vlp1968

Way to go! Keep up the great work.

I was banded right before thanksgiving too, in 09. It went much easier than I thought it would. I was on mushies and knew I had to do the right thing for my band to heal. The next thanksgiving I did ok, ate mashed potatoes and stuffing with my turkey but no pies. Last year, ate whatever I wanted. There is deffinately a progression there lol. I have actually already been thinking about this year the last few days. I have struggled with some weight gain and am finally back to excersise and a low carb diet. My whole family gets together for 4-5 days, including my grandma and uncle from Illinois (I live in Florida). Anway, lots of big meals starting with breakfast. My mom always makes my favorites. I have come up with a plan, one cheat day on Thanksgiving, including a special breakfast. No left overs the rest of the visit. I will bring food that is on my plan. I am going to ask my mom to stick to breakfast items I won't find too hard to resist. I think starting off the day right is a good thing. I will focus on enjoying the company of my family- including 2 nieces and 2 nephews I love playing with. Back to the topic of how to handle these once a week pig outs- why not bring a think or 2 on your plan so you will have band friendly food available. Good luck!

I didn't get a fill at my 2 week appt. He just told me to move on to solid food. I met with the psyc and nut too. Have the surgeon check your insicions too make sure they are healing properly. Hope the appt. goes well!

I think 17 pounds in 3 weeks is amazing! I can't imagine a dr. not being satisfied with that. Keep up the good work!

I totally identify with the self-fulfilling prophecy. As a young child 7-8 years old I starting putting on a little weight. My parents didn't exactly berate me, but made comments and my mom would get frustrated at having to buy some new clothes because I gained weight. I always felt fat, even when I was just a little overweight and I became that very overweight person I always thought I was.

Sorry you went through that- congrats on your weight loss. All my fills have been very uneventful, no problem with access. I hope the fluro helps! Keep up the good work!

I have stuggled over the past year or so with regain, I initially lost 107 pounds, have regained about half of that. Wow, never thought that would happen. I had success with a very low carb diet. I am finally going back to that. I tried just counting calories and eating "good carbs" but didn't stick to it. I think the "good carbs" caused cravings. I started the ultra low carb (also fairly low fat and prettty low cal) diet today. It has gone pretty well, but am struggling tonight. I want something sweet! I know if I can hang in there for a few days the cravings will diminish. I am doing pretty well with excersise, which I will of course continue. I have some very nice clothes I want to fit into again! Wish me luck and thanks for reading.

That's awsome! Keep up the good work!

When I initally lost weight, I only weighed in once a week. When I started maintainace I weighed in every day. I kept the weight off for about a year and have been gaining since. I just started back on track with a low-carb diet. I plan to get on the scale every 3-4 days. Seems like a good compromise. Congrats on your surgery!

Call your dr. office and tell them it seems like an emergency. Ask to explain the situation to one of the nurses and they may be able to get you in. That's what I've done when I needed an unfill. Good luck and feel better soon!

I have never had trouble swallowing pills, except the few occassions I was way to tight and couldn't keep anything down. Once I got a slight unfill, I was fine. You can buy a pill crusher or pill splitter if it's needed. You could also look into liquid forms. But like I said, I never had any problem.

I agree, you are doing great. As you said you know, you should probably only get on the scale once a week. It's hard know. I managed to do it while I was loosing. Then in maintainance I weighed in every day. Didn't help, I put back on 45 pounds of the 107 I lost. Neve thought that would happen! I have had a good week so am optomistic. I have decided to comprimise and get on the scale every 3-4 days. Maybe that would work for you.

Yes, seems like you need a slight unfill. Talk with your surgeon about how your doing and decide together how much to remove. Feel better soon!

Your surgeon or a nurse practioner will do fills. About once a month until restriction then it will depend on how you are feeling (hunger between meals, how much you can eat at once et..). You should see your pcp regularly if you are on meds for diebeties, high blood pressure , cholesteral. He/she will be the one to make adjustments for things like that. This has been my experience, and I think it's pretty typical. Congrats on your surgery.

I think that's great! You are probably the one who has typically done the shopping and cooking. It's your responsibility to provide healthy choices for the whole family. Like you said, they probably won't notice the difference a whole lot. I live alone so as far as what's in the house, it's not a big deal. Now that I have gotten over the buy one get one free crap at the store, I only keep healthy things in the house. When I go out with friends, they eat what they want, it's never even come up that they would do anything different. It's funny, but drinking is different. One of the guys I am dating stopped drinking in front of me when I got banded. I told him he didn't have to but he still won't. I guess part of it is it's no fun to drink a lone.

I am struggling too. I lost 107 pounds and gained back 45. Never thought that would happen. I have had a good few days and was ok with the scale this morning. I have been scared to get on it. I hope I am back on track once and for all. If I loose 30 or so of the weight I gained I think I'll be happy, but not sure. I've been told by people close to me that I got too thin, not so sure about that and I have a beautiful wardrobe I'd like to fit into again. Well, that's where I'm at, thanks for listening.

I agree with people saying hairloss is due to rapid weight loss. I started loosing hair 3-4 months postop. I went to the dermatologist, much to my relief he told me I would not go bald. He said your body goes into kind of a shock with the weight loss. It stopped coming out about 2 months later. I was lucky to start with a pretty thick head of hair.

I am glad you are getting an unfill. Congrats on the weight loss but you may not be doing it the healthiest way. You need more than cottage cheese and smoothies to get all the nutrition you need. You are right to be concerned about being that far away while you are so tight. I would get an unfill and leave it there when you get back and see how you do.

I think you should be fine. I have flown several times, with no problems. I would be concerned if you were going away, right after the fill. You want to be around incase your fill is too much and you need to go back to the surgeon and have a bit taken out. 5 days is plenty of time for that.

As far as a slip- as long as you can keep things down I think your fine. My surgeon said if there is a slip you suddenly can't keep anything down. Not even water. Good luck

I second the posts that talk about addiction. I think you should seek counseling or some other help for addiction. It seems you have traded one addiction for another, it's known as addiction transfer. It's a serious thing. I am afraid you are going down a slippery slope. Be carefull! Keep us posted on how you are doing. All the best wishes to you.

EAS is a brand of premade protien shakes. I don't know what it stands for. I get them at walmart. I have also seen the version with carbs at sams.

I have struggled lately too. I had 3 vacations almost back to back and it threw me out of wack for sure. I have "gotten with the program" the last 3 days. I have found excersise to be a key factor. It's tough to get started again I know. I have backed off on the speed of the treadmill and it has made it doable. Also, I find I get hungry around 3ish so I go to the gym then. It gets me out of the house and reduces my hunger. Good luck!

You got good advice at your docs office. I am surprised he only did .5 cc, that's not much. However, that being said, I hope it does the trick. Deff. eat your protien and don't drink with or after meals. Let us know how you are doing post fill.

Take things slow. See how things go down. In the liquid stage I had 3 protien drinks a day. I didn't limit water at all. You want to get at least 60 gms protien a day. I chose EAS because they have 20 g protien, and are low in fat. They also have carb control is you are looking to stick to a low carb diet. I get them at walmart. You probably won't have problems, since your band is not filled. Don't be surprised is hunger creeps in in a few days. It's what's known as bandster hell. The time after surgery but before you get enough fluid in your band to have restriction. Congrats on your surgery!