MummiesBB

Well done you, that's fabulous! Have you looked at My Profile - Edit my Profile for your Signature and your ticker should be there with the code to get to www.tickerfactory.com Did you make a note of your ticker factory code when you set it up? Good luck as love to see the updates for everyone. Take care Claire x

Hello all Back from a lovely week in Cornwall with superb weather. I felt comfortable being on the beach and being in a bikini although didn't take my t-shirt top off as I didn't want to show my horrible all loose skin boobs and tops of my thighs! Ohh how I do hope I can get funding to have the top half done as they are awful and I felt very concious of them! Apart from that though have come home to weigh and have lost another 3.5 lbs. So aware that I am struggling to eat though and to get the liquids down. Have had some good days and very down days where just felt very stressed. Interesting Wannabe that you have found it to be linked to stress. I was sat very quietly the other evening and started to have heart palpitations and eventually they slowed down but it did frighten me a little. Has this all been just a little too quick????? Had my blood results back as well for my Thyroid and it was 2.5 whohc is within the norm but so lost as I'm not sure whether I should resume taking the eds or not. Decided to take them every other day and wondering f this is what is causing me to feel unwell. Other interesting point (maybe not for anyone else so sorry) but I noticed when I went into the Tropical Biome at the Eden Project last year I sweated buckets. This year I walked around in trousers that had a warm layer underneath and a t-shirt and everyone else was sweating but I was cool as a cucumber and as soon as I came out had to put my warmer layers on as I felt so cold. Is this normal????/ Anyway, 8 lbs to go and just 1.5 lbs until 100 lb loss. Wow this was my 3rd mini target and I can't quite believe that I am so near. The last 6 pounds I shall be wishing off as I need to make a Dr's appointment and see my GP in order to get the referral. Hope everyone else is doing ok and comfortable with where they are at. Take care and look after yourselves. Cx 8lbs to go and I feel great in a definate size 12 as I picked up a pair of trousers I bought whilst in Cornwall and they fitted perfectly.

Wahoo can't quite get over this but another 2 lbs down and 0.5 inch so sitting at 95 lb loss and 76 inches. Wow that's a real feel good factor. So 11.5 lbs to go and then a huge celebration! In a size 12 trouser and hopefully will settle at a 10/12 - would be really happy with this. Those that have had their band for a while did you maintain your weight or did it fluctuate a little here and there. Did you manage this with nutritional shakes or fills? Obviously when I reach target I don't want to really lose anymore but does it just stop? Having the oddest week in terms of food; usually my staple is soup (as it has been since October last year - I know boring but that was all that I could consume) but this week it just hasn't wanted to stay almost as if it's too thick and causes sliming etc (sorry for the TMI). I have been able to manage crackerbreads with soft cheese smeared over the top and more liquids than before which is a bonus. Anyway off to teach baby massage and spend some quality time with my mummies and their little bundles of fun. Have a good day and stay positive and focused. Cx

That's good that you have lost, are you measuring? I find the inch loss phenomenal and can't quite believe that some weeks it can be just o.5 inch bit other weeks up to 5 inches. Definately worth measuring as it gives you a real boost. I have found that a few days after the fill I get even more restriction; it's as if the body is fighting the band? Does this make sense ... Around these days I can have the frothy feeling but it's periodic. I try to just not eat or drink at this time as I find it makes it worse! On a positive note it does ease off and eventually I am able to eat a little more. Last night I managed to drink something properly and it was great not to have it pooling. I have tried to eat soup but it's just not playing ball so I have had a little tuna with mayo & sweetcorn (about 3 teaspoons) and I tried a cuppa soup which sort of played ball! I am sure everything will settle down and start to behave itself and you will lose what you want. With regards to the final stone or 14 pounds I think this will be the hard part to lose and I am trying to work out what my body is up to. I am back on the nutritional shakes to ensure I am getting my vits and mins and I have lots of energy which is great. Do hope it all settles for you. Quite worrying when there are others on here having probs which I do hope they soon get resolved so that they can move forwards in their journeys. Take care, off to teach parentcraft and yoga. Cx

Definately not! How about you? Is your ticker up to date? How do you feel after your defill and refill? Hope you have had a better experience. How's the weightloss going? You must be nearly at your target? Have you had many comments? I seem to be running out of clothes at the moment but have purchased some size 12's, gosh it feels odd to write that! Whooppee ... How about you? Have you changed clothes size? I've noticed my shoes are too big aswell. Good to hear from you. Hope to see a post from you soon. Take care Claire x

