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sorry to LOL, but I am reminded of the scene in "Knocked Up" where the main female lead is in the office being told by her boss she "doesn't need to lose weight, but could she just 'tighten' a little." That scene is great for the lunacy of what is acceptable or not for weight in certain parts of society.

I had my surgery 25th of July. So far I have no fill in my band and I eat about 1 to 1 1/2 cups of food three times a day. I usually don't snack between meals. I feel my limit and know when to stop. The band feels tighter in the second half of my menstrual cycle. First half of my cycle is a little harder and I am hungry from time to time. It gets harder and I am thinking about getting a fill, but since I am losing weight...and, well, I still enjoy eating. I don't count calories, but I am careful of what I put in my mouth. I avoid highly processed and "diet food" and stay with the "real stuff", but eat much less of it. I buy more organic. I exercise every other day and love it. ~Kat

hello every body. i am new in this site .i banded 3rd sept is so far 10 days.i was 97 kg but to day i weight my selef i lost 4 kg,plz tell me is it right?

Hi....feel your frustration with just wanting to eat and eat and eat.....I have the band w/plication and have not had a fill yet but am feeling okay eating those 3 meals and one snack a day....but there are still times when i want that something and I am NOT hungry AT ALL...I feel those are learned habits I must break! I'm still learning to stop at that feeling of "okay you've had enough--you dont need to eat more or clean your plate"...dinner is my tough meal...maybe because my others are portioned so well and Im eating at work....but even at dinner....im learning to stop eating when i feel "OK"...learning that it is okay to stop. I dont have a pronounced "soft stop" that some speak of like a hiccup or burp....so I just have to slow down and listen to how I truly feel...and that is SO DARN HARD because I just want to eat it all and more! But even then I can continue to eat and eat and eat and eat....and once or twice I have until I got that uncomfortable feeling of pressure and even pain and learned my lesson....never stuck though...thank goodness. So, in my opinion, and someone please correct me if I am wrong...the band is not meant or will not stop you from WANTING to eat and eat and eat....some of it is just self-control and a re-training of our brains...and yes, the lack of that self control is what got us to overweight in the first place. And Im not sure if self control is the best term.....maybe urge is better!!!!! So even though I am at an ok place with the size of my meals and losing weight I STILL HAVE THAT "WANT" TO JUST EAT....thats when i need to find something else to do to keep busy. I dont think any WLS would help me with that....am I making sense??? I hope my experience lets you know that you are definitely not alone and I feel that having this band is hard work...but its hard work that Im willing to put in it...and there is a very very very big learning curve with it all.... Please dont be discouraged....we got here over a long period of time and it may take a long period of time to figure it all out and get it off...but as long as we NEVER give up we are ahead of the game. Good luck!

Thank you all for your thoughtful responses. I'm going to hang in there and hope that maybe on the next fill, I'll get a closer feel for things and be more aware of full/satiety feelings. I will continue to watch what I eat, Protein first, and remember to chew. Sometimes I think my old habits come back and I just start mindlessly eating and drinking for a few seconds until I remember I have the band. Especially when watching TV or reading. That's a big reason why I got into weight trouble in the first place. I could watch a one-hour show and eat an entire bag of chips. I didn't do that when I was married because I'd be embarrassed, but once I got divorced, I just did whatever I wanted and ate and ate because no one was there to witness it. Jack-I nearly spit coffee on my monitor laughing out loud on my lunch break when I read your "didn't know whether to call the EMTs or lay down and die" comment. That's how I felt when I had my two stuck episodes. My latest was last night and I almost went into panic mode.

My ticker says reached goal weight on 9/17/13 or what ever the date is when I change how much I've lost. I reached my goal weight a few months ago and I'm now 19 pounds below that. How do I make it stop saying reached goal weight than the wrong date?

I go back next week also for a fill. I'm hoping this will put me in the green zone too. Its solo frustrating. Especially when see how much weight other people have lost in a short period of time. Praying we all hit the green zone and the weight starts falling off.

Down 50 lbs too. My favorite fitting pants are from Talbots, but they'll have to wait until I get to my goal weight. I usually wear tshirts and shorts because I work out of my house, but I'm traveling for work next week and I don't have any pants that fit. I'll be there for 3 days so I think I can get by with 2 pairs of jeans. Went to Steinmart today and I tried on a regular 16 and they fit, but a little too embellished for my work trip. Does anyone have a good place to buy plain jeans at a decent price? I haven't been out of plus sizes in over 20 years.

Thanks everyone! I got a lot more calmer the day of surgery and it was very smooth. I am on my 2nd day of recovery and feeling great no big issues with gas or anything thank god! Excited about loosing the weight!!!

