Betsyjane

Everybody"s different. I wasn't given a pre-op diet and just kept eating until I was banded.....

Hi Terri. What are your best tips on losing the weight?

If it's that same woman who has been there a lot, I thought she looked a bit disrespectful the way she was dressed. I could see a long sleeved black T and matching black pants..... I looked a little on ebay and saw silks and linens. I'm just not small enough yet to be comfortable exercising in anything that isn't stretchy...... I have some nice black stretchy exercise pants. Maybe I'll look for a shirt too. Those canvas prison uniforms are not fun! But I do think they look cute! Periodically my kidneys threaten to fail with Lupus. I always hold my breath about dialysis. So far, they've always come back without needing it. Keep a good thought. When are we all meeting for dinner again....or do we need to just skip over to June given Lupus, spousal surgery, house building and biker trips.....

I didn't hit my sweet spot until fill #3. I really struggled and felt guilty until then. And then....after the 3rd fill, all of a sudden it wasn't a struggle anymore. don't wait, if you think you might need more fill!

Hi Audrey. You're normal. I was the same way. I chose the surgery because morbid obesity is life-threatening... but people minimize it. If i hear one more time "just eat less and exercise"...or "the band is "the easy way out". I finally just decided that most people are just plain uneducated about it. Sometimes I take the time to educate people, and sometimes I don't even tell them I'm banded. Anyway, I was REALLY scared before the surgery. Even though the risk of complications is small, it is surgery. and after the surgery it's a major life change and there's a steep learning curve. I think you're just surrounded by people who don't know any better. Keep hanging around here with people who have been through it, and see if you can find a local lap band support group. My only regret is that I didn't get banded sooner.... Everything you said makes perfect sense.....

I know that the earliest bandings in Houston were done experimentally as the final research studies before general approval. Could be she was in that group.....

Having a time with Lupus. Hope to catch up with everyone later....

I have been astounded that I can now look at a plate of food and say, genuinely...how could anyone ever eat that much???? It sure wasn't like that before the band. I do find though that when I reacha palteau in my weight loss, a few days of writing down my calories, protiens, carbs, and fats will getme honest with myself about where I'm slipping, and get me back on track. But before the band, it would have just made me crave food, like everyting else did.

Go for what works for you. I do think, though, that you might have too much restriction. You should be able to eat small healthy meals. You might want to consider starting over with tiny fills and trying it. I don't know you, so this may not apply at all. A friend of mine owns a medical transcription company, and she says that even the stay at home folks who love what they do, doing medical transcription, often carry around a fair degree of depression...from the isolation and the sedentary lifestyle. If that applies to you, I trust you'll sort out if you want the band gone or if you're depressed and so too discouraged to have energy to try to do the band in a different way....

I understand that normally the first year is the best opportunity for weight loss, and every pound is harder as time goes on. But what's normal? This band experience is sooo individualized! I lose in spurts with long plateaus in between..... OK. My report back. I ate grazed between 2 and 5 PM on 2 days. I exercised on almost every day. It's all a step in the right direction. More importantly for me, I kept a food log...which I ahven't done in a long time, and that straightened out quite a few of my bad behaviors. My goals for this week are to exercise 6 out of 7 days, not graze between 2 and 5, keep my food log, and only watch TV standing up or exercising, if I'm watching anything before 8 PM.

Yeah, I agree on the schedule! I'm no good without it! Can you get some Protein shakes down anyway? The good news MIGHT be that I hear thin people talk about how they can't eat under stress. I couldn't relate to that. Maybe you're just being a normal thin person......

Barbara- With the stress of Dick's surgery hitting on both your band and your aches and pains, it's no wonder you're out of sorts. Can you take a day off from both Dick and work and just go do things for you...get a massage, go shopping, whatever..... If not, then you'll just live through this until you can. I think the massage is a good idea. Hope to see you tomorrow at Tai Chi.

I had an interesting support gorup meeting yesterday. I went to one that's not my regular group, and it was all bandsters who had lost 150 pounds or more and had been banded for 2 or more years. No newbies. No complications. amazing. All these gut wrenching plateaus and questions were behind them. They are fine, at peace, and healthy. It was nice for a change to see the forest and not the trees.

I want to enter a walk or run someday. Just to actually get to the finish line....