Have had a lovely day and feeling so positive with myself. Yes I can have down days like everyone on here but I had a lovely yoga class this morning and then baby massage and it makes me realise that we are so lucky in the people we meet and become friends with and have the priviledge to talk to and listen to. I feel particulalrly honoured as it's quite intimate what some people share with me in terms of how they gave birth etc Everyone seems to be dieting around me and I bump into people and they say what they are doing Dr Dukan, weight watchers etc and I am so pleased for them and don't want to say how much I have lost so that they think their loss is insignificant when it's not. So I keep being really positive with them all. Brushing mine off as if it's nothing. Anyway I weighed today as is the traditional activity of an early Friday monring and had lost 3 pounds and 2 inches. I still can't quite believe that it's going and still have this image in my head of me really big! I have bumped into a few of my mummies and they are like "your disappearing", one even did a double take and then realised who it was. So I am sat enjoying a lovely glass of rose and had a small amount of couscous earlier which seemed to decide to stay. I am trying to make a concious effort to focus on eating more but struggling due to the restriction even soup whch is very thick is having a difficult time, although I am managing cuppa soup. Takes a while to get it down though! One more week in school and then half term, but 270 exam papers to mark! Not fun! But all part and parcel of what we do. Really looking forward to half term and going away. Hoping the weather stays nice but even if it doesn't I shall take my lap top and focus on the small projects I have to do to promote my Birthlight pregnancy yoga classes etc. Sorry for rambling. Hope all ok. Take care and be back soon. All for now Claire x

Firstly congrats to all on this thread who either have or are having band with Dr Chris. He's great. Hopefully my ticker says it all. He will take a bank transfer and this can be paid in one go directly with Frederik into the bank in Belgium. I paid all of mine upfront before I went in July 2010 as I didn't want to carry the cash. As you say it is a personal experience but you will find lots of positive support on here and another thread "Does anyone know Dr Chris de Brueyne" do a search for Belgium and it will come up. I love having my band and my journey over the last 10 months has been interesting. Please feel free to read my journal and ask any questions you may have. Tonight, I am celebrating with a lovely glass of rose because I am in a size 12 trousers and top and I have 13 pounds to go until I reach my target weight of 106.5 pounds loss. So a very happy bunny who is so pleased she went and spent the money so wisely! Enjoy your journeys and please let us know how you all get on. Take care Claire x

Hello all Hope everyone is well? SarahP how did you get on at your appointment? How are you feeling? I had a lovely chilled morning one of my yoga mummies popped in to see me and to share a cuppa. It was lovely. I went to the hairdressers and went for the chop! Just can't decide on a colour now but will by the end of the weekend. Best bit I decided to be brave and try on tousers in M&S, New Look and H&M. I couldn't quite believe it but I can get in a size 12. That feels AMAZING! Anyway thought I would just post,hope all are ok. Take care and stay positive. Cx

Hello You aren't doing anything wrong. Everyone gets restriction at different times, some of us early and others a little further on in the journey. What's important is to know that you made a life changing decision and you can't just give up on that unless you are prepared to go and spend the same amount of money to have the band removed. Are you? Do you think you are pressurising yourself too much and think that just because you and others around you know you have the band think you should be some skinny minnie by now? We all get there in the end and it doesn't matter if we take 6 months, 12 months or 3 years. It's not a race but a life changing choice to help you control what you weren't able to before the band. Why not take a break from focusing on it so much and just get on with life and enjoy it. Celebrate what you have lost to date and don't forget that you may not be losing weight but you might be losing inches and changing body shape. I am happy to share my excel spreadsheet that tracks weight, BMI amd measurements. You'll have to pm me your email addy. Don't be too disheartened because you could be the other way and not have eaten anything properly since October last year. I would love to be able to eat a piece of chicken and not feel it blocking or hurting however much you have chewed it etc. So slowly slowly steady steady and it will start to come off. Keep a food diary aswell to see what you are having and track the calories. I now it's tiresome and boring but you made need to do this to see what the foods are that are causing you to stay at the weight rather than lose it. HTH stay positive Claire

Welldone on your loss. That's really good. It's not pleasant when you can't eat until a certain time. That's what my day is usually like. I spoke with Dr Chris the other day about further surgery and he said a 2ml defill. But ask Frederik for clarification. HTH Claire

That's brilliant news - well done you for all your hard work. Fingers crossed all goes well. Take care and well done, keep us posted ... Claire x

