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I was going to ask the same questions B52 did - are you losing weight? If so, I wouldn't worry too much. If not, it's time to talk to the dr.

Keytones... are burned when you lose weight hence keytosis (sp) the smell that is omitted from your breath. It may be an annoyance while it lasts but at least you know you are losing weight when it happens.

You sound very similar to me - I just love food and I was an all day snacker mostly on sweets and carbs. I dont really know how to describe how its different - but I spent a good year and a half feeling decidedly UNhungry, like I'd just eaten a big meal all the time. In that time I lost most of my weight and I took up running and became dedicated to it. My eating habits and the help the band gives me slid a little over the next 2 years, well I make that sound wrong, but the initial incredible motivation and drive inevitably wanes, and the band doesnt provide such great hunger control - although this is adjustable of course,- I found I got less and less appetite control as time went on, I have plenty, but its not like it was at first. At first I was aware that I was not hungry if that makes sense, now its kind of unconscious, I have more interest in food than I did and am not aware of being "full" but I have way more self control so that's obviously a bit of a mental adjustment that you make over time, as you forget what you used to feel like. I eat carbs - bread, Pasta, Cereal, the odd cookie. I eat everything in moderation. A lot of those sweet carb foods - donuts, muffins, cake just feel horrible to eat too - they block you up as if you'd tried to eat a kitchen sponge, erk, they jsut dont appeal to me anymore. I sometimes might still buy a muffin because I feel like it, but I'll have it in a take out bag, I'll nibble a bit, put it away for later becuase there's no way i can eat it all at once. Now for someone who used to be able to eat six (I kid you not, I occasionally did that) enormous muffins over the space of 2 or 3 hours, to make one last all day effortlessly is kind of amazing. I dont put it down and have it call to me all afternoon and resist it, I just dont want it becuase 1/4 of it makes me so full its a few hours before I feel like anything again. Cookies though,......mmmmmmm. I stay away from them! Most of the time :-p It really DOES help. I never got hungry pre band, I ate just becuase and never gave myself a chance to get hungry. I regularly get starving now becuase I havent eaten for a few hours. I also notice I've gotten good at eating what I really want, most of the time thankfully my tastes are healthy, but if I want a Mcdonalds cheeseburger (the only burger small enough for me to be able to eat) then i darn well have it. If I want fries and a coffee I"ll have it. If I want a piece of cake I'll have it. I've entirely let go that emotional tie that good food/bad food has on you because whilst nobody would say its healthy to eat cake for lunch, its nothing more than calories and energy for your body and if that's what you want one day, it really does make NO difference in the scheme of a healthy diet. Now that nothing's forbidden, its amazing how much you dont want it. I dont really agree with getting banded and then following some super strict regime the way it seems to be done in the US, but that's more a personality thing. For me it was important and is important that I can have what I like in the scheme of a balanced plan.

I was getting really stressed out that I was down 33 lbs since starting the pre-surgery diet and now I am starting to gain 1 lb here and there. It is driving me crazy. Glad I am not alone.

Happy Birthday! I love Olive Garden! Anytime I go there, I always get the seafood alfredo, which becomes about 5 meals for me. I either get sick of eating the same thing over and over or it goes bad in my frig before I have a chance to finish it! And for those who can't do pasta: Olive Garden will replace any Pasta with steamed veggies. My husband is a low carber and get the scampi chicken with steamed veggies instead of the pasta. And I usually eat about 1/3 of a breadstick and a 1/2 bowl of Soup. Again, Happy Birthday! Great job on your weight loss. We're about at the same distance in our journeys - it's also been 2 1/2 yrs for me and I've lost 104 lbs! Congrats to both of us! Marci

Karen... congrats on your birthday.. and also on a wonderful effort with your weight loss. Im fairly new to lap band and havent had much experience yet on eating out.. but it would create a dilemma im thinking. Main thing... always have a 'doggie box' with you to take away. lol. I hope i do as well as you when im two years out. hugs judy

thanks Karen.... im sure i will manage. None of my children apart from my youngest daughter know that im banded... but they do know that im very committed now to weight loss. In fact they expect to see me having small portions so im sure it wont be an issue. Like you say, i can be unobstrusively busy at the same time. lol. We eat in the small dining area off the kitchen so really its all opened up. its not like im in another room and isolated from everyone. Our family are noisy when we get together so all up there should be plenty of distraction going on. Your family would be really supportive of you seeing as others have had the surgery as well. How is their weight loss going?

