2beskinny

Ahem....moving on.... I have also felt VERY frustrated with this process. It was *anticipated* frustration because of my education about the band, however, frustration is frustration. I have been in bandster-hell (a term I always hated) and the only reason I have not started gaining has been because of my exercise (I run lots). It is very depressing to see the weightloss stall and realize that the only reason I'm not gaining is because of the exercise. If I quit that...look out - it will be just like every other diet in my life and here comes the weight again. So it's time to re-focus, obviously. I had my fourth fill yesterday and I think I'm feeling some pretty good restriction. I'm not on solids yet, but I can even feel my coffee sitting there for a minute (hopeful!). I admitted all my "sins" to my nut yesterday and we talked about possible counseling to address my issues and falling back into a gaining cycle. When we talked about foods I have been eating, however, I realized (like a light coming on) that I have been choosing foods that don't give the band any challenge. I LOVE salads...salads are healthy, right? Well I can eat a TON of salad...ummm...that's a sign of a slider food. The big salad (even with protein) washes through too easily. I eat lot's of soft foods (healthy, but soft). I need to go back to dense food choices so I can give this band a chance to work for me! I asked about taking diet pills until full restriction kicks in (my weight loss so far has been due to my focus and will power...not too much credit for the band yet). She didn't recommend it because I would "miss" too many signals and signs that are necessary to learn in order to be sucessfull with the band. We all know dp's are temporary due to health concerns. The band is for life and we have to fully aware of how it works with our food choices. This is the only way we are going to be sucessful LONG term. I still have some phentermine left from a previous weight loss attempt. They work wonders for me. I eventually, however, started eating poorly anyway and they stopped working for me (which is one of the things that led me to the band). Now I realize that taking Phentermine again now would only slow my progress of learning to live sucessfully in band land. I think you can take dp's and get some short term success, but it will interphere with the long term changes we all need to make. Good luck to us in our journeys!

Need some help with behaviour modification. I do really well all day with my food choices. It's easy to choose well and I am enjoying the healthy choices I am making. Then night comes...I swear it's like I'm a different person and my mind throws a switch. No matter how much I try and prepare myself for it during the day, I can rationalize anything at this time of the day. It seems to happen between 9-11 pm. I have tried making myself go to bed, but I HATE to go to bed that early. I think it all stems from when my children were little (I had 3 boys in 2 years and they were all little at once!). I enjoyed the end of my day (after they were in bed) soooo much. It was my time. Now my boys are all in high school and I still want "the end of the day" for me. I have battled this problem of eating during this time before and won. I have just somehow slipped back into it and can't seem to get a grip. I know it is keeping me from losing faster. I still can't eat as much as I used to at night because of SOME restriction, however, this is just stupid behavior...plain and simple. Part of me is venting now :tt2: Last night I ate dry cereal from a box...yuck! It didn't even taste good!:eek: Help! Tough love appreciated :) Would love to hear some ideas from some of you who battle with this problem!

Thanks for all the replies LBT friends :frown: I am happy to report that I stuck to my diet ALL DAY LONG - even @ night! I also ran fives miles yesterday Today I woke up feeling proud of myself instead of guilty. One day @ a time...it's all we can do. I also purchased some sf jello to help with the night snacking - never have liked sf popcicles, so I thought I'd go for the jello. I also bought some sf coop whip - yum. Last night was feeling pretty motivated so did not eat it yet...maybe tonight if I can't stand it!

I think you need to question your reaction...why do you leap so fast to having it removed? Re-examine all the reasons you wanted it. It sounds like you were not very well-informed about how the band works. It is a just a piece of plastic until proper restriction is reached. It can take many months and many fills to reach restriction. The "best" bandsters will behave as though they are restricted and stick to the band rules and lose weight while waiting for restriction. In a perfect world, we would all be able to do that. In reality lots of us become frustrated (some more quickly than others), feel like we are just on another "diet" (a $17k diet this time), been duped again, test the band to see how much we can eat...yep...can eat a lot just like before and the losing stops. Then we come to our senses - realize we are in "bandster hell" re-commit to the process and work hard every day to get to our goal and PRAY that the next fill will bring us to proper restriction. This is what we all signed up for! I'm sorry if you didn't realize that when you made the decision to get banded. You are very lucky, though! You have a wonderful tool inside you that can make all the difference this time...don't get it removed before you even give it a chance to work Fear of failure is a big thing...so is fear of succeeding. Which are you most afraid of? I don't ask that question from a place of knowledge...I'm trying to figure it out for myself, too. Lots of us are :wub: Hang in there!

I had a McDonald's happy meal hamburger this weekend! I can resist any fast food, but there is something about McD's that I will always love (childhood association?? Who knows?) I ate it very slow - wasn't a problem. It was very satisfying!!! I even at the cute little fries (I think there was about 10 of them in the pack). I am, however, not at my sweet spot (on my way though!).

