How are the banded Notorious Novembers???

[jms462001 9]

That is what my Dr and nutritionists have suggested. No carbs until I lose 75 percent of the weight. I have slowly added back in vegetables and fruit. Their point is that you need to try to lose as much weight as possible in the first year. I am a carb addict too and it was hard for awhile but now I breeze right through it. Although, my little secret is that one day a week I do eat something I really want as long as the band allows me too. So far it has worked for me...just don't tell my Dr! It sure gives me something to look forward to as well. Good Luck...I know it is not easy!

Sounds like the plan is working well for you!! I need to follow your plan again as well. I started eating some bariatric Snacks this week that are high in Protein and taste like chips, cinnamon cookie bars, yeah all the good stuff!!! And, they taste good. It's my nut's fault as he was handing out samples sent to him!! I actually bought them to take on a trip. Perhaps they will be good snacks once the weight is off. For now, they are too high in carbs! Keep up your great work

[elysenoland 0]

Good Luck I hope it works for you. I have been there and a few days later back to before. So I hope for you it stays for you. Keep us posted.

WannaB, I understand that you are frustrated and down about the band, but please dont rain on someone elses parade. We have and are all struggling with the life changes that we need to make. Which means, unfortunately, eating less carbs and moving more. We all know this. It's basic simple math. As someone already said, calories burned minus calories in needs to equal a deficit. I had a slump for three weeks where I lost nothing. When I looked back I realized it was because I was sabotaging myself. I wasn't making good food choices, and even though I go to the gym 5 days a week I wasn't giving it my all. If Weight Watchers helps you eat better, then by all means do it. The band was NEVER intended to cause weight loss by itself, it is a tool to help us all, it's not magic. We still have to eat Protein, then veggies, then carbs, in small amounts, just as if we were dieting. The tool part comes into play by making us feel full sooner, and although some of us aren't there yet, we still keep fighting our head hunger (which I suspect is what you are fighting). I don't eat till my stomach is growling and snarling. I eat about 3/4 c of protein and then 1/4 c of veggies. Do I still eat chocolate? You betcha, but only once every couple of weeks. I've found that when I cut out refined sugars I didn't crave them after a few days. I still drink diet coke, but coming from drinking two cans of pepsi a day, I figure that's a great stride forward. In fact, although I haven't found my sweet spot, I have been very conscious of what I put in my mouth and how much I move during the day. If you are having this big of a problem, I'd highly suggest you buy yourself a bodybugg and accurately log in what you eat every day, it will tell you how much you are burning. There's the simple math, done for you. Since I've started my bugg, two weeks ago, I've lost 8 pounds and 4% body fat. This journey is a struggle, we all knew that or we wouldn't have had surgery. We've all struggled with diets and eating and eating and eating. Food addictions are just as bad as drug addictions, but when you are a drug addict, most often, your drugs aren't laying around or waiting in the pantry or fridge for you. I suspect that most of us are fast eaters, as that seems to be a precursor for obesity and avoiding the 'full' signal. I wish you the absolute best, I hope you find your path and get to where you want to be.

Elyse

[elysenoland 0]

Sounds like the plan is working well for you!! I need to follow your plan again as well. I started eating some bariatric Snacks this week that are high in Protein and taste like chips, cinnamon cookie bars, yeah all the good stuff!!! And, they taste good. It's my nut's fault as he was handing out samples sent to him!! I actually bought them to take on a trip. Perhaps they will be good snacks once the weight is off. For now, they are too high in carbs! Keep up your great work

OHHH JMS I have a great snack for you! South Beach makes Cereal bars (they're in the grocery store by the granola bars) and they have one that is s'mores....oh my gosh, they are SOOOO good, and only 120 calories, I have to beat my cockatoo off of me when I eat them, cause she's wild for junk food too....that's usually my lunch. Also, in the freezer section, there's muffins and...get this....chocolate brownies.....only 100 cals each, and they are normal size! Made by vitamuffin-or you can order online www.Vitalicious.com. They aren't fantastic, but they're a pretty good fix for those of us trying to be conscientious!

[ddgalarza 0]

Wow, there has been alot of good advise, and conversation on this site today. i appreciate all of the input and these are the days when I love coming to this site. It's a reality check for me as well as very inspirational and i really want to thank everyone, good, bad or indifferent for there opinions and input. All I know if this is truely my sweet spot that I have found i am in LOVE with it!!! Im really going to have to renegotiate my food choices and amounts because I'm guilty of consuming carbs and my sweet spot is not a fan of them. they are very uncomfortalbe going down, but they force me to take VERY SMALL bites and chew to the point where my food is literally dissolving in my mouth. I attempted to eat 1/2 of a subway 6" sandwhich today for lunch with about 4 baked lays chips. I took off the top layer of bread, ate most of the meat and veggies and only maybe 1/4 of the remainig bread at 12:30. It's 4:40 now and I'm STILL NOT HUNGRY!!!! I'm expecting great things...from all of us.