If the topics discussed in the Rants and Raves *OFF TOPIC* section aren't something you find tasteful or even interesting, then I'd suggest you stay out of there. But to go in and tell other adults that they shouldn't be discussing such topics is NEVER a good idea. While I agree that the language used toward and about you was unnecessary and inappropriate, to be fair, none of them told you to leave lapbandtalk altogether, they just strongly suggested you leave that particular board if you found it wasn't suited to your needs. Maybe you'd be better suited to the main boards or, as kll724 suggested, the 50+ board. I hope you stick around, but if you plan to follow through with the "Goodbye cruel, cruel forum" (:blushing:) stance then I wish you luck finding a support group that better meets your needs and in your weight loss journey in general.

I don't know anything about birth control pills, but I can say that a fill is not a magic instant weight-loss switch. With all three of my fills the restriction and weight loss took its time about showing up--sometimes weeks. So your current plateau may be something you'd be experiencing anyway.

How do you get your posts to show your personal information at the bottom? My weight, etc...doesn't show up when I post a new thread. Thanks!

http://youtu.be/bsJYqF5FVw4 Join me on my next steps from being a banded to being NOT BANDED. I had the lapband for a little over three years. The first two years were perfect and I lost all my weight within 8 months. I was the happiest ever! Then in my third year things went downhill. So what does a person do once they have been unbanded? Well...I don't know but I am willing to share my journey with you! LapbandLaLa@gmail.com https://www.facebook.com/LapbandLaLa Twitter: @lapbandlala

You will have a lot of hormone release when you loose weight quickly. I cried like a baby about everything - perfectly normal!

i worked out quite a bit during my 'vacation' from work. in fact i worked out twice Monday and Tuesday once Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and today. yup, the only day i missed was Thanksgiving and the gym was closed. i weighed myself on Friday and i was in the 350s ... talk about a jaw dropper!!! it was just so surreal. the bottom part of the scale goes in 20 lb increments ... i used to be in the 360s and i slid it over there and it was like, nope - - lower !!! so i slipped it to 340 and then the top alllllll the way over to the end ... and i ATE on Thanksgiving ... i ate and ate and ate ... ok ... not as much as i would have pre-band, but i ate more than i really should have. but you know, i worked my ass off at the gym and do not feel too bad about it.. now if i would have gained that would have been a different story.. i am at 19.99% towards goal ... so close to 20% but not there ... 11.02% of me is gone ... gone for good. :biggrin1: this week i am going to work out Monday on the treadmill, Tuesday is a step class, Wednesday is my session with Kari, Thursday i am flying home for a luncheon on Friday. there is a gym about 15 minutes from my parent's house so i plan on working out on Friday as well. going home should be interesting. my dad and step mom have no idea i have lost this weight ... i am hoping to work my buns off. i am 5 5/8 pounds away from losing 50 pounds. who'da thunk it?? i did go to the Avenue to get something to wear for the luncheon on Friday... the 30/32 skirt was a tad snug so i didnt get it, i did buy a wonderful blouse that looks really great i also ordered a dress and hopefully it will arrive in enough time for Friday.. ok, this is long enough, i hope everyone had a great weekend and so much success to everyone!!!

I was banded yesterday:thumbup:, June 17 and everything went well. Dr. Chua, in Milwaukee, WI, is an excellent surgeon! He found out I had galls stones and my gallbladder was removed during surgery. Minimum pain after 2 days is at # 3. No gas/shoulder/neck pains yet. Just a little soreness. I thank God that he brought me this far and I will do my part to work toward completing my weight loss goal.

I have always had a proportional hourglass figure. That didn't change as I gained or lost. My butt is a little saggier, but that is likely natural aging as well. I look good in jeans. Nakid? Not so much.

Have you ladies found that where are your skin touches you get rashes? I have started to notice for example that under my breast where they touch my skin has started to get red and itchy also where I'm having sagging skin in the groin area is doing the same thing and I have to use a lot of baby powder. I am in the beginning of all this weight loss journey is this something I can expect to continue until I reach my goals and can have plastic surgery?

