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i had my surgery on 2-26-10. i am so happy to feel a freedom of the shackles food had over my life. i am noticing other behaviors in my life that werent really an issue before becoming addictive behaviors... especially since my first fill and i CANNOT overeat or use food as a comfort or drug. i dont want to get into these addictions because they are unhealthy to say the least. i wanted to see if anyone else have had this problem and what i can do to not allow these behaviors to continue? :thumbdown:

@Alex Brecher hi hope you are having a nice day. i was "fooling" around with things, pushing this and that, and somehow accidentally changed my pic to someone else on the board. i don't remember her name, i was looking at her info, somewhere it said "change profile pic" i pushed and her pretty face is now impersonating me LOL she might be on the 10 most wanted list!! LOL oh no...................LOL can you fix? if you know this profile - please come out and identify yourself!! LOL also i am an old pro at a ticker. trying to fix ticker, and page comes up yellow stripes over items?? whatttttt? please help kathy

​I was just watching a repeat on TLC of Say Yes To The Dress. The bride lost 115 pounds with the band. Her future husband was there with her through the whole thing. Congratulations to the both of them. The bride's mother is thin, discipline and opinionated. The bride tried on so many form fitting dresses and loved a tight fitting that showed off her 'new' figure. The mother hated everything and the poor bride left Kleinfeld's without a dress. Why can't mother's say nice things. It is not 'her' wedding and 'her' dress. I had a cousin that was like that. When her daughter married for the second time the bride did everything her way. Sad but her mother had died. My mother did my wedding my way and when we planned it I was just 19. I got married 1 month after I turned 20 and I am still married. If that bride, Victoria, is part of this site, I hope you finally found your dress and not your mother's.

I don't know any specific websites, but i know a simple place to start is to slowly replace normal items you buy with low fat and/or sugar free. Example, if you drink whole milk, switch to 2%, then 1%, then skim. Same thing with mayo, go to light then fat free. Cut back on the sodas & high sugar drinks & the chips & crap. We only have that stuff in our house for birthday parties & company & as an occasional snack for them. Add in healthy fruits & veggies with dip. If that is new, use lowfat dips. I'm blessed as my kids love fruits & salads. Switch out the veggie oil & spray for olive oil & cooking sprays. Go from spreadable butter to spray butter for some things. Go from regular noodles to wheat ones. My oldest ate MY wheat Pasta with low fat sauce & ground turkey the other night by mistake. I asked him how he enjoyed "his" meal. He said it was a little different but really good. Then i told him what it was. He was sort of surprised. I've been making lasagna like that for over a year now but never regular pasta for them. Another thing, is the ground turkey over the ground beef. I started with tacos. After you mix in the sauce mix, they can't tell beef from turkey...LOL Regular ice cream to low fat, popsicle to sugar free ones. Again, if they might not go for the change, start with small steps. Depending on their age, they may not even notice. HOWEVER, if you dare to make mac & cheese from a box using the powder cheese and/or the store brand over Kraft Deluxe, my 10 yr old will call you out on it every single time. He KNOWS the difference. So there are somethings that I won't compromise on because they need to have some "goodies" too. Biggest change, portion control. Maybe not start with measuring everything, but just a little step like going to smaller dinner plates. Then adjust as needed. Sounds like a lot, but it's not & i think you've already taken the hardest step....knowing that things need to change. GOOD LUCK!

Finally, I've been approved for my bypass. I was suppose to have the surgery on April 19, but I was out of town on family matters. So it was changed to June 14. I'm so excited but I'm kinda scared. Any last thing I need to know what to do before this surgery. I would appreciate it

September weight loss challenge support for motivation. https://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/427650-💜-sep-2019-challenge-💜/?page=3&tab=comments#comment-4809589

Hi I had surgery last Monday, 3/19 and have lost 11 pounds so far I did everything right yesterday. 89 g protein (protein shakes, mostly), 605 cals, 34 net carbs, 5 sugar (watered down Gatorade, per surgeon), 30 min on the treadmill with my heart rate at about120. My surgeon has us on full liquids after day 2. My guess is I just need to be patient, but does anyone see any room for improvement? Perhaps getting the carbs down? thanks

I am fed up.. I am gaining weight cuz my fill isnt tight (and I dont follow a diet consistantly)........ I need a fill, but even with one, I HAVE to restrict myself in calories, carbs ect.. OR i wont lose much more.. I am NOT happy about a approximate 75 pound loss in 18 months... I lost pre-op and I lost during a few winter months, ever since I have been gaining and loosing the same 10-15 pounds... but I dont see anymore loosing of those pounds, only more gain. I struggle with extra tightness.. often enough and I respect it.. .. but its inconsistantcy is really annoying, cant plan my diet....have ups and downs with emotions with eating food.. all cuz I just dont know whats ok. I hate that. When I am well restricted and I know basically how restricted I am, I accept it and I dont have all the concerns about food. I dont crave what I know I cant have. (its great) But there are enough times when I am not so tight to allow in too many calories....... and I need a fill... for those times.. I dont want to deal with the times I will be extra tight.. twice as much. I fear I may send myself into a too tight situation like I did a few months ago... and have to accept that my restricition level now is where I have to be.. and where the weight is coming back on. I will get a fill as soon as I have the money.. I wish I could do it now! IF I JUST DIDNT HAVE a SENSITIVE BAND.. IF I was just more consistant.. EVERYTHING would be perfect. If this is it.. I have been left with a smaller scale weight, a flabby nasty body that cannot be contained and maked me look fatter everywhere but the shoulders back and face.. I deal with skin infections now, and lower self body image. The changes, the flab is sooooo different and soooo ugly and sooooo bothersome and so apparent that my weight loss does not seem worth it. My sciatica is worse,.. ewww one day, I feel a rash between my legs, on my inner thighs and buttocks near the gina... it just showed up that big, nothing gradual at all.. I have never in my life had a rash down there... !! I have been 400 pounds and I have been laid up and unshowered and it never ever happened... I have got small rashes of 1/4 the size.. under my belly many times, I soak in a tub and wash those and they go away by the next day.. This rash was NOT like those ones.. this rash was like a burn, raised and leather like, and hurt. Truth is I know about how fat people get rashes.. once I was browsing through a web site of gross pictures and saw two naked ladies about 250 to 300 pounds bending over to show their asses and there huge infected rashes that seemed to me to be untaken care of.. (real bad) I didnt understand it at all.... I felt that anyone could control such a thing if they tried hard enough. I knew that I would never be able to live with such a problem. soooo.... I dont freak out.. I soak in the tub and wash and wash it and assume it will go away after a few soaks... and then I guess I have to take extra steps to keep my new massive flabs clean and tidy. (like I dont have enough to do to keep it all clean down there, I use about 5 wet wipes everytime I pee, and need to..) The next time I soak..... My rash is peeling off in brown skin chunks... I peel and peel and it never ends.... the skin underneath is raw and not healed. I begin to cry my head off. (never had a yeast infection or anything happen down there.. plus my odor has always been faint) I am scraping off skin from that area... unreal. I worry that there will be lasting effects (like i wasnt ugly enough down there)... its like sinking a level of obesity I didnt count on everr.... Especially didnt think of it as an affect of weight loss.. NOW its happened obviously cuz of all the excess flab from my weight loss. I cant keep my thighs from touching in the tub, they float together... and out of the water I have to spread my legs real far before they dont touch.. I would guess the flab added about 6 inches to the size of my inner thighs.. I get up the nerve to take some pictures.. I have to ask my daughter to do it.. and she is nice of course... but after wards I cry for like an hour.. I dont cry alot.. It was really humiliating.. I have took pics of every rash i got so far, but this isnt something I want to tell anyone happened to me.. and how gross to have photographed.. BUT.... I have to think of my future and do all I can if and when I have to fight for my skin cut off as a medical nessesity. My worst fear is that who ever I am talking to about that issue, tells me or implies that I am not really doing all I possibly can to keep clean, or I am lying about never having had any rashes when I was over 400 pounds. and that those are regular rashes that are trypical of obese and nothing extrodinary .. bath more, wear cotton undies.. etc... Deal with it. My flab is so horrible.. I HATE IT.. I dont see why it changed sooo much at so little loss.. GRRRR IF I knew i was going to lose another 150 pounds, and most likey get it all cut off, I wouldnt be so upset over it.. but all I see is.. I am not going to lose enough weight to cut flab off and I now have this deformed body that I hate more than my 400 pound body. Plus if I gain weight and I get to 400 again... OMG, I cant imagine how bad that would look.. Why isnt all of this an incentive to DO WHAT I NEED TO DO...

