2beskinny

Hi Rev - just curious as to why you have not had a fill...obviously you are doing great, but my question is are you one of the lucky ones who feels restriction without a fill? I'm going Monday for the 1st one and I can't wait. I've been doing well, but all of the sudden the last 3-4 days have been soooo hard. I feel like I could eat anything (and can) and feel some old habits creeping in (overate some rice cakes last night - better than potato chips, but not a good habit regardless!). My weight loss has stopped, but I have not gained. I think I need to eat about 1000 cals or less to lose and I'm at about 1100-1200 and maintaining. Very frustrating as I have been able to lose weight before on 1200-1400 calories:cursing: (pre-band, and I was also a little bit younger, too). Maybe still some swelling - I can see my port area bulging more than the rest of my stomach, still. I think we are all like kids at Christmas and want this weight off RIGHT NOW :thumbup: Great job on the weightloss!

I feel like I have been a text-book case so far. I pretty much have anticipated a lot of how I was going to eat right after surgery, etc., and for the most part, it has been way easier than I expected. The surgery itself has been a little facisnating to me. I am actually amazed by the healing powers of my body and the surgery was so easy when you weigh the benefits of the outcome. The shoulder pain was the worst thing and I only feel that once or twice a day now (does not wake me up anymore). My biggest fear at this point is the crashing of my optimistic attitude. I wake up everyday thinking so much more positive about life. If anything, the damn scale is a bit discouraging because I feel so good and then I'm briefly reminded of how far I have to go I have begun to think that the band has a wonderful placebo effect on me. I know there's no saline in it yet, I know I have a long way to go, but taking such a positive step in the right direction has already been so amazing for me. I have not regretted my decision for one moment. I made up my mind before having the surgery that if I stayed positive, that would be half my battle. I read everything on here, the good, the bad, and the downright ugly. The last two are simply not options for me. So far, taking my own advice has been great for me!

I'm not sure about the cycling...My doc just said light cardio at 2 weeks, so I think if you take it easy and don't go "all out" you would be fine. I did the elliptical today and at first did not put any resistance on (I usually have it at an 8)...well I actually was bouncing too much, so I turned up the resistance and just went a little slower and it felt good. I'm going to call his office tomorrow and ask if I can play golf on Friday. He already told me 4 weeks for golf, but I'm going to see if I can move it up a bit . Rcain - congratulations to you on your great attitude and accomplishments! Just think how great you will feel when you lose even more weight! I wish I would have done this earlier in my life - I'm 46 and have been consumed by my weight since my 20's. I can't imagine living free from this obsession. It was my biggest motivator for getting the surgery. I was so tired of all the real estate my weight was taking up in my brain - ya know what I mean? I heard a staff person in my doc's office talk about how she used to think about nothing but food and now she never even thinks about it anymore....I heard that and knew it was the right choice for me. I am fortunate that I have not had health issues related to my weight. I've always been a pretty good exercisor (even @ 230!) so I think that has helped my overall health (blood pressure, blood sugar, especially - both run in my family). We are all on the right path now - let's keep motivating each other to stay there! :thumbup::thumbup:

Your thread title made me chuckle! I have not had a PB - I'm 3 weeks out today. I feel like I could eat anything I wanted as fast as I wanted and it would not really matter. I'm trying to stick to the new habits, but sometimes I forget, panic for a second when I realized how big of a bite I just swallowed, then it's all fine. One good way to look at it though...you must be having SOME restriction if you actually PB'd...lucky for you! I don't think I have any restriction (although I don't have a lot of strong hunger and I'm sticking to 1100 cals. or so fairly easily) and I am looking forward to my first fill next Monday (exactly 4 weeks). I'm just not dropping the lbs. like I had hoped. I have been on diets pre-band and lost more in three weeks than I have this past three weeks (6 pounds since surgery). I'm not complaining too much...anything is good...it just feels soooo painfully slow. I keep wondering if I up my cals to 1300 if I would lose faster, but I'm afraid to try. The first week after surgery when I could hardly consume any cals., I only lost one pound. I keep thinking maybe I'm one of the ones who has to eat more to lose...then I think I'm just hoping that would be the case . I'm trying to change my expectations of getting through the first 2-3 months without gaining my pre-op loss (16 pounds) back! How's everything else going for you? Feeling good? I feel great. I'm going to call my doc's office and ask if I can play golf on Friday (I miss my golf!). They said not till 4 weeks, but there is a couple outing I want to go to so I'm going to ask for a few days grace on that one. If anything hurts, I'll just go along for the ride and say my back is bothering me (have not told many about my surgery). Good luck, dman!:thumbup:

