November Bandsters!

[Beckie 0]

Marnie and Tweety,

Thanks for sharing your experiences with the 10cc band. I only have 2 ccs so far and I am hungry all the time and have zero restriction. I will get another 2cc or so next month so I should have more to report then. It is interesting how different we all are in the amount of ccs we need to get restriction. My doctor told me it would probably take getting to 6 - 8ccs to get the maximum benefit. I am 3 1/2 hours away from my doctor --- so Tweety, I understand the feeling of wanting to make sure everything is as it should be before you go or leave the doctor's office!! The road on this journey is sure obstacle-filled!! :rolleyes

Karen

so Karen, did you have restriction when you first got to 2cc? T

[L8BloomR 1]

so Karen, did you have restriction when you first got to 2cc? T

No, I really didn't. I think I felt full a little sooner while eating, but that didn't last longer than a few days. I never felt any restriction or like there were some foods that could get stuck. Did you?

[AngelaT 2]

Ok, so I am sitting here trying to decide if I should go see him today and get more fill. I just ate cottage cheese, fine. I am eating Soup. Fine. How do I know if this fill is good or if I need more? He leaves tomorrow. Any advice?

Cottage cheese and soup afe not good indicators as they go down easily. Real food is a better bet... chicken, veggies. etc.

[AngelaT 2]

Woo hoo! No more diabetes meds needed! Whadda milestone!

:clap2: :clap2: Congrats!!!!

[Beckie 0]

Nothing yet. Had a couple bits of my daughters chicken salad. Nothing.

[tropicaljill 0]

Ok, so I am sitting here trying to decide if I should go see him today and get more fill. I just ate cottage cheese, fine. I am eating Soup. Fine. How do I know if this fill is good or if I need more? He leaves tomorrow. Any advice?

In my huble opinion, stay where you are for a while. It takes a while to find your grove (I dont think I have even found mine yet). I would say take at least a month between fills. How long is your doctor leaving for? Forever? Or just for a bit? I would maybe say if he is leaving, never to come back again, get a fill. If he is just leaving for a while, wait.

BTW, I lived up there for 12 years (Eureka, Arcata & Mckinleyville). I go up there alot, still have family up there. Where did you have your surgery, up there?

Jill

[Beckie 0]

In my huble opinion, stay where you are for a while. It takes a while to find your grove (I dont think I have even found mine yet). I would say take at least a month between fills. How long is your doctor leaving for? Forever? Or just for a bit? I would maybe say if he is leaving, never to come back again, get a fill. If he is just leaving for a while, wait.

BTW, I lived up there for 12 years (Eureka, Arcata & Mckinleyville). I go up there alot, still have family up there. Where did you have your surgery, up there?

Jill

I did decide to wait. My doctor is only up here once a month. His main office is in San Francisco and I had my surgery in San Jose at Good Samaritan Hospital. I wouldn't have the guy that does it here do mine. I researched many doctors and the ones I chose were among the best that do this. Lots and lots of experience. How long ago did you live here? Sure has been changing in the last 10+years.

[MistyArmenti 0]

Marni,

Maybe 600 is a little low, I am just trying to get what I need, meaning Fiber, protien and vegs in the littlest space and calories I can. Since the "norm" is 1200 I figured with the band 600 was a good number to shoot for. I have my follow up with the nutritionist on Wed.. lets see what she says. It is confusing.

Vicki,

I too joined Overeaters Anonymous. They are a great support group. the thing with the food addiction is, that is doen't go away just because my band is in place. What I have found, is not that I used to food to medicate myself, I actually used it to occupy myself. If I spend my time and energy on food, eating food, talking about food, getting food, and being upset with the effects of to much food on myself, I do not have to worry about my kids, marriage, and myself. Food, really was much easier to deal with. But, I am trying to simplify, and keep food where it belongs in my life. Food is fuel, and life is good. I just have to keep it that way.

As far as the great egg test of 2007, I have come to 2 very important conclusions, One, it is easy to eat the same thing all day long. Never had to think about what I was going o eat, and it was easy. Second, my stomach does hold less in the a.m than it does later in the day. Breakfast produced BP.. 10 was fine but full... 12 was perfect... 3 I would have liked a bit more, and dinner I ate a real meal. Interesting, huh?

I hope you all have a great Saturday.

Peace Out!

Misty

[Oberhasli 1]

Marni,

Maybe 600 is a little low, I am just trying to get what I need, meaning fiber, protien and vegs in the littlest space and calories I can. Since the "norm" is 1200 I figured with the band 600 was a good number to shoot for. I have my follow up with the nutritionist on Wed.. lets see what she says. It is confusing.