Ok, so I know most of us have questions, answers and issues about excess skin and the removal of it, so I'm going to ask a few and hope for some advice/info/suggestions. Let me start by telling you that my VSG was paid for by the state (Rhode Island) and Medicare., I had my surgery on April 18, 2016. I had been overweight/obese for too long, started gaining weight when I was 8/9 and am currently 43.., (being classified as obese for one day is too long), My doctor told me not long ago that having my apron removed would be covered by my insurance but nothing else would be, am not sure if they are incorrect about nothing else being covered but am definitely wondering if I were to save for it out of pocket, how much would it cost typically (I know that the cost vary state-to-state and doctor to doctor)to have my thighs and arms done. Am wondering what kind of expenses anyone may have had for such treatments/surgeries/removals and how everyone healed (big scars,no scars?), How everyone feels after the removal etc etc. Now, I'm still a few months away from talking to my doctors about Plastics but I'm trying to get some advice and info ahead of time so I know what I'm looking at down the line., Any and all advice would be so greatly appreciated. Thank you all for taking the time to read this and​ Congratulations on all of your​successes! [emoji3][emoji256] anything worth doing is Never easy [emoji3]

So I am going to have a differing opinion here. I have only watched the 1st episode and only because I stumbled across it and was prepared to hate it. And there were definitely things I didn't like. In the beginning when the trainer was gaining weight, he was saying things to his daughter like "is daddy getting fat?" I just didn't like how he was teaching his kids about the word "fat". And I did think how he didn't really get it that he could still shimmy up a rope and do pull-ups from the rafters the first day back to working out after not doing so for 4 months. However, what I did find interesting was the relationship he built with the guy he was training. Maybe he was just acting, but he did really seem genuine in his care and desire for the guy to become healthy. So no, gaining 40 pounds in 4 months just to drop it back off quickly didn't give him a real picture of what being overweight is, but if in some small way, it gave him patience or kindness and genuinely help overweight clients, then I think there is a lot to be said for it. My sister is uber-healthy. (She has always worked at it and isn't a nut or annoying but still healthy.) She does CrossFit, has taught fitness classes, etc. When she got pregnant with her first child, she gained 60 pounds and it took her a while to get it back off. But she said to me back then (10 years ago) that she suddenly had more understanding of the frustration overweight people face and the depression that goes along with it. With her 2nd pregnancy (8 years ago), she didn't gain as much and bounced back faster. (She was still teaching fitness classes when she was 6 months pregnant.) But she has been such a big support during my WLS journey. I'm lucky. She is 11 years younger than me and my best friend, but I think her having been through really working to get some weight off also gave her some compassion and then honestly she is proud of what I have accomplished and reminds me of that daily. Just my 2 cents...

I have been banded for 2 1/2 years and have had no issues until a few months ago. I started having acid reflux really bad at night. I had to have 2cc of fluid removed from my band which put me at 3.25. I gained a few pounds because I had very liitle restriction 4 to be exact). I went back to the doctor and had .50 put back in on Tuesday and last night I expereinced some acid reflux. I had not eaten 4 hours before bed and had a glass of water about 30 minutes before bed. It felt like the water was coming back up. I have been taking omeprazole 20mg for about 6 months 1 time a day. I also had really bad reflux before surgery. I am so discouraged. What in world could be going on. I am fine all day. I don't have much restriction and did not over eat yesterday. Any advice!!!

yeah, i am going to my surgeon tomorrow. it is not bloated in the morning as much as at night. and yes, i am keeping a food log on what makes it bloat. last night i had a chicken enchalidia. that made me bloat. i just want to see if anyone else is having issues with water weight or stomach bloat. need some suggestions. i know, drink lots of water, log your food, exercise. etc. i just want to know if this is happening to anyone else. and ladies, it seems like i carry water weight one week before and one week after my monthly. never had that issue before either.

How far along are you on your weight loss? If you've pretty much just started the journey, it will loosen as you lose weight. Sip liquids slowly, eat greek yogurt (for extra protein), and don't eat for at least 4 hours before you go to bed........but, if you are close to you weight lose goal (I was within 20 pounds when I had the last fill) it may not get better until you have some removed.

I finally lost 5 lbs. It's only been a month trying to work it off. It felt like I was working against myself since during this time I was also on my cycle and I am notorious for gaining weight during that time. Now I have to work to keep it off and lose more. I'm not sure how much the doctor will want me to lose before he will do the surgery but I figure it will be good to lose some before hand and be in the habit that way when he says I need to lose 3 or 5 lbs or whatever it will be a cake walk.

3 months later.. Lol.. I know! I don't know anyone in my area that has gotten banded. How is your weight loss going?

Looking back, I now believe I didn't really get into the Green Zone and stay there until I was about 3 years post-op. I had already lost all my excess weight by then, using hard work and a smaller appetite. In the Green Zone, my physical hunger was greatly reduced.

I just want to chime in an let you know that I'm happy to see that you are taking these step. Some of us get dealt a rough hand metabolically speaking and while the surgical solution can be daunting it is at least a solution. I wish you well in your journey and someday, when we're both at our ideal weight maybe we can have a bicycle race.