I want to enter a

I'm waiting for the remote control version of the band....

The pressure goes away. I got mine under control with walking, heating pad, and liquid Tylenol. And then one day I noticed it was gone.... Yeah, don't bother weighing right now. Your scale could say ANYTHING! Just follow the plan and have faith.

I don't believe in fill parties. Don't you think that's an Urban Legend?

Carol-Back on your concern... What do you eat during the day?

Hi everybody. I went today to the lap band support meeting in Houston. It's held once a month at Central Market at 2PM. It was an easy trip down there and I got there early so I could wander the market. I love that place. Jazz band in the al fresco dining. Massive grocery. Got a chair massage. Anyway.... I thought this was the big deal, where everybody went once a month and then went back to their local support groups. Well, there were 6 people there. But it gave me a very different and pleasing perspective. All 6 had been banded a couple of years ago and I think everyone there had lost 100-200 pounds. They're all past the agonizing and the plateaus. ~They may be shooting for losing a few pounds now and then but they are at stable weights. ~They all exercise, and it's a habit now. ~They all broke through plateaus in part by writing down the food they ate. ~Most everybody says they did diet AND portion control until goal weight and now they just do portion control. (Except one guy who never eats....He said eating with the band was just too hard for him so he drinks his calories...soups, shakes, etc. He said his doctor always gets on him about it, but he's lost 150 pounds, feels great, is healthy, and isn't going to change what he's doing.) There was none of the angst of complications like on lapbandtalk.com There were no newbie questions. It was just a peaceful sense of accomplishment. For me, it was hopeful. And they just know stuff. I'm thinking of going back next month. If anybody wants to make it a field trip, I have a van!

If there are complications from my band in 10 years, so be it. My guess is they will have some options by them. And I'll have had 10 good years. Nothing is guaranteed in life, but my band has already been worth it.

Good grief. I was a binger and a grazer and the band helped me! I was also anxious and depressed about being fat and the band helped me. Call the Dr. and ask for the surgery now and see what he says......

I vote for 1. Vegas 2. Somewhere in Texas 3. At a spa somewhere

I use mine for about the same reasons as you will use yours. What I was told is to be sure to get 2MB so you don't have to wait for stuff. I wanted to get an Acer since they are so well thought of, and I saw one at shopNBC.com, but I ended up getting a Gateway from Office Depot for just over $800. It has the new Windows Vista Home Premium operating system (be sure to get the "premium" they tell me....). I just love it. Here are the stats that they said were so important....: Gateway MT6821 Notebook Duo Processor 2MB Windows Vista Home Premium There's a lot of other stuff, but the above were the things they emphasized.

Back to the original frustrations about lack of restriction, maybe this will help. After I was banded, I wondered what restriction would be like. I didn't feel it after I was banded. I didn't feel it after my first fill...or my second. I was so down on myself about my bad behaviors with food. Then I got my third fill, and my food seeking behaviors just stopped. My cravings just stopped. I was free. I found my sweet spot. It happens. But you have to keep pushing for fills until you find it. But I also had another experience in my journey. There came a time when I thought I needed another fill. I went and the fluoroscope said my pouch was dilated. So I was feeling like I could eat anything again! Pouch dlation happens, often without it being your fault. Well, I thought I had ruined the surgery! The fill center said to go back on liquids for 3 days to give the pouch time to shrink. And to do a few minor changes in behavior. And if that didn't work, they'd do a bit of an unfill to let it go back to the right size. But it worked. 3 days later I was feeling good restriction and my food seeking behaviors went away. So here's my third story. Now as an old bandster of 6 months, I have some food seeking behaviors and have had some of my old bad habits reappear. But now, I have tools. I have restriction. I have 6 months of experience with the band. I know that when it happens, I need to go back to basics. I write down everything I eat, how I eat, my exercise...for a few days, and I'm back on track. Or I up the exercise, change the food, slow way down while eating....anyway, change is possible now and never before in my life. I'm becoming a mature bandster. All of this is to say that it is a lifelong journey and very individualized. If it isn't working, don't be passive. Work it and fight being dicouraged. That discouraged feeling is just a leftover from the old days of feeling hopeless. It doesn't apply now. go after answers. And know that the answers next month may be different from the answers this month. Go for it.