I can certainly understand your frustration! I seem to hear more and more about doctors who use fills as a prize that you earn only if you've been "good." I don't understand this way of thinking. Didn't we all get banded because we have a hard time with dieting??? Then I hear stories about doctor's who won't do a fill because the patient has done "so well" without one! I certainly don't know all the specifics of your particular circumstances or how your surgeon's office goes about educating their patients, but I would be mad as hades if I didn't know this going in when I signed up with this surgeon:cursing:! If you were not told that this is how it was going to be with their practice, than I would make a very logical, rational and calm argument with the doctor about your frustration. At least get them to help you understand what the reason is behind their methods versus feeling like they are holding you hostage for fills .

Are you sure your port is directly under an incision? My "port incision" is in my belly button (well hidden, I must say!) and my port is located to the left and above my belly button. When I get my first fill on Aug 16, the needle will not be going through an incision - thankfully - cuz that would give me the heebie jeebies as well - although I bet it would not hurt either way :thumbup:

I have the Droid and LOVE LOVE LOVE Calorie Counter app. As stated above, the best is the barcode scanner Once you load it in, it saves in a list and you just search your recent entries and find it again and add it to your meal. You can change the headers to track whatever nutrients are important to you...I track calories, protein & carbs. Not too worried about fat as I know I'm making smart choices so fat is not an issue. It's great to take a quick look at your phone, see that you have 40 grams of protein in so far and make your next food choice based on that information!

I agree with all these responses to the OP! It is simply "not cool" to post a thread without giving more detail. Clearly there are people all over the map on this site, but I think we are all trying to get to the same destination...healthy and fit. Please post more information on what your struggles are and I'm sure you will receive help from the great people on this site who have no doubt been through the same thing. Sure the band is not a magic cure, but it is an incredible tool to help you with your struggle. You are one of the lucky ones who now have it...why not try and use it?

Isa - please let us know how your scan goes. You seem like such an incredibly optimistic person! You are already an inspiration :party: Best thoughts going out to you! My friend asked me about doing a triathlon (of sorts) in October. Run 6 miles, Bike 18 miles & canoe ? miles. I think it would be so fun, but I don't think I can get myself in shape fast enough. I'm not even cleared for heavy exercise until Aug 16. I would say that I could probably run about 2 miles right now and it would BE HARD. What do you think...do you think I could get there? I really wasn't planning on beginning to run again until I hit onederland (which will hopefuly be sometime in October by my estimation). I'm sure I could get there faster by training that much, but I just feel too big to do all that outdoor exercise yet! My plan has been to stick to walking and elliptical and weights until I get a little smaller. I guess I need to get over my pride and just get out there and run my ass off ... literally :smile2: I watched an episode of the biggest loser where a group of them ran a 1/2 marathon together...one girl weight somethine like 250 pounds at the time and she ran 12.1 miles! I thought she was amazing!

