LeighaMason

There were things that I temporarily couldn't eat while I was in the active losing stage like bread, Pasta and tortillas. But after I reached goal I removed .2 fill and now I eat everything. I still don't drink with my meal because it makes my food swell up and I become uncomfortable but I don't even miss it anymore. I guess for me it wasn't the foods I couldn't eat anymore that bothered me, at first, it was the fact that I only ate such a small meal and I missed the ritual of eating. I have now accepted that what I was doing before was abnormal and the small portions I eat now is normal eating. It took a while for these changes to be accepted in my mind.. Don't be surprised if you go through a mourning period where you mourn the loss of food, or the loss of the eating ritual. Spend time and work through it, it will help you in the long run.

Krasc-- The reason I asked if your therapist was medically trained is because I was wondering if he/she was qualified to give medical advice, not because I thought you should change. I am a firm believer that there is a prejudice both within and outside of the medical field that says if you are overweight you have a mental disorder. My stomach was big, that is why I was obese and my big stomach was hungry, now I have a little stomach and it gets full with an appropriate amount of food and stays full for several hours. I was not obese because I had a mental disorder, I did not need therapy, I needed a smaller stomach pouch. The band helps me with physical hunger. Before I was banded it took an enormous amount of food at one sitting for me to feel full. I was physically hungry..Now I am not. I sometimes eat for pleasure, just because something tastes good but for the most part the band fixed my problem. My problem was large portions. I have also seen the band help with people who are sweet eaters and grazers as well. I have heard them say, "Now that I am not hungry all day I make better choices." I'm sick and tired of people thinking that because someone is obese they are ________ (Fill in the blank with any of the following lazy, crazy, poor, uneducated, etc....):sneaky: We don't put up with prejudice about other physical conditions! OH crap, I'm on my soapbox again... Sorry y'all!

What alternative method did she suggest? Is she anti-WLS or did she just think the sleeve or bypass would be better? ETA: Is she a counselor or does she have medical training, like a Physiologist or Psychiatrist?

Well, I didn't participate in the half, I did run the jailbreak in September but I guess I chickened out on the half. My only excuse is that I have been trying to work through some of the issues that I have from the changes that I have gone through this year. I don't guess I realized how much the weight loss was going to affect my self image, relationships, etc. I have been mad at my body for not responding as fast as I wanted it to and I really started being hard on myself so I am taking a break from pushing myself and just trying to find a place where I can workout without becoming obsessive about results. On a lighter note, my stepson placed 895 in the Chicago marathon on that day and did qualify for Boston with a time of 3:05:01.

I drink wine, I gave up beer completely, I believe any carbonation stretches the stomach (but thats another thread). When I was trying to lose my last 15 pounds I was drinking a glass of wine at night (200 calories) and I couldn't lose it, but then I stopped drinking wine and replaced those calories with food and I lost it pretty quickly. So I believe the alcohol affects your weight loss in more ways than just the empty calories. Now that I am at goal I have started drinking my wine again and I have not regained any weight.

"do she and I need to learn to live with and conquer this mental demon by sheer will and determination?" Hell no, if we could do that we wouldn't need to pay $10K and have someone cut on our body. Sometimes I wonder, Why we aren't allowed to be physically hungry? Before I had restriction I was just plain hungry. Not head hunger, not what I call mouth hunger (eating because it tastes good) but actual, my stomach is empty and needs food, hunger. When I went to see my Dr for the first time, I told him I wanted to be banded and I was low BMI, he was kind of smirking at me and I could tell he was skeptical. Then he said "OK, lets do a barium swallow and see what is in there" As soon as the picture showed up on the screen he said "WOW! That is one of the biggest stomaches I have ever seen! I cant believe you only weigh 195! You must be starving! I believe some of us are either born with a large stomach or at some time we stretch it out and then it takes a large portion of food to fill it, and if we don't fill it, we are hungry. Fills help, I do not believe in being so tight that you cant eat real food and drink your meals, however, I don't think that giving up bread, pasta and rice is too tight. If the band worked without fills the makers of the bands would save lots of money by not having a port. A band without fills is like a car without gas....you can sit in it but your not getting anywhere. OK I am getting off my soapbox now..... sheesh!

I started out using loseit.com because they have an iphone app but then I got a Body Bugg and used theirs but I sold it when I got to goal and went back to loseit.

I lost my weight by weighing, measuring and logging everything I ate. I ate between 800-900 calories a day. Now I am on maintenance and I eat 1200 calories a day and stay the same. You have to find what works for you, and you need accurate information to make accurate decisions.

FYI-- I am still looking at your cart, I have become a complete grocery voyeur. :huh2:

How many band surgeries have you done? I read a study on pubmed.gov website that complications with the band go down dramatically after a surgeon has done over 300 bands. What size band will you use? What generation? Some places have a stock pile of old style bands that they are trying to use up before they buy the newer ones. Do you use the 2 step method to install it? The 2 step method has been shown in a study to reduce the risk of slippage later. Prospective study of 250 patients undergoing lapar... [surg Endosc. 2003] - PubMed result I think poor band placement is the number one reason for people who do not have success with the band. Make sure your surgeon knows what he is doing. I would want someone who considers themselves a band specialist not just a surgeon who can do a band.

Bjean, Were you elected to be the resident "right-wing conservative" once Patty left? Or did I miss something? Flip flop maybe?:huh2:

I'm amazed at how much lower my necklaces hang now that the fat is gone from around my neck.

Yes, I was scared to death that this would be another failed diet, a $10,000 one! I knew a lady who was banded, and didn't lose any weight, she warned me not to get a band, but we played cards together and I saw how she ate, 1/2 a sandwich, then an hour later a small bag of chips, then 30 min later a candy bar, etc. I realized that our eating patterns were very different, I only ate 3 times a day but I ate huge quantities. The band helped me eat a small meal and feel satisfied and I lost my weight. After she saw my success she changed her eating and started to get fills and she is now on her way to losing her weight too.

Congratulations! Crystl I'm happy for you. :blushing:

206 is only 7 pounds from onederland, just take it one step at a time, you can do it, 170 will be here in no time.

I think when you eat too fast and get pain the food is not entering the pouch fast enough and the pain is from it sitting in your esophagus. I think the stuck/pain/too full feeling comes from the esophagus instead of the pouch. I can drink while eating but if I am eating something like bread and I take a drink, I risk the bread swelling up and getting into my esophagus and creating the pain. That is why I stick to the no drinking for 20 min after eating rule. Drinking after eating makes no difference in the length of time that the hunger is gone. This is my theory.. no facts to back it up.

In East Texas they call them "Cokes", here is a typical exchange. "Hey, you want a Coke?" "Yeah, bring me a Dr Pepper."

The article is exactly how the band works for me. But I cant stress this enough, you have to find your own way.

I weigh and measure my food and count calories. I log it all on a web site. Here is the plan I used when I was losing. 4 oz of meat (by weight). Depends on density, if its steak, I usually have 2 oz but if its fish I have 4. 1/2 of a measuring cup of veggies 1/4 of a measuring cup of starch Plus I break it down further by these maximum calorie counts Breakfast 250 Snack 150 lunch 250 Snack 150 dinner 250 For a snack to qualify for the list it should have 1g of Protein for every 10 calories, ie. Greek Yogurt 140 calories, 14 g protein.

Its still effin 86 degrees here, my air conditioner is still running non stop, driving my crazy! Plus 48% humidity, hot, sticky, sucky. I'm bitchy dwarf today. :w00t:

I was banded one year ago today. I can only think of 1 other year in my life in which everything changed so much and that was the year I was pregnant with my son, the year my weight yo-yo began. This time last year, I had to hold my breath when I bent over, I was getting too big for all my (big) clothes again, never exercised and I was always physically hungry. Now I am a size 4, I can run 3 miles without stopping, I can do 100 sit ups and 100 push ups in a 30 min period and the best part, I get hungry when its time to eat but once I eat a small amount of food it goes away! Now I am smack in the middle of normal BMI, and the best part is, I have hope that I can sustain this weight loss! In the past I NEVER stayed at the same weight without a struggle. Staying the same weight required the same struggle that dieting did. When I decided to stop losing at 132 I had .2 removed from my band so I could eat more, that was August 19th. Now I have been in the same 132-135 range for 2 solid months with NO EFFORT! (Except one time when I was eating chips and my homemade salsa every night for a week, I gained all the way to 137! GASP! I cut back to eating it 2 times a week and lost the extra weight in 3 days.) It has not been easy, I had to learn to stop when my stomach was no longer hungry even when my mouth was. I found out that I have a compulsion to finish what is on my plate. But its all been worth it, even if I did trade my boobs for being thin, I can always buy new boobs. :thumbup:

Thanks everyone!

Before lap band I had to eat at least 2000 calories a day to keep from being hungry all day. Now I am on maintenance and I eat 1200 calories a day to balance my weight between 132 and 135. So, without lap band, I would need to exercise off an extra 800 calories a day (and that is 800 more than I do now). According to my Body Bugg, when I run for 3k (45 min) it burns about 300 calories so I would need to run an extra 2 hours every single day to maintain my current weight. Doesn't sound very reasonable to me....

On my last fill, I called the nurse cause I thought she poked a hole in my band! I had less restriction and then 10 days later, perfection! Don't pass judgment on this fill too soon, it might just be slow to kick in. :wink2:

Claire, I'm posting from my phone and I don't have much battery, but I wanted to sign on and say happy anniversary. I will post more in the morning when I have a real computer.