Misty, where are you finding that 1200 is "norm"? Most nutritional guides are based on a 2000 calorie diet when it lists the percent of daily requirements. Using the base of 10 calories per pound on the BMR scale, a 120 pound person that does NOTHING needs 1200 calories to maintain current weight. My guess is that none of us are anywhere near 120 pounds unless we happen to be about 2' tall or we wouldn't be here! You're likely to find that your BMR is a lot closer to 2000. (Just rechecked mine and mine is almost 2300.) While the calculators aren't as accurate as an actual reading (my reading showed almost 500 calories more than the calculator) it gives you a really good base from which to work. Once you have an idea of how many calories you need for the basic functions of life, you can better plan the calories you can consume keeping in mind that a daily reduction of 500 calories yields approximately one pound of weight loss. In other words, if you burn 2000 calories a day breathing and you eat 1500 calories a day, and you've done nothing else but breath all week, you should lose one pound.

My suggestion is to calculate your BMR and strive for 500-750 calories less than the requirement. That's 1-1.5 pounds a week weight loss. ANYTHING you do will burn calories so if you could easily lose an additional 1 pound a week just with normal functions. Add in some cardio (the recumbent bike I use has a calorie counter and I burn about 500 calories an hour so if I would use it one hour a day, which does NOT happen, I would lose another pound a week just from that), maybe some light weights for toning, and of course, plenty of sex, and you should be able to lose weight at a healthy rate.

Tom

[MistyArmenti 0]

Thank Tom. Where did you go to calculate your BMR?

[Oberhasli 1]

Thank Tom. Where did you go to calculate your BMR?

Here's one calculator:

http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/

I posted the formula a few weeks ago here so if you go through the archives, you can find it there. The "crude" formula is 10 calories per pound. There is a more complex, and probably more accurate, using age, weight and height.

Tom

[AngelaT 2]

I did decide to wait. My doctor is only up here once a month. His main office is in San Francisco and I had my surgery in San Jose at Good Samaritan Hospital. I wouldn't have the guy that does it here do mine. I researched many doctors and the ones I chose were among the best that do this. Lots and lots of experience. How long ago did you live here? Sure has been changing in the last 10+years.

IS it Dr. Cirangle or Jossart? We practice out of California Pacific med ctr. in SFO... I have been thinking about Jossart doing my fills once I have my first one by my surgeon in MX.

[MistyArmenti 0]

Tom, Even with subtracting 700 calories, I still am at 1700 calories a day. Thanks for the help.

Misty

[AngelaT 2]

Misty, where are you finding that 1200 is "norm"? Most nutritional guides are based on a 2000 calorie diet when it lists the percent of daily requirements. Using the base of 10 calories per pound on the BMR scale, a 120 pound person that does NOTHING needs 1200 calories to maintain current weight. My guess is that none of us are anywhere near 120 pounds unless we happen to be about 2' tall or we wouldn't be here! You're likely to find that your BMR is a lot closer to 2000. (Just rechecked mine and mine is almost 2300.) While the calculators aren't as accurate as an actual reading (my reading showed almost 500 calories more than the calculator) it gives you a really good base from which to work. Once you have an idea of how many calories you need for the basic functions of life, you can better plan the calories you can consume keeping in mind that a daily reduction of 500 calories yields approximately one pound of weight loss. In other words, if you burn 2000 calories a day breathing and you eat 1500 calories a day, and you've done nothing else but breath all week, you should lose one pound.

My suggestion is to calculate your BMR and strive for 500-750 calories less than the requirement. That's 1-1.5 pounds a week weight loss. ANYTHING you do will burn calories so if you could easily lose an additional 1 pound a week just with normal functions. Add in some cardio (the recumbent bike I use has a calorie counter and I burn about 500 calories an hour so if I would use it one hour a day, which does NOT happen, I would lose another pound a week just from that), maybe some light weights for toning, and of course, plenty of sex, and you should be able to lose weight at a healthy rate.

Tom

Tom,

You took the words right out of my mouth! I have been losing an avg of 2-2.5 lbs a week eating betwen 800 -1100 calories a day. The more I move the more I lose of course. I decided not to have my fill this week will wait a bit more...down to 190-191 so that makes it 36 lbs since Nov.3

Tom, I joined Gold's gym and tried out your elliptical machine....ouch...lasted a loooooonnnnggggg 4 minutes!!!! then I did treadmill for about 25 mins. and then some weights.

[AngelaT 2]

Tom, Even with subtracting 700 calories, I still am at 1700 calories a day. Thanks for the help.

Misty

MIsty,

Once you calculate your BMI that is what you burn if you are say...sleeping only for 24 hrs. No moving. You need to calculate also and there should be a link or on the same site how many calories you need to just maintain your weight.... mine is way over 2,000 so if I want to lose weight I know if I eat even 1,200 calories every day i will still lose! 3,000=1lb of weight lost. 2,000-1200=800 calorie deficit per day roughly times 7 days per week =5,600 divided by 3,000 (1lb) is 1.86 lbs lost per week if I always eat 1,200 calories a day with no additional exercise except daily living activities.