6.5cc's in my 10 cc band

Oh and BTW I highly reccommend the Boddy Bugg. Inever leave home with out it, I only take it off to shower, I even sleep in it!!!

[elysenoland 0]

Wow, there has been alot of good advise, and conversation on this site today. i appreciate all of the input and these are the days when I love coming to this site. It's a reality check for me as well as very inspirational and i really want to thank everyone, good, bad or indifferent for there opinions and input. All I know if this is truely my sweet spot that I have found i am in LOVE with it!!! Im really going to have to renegotiate my food choices and amounts because I'm guilty of consuming carbs and my sweet spot is not a fan of them. they are very uncomfortalbe going down, but they force me to take VERY SMALL bites and chew to the point where my food is literally dissolving in my mouth. I attempted to eat 1/2 of a subway 6" sandwhich today for lunch with about 4 baked lays chips. I took off the top layer of bread, ate most of the meat and veggies and only maybe 1/4 of the remainig bread at 12:30. It's 4:40 now and I'm STILL NOT HUNGRY!!!! I'm expecting great things...from all of us.

6.5cc's in my 10 cc band

Oh and BTW I highly reccommend the Boddy Bugg. Inever leave home with out it, I only take it off to shower, I even sleep in it!!!

LOL DD....your excitement is infectious. Congrats on your Sweet Spot.....can't wait to find mine!! I'm guilty of sleeping with the bugg too....I'm so addicted to the dang thing. Very Very cool that you could only eat part of half of your sandwich...those Subways are so good it's hard to stop so kudos to you for paying attention to your 'full' signal and calling it quits! I'm anxious to follow your weight loss now, bet it's just gonna fall off!

[jmegirl 2]

WannaB, I understand that you are frustrated and down about the band, but please dont rain on someone elses parade. We have and are all struggling with the life changes that we need to make. Which means, unfortunately, eating less carbs and moving more. We all know this. It's basic simple math. As someone already said, calories burned minus calories in needs to equal a deficit. I had a slump for three weeks where I lost nothing. When I looked back I realized it was because I was sabotaging myself. I wasn't making good food choices, and even though I go to the gym 5 days a week I wasn't giving it my all. If Weight Watchers helps you eat better, then by all means do it. The band was NEVER intended to cause weight loss by itself, it is a tool to help us all, it's not magic. We still have to eat Protein, then veggies, then carbs, in small amounts, just as if we were dieting. The tool part comes into play by making us feel full sooner, and although some of us aren't there yet, we still keep fighting our head hunger (which I suspect is what you are fighting). I don't eat till my stomach is growling and snarling. I eat about 3/4 c of protein and then 1/4 c of veggies. Do I still eat chocolate? You betcha, but only once every couple of weeks. I've found that when I cut out refined sugars I didn't crave them after a few days. I still drink diet coke, but coming from drinking two cans of pepsi a day, I figure that's a great stride forward. In fact, although I haven't found my sweet spot, I have been very conscious of what I put in my mouth and how much I move during the day. If you are having this big of a problem, I'd highly suggest you buy yourself a bodybugg and accurately log in what you eat every day, it will tell you how much you are burning. There's the simple math, done for you. Since I've started my bugg, two weeks ago, I've lost 8 pounds and 4% body fat. This journey is a struggle, we all knew that or we wouldn't have had surgery. We've all struggled with diets and eating and eating and eating. Food addictions are just as bad as drug addictions, but when you are a drug addict, most often, your drugs aren't laying around or waiting in the pantry or fridge for you. I suspect that most of us are fast eaters, as that seems to be a precursor for obesity and avoiding the 'full' signal. I wish you the absolute best, I hope you find your path and get to where you want to be.

Elyse

I'm so glad you posted that. You saved me the time of having to type out something similar. :confused:

I signed up for this whole thing knowing that it would be a partnership - Me and My Band. I didn't expect to lose weight without a serious modification of my diet and exercise plans. I couldn't modify my diet properly without a little help, which is why I chose the surgery. Too many people in this thread (and even more throughout this site) were just expecting this miracle obesity cure, and when they don't get it, they get mad at the Band. The Band works just fine, once it's properly filled. It restricts how much and how often you eat. It doesn't make you eat protein instead of carbs. It doesn't stop you from getting a milkshake. It doesn't force you to get on the treadmill instead of taking a nap. It just helps you, but you only get out of it what you put into it.

