beergut

Been about a year since I had my intensely scary issue with my overfill. I haven't even been back to my surgeon since. I feel as if I can eat as much as I want to if I just chew slowly and thoroughly. This is not good. The only thing the band is helping me right now is to be slow and chew a ton. Other than that, it isn't offering me much anymore. Not sure if I just need a fill or not, but after my last emergency my surgeon said this should be the point. This thread has kind of died, though, I'm interested to see how many people are still good? I'm still down about 65lbs, but up about 20 from my lowest point.

Hey everyone, just thought I'd check in... Been a while. I think I did what most everyoen did over the holidays and that was gain about 8 lbs. Last time I went for a fill was right before Thanksgiving, and they overfilled me a bit and I couldn't even swallow water. That was pretty damn scary, I had to go in for an emergency unfil. I haven't been back and I'm not really eating like I should, but I haven't gained too too much weight. However, I think I might have a hernia, in that, when I take large deep breathes I have a pain in my stomach. This has been going on for about two weeks. I'm going to see the doctor on Tuesday. I hope the lapband didn't cause it, because I'd have to have it removed. Has anyone ever had a hernia with the lapband? Do they unfill you completely for surgery? I'm assuming the recovery time is probably the same? Which would suck because that means no heavy training for what 6 weeks?

Got another fill yesterday afternoon. another .5 cc Was fine at dr office and that night, liquid went down slow, but okay. This morning at 6 am, I had a protein shake, first sip started sliming uncontrollably, then I started vomitting. It's almost 11 AM now and I haven't stopped throwing up. I've got a 2 oclock appointment for an unfill and I am counting the seconds. I haven't had this much pain with my band since day after surgery.

It definitely kicks your ass and gets you into shape, no doubt about it. I don't have a perfect body, or six pack abs or anything liek that, but I am much stronger and my athletic ability is 25 times greater than it was before I started. I lost about 26 lbs of fat and gained 15 lbs of lean muscle. I feel good.

Hopped up on the scale this morning, after about a month of not even checking, and was surprised to find I'm back into the 100s ! Pretty stoked about that, but I'm not too excited because I believe i've lost some muscle mass after finishing up P90X and not doing any significant resistance training for a couple weeks. I'll have to change that, but for now, i'll enjoy a quasi-victory in knowing I'm no longer over 200 lbs.

I've been PBing and sliming a lot lately, and I'm worried about my band being slipped. I've been doing a lot of research about the latest plication methods thats kind of like a hybrid band/sleeve operation. If I'm slipped, I might try to get insurance approved for that. I've gotten so skinny I can see the entire outline of my port, and if I take my shirt off infront of people (Something I really want to do) people iwll wonder what it is...

I'll give the Priolosec a shot tomorrow, couldn't hurt, and I can't schedule an appointment until Monday at the earliest... Do you take it before meals or just at regular intervals all day

I'm gonna have to do something. Maybe go grab some pineapple juice, because, this is day 5 of my forced liquid diet. I just had my worst experience yet. Got some chicken noodle soup and three bites in I got "the feeling". You all know what I'm talking about, the I wanna burp but don't wanna burp feeling, the rumbling gurgling around the pouch. Ugghh, I sipped on some warm water and ran to the bathroom and wretched into the toilet. It's the hardest I've ever thrown up with the band, and now I'm very aggravated. Definitely going to call the doc on Monday and try to get in there asap.

4th day in a row w/ First Bite Syndrome, and it's really starting to piss me off. I don't know what to do. Might have to see the Dr this week. I even tried drinking warm tea first, then warm soup, and chewed the hell out of my first bite, and still wound up sliming all over myself. Getting frustrated about being forced to a liquid diet...

Hey everyone, figured I'd bump us back up, see who is still checking in... I know I haven't in a while. I have stopped losing weight, but my body transformation continues daily. I'm just starting my 3rd Phase of P90X and I can't believe how out of shape I used to be, and how much I can do now. My biggest complaint; I can see my port when I take off my shirt ! I'm so stoked I'm starting to see ab muscles... but my port is annoying. Oh well. Anyway, this past week has been strange. Some days, I can eat and eat and eat, because my metabolism has increased greatly from working out 6x a week, butthe past few days, I've been getting first bite syndrome. I take a bite, no matter how small or how much I chew it up, I always feel it having a hard time going down. I've PB'd maybe 5 times in the last 7 days. Not very fun. Not sure if I should get an unfill because I don't think I'm getting any appetite suppression from the band right now... Thoughts ?

Doing a quick search on this sub-forum will yield plenty of results of people doing P90X. I enjoy it, starting my second phase in a few days. Can already see results. I will say, though, that you have be at a somewhat decent fitness level to do well. I lost about 65 lbs before starting, I can't imagine trying to do some of these workouts when I was close to my heaviest. It can be done, sure, but if you want to get the most out of it, try other forms of physical exercise first.

In two days I will be 1/3rd of the way through P90X. I've definitely seen a great deal of change in my body composition, but not on the scale. I've lost a total of 3 lbs in this month, where I was on a pace of losing 1-1.5 lbs per WEEK. I've learned to not look at the scale so often. I was eating about 1250 calories before P90X, but now that I'm really going into it hard, I feel I'm more hungry so I try to keep it to 15-1600. If I keep it too low, I feel I don't have the energy to do all the workouts.

I was doing Ab Ripper X last night (from P90X) and about 3/4 of the way through, I was doing some exercise and I felt a sharp pain in my abdomen near where my port is. I always feel a little pain there when I do ab exercises so I didn't really think anything of it. When I got done, I noticed if I inhaled a very deep breath, I would get a sharp pain in the general vicinity of the port. I'm thinking (hoping not) that I might have stretched something or damaged something. Anyone have a similar experience ?

So I'm getting ready to start a cycle of P90X and I want to try to follow it to the letter. Based on my information, their nutrition plan calls for an intake of around 2400 calories to provide enough energy to complete the workout program. Currently, I am limiting myself to about 1250-1400 calories a day, depending on my exercise. Has anyone done P90X and kept your low caloric intake, and if so, were you able to have enough energy to complete the program ? I think we all know that once you are banded and don't eat crap, 2400 calories seems like a lot to get in during a day...

Commit to one or the other. There's no need for a gym membership if you're committed to P90X. I've just started P90X and have gotten through (barely) the first three workouts and my entire body is sore, but it feels great. Makes me look forward to working out.

Just started P90X and it's kicking my ass too..

Yikes! 6 months exactly today! Precisely 6 months ago, I was sitting in a gown in the hospital, hooked up to machines and an IV, waiting until my surgery. It feels like forever ago, and I remember how rough of shape I was in coming home from the hospital. It's been amazing how life has changed in this time. I went from worrying and agonizing about my weight every day, to not really thinking all that much about it. I'm down about 65 lbs, and I'm planning on starting P90X in the next day or so, something I would never even contemplate before. There have been bumps along the way. I wind up PBing at least once a week because I'm still a foodie at heart, and someones I eat too fast, or too much, or don't chew as thoroughly. I've only really had 1 major stuck episode, and other than that, I'm good. I kind of dislike how I can see my port when I'm shirtless, but it's a small price to pay for actually seeing ANY kind of definition in my torso. Good luck to everyone on the next 6 months !

As my handle suggests, I love beer. I was banded on December 14th and I -just- had my first beer on Memorial Day. It was a double IPA which I had poured into a nice glass and let it sit for a couple minutes. It was glorious! Didn't give me any problems, either. I might limit myself to 1 good beer per month. Depending on how I feel.

Muscle Milk also makes ready made protein shakes, that you just shake up. They don't even have to be refridgerated. I'd go with the Muscle Milk Light.

I'm having a tough decision try to decide whether or not to buy new clothes. Invariably, I have a bought a few, but most if not all of my old wardrobe just hangs off me. I've still got about 35 lbs to go til I reach my goal, and I am hoping to hit that before my 1 year anniversary. I don't want to buy a bunch of new clothes, and then have them not fit anymore...

Really? You shouldn't be ABLE to eat after 4 hours after waking? That doesn't sound right at all... I would be useless if that happened

That's awesome. Sometimes when the scale isn't moving much for me, I like to look at the "before" picture I took of the old beer gut and then look in the mirror and it's way more than half the size. I have a nasty habit of weighing myself every day or every other day, and then get frustrated when I don't lose or go up slightly. I should stop doing this, but I feel like I'm creeping into the realm of being OCD about it... I'll have my wife slap me.

When I first saw the topic and the thread count was on Page 2, I could have almost guaranteed everyone would be against going camping. I am relatively young, 28 when I had the surgery, in perfect health otherwise and I felt like complete and utter shit for first 72 hours after surgery. I was in some serious pain and I wanted to do nothing but sit in my recliner all day and pop vicodin and drink Protein shakes. I don't even think I'd do it after a week because getting out of bed was still kind of painful. Of course, I feel awesome now, but I'm hoping I don't have to go through surgery again...

How many fills have you all had? 2 How many cc's are in your band? 5.5 What kind of band & what size is it? Lap-Band, 10 cc Do you feel like you are at your sweet spot? No, I used to be for the past 2 months, but now it's a struggle to lose the 1-2lbs per week, working out 4-5 times a week. I used to not work out at all and lose 2 lbs no problem. I'm hungrier more often than I used to be. I'm going to schedule a .5 cc fill next week to see if I can curb my hunger a bit.

Gotta make sure you chew very thoroughly, take smaller bites and wait a few between bites. It takes a lot of concentration, consciousness and training. I still find myself eating big bites, not chewing or waiting, and I pay for it dearly with pain. Maybe one day I'll learn...