Klisa - what an awesome perk - fitness club membership!!! Isa...we should cyber run together...I totally want to do the marathon again this year (will be 7 years ago that I did it). Did you do the whole thing???? You rock! I also can't wait to start doing weights again. I really have to work my arms! I NEVER wear sleeveless shirts and I'm hoping that when I lose, I can have nice toned arms and not big ole' batwings. I have looked at pics of the surgery scars from that surger and it makes me weak in the knees, same for TT. I can live with the loose skin on my tummy - who's going to see that anyway except me and my hubs. When I was 32 years old, I lost all my weight on Phen-Fen (great stuff, too bad it was deadly) and I had the loose skin belly. I have had twins, so I think that it's pretty unavoidable. But the arms???I am praying that I can get them back on my own...that scar is too nasty to have to try and hide all the time...give me the dumbells instead (except that I know that always doesn't work :redface:

I'm scheduled for Aug 16 (1st fill!). Doc uses a freezing spray before introducing the needle...I definitely will not be watching:ohmy:. He does it under xray and watches the water pass through for the 1st time. Good luck with yours! I'm sure you will do great:thumbup:

OH, I'm definitely a jogger, too ! I know what you mean...it's just not something that's easy to do when you are bouncing and jiggling all the way down the street. Very hard on your body, too, so getting some weight off before we start back up is very important to me. I was working out at a gym a couple of years ago, ended up just going in for the elliptical all the time. I then "invested" (and yes, I mean invested - bought a Precor!) one for home. It's been four years and between me and husband gets used quite a bit. Love that machine! I like to rent dvds of television series I'm usually too busy to watch and the time flies by while I'm working out :tongue2:

Yes to female Q! I should start in a few days. I did drop another pound (finally!) today. I have lost 5 since my surgery. It's not a bad start at all...I just hovered so long that I was beginning to wonder if I was ever going to drop! Also, walking my "big walk" everyday so far this week as well. Live in a very hilly neighborhood and have a 3.5 mile route with killer hills. I am sweating like crazy when I'm done! I really want to start lifting weights again, too. Have to wait till after week 4 for that . When I did my supervised diet of 30 days, I logged and counted meticulously. I averaged around 1300 cals. per day and I lost 9 pounds in one month. I figure if I stay below 1200 now, I should be able to lose at the 1-2 pounds per week. The reason I am "worrying" about calories now is that I have advanced to be able to eat most foods and I want to make sure I don't gain any of my pre-op pound lost:thumbup:. I am back to logging in everything (on my Droid...love it!). I figure I will be "on a diet" until restriction kicks in~~which could be months~~ so I better start being accountable now! I hope that when I reach restriction some of the "effort" might ease up. Meaning, that I just will eat when I'm hungry and it will be at a level of calories that I can lose this weight! I have a mini-goal to lose 15 more pounds (onederland:lol:) and then I am going to start RUNNING!!! Can't wait to feel the runner's high again...it's been YEARS for me. Ran a half marathon 6 years ago...now look at me:mad:. Oh well, I'm back in charge of me again!

I have been eating "solids" since 10 days post op (just soft, though...no raw or crunchy foods.) I have not had ANY issue with eating anything. I take it slow still, but every once in a while I catch myself eating a big bite too fast and then I freak out when it's half swallowed and remember the band!!!! Still no trouble though...just need to remember my little friend inside me AT ALL TIMES, ha-ha!

Magoo - Hope you start to have more energy, soon. I'm sure getting a cold didn't help matters! Was glad to read about not losing too much before restriction. I know that this is the "bonus" pound period...that it's all willpower at this point, but sometimes you need to read it "fresh" to have it sink in again! IsaBella - congrats to you. Would love to follow each other along together. I think I am going to have my husband hide the scale. It just isn't moving very much these days (but it's not going up :blushing: and I'm getting frustrated. I have to remember that I just started exercising again and it's not as intense yet as I'm used to. I think a better goal for me to focus on right now is just not gaining any of the preop weightloss. I don't really want to weigh myself everyday, but I can't help it...if I walk pass the scale in the am and I can whip off my nightgown...I'm on it, ha! This is going to be a lose one week, stay the same the next, then maybe a bigger drop later. I think weighing monthly seems like the best idea at this point. I am now approaching the start of my cylcle and know that it always is messed up with that! I get my first fill on Aug 16 - 4 wks. out. Will let you know how it goes!

This newbie does not miss anything yet. I am welcoming the changes taking place in my body and more importantly in my head right now. If I get a craving that I cave on, so be it. It's what we do next that will set us apart from the past. I'm trying to stay focused on the emerging new me, not foods that were bad for me and drove me to the drastic point of surgery. PS I do miss my coffee...but am amazed and surprised to learn that I have more energy without it

Also so banded on the 19th! My doc is a little more agressive with the post-op diet (but REALLY strict with the pre-op diet!) and I was advanced to soft foods a little early :thumbup: Have been enjoying non-pureed HIGH PROTEIN foods like tuna & egg salad, low fat chili, beef stew that does not have to be strained...it's like heaven:) Good luck everyone! We all have an incredible opportunity to change our lives!!!!

When I changed into the lovely surgical gown and cap, I was allowed to keep my undies on! When I woke up, they were still on, so I don't think anyone did any messing around in that area (I never even thought about a cath, but obviously that was not part of the plan, or I would have been instructed to remove U-trough). The surgery is so darn fast...I was wheeled into the OR @ 9:40...I was leaving by 11:15 (not feeling too bad, either, I might add!) Nurse told me actual surgery time is 17 minutes ---holy cow! Almost 2 weeks later...don't even feel like I had surgey except for the occassional shoulder pain reminder

Sorry if this a repeat question...I'm new to the "lower side" of the home page of forums! I had surgery on 7/19 and will obey my doc's rules for no golf until 4 weeks post-op. I was just a little disappointed that I have to wait that long. I guess too much bending/twisting? Just curious about what other folks were told. PS I only play 1x week, but love it!

I can't believe it's been 10 days since my surgery...sooo glad it's behind me! All is progressing well and my NUT advanced my diet (to my surpise) from pureed to soft~~Whoohoo! A little overwhemed with all the "choices" again - have not had much of that for a while now. Now the really hard part begins - making good choices is up to me! High protein, low carb all the way, baby!:scared2:

Spoiltmom - my pre-op diet sucked, too! I felt like it would never end...and now I am 11 days post op and eating real food again (but still not very hungry - yea!) It will get here for you, too

Heat really helped the shoulder pain for me...it will be gone most of the day and them blammo....sometimes it take my breath away it hurts so bad! Then it goes away again. It will get better for us!

I will have my first fill on Aug 16. Just had my post-op visit today and my nut told/reminded me that until I get restriction, I will just be on a diet. If I stick to a losing plan (60-80 grams protein, less than 50 carbs, low fat) and try and only eat one cup of food at a time, I can lose weight, but it will be all on me...it will feel like a diet, I will be hungry, cranky, probably slip up and even gain a little until restriction kicks in! We'll get there :wub: Being on a diets pre-band sure sucked, but I was always able to hang tough for a little while and lose. I'm of course hoping restriction will kick in right as I am starting to want to quit dieting this time! Good luck and just look at ANY loss as a bonus before you have restriction. Don't beat yourself up! We all go through this (my hardest days are still ahead of me :cursing:

My doc's prescribed regimen for post-op is clear liquids for first 24 hours; then pureed for days 2-14; then soft foods for 15-30; then regular (also 1st fill!). Biggest difference between soft stage and regular food is the addition of raw/crunchy foods. I was a little nervous to advance to soft 5 days early, but she said it would be fine. I'm staying with VERY soft things and I am pretty much pureeing everything in my mouth before swallowing. It was sure easier to get the calories in today! I ended up eating 1084 cals., 86 grams protein and 70 grams of carbs. Need to watch the carbs more tomorrow! I made a great soft, lo-cal dessert that you could probably have (assuming you are in pureed stage)...Sugar Free Lime Jello (box - prepared and slightly starting to gel), pureed low-fat cottage cheese (one container), and container of Cool Whip Free. I saw another poster tallk about this recipie and I used to make it all the time for my diabetic son when he was younger. I never used to puree the cottage cheese first, but it's better that way - no lumps. It tastes great! Good luck to you!

Speaking of sweet husbands, we are going to be visiting the jewelry store for another type of "band" to celebrate my life-change...is there any occassion where jewelry doesn't fit the bill???:cursing::cool::wub: