Lucky # Sevens- July 07 Bandsters

[bethgrove 1]

It was beautiful. A little difficult to eat on the new diet, but still lost weight so I was happy. The area was great and the animals were fun to see. They just roam around.

[kirajh 0]

Wish me luck, ladies. I'm off for my first fill tomorrow. A much needed fill. I was banded in Mexico so I haven't met these doctors yet and I am a little nervous. But I am overdue and starting to graze again.

[IndioGirl55 32]

Wish me luck, ladies. I'm off for my first fill tomorrow. A much needed fill. I was banded in Mexico so I haven't met these doctors yet and I am a little nervous. But I am overdue and starting to graze again.

Good Luck - you will do fine

[Frustrated 1]

Hi everyone, :wave:

It's been a little while since I lasted checked in. I've been reading some of the posts but haven't really had too much to report. Congrats to everyone enjoying weight loss and/or personal triumphs.

It's been almost 2 weeks since I got my first fill. How am I doing? That's a difficult question because it varies from day to day, and sometimes from meal to meal.

I've been fortunate enough not to have suffered from insatiable hunger like in the bad old days. There are times when I'm hungriER than I probably should be, but I've been able to cope with those times for the most part by drinking more Water and getting out and about.

I'm still having sporadic problems with PBing. It's not just with food. There are times when I can't keep down my Protein Drink. Water doesn't help on those occasions, in fact it makes things worse. :straight I just have to tough it out until it either comes back up or makes its way through. I really don't know what triggers it. Sometimes I've gone back to whatever it was an hour later and I've been fine.

My weight loss has pretty much stopped. :cry This is in spite of increased exercise and activity. I'm trying to convince myself that it's BECAUSE of it; muscle gain, etc, but it's frustrating to make gains in exercise and not reap any rewards. A typical workout week for me is:

Mon-Sat: 30 mins treadmill in the morning at a speed of 3.8, incline 3.5 or 4.

Mon night - weight resistance in the gym for an hour working various muscle groups.

Tues night - aikido practise at home for 30 mins

Wed night - aikido class for 1 hour

Thurs night - weight resistance in the gym for an hour working different muscle groups to those worked on Tues.

Fri night - aikido class for 1 hour

Sat afternoon - aikido class for 1 hour

Sunday is my day of rest from everything.

It's disheartening when nothing moves on the scales and I know I shouldn't harp on it. I weigh myself at the same time each day. I do this because I know that if I let it go for more than a week without weighing myself, I'll fall off the wagon and stay off. Daily checks keep me in check. I'm grateful that the scales haven't moved up, but frustrated they haven't moved at all so far this week. No Aunt Flo excuses. No stress excuses. No excuses at all to offer.

Still...... I'm here to rant because as I've said before, all of you are what keeps me motivated in this journey and it's good to see so many others succeeding!

I'm not really asking for anyone to solve my problems, I'm just using you all as a sounding board. You're the best there is here. I took a look at that Catholic/Communion thread and oh-my-stars! Makes me appreciate you all the more. There are some unpleasant responses in there.

Anyway, thanks for listening/reading.

[forgve70x7 0]

Ruby,

I totally understand what you are feeling. I have been feeling the same way. I've been doing cardio 3x per week for at least an hour, and doing weight training 2x per week for about an hour. Usually I'll work my upper body one day and my lower body the other.

Even since I got my first fill, I haven't lost any weight, I keep going up and down about 4 pounds and I'm not sure what I'm doing either. I know it's not aunt flo right now, so that makes it worse. I haven't been eating more than I should either so I'm perplexed since my dr told me I should see some significant weight loss with this fill (2cc in a 4cc band).

My next fill isn't scheduled until Oct 11, so it's not that far away, but I'm ready for one now and wish I would have stuck to 4 weeks like he said at first until he remembered that I live 5 hours away.

Oh well, I guess I'll just have to keep working that much harder.

It's good to know that I'm not the only one feeling this way though!! I'll Talk to you soon,

~Nichole

[forgve70x7 0]

Ruby (and anyone else who needs to hear this),

I just got off the phone with my dietitian and explained to him what had been going on. He said it was normal that even after your first fill, you may not feel the restriction you thought you would. He says most patients it takes a few fills before you are feeling full with a half a cup of food. I'm not sure what your Dr told you, but I have 2cc's in my 4cc band, and the Dr told me that I should see a significant amount of weight loss with this first fill. However, according to the dietitian, it's not always like that. In fact, with most people, it's not like that until you are really feeling the restriction and are only able to eat a 1/2 cup of food at a time and feel full.