Would have been sooner but I had to get more weight history. They really mean 24 months, my first paperwork was off by 24 days. Also FYI they accepted my 1 week check up weight after giving birth. I also was also calling Aetna and my surgeons office everyday. It paid off!

After having a barium xray swallow and showing my stomach prolapsed up through the band, I was scheduled for "must-do" surgery. Got a denial for $14,000:eek: (plus $3,000 from anesthesiologist) for everything. Doc sent an appeal saying it was an emergency, had to be done, couldn't live with the band that way, etc... Also stated I had been slowly losing, until the surgery, and now that I'm not at my sweet spot, has gained a couple pounds. This basically shows that I NEED a working lap-band® in me to keep from gaining the 90 lbs I had lost. Well, now they approved the removal, but DENIED the replacement band. Apparently, my bmi is 39.9 (needs to be 40 to be covered or between 35-39.9 with a co-morbidality) and I'm too SKINNY for the replacement band to be covered. Doc is putting in a 2nd appeal. For some reason the hospital and anesthesiologist never sent their own appeal (I thought the doc doing it was enough, but it isn't). What do I do? Is my credit going to get all screwed up? The $14,000 bill from the hospital was 30 days overdue on Dec 5th... I called and told them we have asked for an appeal. My husband and I are beside ourself. I am scheduled for a fill on thursday, but I don't want to go because I don't think they will cover that either! The good news is my new insurance (BCBS PPO) starts Feb 1st, and I think fills should be covered because it's a medical device that's already in me?? (but there is a $1500 deductible per member, and $3,000 per family) My current insurance is United Healthcare. Any suggestions? Do I need to hire a lawyer?:rolleyes2: Oh and the total kicker is the hospital didn't weigh me the day of surgery... they asked me how much I weighed.. I said 217... (last dr's visit").. However, it was more:unsure: (since I got unfilled because I couldn't swallow my own spit. then I could eat more), but I said the lesser number because I didn't want my surgeon to be upset that I gained a few pounds ... Brenda

I'm so glad that I'm not the only one with sweet tooth for ice cream. But the pre bought weight watchers and skinny cal things are great ideas. Think I will get rid of all the schwans ice cream cones and replace it with those, every once in awhile treat! . Thanks everyone!!

Thanks guys for your input. I was hoping that he would take out just the .5 and yes I do have a 10 cc band. The low profile one. When I lost all that weight you could see my port sticking out and it was gross!! I didn't think I could get too skinny but you can. Funny thing is that 125 was my original goal weight until got down to it and I saw how gross I looked. I am comfortable where I am at now which I am at 141 but wouldn't about 5 lbs less. I just don't want to get any bigger. Thanks everyone for your responses they made me feel a lot better. I was actually starting to get bummed. But now I am not!:thumbup:

How interesting is this....I woke up this morning, weighed myself and saw that I had reached my goal weight (meaning according to the CDC I am of NORMAL weight) and then I logged on to my email and received a HAPPY ANNIVERSARY email from Alex here on the forum.....I had signed up for the VST talk exactly ONE YEAR TO THE DAY I REACHED MY GOAL WEIGHT! And 11 months after surgery.....This week last year was the most humbling, difficult week of my life.....I posted the details on my Sunday blog today; it was my final AHA moment.....check it out if you want to see how I started the most interesting year of my life....just click on the link below my signature. Thanks Alex and all of you on the forum for being there for me this past year!!!

I got an app called "my weight" I have entered in the numbers every day since pre-op, and when my scale doesn't go down that day...i look at my app and feel satisfied that my overall weight number is down. Just an idea... I get frustrated when I don't lose for 2-3 days. I had rny bypass on December 29th, so I'm still in pain. The numbers really do make the pain worth it. That's my truth.

I had a 2.2 lb loss this week for a total loss of 33 lbs including pre-op. Things are going pretty well. I haven't done too much exercising - just one day at the gym this week with cardio and weights so that is my priority for next week. I do feel great when I actually do something! All of my clothes are too big right now but thankfully I have a few things left over from my thinner days that are OK for now.

As I lost weight I could feel it very easily. Your surgeon knows where it is. My surgeon had no problems with my two fills. Best wishes on your journey, edie

Hi Mikee...glad to see you're doing well. ..and you are because even if the weight isn't coming off as quick as you like, you're still going to the pool and doing the best you can right now. Kudos for you.