Good to see you here mmm. Well done on your weightloss. (Looking at your ticker - is this upto date?) How are you finding the band? Just thinking that it's so important to have good support on our weightloss journey do you have anyone near to you ho has been banded? It's been a little quiet on here but I am sure everyone is either really busy with work or they are lurking around the thread. Take care and thnaks for the positive comments Claire x

This may help: http://www.helioscopie.fr/anglais/traitementChi.php Cx

Fills - restriction via the band using saline usually given as a 3ml at first fill appointment then 2mls at the next one and then 0.5ml for third and then other amounts as discussed with Dr Chris or his colleagues, How often? Varies from person to person. Can be monthly or could be like me where I went in September then October and then didn't go back until March and then May. Had good restricton from the October fill and didn't feel that I wanted to go back until March when I knew I needed a little fill. We are all very different. Restriction makes the opening from the newly formed pouch to the stomach smaller so therefore you feel fuller quicker and it reduces down the portion sizes that you can manage. You have to have some self control over this aswell the band doesn't do it all for you! It's not a cheat it is hard work and those around you will soon come to realise this when they eat & live with you for long enough. I don't think there is any point in hiding it, be open and honest and people will be more understanding. The band doesn't do anything except restrict. It is the receptors in the stomach that tell the brain that they are no longer hungry and we have to tune into these if you want to lose weight. http://www.lapbanduk...stric-band-work hth and explains more. Book via Frederik and no one else especially a French based company. Frederiks details are: http://www.lapbanduk...-bruyne-belgium I didn't have a pre-consult, if you do I think it's a £100. However I sent all my details to Frederik, booked a date, booked Eurostar tickets and arrived the day before and met with Dr Chris that evening. Payment for my surgery I did in one transfer so that I didn't have to carry the cash with me and have the added worry. HTH feel free to ask any questions. Good luck and enjoy your journey - there will be ups and downs but that's just like life and I have to say it is well worth it in the end!! Take care Claire x

Week 41 Been a good week in terms of flying by. Probably quite a few shocked that they had to do a 5 day week. Need the routine to keep me busy! Had a fill last week, had 0.5ml, with Dr Chris. He's very good and very quick at doing the fills. When he weighed me I was shocked that he had told me I had only lost x amount of kilos and so when I was walking along chatting to my husband on the phone I asked him to double check the kilos and it seems Dr Chris' scales may be out by 12 kilos! I am planning to email Frederik to ask him to check my computer record and get the scales recalibrated! So have lost 90lbs (yes you have read it right!) can't quite believe that that was a magic number when I first started this journey back in July last year. One I thought I might never achieve or believed that the band would work so well. But it has. Although I have now been subjected to a few comments that I have taken it too far! One was my neighbour and the other was my mum! She said I looked haggered! Thanks a bunch. Well it's not going to deter me as I have a target and need to get to it. I don't want to go any lower than that though as I think it would be too much. So 16 pounds to go and I'll be there. I am going to book my GP appointment so that I can go and see him to get the ball rolling on the boobie side. Just keeping fingers crossed they agree to the funding on the NHS you know what it's like. Anyway will check in again, hope everyone is looking after themselves and taking the journey at their own pace. Take care Claire x

Well done on your lovely journey. You feel so much better when you are lighter. 4 stone is a good achievement! What a wonderful way to spend the year cruising and some wonderful, lovely places aswell. Enjoy your next cruise and congrats on your first year. Never regret always learn & look forwards ... is my motto and I have similar sentiments it been a tough journey at times but the rewards are so worth it. Well done & enjoy. Claire x

Off to see Dr Chris tomorrow will be the first time since the band was put in in July last year. I am so looking forward to seeing his reaction to the weight loss and I have decided I just want 0.5ml in. I had a lovely scrummy scone (yes gulp!! how did it go down but it did over a period of time) and it was lovelllllyyyy and what a treat. A little butter, blackcurrant jam and some thick cream. Just scrummy! Amazed that I was so okay with it as I have had so much restriction up until a few days ago. So I know I am ready for another fill. Hoping it will knock this last 20 pounds off! Anyone else going tomorrow? Appt is 12:10 Take care Cx

Yes know the feeling but I am all over cold. Have to go to bed with a hot wheat bag! Quite obsessive about that one. But it's because we have lost our thermal loft insulation!! as I was politely told by my colleagues at work. I layer up in the morning and then eventually start to peel off by about lunch time. Hope you soon have warm extremeties. I bought a lovely pair of kumfipumps so that I had warm feet & wear them when I am teaching yoga if it is very cold. Claire x

Week 39 So we are getting nearer and nearer and I have 20 lbs to go. I know I know to be so obsessed! However I have been so focused for the year that I shall be glad when I reach target and can start to just get on wthout having to be so obsessed. So pleased with results to date although starting to look at loose skin! Bit daunting but just another hurdle to attack nearer the time when I am ready. I am now in a 12 top and 14 bottom so very chuffed how many dress sizes I have decreased. Someone said that they thought I had taken it too far! They are so used to seeing a plump me and not a slimmer version! I think I am fine and feel fab. Few aches and pains but feel great and that's what matters in this journey - how you feel about what you are doing. Yes it's lovely that people compliment you but you have to feel comfortable in your own skin don't you??? So this week was a little better on the food front although I have got good restricton and find I can't eat until later during the day. Had a bit of an issue with the elimination aspect of my body and will address this with my GP as I don't want to go there again - just to say it was very painful! So have lost 2.5 lbs and now weigh 11st 13 lbs and BMI is 27.8 inch loss this week was 1 inch. Total inch loss is 71.25. Since the fill on the 10th March, when I had 0.5ml, I have lost 18 pounds which is great. I am not sure how much I want to have put in on Thursday and shall be debating with myself if I should have 0.5ml or 1ml or somewhere in between. My common sense tells me 0.5ml so that I just maintain what I am losing nice and steadily. I am off to Edinburgh this weekend for a study day with the lovely Sarah Buckley and can't wait to be away. Looking forward to a lovely positive day around birth colleagues. Just not sure about the travel as it's overnight both ways on a coach. Should be fun just hope I can sleep. Anyway going to close, everyone stay positive and keep going it will come off and you are all doing so well. Gently, gently. Claire x

Fantastic news well done. Enjoy your trips and have lots of fun shopping. Cx

Can sympathise with you completely as this is what I was like in October last year. It's not the most pleasant experience but I was very determined to work through it and like you phoned the numbers and chatted to various people who could defill but worked through it until Feb/March of this year - this is why I have been having just soup. It's painful and teaches you very quickly about your band, your limitations and what you are prepared to go through. I was very close to a defill but then one day it just eased and I thought well lets wait and see. Cancelled the November appointment and then the January and then the February. I came to the conclusion little fills were better for me. I had 0.5ml last fill in March and I am going again next week (5th May) and will have 1-1.5ml if they can do it. So glad you are ok and that there was someone able to come and defill for you. I bet it was a welcome relief. Weather has been lovely hasn't it, I was sat in the garden today marking & doing assessments and preping school work. So glad you are ok, take it easy for a few weeks and be gentle on yourself. Restriction I have found comes & then gently eases off. We all react so differently. Take care Cx

Hello all I have just seen this area for July 2010 bandsters. Is it ok if I join in? I was banded by Dr Chris in Belgium July 31st 2010 and to date I have lost 6 stone (84 pounds) and my target is 106.5 pounds to get my BMI under 25 and be able to have further surgery to sort the top half of me out. Feel free to follow the link to my weightloss journal. I would love a T-shirt that says "been there, done that etc" as I have had the awful vomiting episodes, the restriction that has lasted from October to March and where I have lived on Soup, soup and more soup because I found eating solids so difficult. I am 22 pounds off of my target and look at this as a stroll in the park. I am very focused and want to achieve this target so much as my life has become so much better since the surgery and I know that I will feel a lot more positive about myself once I have had the other surgery. I have 5.5mls in my band and am due to go for another fill in two weeks. I am hoping that will be my last one but then that could be wishful thinking. Anyway lovely to see other July bandsters here and look forward to reading their experiences. Take care Claire

Men ehh sorry to any of the lovelies we have on here but they can be rather insensitive about all things female including the odd compliment now and then especially when we have done so well! So this is an unofficial celebration but I have now lost 6 stone yeahhhhhh! Will officially know on Friday when I weigh in. But am such a happy bunny!!! Cx

Have pm'd you C x

When I was banded last year I was told no steak / roast beef ever again and I am sure that there is reference to it on the forum. Mince was ok as it was ground. The structure of beef or steak makes it difficult to swallow and digest properly. I wouldn't have thought you have any stuck there now as the body tends to get rid and won't put up with anything stuck in the digestive tract However you may be swollen from vomiting. Try an ice lolly to see if this helps or suck on ice. Wait on the defill thought for a few days Hope ths helps Cx