in San Diego? I was thinking about getting the arms done now. It would really help with my shirts fitting better.

I started at 412 on 4/12 of last year. I am almost at 312 and happy thus far. Have hit about 4 plateaus thus far based on my fill level and exercise routine. Doctor said my ideal is 189. My goal was 265 but we agreed on 220. He said the last 40 will be the most difficult but still doable.

I think this is what happened to me. Feb 15 I had an aggressive fill that significantly reduced my intake. I was vomiting regularly and started tapering off my meal size. Then all of a sudden there was no vomiting at all. I want to eat allthe time. I thought my band slipped from the vomiting. What I realized is that I am not hungry. I just want to eat. A small meal is great but I am still accustomed to eating more. Still I having am endoscopy and other tests just to make sure I didn't hurt something in there. Here's to 94 lbs. Goal is 100 lbs by my banderversary on April 27.

I let my band be over-filled on purpose so I could get better adjusted to eating right. Every few days I would have a problem and vomit and other signs of eating too much. Suddenly on Friday, I realized that everything went down without a problem. Usually I would have had a reached fulfillment quickly. I am now hungry all the time. I fear that I either put too much pressure and the band slipped or I caused it to leak. I have moved and my surgeon is 2500 miles away. Can I go to a hospital and ask for a fluro to see? I do not have the resources and money to have my band removed and replaced. I am so worried that my attempt to be agressive with my fill has led to a $10000 mistake and possbile regain of my 100 lb loss so far.

I have had 4 fills since being banded last April. The first 3 gave me good restriction for a few days, until the swelling came down. I could eat less but not nearly as little as I thought I was going to be able to eat. I had my 4th fill the week of Feb 21st because I was going on a cruise. The surgeon asked if I wanted to be aggressive to which my reply was, "fill me up!" Now I get full after a few bites if I do not drink the during the meal. If I drink I can eat larger portions but still nowhere near what I ate before being banded. Any type of bread sends me to the toilet or into a panic attack. I LOVE THIS! I've lost 10 lbs this month with this fill and now it is finally started to let up. If I eat something small for Breakfast I can eat significantly more during the remainder of the day. I want another fill now before my next vacation. I too get hungry after only a few hours but I realize for me it is head hunger. Say yesterday I had a lean cuisine for lunch and kept it down. 2 hours later I went for some potato chips because I was hungry. Ate a few chips and threw them up because I was not really hungry. I was bored and getting tired so my head wanted something to do. Since this last adjustment I am frequently tired because I am not getting as many calories. But slowly my body perks up when it starts using stored fat I guess.

I loved my nutrisystem. I got it for a great price using a discount program with my employer. And the frozen food selection, although more expensive, was exceptional. Alot of tomato and alot of soy. And enough sodium to last a lifetime. There were some horrible choices but most were good and few were exceptional. I wad on it for 3 months. I did it to help learn new portion sizes. They were even kind enough to let me return some items because my band said it was still too much food. I started it may of 2010 and just now finished my last snack items from my last shipment.

When I get stressed, my ankles love to swell and then I can't walk. When I can't walk I do not exercise. When I do not exercise I eat a donut or a cookie as my in-between-meal-snack. Then I hit the anti-anflammatory drugs hard for a few days. The bad food choice and medication resulted in a 6 lb gain in one week on the scale. I think the majority of it is Water as my ring that slid off my finger last week is stuck on my fat finger. Any suggestions on how to combat the water or program myself not to hit the sliders during these rough weeks with bad feet/ankles? Vacation is this weekend and I was looking forward to being 82 lbs lighter than last year.

A self-pay bandster really does not need to have any real additional qualifications. It is up to you and your surgeon to decide if you are a candidate physically and psychologically. Your BMI is in the right range. Do you have any other weight-related health problems?

So far I have gone from a 54 waist to a 46/48. Chest from a 64 to a 52. Yet when I tried on a suit the other day I went for the 60 chest jacket at was immediately told by a passing employee that it was way to big to me. That comment made me realize how much I've lost. And then I really saw the skin starting to sag. I have money saved already for a tummy tuck, arm lift, and thigh lift. I refuse to let the skin sit there for the rest of my life. Exercise is not helping it and the doctor told me it had lost its elasticity. Once I get closer to my goal weight at the end of this year it will be time to get it done.

My surgeon told me he thought our adjustement on 29 September would be the one that got me in the green zone. I am at 9 CC in a 14 CC band. The difference the 1 CC made was amazing. I had lost 60 lbs on the first two adjustments and could eat good size meals. Now I am having: Breakfast - 1/4 of the top of a bagel OR a nutrigrain bar OR two spoons of Peanut Butter lunch - Small salad OR small lean cuisine dinner - A few bites of meat and a part of a cup of veggies Biting off more than I can chew sends me right to the bathroom. If I sip Water with my meal I can down some more. If I stop drinking before the meal I cannot handle very much at all. I am afraid the band may be too tight if I am having the slimes. Or have I been eating more because the band was not adjusted right yet? If this is restriction I am happy to learn even better eating habits and watch the weight keep dropping.

I was on vacation to another time zone for New Years. With the time changes, hectic schedule, and all the fun, I missed Breakfast each day. When it came time for lunch and dinner, I had so much restriction that I could only eat real Bandster sized portions for dinner without having the slimes. The first meal of vacation resulted in a panic trip across Disneyland to Ye Olde Restroom. Now that I am back home, I had my regular granola and Protein Bar for breakfast and my bottle of Water. I usually am tight in the morning so only have about 100 calories or so in a breakfast snack. Lunch, a larger than Bandster sized salad, went down with no problems. I think that my small breakfast in the morning opens me up for the rest of the day and allows me to eat more than I should want to eat. I wanted a fill this month but after seeing what skipping breakfast does to me I am afraid to get one. Anybody else have a similar experience? Recommend skipping or changing breakfast for better restriction throughout the day?

I had my wisdom teeth, all four, removed Dec 23. I did this to eliminate the desire to over eat during the holiday weekend. It was wonderful, just a few bites and some pain in my teeth. I really got to enjoy the socializing. I also was able to squeeze in some exercise. I got on the scale today to see weight gain when I had been losing. I also have a a sore throat. I am on antibiotics, narcotic pain medications, and eating alot of cough drops. I wonder if this is just a blip from the pain and sickness and will see it disappear in the next few weeks. Looking in the mirror my face does look more round than it has lately. Happy New Year to all!

I was banded the week after the creator of this thread and we are at a similar loss. I started at 412 and am at 338 and slowing down. I want more loss but could not be happier. For the first time since in 7 years I am off cholestorol medicince, my blood pressure is normal, all of my lab work says I have no deficiencies in nutrients. I can run... granted my flabby stomach bounces around and hurts after a while. I am fat but so much healthier. I look thinner everywhere but my lower abdomen and thighs now. My body has a diamond shape but I am working on turning it into a nice cylcinder shape. I did not see the physical changes until I started looking at those pictures. Celebrate in the acheivement thus far... don't beat yourself up on what could have been... and keep pushing to your goal. I still have 120 lbs to go and I am not the least bit upset that I haven't moved as fast as I wanted to... mainly because of the Lap-Band Talk community.

I bought a jacket in 2005 from the Big/Tall store. Size 3X. Never could wear it buttoned but it was on sale then for like $40. Broke it out this season planning to wear it open as usual. IT BUTTONS AND STILL HAS ROOM TO SPARE! Granted it is a 3X but now it is a little big. First time I have seen a real change in my clothing. Then I decided on some things I would like to work on. If I can work with my weight there are other things I want to tackle: 1) Eliminate ALL soda consumption - It costs too much and can hurt the band in the long run. 2) Whiten my teeth - Stopping soda and making better food choices can help this. It's like an extra benefit to my better lifestyle. It doesn't make much sense to be smaller and more appealing and smile in the picture with yellowish teeth. 3) Exercise more - I have been really bad lately because of my schedule. I feel like I can run a marathon I just haven't been able to make it to the gym. I am very excited about spending Saturday walking around Chicago. 4) Better skin - Water keeps skin hydrated so its another plus of drinking more water again. And I plan on sporting sleeveless shirts and my tattoss on vacation in a few months. So some small muscles and tan skin would be great. I have always covered up 100% because I hated what was under. So the motto from now on is "lose weight and look great."

My goal is to be right at or below 300 lbs by my 14 day cruise in May. Thats about 50 lbs in 6 months. If anyone has suggestions for beating the 300's please do share.