Even pre-banding I am just not that hungry in the morning. I do try and eat breakfast, though. My absolute favorite thing is Greek Yogurt - vanilla or honey. Very high in protein - the right consistancy for me (a little tigher in the am) and I love the taste! It's like a dessert for me:)

I had my first fill @ 4 weeks post op under fluro. I was wearing an underwire bra at the time. The doc (my surgeon) pointed out to me that the opening was the same width as the wire on my bra (it was!). I try and recall that image when I find myself eating too fast. Now, don't freak out about how small that is...it also has elasticity and will stretch to accommodate the food traveling through :thumbup: Just remember that chewing is part of the digestive process. You have to do a little more chewing (well, alot more!) because we have reduced the opening to our stomachs!

I hit it! My mouth literally dropped open when I stepped on the scale...199! I admit to being an obsessive weigher (trying to work on it) and I have been watching my scale bounce all over the place these last six weeks. I didn't really think I was in a plataeu, because I have not been perfect with my diet. I have however, been exercising well. All of the sudden I had a 3 pound drop out of no-where that took me below 200 for the first time in a LOOONNNGG time. My newest band observation is that while I have certainly not been perfect with my food choices, I do eat a LOT less than I used to. For instance, I have eaten a donut (not the whole box), 2 pieces of pizza for dinner (not 5-7), french fries (steal a few from my kids - not my own size L from McDonalds). I am pretty faithful with my protein everyday...the things I mentioned are little extras that I felt were keeping me from losing faster (I know they were!) but I just wanted to share my happiness about this goal! I am not perfect...if I were, I wouldn't need this band. I'm OK with that. I really think this is going to work for me...even though I'm not perfect!

I have always used running to acheive weightloss goals. Never have had such a lofty goal as I do now, but I'm still using running to get there. I told myself I would start running when I got to 200. Well - I started at 210 instead and I'm glad I did. Now I am 199 (whohoo!) and I can run 4 miles instead of just being at the beginning. As the weight comes off, the running gets easier. I'm also going to do a 1/2 marathon in May. I did it 6 years ago when I turned 40. I weighed about 180. This year I might even be close to goal when I run it! :sneaky: Good luck!

Hang in there! Feeling better is right around the corner...don't give up now. Picture yourself running a marathon and you want to quit and we are all chanting your name to get to the next mile marker...you can do it! As hard as it is to do, try focusing on the reasons why you chose the band. All those reasons are still valid. You are having a bumpy start and it WILL get better. Did you have a hernia repair with your surgery? So many of us have them...just curious if one was done. If you didn't have one...maybe you need that??? I had a lot of indigestion prior to surgery, had a hernia repair and have not had any more trouble with it (of course I'm not eating the volumes of food I used to eat either!) Best of luck!

I was cleared for all of it @ 4 weeks. Felt like I could have done it sooner. I started running @ 4 weeks. I tried doing some abdominal work and it hurt too much in my port area (felt pulling...yikes!) so I quit all the ab stuff until 6 weeks. Have not had any problem since then :huh2:

Never had a problem gulping cold water on an empty stomach...just as satisfying as pre-band. Full stomach? No. Have to wait your 30 minutes :huh2:

Just wanted to share what my nut told me at my last fill appointment. First of all, she is a fellow bandster and has lost well over 100 pounds. She asked me if I was PBing at all. I told her that sometimes I get a little stuck, stop eating and wait a bit and it relieves itself. Other times, however, if the "sliming" starts, I just hurry up the inevitable, gag myself, the offending food that is stuck in my pouch comes up and it is instant relief. I asked her if that was still PBiing, or if that was actually vomiting. She said you want to avoid anything close to "wretching" at all costs. Wretching is when your stomach contracts and forces the contents upward. Problem is that the muscles you are using to acheive this action are located below the band. So think about it...force coming from below the band in an upward direction can lead to a slip.:huh2: Getting up and moving is the best thing to do to get the food to move through. I'm still not sure I completly know the difference between PBing and vomiting, but I do know that I chew my food a lot better now :huh2:

Had my 3rd fill last Monday...only .5 cc's...I can already tell that it is not making any difference. I can eat anything still. My practice hired a new gal to do fills/follow-ups. She wasn't very good...bent the needle on the 1st try and had to go in again (left me thinking - what did she bend the needle on? Did she poke a hole in my tubing?). One thing she did do was pull out all the fluid in my band to count it...much to my surprise I have 6cc's. Fill-wise, I have only received 3.5...there was obviously more in at surgery from the prime than I thought. I'm just feeling discouraged. I really thought 3rd fill was going to be a game-changer for me. Guess not...4th fill scheduled for Nov 15...guess it's still all me until then! I'm beginning to think I'm never going to lose this weight!!! Sorry - just a little venting to my lbt friends who I know can relate and hopefully help me feel better!

This is VERY different than they way the band was explained to me. My surgeon is one of the top bariatric doctors in the country... That's not to say that there is not value in the information...different approaches work with different people. I do like his message of eating a specified amount and walking away. That is good advice no matter how you believe the band works. This guy seems to have a helluva marketing department...

I think that is one of the reason I am struggling so much right now. I MISS that full feeling in my lower stomach. I can eat a small amount, get the burps, etc., know that my pouch is full, but it is not "satisfying" to me. I'm hoping that it's because my pouch really ISN'T full cuz I'm not at great restriction yet. I hope it gets better! The other day I really was not able to physically eat any more, yet I felt hungry and my stomach actually groweled! I'm beginning to think my "fullness receptors" are located somewhere below the band...yikes!

Haha...it's all still cheaper than rising medical costs :thumbup: I got a beautiful diamond/sapphire "band" of my own to commemorate my journey I liked the idea of a visible symbol and well, heck, I just like jewelry, too :w00t:!

Thanks for the words of encouragement! Good luck to you, too! I see you are beginning your journey...hold on tight, it's a wild ride but hopefully we will all reach the same destination! :w00t:

Thank you so much for all your replies...they really do help. As I've said before, LBT is my support as I am a closet bandster. I am feeling better this morning and Leigh, I hope you are right about the delayed reaction of a fill...I've read many posts about that. Even if it takes the next 1, 2, 3 or beyond fills, I have to remember how far I've come. Thanks for reminding me of that. I have one of those closets where I have complete wardrobes in different sizes. Most of my closet is size 16 and I can comfortably fit into all of them...some are too big now and I can pull most of my pants off without unzipping/unbuttoning by the end of the day :w00t: My husband keeps asking, "is that new?" I just tell him not to freak out and that he will be seeing a lot of clothes he has not seen in a while!

Your post really hits home...I totally am NOT doing that! I seem to be trying to *test* my band to see how MUCH I can eat...wrong approach to be sure! I will start incorporating that approach ASAP. I seem to be going through an all too-familiar phase right now...sick of dieting, ready to throw in the towel. Making bad choices. I was hoping I would have more restriction when I reached this inevitable phase. I just have to buckle down and try and figure out why I am self sabotaging...am I afraid to be fabulous? Maybe that's another thread, haha...stay tuned!

Hi to all who are "new" to this (including me). I'm curious about how everyone feels about telling folks...I don't want to tell anyone, but I'm trying to look hard at the reasons why. My weight battle has always been so internal for me. I am surrounded by great family and friends, but I will admit I feel a bit like I've failed to have to resort to these measures. How does everyone else feel?

This is so true...I have hovered around the same weight (gaining/losing) overall, I am still down, but the weight loss is so slow. I have some bad habits creeping in, but I am able to counteract them with lots of exercise so the net effect is still positive. I think part of me believes that if I maintain for a bit while exercising that it will help with the whole skin issue...I'm probably just rationalizing my bad eating behavior though! Believe me, I know I have lots of work to do on better control of my eating. I did just want to share, however, that about 2 weeks ago, I was a little bummed that VERY few people had commented on my weight loss (I have afterall lost a good chunk since my I started my pre-op diet!). All of the sudden, this week, I have had 5 people say something to me about my weightloss!!! It's about time . I do need to point out also that no one knows about my surgery, either, so it's not like anyone was "waiting" for it...haha, just me. I go for 3rd fill on Monday....soooo excited for that one. I was too tight on my 2nd fill and had to have some removed. I've got a good feeling that even just putting in the amount they removed will get me to a good place. I'm hosting a dinner party on Saturday night after my fill...I'm a little worried about being able to eat everything that is prepared (it's a mystery chef thing), which I know I could do now, but I will get through it...I'm NOT putting my fill off for anything

I would use lean cuisines about 3x a week, vs. 3x a day. They are high in sodium and usually high in carbs as well. You probably do need to increase your caloric intake, but make sure you pay attention to carb counts. It really makes a difference! Are you restricted yet? I am still working towards restriction...I feel I'm partially there. My band definitely lets me know not to eat certain things, although I feel I can still eat too much of other things. I am happy with my weight loss, but feel it has REALLY slowed down. Third fill is Oct 18 and I'm hoping for loss to pick up after that one!!!

It is the sum of all the "little" things we do that makes us successfull with our weight loss. Unfortunately, it's also the sum of all the "little" things that can defeat us. There is one of 2 things going on...you are either not taking in enough calories to lose, or you are taking in a lot more calories than you realize. You didn't mention if you journal, but journaling for one week and writing down EVERYTHING will help you get a handle on what's going on. I HATE to journal, but know that I need to take my own advice right now as well. I keep having "good days" and "bad days" and the net effect is maintenance. I work out a ton also. I run 2.5 - 4 miles 5-6x per week and lift weights 2-3 times a week. Some days I only eat 800-900 calories, other days I graze more than I realize or eat a late night snack that goes a little too far. I need to have a solid week of no cheating and get back in the losing category!

That was the worst part of the whole process for me. Mine lingered for about 6 weeks, but was diminishing the whole time. I am almost 2.5 months out from surgery and if I get stuck, I also feel the shoulder pain again. Sometimes I can just be "full" and feel it. I'm actually kinda glad for it, as I know it's my body telling me to stop whatever I'm doing! It is certainly not as painful as it used to be. At 10 days out I was still feeling it a LOT and was getting sick of it. Small trade-off now though, just have to get through it .