I've only lost 21lbs and it's been 17 weeks today. I'm in the 1-2lb/week range and I'm happy. I couldn't be happier! This is still the best decision I've ever made, and it breaks my heart to see so many of us Novembers cursing their decisions and lamenting about how little weight they've lost. It's only been 4 months. It's been said a million times, but I'll say it again. I didn't gain this weight in 4 months, so I'm damn sure not gonna lose it in 4 months. But, without the Band I wouldn't have even lost the 21lbs that I have, so I am grateful and I thank God every day for blessing me with the opportunity to get this wonderful gift.

[jms462001 9]

OHHH JMS I have a great snack for you! South Beach makes cereal bars (they're in the grocery store by the granola bars) and they have one that is s'mores....oh my gosh, they are SOOOO good, and only 120 calories, I have to beat my cockatoo off of me when I eat them, cause she's wild for junk food too....that's usually my lunch. Also, in the freezer section, there's muffins and...get this....chocolate brownies.....only 100 cals each, and they are normal size! Made by vitamuffin-or you can order online www.Vitalicious.com. They aren't fantastic, but they're a pretty good fix for those of us trying to be conscientious!

Now, I don't know if you are helping or not LOL!! Those cinnamon bars from the bariatriceating.com are already too yummy for me!! And, I think I bought 3 boxes of them! I need to wait till I get at least 20 more pounds off then I'm off to buy your yummy find. They do sound good! I have this splenda problem. I even put it on peanut butter!! It's weird because I quit eating sugar years ago!! I don't really have many foods to use it on, but do put 3 in my skinny lattes as well as the P.B. and in Protein Shakes if I make my own and don't use ready made. Recently I read that artificial sweeteners can harm the band. I do hope this is not true. Does anyone know anything about this or if it is true? (I read it on the board, not in any article).

[twinmommy2014 7]

We are all here to support each other, not to make each other feel worse. I am guilty at times of eating the wrong foods, eating too fast or too much. I think that no one knew exactly what they were signing up for. I love my band and its one of the best decisions I have ever made. However, I did not expect to have a second surgery 2 months after being banded. I did not think that my first fill would make be throw up liquids for 4 days and worry that I may loose my band altogether because I constantly throw up. Things are getting much better and I have dropped from 198 to 175 lbs since nov 5 and am thrilled. In reality, we can research and talk to others about banding, we do not know what it is like until we actually have the surgery and now need to learn to make it work for ourselves.

[bjperkins54 0]

I'm so glad you posted that. You saved me the time of having to type out something similar.

I signed up for this whole thing knowing that it would be a partnership - Me and My Band. I didn't expect to lose weight without a serious modification of my diet and exercise plans. I couldn't modify my diet properly without a little help, which is why I chose the surgery. Too many people in this thread (and even more throughout this site) were just expecting this miracle obesity cure, and when they don't get it, they get mad at the Band. The Band works just fine, once it's properly filled. It restricts how much and how often you eat. It doesn't make you eat Protein instead of carbs. It doesn't stop you from getting a milkshake. It doesn't force you to get on the treadmill instead of taking a nap. It just helps you, but you only get out of it what you put into it.

I've only lost 21lbs and it's been 17 weeks today. I'm in the 1-2lb/week range and I'm happy. I couldn't be happier! This is still the best decision I've ever made, and it breaks my heart to see so many of us Novembers cursing their decisions and lamenting about how little weight they've lost. It's only been 4 months. It's been said a million times, but I'll say it again. I didn't gain this weight in 4 months, so I'm damn sure not gonna lose it in 4 months. But, without the Band I wouldn't have even lost the 21lbs that I have, so I am grateful and I thank God every day for blessing me with the opportunity to get this wonderful gift.

I agree with you 100%. I was banded on 11/12 and have now lost 27 lbs since surgery (lost 20 lbs prior to surgery)....I work out 5 times a week and struggle with not eating too many carbs. I'm not a big sweet eater, so that part isn't much of a struggle for me. (Well, except when the girl scout thin mint cookes get here -HA! I told my husband if he wanted a box of those this year, he had to put them someplace in the basement and I didn't want to know where they are!)

Anyway, I am thrilled with the lapband and my progress to date....the band has been that 1 tool that has finally helped me control the amount of food I eat, without feeling like I'm starving all the time! I have to control the type of food I eat and the amount of exercise I do, but the band has been,for me, that 1 missing piece -- no hunger!! WOO!

[DivaStyleCoach 89]

Afternoon Notorious Novembers!

I'm posting to report a victory - I lost the two pounds that I've been struggling with for the past few weeks! I had gone down to 237 from a high pre-op of 265. When I had my surgery, I had lost a little, but not much.

I have been stalled for about 3 weeks, but I re-examined my eating habits, started measuring my food more, stepped up my exercise, and got a fill on Feb 18th. Since that time, the scale really didn't move, but I held strong.

My scale this morning showed that I'm down two pounds, and I'm claiming it's only the beginning of much more to come. For all those who are struggling with their bands right now, please, please, please hang in there! A couple of years ago, I did one of those Body Transformation challenges with an exercise plan - the workouts were great, but what I took away from it was a piece of wisdom from the trainer that sometimes women don't see immediate results from workouts and eating right. We sometimes don't see results from the changes we've made for 4, 6 or even 8 weeks...right about the time we're ready to give up.

I agree with several of the other posters - I could NOT have gotten back to this weight (I've been here before) without my band (I named her Jillian) and I know that with the band and my own willpower, I will make it this time! I will be healthier, thinner, and stronger!

[WannaBSkinnyB 0]

WannaB, I understand that you are frustrated and down about the band, but please dont rain on someone elses parade.

Elyse

Where in my previous message did you get I was raining on her parade? The was the furthest thing on my mind. In fact we PM each other to see how we are doing. I think you may be having a bad day and want to look at things negatively. You are so wrong!

[elysenoland 0]

Where in my previous message did you get I was raining on her parade? The was the furthest thing on my mind. In fact we PM each other to see how we are doing. I think you may be having a bad day and want to look at things negatively. You are so wrong!

I'm sorry if I took it wrong, but it seems as though you spend a lot of time saying things like 'well it worked like that for me for a day or two and then didn't work, so good luck'. As you know, it's hard to read intent on here, and it's also hard both on here, and in real life, to be around people who are negative a lot--especially when we are all fighting the negative feelings we have about ourselves and our choices. I feel bad for you, that your experience with the band has been so poor, and I was only trying to point out, possibly, what some issues may be....as I, and several others on here, have been through the same thing at some point or another. If you read the majority of the posts on here, both by myself and most of the others, you will see that we try very hard NOT to be negative, but to stay upbeat and positive and say, well I may not have lost anything this week but at least I didn't gain, so no, I don't believe I am negative. If anything, in my post I was trying to encourage you to be positive instead of so down about the band all the time. I sincerely meant what I said, that I hope you find your path and that it all works out.

[elysenoland 0]

Afternoon Notorious Novembers!

I'm posting to report a victory - I lost the two pounds that I've been struggling with for the past few weeks! I had gone down to 237 from a high pre-op of 265. When I had my surgery, I had lost a little, but not much.

I have been stalled for about 3 weeks, but I re-examined my eating habits, started measuring my food more, stepped up my exercise, and got a fill on Feb 18th. Since that time, the scale really didn't move, but I held strong.

My scale this morning showed that I'm down two pounds, and I'm claiming it's only the beginning of much more to come. For all those who are struggling with their bands right now, please, please, please hang in there! A couple of years ago, I did one of those Body Transformation challenges with an exercise plan - the workouts were great, but what I took away from it was a piece of wisdom from the trainer that sometimes women don't see immediate results from workouts and eating right. We sometimes don't see results from the changes we've made for 4, 6 or even 8 weeks...right about the time we're ready to give up.

I agree with several of the other posters - I could NOT have gotten back to this weight (I've been here before) without my band (I named her Jillian) and I know that with the band and my own willpower, I will make it this time! I will be healthier, thinner, and stronger!

WOOHOOO!! You are on the road....congrats!

[WannaBSkinnyB 0]

I'm sorry if I took it wrong, but it seems as though you spend a lot of time saying things like 'well it worked like that for me for a day or two and then didn't work, so good luck'. .

Spend a lot of time? I said that on one post. I am sorry you think I am so negative. If you knew me you would not that is the furthest from the truth.

[elysenoland 0]

Spend a lot of time? I said that on one post. I am sorry you think I am so negative. If you knew me you would not that is the furthest from the truth.

Good, I'm glad, and I'm sorry for misinterpreting that. I know you can do it. We all can. We just all have to knuckle down and fight to be thin again, and if WW is what does it for you, then more power to them. I do have a question....do you have to eat their meals, or do you have to cook your own? Isn't it expensive? My hubby (he only needs to lose about 10 lbs the rat....he can take off 20 lbs in a month, but that last 10 is always a pain) has been bugging me to check out WW or Jenny Craig for him, but it seems like everything I've read is that you have to eat their food....and it seems as though it's a lot of money.