sawyer77

I'm using Select OB+DHA, but I did have to have my band unfilled because of another pill I was taking just a week or two before pregnancy.

I'm trying to figure out if I should wait to get pregnant or not. This is not really a band issue; rather, a general age/pregnancy issue. I am 33 years old, have had my band for a year, have lost 47 of my 65 pounds of EBW. I weigh 150 today and would love to weigh 132 or less, but I'm really not in a rush. My dilemma is this. I'm 33, and have not yet had children. I would like to have at least two children, and adoption is not out of the question, but I definitely have the baby rabies. Things stopping me from getting pregnant NOW: I don't live in the house I'd love to live in. If I got pregnant now, I would have an October 2011 (I'd be 34) due date, and ideally, I'd like an April or May 2012 baby, so I could have the spring and summer home (best for time off of work). Things that make me want to get pregnant NOW: I'm not getting any younger. I worry about the risks of having a baby when I'm 35 and then I'd want to wait a bit for the second one (for health and financial reasons), so I'd have my second baby when I'm 40. Please, PLEASE weigh in (pun intended!) -- What are your experiences? I'm looking for some words of advice in either direction, looking for other considerations. I'd be very glad to hear your input. Thanks! Jacki

I am going to my surgeon today, and I think I'm going to ask for an unfill. I will ask his advice, of course. I have had many of the signs of overfill: discomfort while eating, sliming/regurgitating, poor food choices, poor weight loss, have had a few night coughs. But BECAUSE I haven't really been losing weight since this last fill (it's been about 10 weeks and I've lost about 5 pounds), I'm nervous that an unfill will stall weight loss even more. My head says unfill, but will this help me get my weight loss back on track? I've never had an unfill and I don't know what to expect.

Thanks, gang! I went on Thursday, and got .5 ccs taken out. It has made a WORLD of difference! So glad I got an unfilll.

Oh, boy! I have had my band for a year, and need to re-commit to steady weight loss. I'm happy with my progress, as I've pretty much lost a pound a week this past year. But I know that I've been a little lax with resorting to snacking, resorting to junk in general, and I definitely need to reaffirm my exercise commitment. I started tracking today (I've never really been a tracker) with the myfitnesspal.com app on my phone and while I've only had 400 calories so far today for Breakfast and lunch, my sugars for the day are exceeded already. It's my cottage cheese (the Breakstones doubles) and yogurt! That's one of my staple lunches. ACK! How awful is that? Here I thought I was having good, healthy lunch times when I ate my cottage cheese and yogurt. Do any of you track your sugars? This has to be very bad for me... I'm glad the app had that nutrients option, otherwise, I would have kept going with my aiming for counting just the calories, Protein, fat, and Fiber. What do y'all eat that keeps your sugars down, while keeping you at the right calorie level? Anybody got a nice, balanced plan to share? I thought I was doing so well!

There's that 'only' word again! You have done a GREAT job! That's 1.3 pounds a week, which is right in the range of recommended weight loss per week. A healthy rate is 1-2 pounds per week. Take an honest look at the three zones here: http://www.lapband.com/en/live_healthy_lapband/about_adjustments/ Talk with your doctor about your uncertainty. See what the office staff has to say. It sounds to me like you don't need a fill, because your weight loss is on track, and you are mentioning restriction at times. Maybe keep a daily diary of how each meal went. List bite sizes, chewing intensity, presence of discomfort while eating, and see if there are patterns. Some women mention that tightness accompanies their period. I don't notice that for myself, but I do notice certain times that are tighter than others, like late at night or early morning. Good luck!

I'm almost at my one-year bandiversary! I am happily surprised that I really consider my food options to be wide open. I don't often think about *what* I'm going to eat in public (though, nachos are a pretty safe bet for me when out with friends and family), but rather HOW I'm going to eat it, keeping in mind to take small bites and chew, chew, chew! However, there are a few foods that I hardly ever eat. Either the caloric cost is not worth it to me, or they have given me problems more than once. I don't count a food out after a one-time incident; it's gotta be a repeat offender for me to nix it. I don't eat generally most bread or bready foods. That's mostly because I am working so hard to lose weight, and I can live without bread. I don't eat pancakes (Ugh. Just thinking about eating pancakes makes my throat close up!) and most of the time, don't eat toast. I haven't eaten broccoli since I've been banded and I'm almost scared to try. I am at 7.5 ccs in my 10 cc band, and have pretty good restriction, I must say. I still eat rice and Pasta, just in small amounts. My husband is Puerto Rican, and so there is always rice around! I love my scrambled egg whites with cheese and turkey sausage! MMM! I eat that a lot. What are your nixed foods (for either a weight-loss reason or a band-passage reason) and what foods are always a safe bet for you? I've got 10 weeks until my birthday, and I'm trying to live my rules very closely, so I can have some results to be proud of in the next 10 weeks! It's amazing, even with the act of eating now taking a lot of thought (as far as what will go down, how to eat, etc.), how little I actually think about food. I love my band.

We're all so busy! I wanted to just wish everyone good luck with prepping and getting through the holidays! Hope everyone finds time for a restful break!

I have 7.5 and did not feel even slightly restricted until 7 and 7.5. It's been 3 weeks since my last fill and I feel loose again! I think I might need just a tweak.

I was banded on 1/20/10 and have lost 48 pounds since then.

Hi, y'all! Checkin' in! I'm down to 149 this morning -- wahoooooo! I'm a slow loser and I've lost 7 pounds since my last fill three weeks ago. That's 2.3 pounds a week for the last 3 weeks, where my average has been "only" 1 pound per week (ha ha, "only") since my surgery last January. I'm a happy camper! Was busy taking smiling pics this morning for sure! (I'm not *really* doing a duckface. Those pics were for my man, and we like to poke fun of the duckface that folks don in their online pics. Ha ha.) I can definitely feel the fill loosening up. When I got this fill, I was thinking, "Whoa, mama, this is it!" but now I feel like I've got too much room for overeating, even though what I call overeating now pales in comparison to what I called overeating a year ago! I'm still losing, so that's a plus (or a minus, really!) My doctor is very conservative and he already thinks I've lost enough for my first year, so I doubt he's going to give me another fill in three more weeks. I don't know that I want one, anyway. We'll see. Just like what my goal weight will be. We'll see. Heh. Leigha - Kudos to you for saving your neighbor's things and home! She's lucky to have you! Christie -Go, mama! I bet you're on top of the world. Shammah - I remember that from my early days of surgery. I was so miserable! I hope things ease up soon! I take fiber gummies, and that helps. Denise - Your husband sounds wonderful! I guess we've lost Karen, my fellow South Jerseyan? How are the rest of y'all doing? I am woefully behind in my holiday shopping. Ack! I've got 8 more days of work to plod through, and I hope to do the best I can without any prying eyes! My stepdaughters are challenging to buy for, because the 14-year-old just wants her stuff now (heck with that 'under the tree' stuff), and the 3-year-old likes to go everywhere with us and has the sharpest mind paired with the best memory! This will be challenging for sure! Jacki

Kelly, that's my collage of my High, Current and Goal weights, in visual form! First, I went to mvm.com (My Virtual Model), created a model for my High weight, and did a screen capture. I pasted the image into my photo editing program (I use irfanview - free download at irfanview.com), cropped it and saved the file as High. I did the same with Current and Goal. Then I created a panorama image using Irfanview and added it to my LBT album and used it as a signature image.

I also only enter a new low weight. If I go up, I do not change my ticker because at this point, I'm so used to those few pounds bouncing around and have gotten to the point where I can live with doing a weekly weigh-in, instead of a daily one.

This fill is bangin'! I've lost four pounds since my weigh-in day (Wednesday), and I still have two more days. It's very interesting to actually feel restriction. Something I struggle with is that my dear man, upon seeing me reach the point during the meal where I'm having trouble, likes to ask, "Are you all right?" about 8 times. When you get that moment of "I'll be okay, I just need to wait this out," it's such a pain to have to respond to someone. I'm trying not to snap on him! Also, my stepdaughter who now lives with us, age 14, does not know that I had the surgery (she moved in with us in August), and she can't just think that I'm having a bad reaction to antibiotics forever, can she? I have not had eating issues hardly at all up to this fill and a tad for the previous fill. I recently had toe surgery and am taking antibiotics -- Eddie and I just mentioned to her that my stomach is upset because of the medicine. Ack! I hate lying, but I certainly don't want her to know. I love her to death, but she'd likely tell her friends, many of which are my former students. I just don't want my biz out there like that. Does anyone live with people who don't know? I don't know how long I can keep this up. I'm sure I'll have an incident in front of her at some point.

Surgery - empty band 1st fill - 2 ccs 2nd fill - 2 ccs 3rd fill - 1 cc 4th fill - 1 cc 5th fill - .5 cc 6th fill - .5 cc 7th fill - .5 cc So that puts me at 7.5 ccs after 7 fills in my 10 cc band, and 10 months post op. Finally, I have what I would call restriction, and have jumped off my 3-month-long plateau!

Hi all! Can you believe it's been almost a year since we've all been banded? Wow! I was banded on 1/20/10. My high weight was 197. I've lost 43 pounds to date, putting me at 154. I had a three-month stall (maybe you'd call it a weight-loss break) where I just played around with the same three pounds. I wasn't really trying to lose weight, but the miracle is that I did not gain. I've just gotten my 7th fill to put me at 7.5 ccs in my 10 cc band. I feel like I've got a band, finally! One thing I decided to do, after much consternation, was to change my goal weight. I started at 197 and I gave myself an original goal of 117 (on the low end of the BMI normal range), so that I could have an even 80 pounds to look at - - easy mental math! But after that long stall, and seeing how I look and feel at 154, I think 117 would be way too low. Of course, I'll reevaluate when I get closer, but I'm giving myself a new goal of 132, which is at the high end of the BMI Normal range. I don't know that I could achieve that goal by my 1 year date, because it's taken me 10 months to get 43 pounds off. Surely I couldn't remove 22 pounds in the next two months! However, I actually have a band that's doing its job now! We shall see! How have your goals changed as the year has progressed? How is your journey towards restriction going? I hope you all are well and healthy!

Hellooooo all! I've been absent, mostly because I've not had much to report. I have been playing around with the same couple pounds for three months. I got another fill on Friday, which puts me at 7.5 ccs in my 10 cc band at 10 months post-op. WOW! This fill is it! I am restricted. A few bites does me in. Takes me a long time to eat those few bites, as it is. I'm currently dealing with the grief of leaving food uneaten. Up to this point, I've been able to finish everything I've wanted. But now, I am just physically unable to go any further, even though my entire being wants to finish my plate. It's a psychological mess! I've broken the plateau, and am now 154 pounds, which is down 43 from my highest. I have readjusted my goal weight. I had it set at 117, just to make an even 80 pounds of EBW in my head. But after being on that 12-week plateau, I decided to be kind to myself and put my goal at the top of Normal BMI range, which is 132. This means I'm only 22 pounds away from goal! I needed a reframing of my goals, and this has helped! I have to work on the snacking next. That's a big BIG downfall for me. I work in a school and there is always someone celebrating something, bringing in a cake, you name it! Aghhh! My family members are no help either, always buying snacks to keep in the house. I'm generally okay with refraining from purchasing snacks; it's just when they're in my space that I have trouble! I hope all of you are well, and that you all have a very happy holiday tomorrow! Soak up all the compliments -- you've worked hard and you deserve them!