[3/11/10] Vanishing Vixen. Vanishing… An interesting choice of adjectives for my new serial blogger moniker… as pointed out to me yesterday. I was asked if I would be “disappearing” my personality as well as my weight. *straightface* And was told (by someone that has known me for almost 20yrs) that I seem to be letting this journey get the best of me already…as if I plan to “vanish” into nothingness, or become a shrinking violet (AS IF!)*because* I’m so used to being a Big, Bold, Bodacious (sometimes brash, and VERY bossy *lol*) woman. Maybe the adjectives (all but the “big”) that alot folk -self included- seem to think of me as… will indeed vanish when the weight starts coming off. *really ruminating & marinating on the implications* I mean, how much of my personality has been tied to my size? And has it been that way to mask insecurity, or just an extra measure of attention whorism? I have a hard time believing either of the two, really. While I do like to be complimented when I go the extra mile to be fully fabulous (most of the time – yesterday, I looked like “Who slew Auntie Rue?” ‘s GRANDMOTHER *ugh*) , or my face beat like I’m a MAC Make-up artist, or I’m rocking some of my hottest GGX Jewels…what woman wouldn’t want to be appreciated for her appearance? In fact, its also been pointed out that I have a hard time taking a compliment, and by NO means wish to be the center of attention when in a crowd or otherwise (unless we are talking about with my man, in the boudoir *smirk* ) Go figure. But… $h!t, I am who the hell I am. I AM cute. I AM sexy. I AM fabulous…I just haven’t been feeling it as much lately. *shrug* It’s really made me think about this mental/emotional space I’m in. Does my larger-than-life, feisty personality seem to be shrinking (or vanishing, so to speak) much like I want my body to do? It’s been said that I seem to have been extremely hard on myself lately (more particularly, the last 6-9 mnths) in terms of my confidence, etc. Why is that? The fat ugly truth is a number of varied & sundry things. Alot not even having anything to do with my weight/size, so much as it has to do with other areas of my life. Some of which are totally unrelated, but are stressors none-the-less. I’m a wife (to man that works nights), still a relatively new “MeMe” (as she calls me) to a rambunxious lil 22mnt old squirt, I have a fairly stressful 9-5 career, on top of a jewelry biz that requires a lot of my time if I’m ever to make a go of it (why? Because *I* personally make everything myself. I’m not pushing other ppl’s wares, here). And a lot of times I feel ill-equipped to handle any of it – let alone all of it at once. *wooosahhhhh* So yeah, all of the combined stress (add to it this suck-@$$ economy) has a way of knockin a sistah off her game – in more ways than one. So what on the surface may seem like one thing, is a culmination of others. And of course…I know. Things could ALWAYS be worse, so I AM grateful for my many blessings. There have just been a few “ah ha!” moments over the past year in particular, that made me realize that I am sooooo far from where I want (or planned) to be in my life at 35. Weight/health included. It be’s that way sometime. *shrug, again* IDK… Is it even really that serious? *lol* I’m hormonal this week. That may account for some of the bloggarhea today. Sometimes I just can’t get out of my own head. But that doesn’t make me crazy…it makes me human. And blogging it…helps me *relax.relate.release* it all. I’m not scared of what people will think of me for showing who I truly am. Good, bad, ugly, indifferent, confident, insecure, wealthy, poor, encouraged, defeated. It is what it is…and I am who I am. And what I’ve realized more than anything in my 5 or so years of bloggerdom, is that the folks who generally “seem” to have their $h!t together…don’t. *lol* and sometimes are even more screwed up inside/in their life than me, or than they may ever let on to the world. The playing field is even, if you ask me. But nobody did [ask]… Oh well! I’m keeping on…keeping on…

That is great!! I was sleeved 9/10 and am down about 39 lbs!! Feel so much better already!