So, don't feel discouraged, and just keep going with your fills as soon as your dr allows you to. That way we can get to the point where we all need to be!!

I hope this info helps you, it helped me feel better after talking to him.

Anyways, I have to get to our exchange student's football game, but I'll talk to you all again soon!!

~Nichole

[Frustrated 1]

Thanks for that Nichole. I think I'll tough it out for another week to see if there's any change. If not, I'll sign up for another fill. My doc did say it may take more than one to find my sweet spot. I've got 1.75 in a 4cc band, so there's still some wiggle room there. You've made me feel LOTS better.

[cazulay 0]

Thanks Nicole!

I actually felt good restriction until last weekend, and now I am starving again. Good thing I have another fill scheduled for very soon.

[marcyinak 0]

I made some zucchini bread with my greenhouse harvest today. It's yummy! Now, if I could just stop myself from grazing! The kids like it and I'm just going to let them eat it up! See how I sacrifice the kids?! :-)

It's Stormy's 2nd birthday today...she wanted popcorn and a "milkshake" for breakfast...ok, why not? I added some Protein to the shake and she wasn't able to finish the popcorn! Haha!

[IndioGirl55 32]

Ruby -Forgve70 & Marcy

Regarding the no losing while exercising - I noticed this back when I was doing WW at the office - we would walk during lunch 4 times a week then the next week we wouldn't walk - you know which week i would see the scale move - on the week we didn't walk.. Dont ask me to explalin it - but i remember it like yesterday..

I won't allow myself to not exercise for a week now a days cuz i will get out of the habit and that will ruin it all. I take Thrus & Sundays off - but the rest of the week i go..

Are you guys logging your food? I fine that this helps me - i track food calories and Protein. I have been doing this since the day i got home from the hospital at first i only count protein but then added calories when I was able to eat more. This has always been another great tool for me when trying to lose weight - it's so easy to forget a bite of this or a bite of that - and they all add up..

My fill was 9/5 - 1.75 cc in the new band and that 1st week had great restriction and wasn't even hungry the 1st few days. But now - i can get hungry and eat more than right after the fill - but i know i still have some restriction cuz i have pb the other night eating to fast. It was a good thing cuz i was eating in the middle of the night rice & beef (i can eat rice w/no problems when i eat slow)

After reading that thread that i told you to ck out - is what made me want to tell you all how great our group is.. I don't know why people can't have an honest exchange of ideas without getting nasty. I love to debate - i think it's fun sometimes - I was so good at in high school that i could turn the whole class into my way of thinking

Marcy - the bread sound good - but i just can't have that stuff in the house - I just don't have that kind of will power and right now for me it's all about getting this weight off (not the big problem) and then maintaining that weight loss (this will be the big problem:eek:)

Like so many here i have lost it before and kept if off for a yr or 2 but slowly it comes back + some.

[Brandy 0]

Got my 2nd fill today. He decided to give me 1 cc this time. Since I'm doing so well, he thinks we're close to the sweet spot, so he doesn't want to see me for two more months.

[dmtjet 0]

Got my 2nd fill today. He decided to give me 1 cc this time. Since I'm doing so well, he thinks we're close to the sweet spot, so he doesn't want to see me for two more months.

Brandy, that is sooo awesome! What a wonderful feeling! I haven't reached my sweet spot yet! Need to though!

[Brandy 0]

Ruby, I don't know what to tell you. You mentioned Protein Drinks, should you really be drinking extra Protein any more now that you are on regular foods? I know they say not to drink any caloric liquids at all. I still drink a low carb slimfast in the a.m. but that's really a Meal Replacement as opposed to a protein supplement. Other than that I eat two more meals, so three meals in total and no snacks! I've been stuck on the same number for the past five days, but Flo is coming next week. I only had 580 calories today, but that's because I didn't even drink my shake until after my fill and the dr was running late, so it was almost eleven before I had b'fast. Thought about eating something else, but I'm not hungry, so I'll just go to bed. Got a 3:45 wake up call to get to the airport. Dr said if you are pb'g then it's means you are close to the sweet spot. Don't want to do much of that or you'll stretch it and it could slip.

[Brandy 0]

Thanks Nicole!

I actually felt good restriction until last weekend, and now I am starving again. Good thing I have another fill scheduled for very soon.

It's funny, but I was the opposite, didn't feel any restriction after the first fill at first, but did the last two weeks. Asked Dr and he said that was unusual, usually it loosens, not tightens.

[ssankofa73 2]

Hi guys!

I think I feel restriction and then I lose it 1/2 way thru the day. Does that sound weird to anyone? Just wondering.