I am in the process of qualifying for surgery....I had my blood work done...it was perfect... (boo) my a1c is 5.6....my bmi is 36.7 no comorbidity...it have a sleep study scheduled...hope I have it...hubby says I can raise a roof with my snoring...is one comorbidity enough? Otherwise I will have to gain about 23 pounds to get bmi to 40...already miserable where I am.....frustrating Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using the BariatricPal App

Today marks 11 weeks. My loss is slower than a turtle and yet is going up and down too.???? My major issue is the acid reflux and heartburn. I'd hoped it would be gone by now. The dr says just keep trying new RX and OTC meds until one works. Ughhhhhh ???? I weigh on Monday's and today I'm up two pounds. I'm following diet and exercise and calorie suggestions but obviously need to do better. I've gained on other weeks too and then lost the same week. It's All an emotional roller coaster. Even tho as of date im only -21lbs, I'm just trying to stay positive in looking towards a year from now and hope I'll meet my goal of -90lbs. (I know i know I'm in lala land-lol, but can dream right?)!!!! It's a slow painful learning process but hopefully it'll all be worth it someday!!!

Lapbandmexico: I also believe it has a lot to do with everything you've tried in the past. I have about 50-60lbs. I would like to lose. At first, I thought lapband was too drastic for me. I've done the strict diet thing and I exercise on average 4-5x/wk doing a lot of running/cardio/weights/etc. I have not been successful at losing weight on my own. So, I look at the lapband as a tool to help me along my journey. I think it just depends on your past experiences and how you feel in general. Everyone is different. I would definitely tell you to do your "research" as it definitely isn't a "quick fix". Good luck to you, whatever road you may choose. :thumbup:

So i'm holding my breath and waiting to be able to "relax" because I am so nervous to make this deadline I have set. I need to get this surgury done by the week before Christmas because of school... If I can't get it done then, I will have to wait till summer. (I have completed all the requirments and I am now waiting for the surgeons office to do their part and also waiting for the insurence co. to authorize it...) I know this sounds foolish and that others have to wait so much longer, but I just really want this surgury. I am starting to really feel the affects of my weight. Until lately I have been able to live a pretty normal life even with my excess weight. But lately I have been feeling the strain it is having on my body. This scares the shit out of me!!! I don't want to be this way any longer! I know it needs to come from me and only I can change things and that the band is not the complete solution. But I also know that it will be a helpful tool for me to control myself and what I eat along with how I already try to do that now. Anyways, if you are reading this I ask that you please pray for me and others in this frustrating pradicament. Thanks and Thank God for this website!

Marc, Cheer Up, you have made a very positive step in your health and at a much younger age than most of us do. I am 50 years old, I have a son your age and I have just now gotten fed up enough to take a step like this. I wasn't always fat, and the largest I have been is 278, but over the years I have been on every weight loss plan you can imagine, including medifast, HCG, and hypnosis (to name a few of the less common). I was banded on 6/30/2010, and I am only down 13 lbs. 5 of which are from the pre-op diet. Now I know guys tend to lose weight faster, and the larger you are you tend to have faster drops in the beginning too, but 21 lbs is amazing, I mean WOW! As far as food goes, talk to your Dr. when you go in, tell him how you are feeling. Have you had any problems so far? When I went to my first post-op appointment I told my Dr. I was getting realy hunger and he told me this phase was known as "Bandster Hell" because we have had the surgery but none of the benifits of the fills yet. Now my Dr. seems to move at a faster rate than some other Drs. on here seem to, but mine gave me to go ahead to progress to regular foods at that point. He just cautioned me to chew everything really well, eat slowly and stay away from starchy carbs, so I would continue to lose weight. Oh, and this is very important, make sure to get enough protien in, only eat when you are hungry,and if something makes you throw-up stay away from it. I left his office on day 8 post-op, and stopped on my way home and bought a side order of bourbon chicken from a WOK place, I just ordered the chicken no rice or anything, and that single bowl lasted me threw 3 meals, I would eat a little of the chicken and something else like a yogurt or some well cooked veggies with it, and things have gotten much easier for me. The truth is I also had my first PBing episode after about the third bite of the chicken, but after that I have learned that well chewed REALLY MEANS "chew it until it disintegrates." At 5 days post-op I would immagine you are on a "full' liquid diet, which in my Drs. deffinition includes anything that could be sucked threw a straw (but don't use a straw). That includes creamy soups, either strained or blended so their are no chunks in it, and yogurt, blended no fruit chunks, even mashed potatoes and gravy, as long as they are not too thick. When I started eating these thicker items I felt much more satisfied, plus they tasted more like a real meal than Jello and juice. As far as when you can have a first fill, that is up to your Dr. but mine usually waits 4 weeks post-op, and many Drs. wait 6 weeks. Since I am going on vacation right at my 4 week date, I will probably wait until I get back which will be just over 6 weeks. The most important thing is talk to your Dr. and get support, on here or if they have one threw a support group your Drs. office may have or be able to suggest for you. DO NOT GET DISCOURAGED !!! You are doing GREAT!

Been stuck at the same weight for couple of months and not sure how to jump start more weightloss?