I was banded on 8/7/12. I saw my nutritionist on 9/10. I saw her again last night and lost 4.5 pounds in that time. She made a statement like that wasn't enough weight loss. I thought that 1-2 pounds per week was healthy?

Pretty much like mentioned above, but to restate it: you loose some #s, then you may have a plateau and stay constant for about a week then it starts to drop again slowly, about 2.64 #s a week for me. Some weeks I loose 4 to 5 but on average for 12 weeks now it's 2.64 #s. When you eat the max and you get stuck, you pretty much bring it back up. Three times for me, but that's a sign too telling you that your full, stop eating. This week I have lost 2.2 #s but there may be more lost in a day or two. I weight myself daily and keep tabs on what I eat. The more active you are, walking will tend to be a plus. I walked for an hour in a store and lost. This weekend I am going to see my doc for my 4th Fill. I will have 8 cc's in a 10 cc band. I gradually got my Fills, monthly, except for this one, its been two months. I should have good restriction. This is what I want, as it will help me loose more quickly. I have lost 31 #s since 4 Jan 10. My goal is 100#s by Jan 2011. I just might reach my goal earlier this year, hope so. Feelings are great, more energy, dropping the sizes, and starting to buy new clothes-a great feeling. Self-Esteem is high and will be higher when my goal is reached. Glad I chose to be a lapbander. Good luck, you wont regret it.

This is YOUR decision, not anyone elses. When I decided I had one friend who said....Well just pretend to have the band and eat like you have it. Now we all know that does not work or else I would not have been 110 pounds overweight! This is a decision for you and you alone. Pray over it, what is your true desire? Are you ready for the changes this will make in your life? Are you willing to make the mental changes it will take to live with the band? Nobody can answer those questions but you! I do think you will be pushing it if you try to work that weekend. It took me a week to not sleep most of the day. Don't put yourself at risk of slippage or hurting yourself because you are trying to hide the surgery. It's not worth it and can cause many other issues. So please, please think about that seriously. I too was overweight all my life. I was the overweight kid always getting picked on. Most of the time people would guess my weight wrong as well. So I know how that feels. I was 280 when I started this journey and currently I am 182 with only about 10-15lbs to goal. I do not regret my decision but I also was very ready in the head for it. I suggest you go into your prayer closet and meditate and talk to God. This is not an easy decision to make but regardless of what you decide you will have to be "ok" with the results. I wish you much love and many blessings and I am going to say a prayer for you today as well.

OK I AM A LITTLE CONFUSED I HAVE LOT 18 LBS SO FAR I WAS BANDED ON 6/7/04 MY FIRST FILL WAS ON 7/10/04 OF 4CC AND TODAY I WENT FOR ANOTHER ONE AND SHE FILLED IT UP TO 5CC SO IN TOTAL IT'S 9CC DOES THAT SOUND LIKE ALOT ? HAS ANYONE OUT THERE GOING OR HAS GONE THOUGH THE SAM THING? NOW I FEEL THE RETICIONS BUT IT'S LIKE MY WEIGHT DOES OR IS NOT COMING OFF FAST ENOUGH I STARTED OUT WITH 218 LBS BEFORE GETTING BANDED NOW I AM AT 200 LBS

Just a bit of background: I was initially banded 12/07 and then needed a band adjustment surgery in 2/09. I am now 5 months out from that surgery, and I've been going every 4-5 weeks for adjustments. Obviously they are taking it slow because I had a slipped band and we do not want to see a repeat of that. At this point, I believe I'm at 5.5 or 6 (somewhere around there) out of 14cc. I don't think I should be able to eat the amount of food I am able to eat and in the time I'm able to eat it. i haven't had any issues at all with digestion, I mean not one PB or vomit episode (knock on wood, I'm trying to keep it this way!!!!) but I can eat an entire turkey burger, the whole bun, and some baked fries on the side. And i could eat all of that in under 10 minutes. I'm trying to stay healthy and I'm eating the right things (for the most part), but when I see how fast and how much I can eat, I start to worry if there's something wrong. and I know I am paranoid and I think that my band might have slipped again (because the last time I was able to eat a lot and then suddenly nothing at all). I guess I am just wondering how others with the same amount of fill did at that stage. were you able to eat so much and so quickly?

I have no idea, I have harvard pilgram and they paid 100% of my surgery - the only our of pocket i had was 500 for the education class i had to take and copays at 10 bucks.. and even then the first 3 months the fill and follow up visits had no copay just had the first one yesterday.

Melissa, girlfriend, your surgeon is right! I just made it to 'onederland' (slang for going under 200 lbs.) the past month. My surgery was Oct 11th-started pre-op diet Aug 11 weighing 278. Today, almost 5 months post-op and I weigh 197! I haven't weighed under 200 lbs in 20 years-since b4 my 2 daughters were born and they are 18&19! I never thought I'ld see the day-like you I've dieted only to stall and regain. I look and feel better than I have in many years. Is it easy? He-- no! I stll have hard days, but with my diabetes reversed and sleep apnea gone, I now have the energy and drive to live my life to the fullest. Not just being worried about having a full tummy. Good luck-we're here for you!

Hi all!!! My surgery is scheduled for October 16th at Barix clinic in Langhorne, Pa with Dr Marymor. I am very excited.. I am currently on my 10 day liquid diet. Today being the 3rd day, I am experiencing severe "cleansing" while at work. This is bothersome to say the least. I am drinking my Fuzzy Navel protien shakes but prefer something more tasty as far as protein. I made my own chicken broth as the store bought was bland. I am having a difficult time with this all liquid diet. Can anyone please tell me how many grams of protein I should be consuming daily before and after surgery???

At my highest i weighed more than most here, and never had to buy two tickets. Seats vary in width by class (1st/standard, as MariMaru said), and by plane type, and occasionally by airline. I prefer window seats, but they're no wider than the aisle seats. The only room difference you're really going to get outside of first or a specialty airline is front-back (front seats, exit aisle, etc.) not side-side. Check out www.seatguru.com. They have lots of seat specs. You can also Google and quickly find the exact width of a seat on just about any plane, as well as averages. E.g. Southwest averages seat widths about 19", United about 21" (if memory serves - I don't fly either unless there's no other choice!)

I haven't had anything fried yet but I have had some other things and I just have one bite and I am good, I am satisfied and no ill effects so far. Today I had a bite of a hot dog from SAMs club, don't ask me why I wanted that but one bite that I tore into 10 tiny pieces and chewed and chewed into nothing and I was happy.

I was thinking the same thing! I plan on making me a silver bracelet with a round charm hanging off it for every 10 pounds I lose! I'm hoping to have 10 little charms on it to represent 100 pounds some day! This way it will always remind me where I can from.

OK--we've all been banded and recovered now--who is exercising? I am fortunate that the hospital where I was banded includes an 8-week exercise program with a trainer as part of the package. I started last week (1 1/2 weeks post-op) and am up to 40 min. on the treadmill and 30 min. on the bike. I am going to start with some light weights this week. Here is the FUN thing that I am hoping to do--locally, we have several walk/runs throughout the fall/winter. The first is Thanksgiving morning (2 miles) and I am planning to walk it with my husband. There is one each month in December, January, and February. The longest is 4 miles. For each, you get a t-shirt (I am a sucker for those!). Another thing I found through the YMCA is a fall hiking challenge that has you do 6/10 different trails in the area and you get a t-shirt for completing it (yes, another t-shirt!). I just wanted to encourage you to start exercising if you haven't and maybe join a group or train for a walk or run. A friend of mine who is newly single joined a contra dancing group and is meeting new people and having a great time (she is quite overweight). I am so proud of myself for actually GOING to the gym (a big thing for me). The good feelings last all day after I work out! ~~anne

Welcome! I am not military, but wanted to say that my husband and I are also doing this together! :thumbs_up: We are using our medical insurance, but have to pay over $5K in high ded. first then 10% on everything after we hit ded. My DH is about 2 months behind me in the process and all of my stuff was turned over to insurance yesterday so I'm waiting for approval and hoping to have surgery THIS month! We did the same thing, started out going for the band because my initial research on the sleeve didn't indicate that it was a stand-alone procedure, everything I found said it was part of a 2-part surgery and I immediately didn't want 2 surgeries! Thank God for this board and all the advice that the wonderful people here have given. I think it saved us both from getting that terrible band! :teeth_smile: