A.C.E of Hearts

How do you know when you hit your "Sweet spot or Green Zone"? I am in my 5th month post op. I have had fills and 2 unfills. And refilled. Disappointed with my WLS group- especially nutritionist. I keep asking for menus or food ideas. No info given. And one nurse fussed at me for fills and unfills. Said I was eating too much ; that was my issue. Me; personally feel like I am not eating enough. Very discouraged. Glad I have lost 45 lbs. But last visit gained 6 when band was unfilled.Frustrated in the morning not being able to eat. So I drink too much milk. I stumble through my day guessing what to eat. So I have returned to this website for guidance. I have my next appointment on May 24. Not looking forward to it. I don't journal. (I know no excuses) But I could tell them what I eat. I eat the same things over and over. Getting in a bad habit of drinking ice cream shakes because of too tight symptoms. I cook for my family things I can't eat. I don't know what I am doing. Was exercising; got depressed over the fill/unfill deals. ANY ADVICE WELCOME.

I gave up Coke Nov 24 2011. I still miss it. Get tired of flavored waters. Drink Hi-C or lemonade sometimes for something different. Know the sugar is bad for me

Wow!! You look great. Thanks for the tips. I am pre op and nervous about making this commitment. Your tips help me see it's possible to make this a lifestyle and works! Congrats to you.

How I lost 102 pounds

8 Easy Secrets of My 102-Pound Weight-Loss Success

I was banded in February of 2009 and just shy of 2 years later, in December of 2011, I reached my goal weight! I started at 225 pounds, a size 22/24. In December I reached 123 pounds and a size 2/4. I wrote this little excerpt in the hopes of helping some newly-banded people as they start their journey. I hope this doesn't seem too cheesy! Please let me know if any of you have any questions of need any help.

It's hard not to compare my weight loss this time versus all the attempts at weight loss that I've made in the past. What am I doing differently this time versus previous times? What's working? What tips do I have for others that want to lose weight? This post explains exactly what I've learned so far, and why this is working for me and other attempts have not.

I want to preface this list with a quick comment about weight loss surgery. Two+ years ago I had the gastric banding surgery. Yes, the surgery has helped me lose weight, but NO the surgery is not necessarily a magic tool that has enabled my weight loss. In fact, my surgeon told me that most people who have weight loss surgery aren't successful at all! Why not? Because some people don't change their habits, or learn to "eat around the band," meaning that they are gobbling up ice cream and milk shakes, which may be "easy" to eat, but are smothered in calories. No, the surgery isn't magic cure-all, but it has helped.

1. Weight-Loss should be easy. I can't stress this enough, and I know you're probably sitting there looking at me like I'm off my rocker. I'm serious though. I'm devoting far less effort and energy into losing weight this time around than last time. Sure, this may be due in part to the weight-loss surgery, but not entirely. You see, prior to my recent loss, I was: counting calories, measuring food. I was going out of my way to eat healthfully. I exercised a minimum of an hour a day, six days a week. I worked hard to find the perfect combination of cardio vs. weight training. I paid for a personal trainer. I paid for weight watchers. I obsessed over the scale. I tried Atkins, South Beach, Zone, Master Cleanser, and a zillion other fad diets. And you know what? Those fad diets are HARD because they force you to live dissimilarly than your usual lifestyle. Fad diets are hard work. Let me repeat this: weight loss should be easy. If you're spending hours and hours a day actively "working on losing weight" then you need to take a step back and re-evaluate how you're going about your weight loss. This time around I try hard to make good eating choices, but I don't always get it right. (In the past, I'd be 100% diligent to my plans, but with ZERO success on the scale.) I try to get some exercise in, but I don't always succeed. The point is, I'm just trying to live well and do the best I can, but I'm not obsessing and going nuts over trying to lose weight, and you shouldn't either. After all, don't we have families and careers and more important things that we should be spending the better part of our time on?
2. It's 80% about the food and 20% about the exercise. When I first started out losing weight, I had all but given up on exercise. I don't like working out. I don't like going to the gym. At the start of my current journey, I had given so much blood, sweat, and tears at the gym with ZERO reward that I flat-out burnt myself out. So when this new weight loss journey began, I wasn't exercising at all. It didn't matter. I'm no scientist, but just an observation of mine: the more weight you have to lose, the less your weight loss is about the exercise. Instead, focus your attention on getting your eating under control, picking healthy options, eating often (more about that below). As you start to lose weight, you'll naturally have more energy and will pick up the exercise factor, as it fits into your life. As you inch closer to your goal weight, you should exercise more and more. Exercise is crucial to weight maintenance, but not so much about weight loss. Because I'm so close to my goal weight, I exercise perhaps 3-4 times a week, but I don't freak out about it if I miss a gym session.
3. Eat small meals, and eat often. I realized about 30 pounds into my weight loss journey that I was no longer eating "meals" at all. Instead, I was grazing. Snacking. All day long. I'd nibble on this, and I'd nibble on that. This is entirely due to the band, and without the gastric band I never would have discovered this important aspect of weight loss. So this is what my prior-to-weight-loss dieting attempts would look like: I'd either skip Breakfast or have some oatmeal. For lunch I'd have a 6 inch sub from subway, with vinegar as dressing. For dinner I'd have some steamed veggies and grilled chicken. Period. The end. The food choices were seemingly good, but I was eating too much, and only at two sittings. Your body apparently doesn't like this. Today, I eat 5-6 times a day, but only 150-200 calories of food at any given sitting. I never eat a "meal" anymore. The great thing about eating small portions of food is that I can pretty much eat whatever I want, and I think the variety is really healthy for my body. I'm less obsessed over eating "diet food" and allow myself to eat "real food" during these mini-meals. (I eat a lot of Soup these days, especially at restaurants, because it's the perfect portion size!)
4. Pay attention to your body, not the USDA. Okay, do a little math now. If I'm only eating 150 calories per meal, 6 times a day…that means I'm eating….900 calories a day? Say what? Are you crazy? No I'm not! So in my Quest to lose weight, I scrutinized how many calories a typical woman should be eating, according to the USDA. They say 2,000 for a sedentary female 19 to 30 years old. BMR calculators told me I should eat 1,774 calories. Well, no wonder I wasn't losing weight! I was either trying to eat "just right" and follow one of those crazy guidelines, or pretty much starving myself trying to save as many calories as humanly possible.Now look. I'm not going to tell you to eat only 900 calories a day. I also don't think you should listen to the USDA. Instead, listen to your own body. I truly believe that every person has their own calorie setpoint that they like to be at. For me, I think that my weight-stabilizing point is around 1000-1100 calories. To lose about a pound or two a week, I need to target 800-900 calories per day. This is the point that works for me, but it may not work for you. You need to experiment a little bit to figure out what your calorie setpoint is, but the only way you can do that is to pay close attention to your body.
5. Avoid carbs, but don't eliminate them entirely. I mostly eat whatever I want these days, but there are a few nit-picky little trends that I've identified. I don't know if these really contribute to weight loss or not, but I figure they were worth mentioning. Because of my gastric band, I avoid carbs. They get stuck in my stomach and it's quite uncomfortable. Consequently, I just avoid eating bread products, pastries, Pasta of any kind, French fries, rice, and things like that. That means no pizza!! Boohoo!! My favorite food is forevermore off limits to me! On the other hand, I don't completely cut out the carbs. My opinion is that if you're going to eat carbs, take them from real living plants: rice, potatoes, quinoa, etc. Stay away from things that are mixed with man-made products (bread, pasta) and are refined, processed, and look nothing like their main ingredient anymore.
6. Eat real food. Quit feeding yourself "fat-free" and "sugar-free" and "low-calorie" garbage. Look, the stuff is gross and for good reason: it's not real food. Treat yourself to real food, and yes, please eat foods that are rich in fat. I'm talking about real cheese. Avocados. Almonds. eggs. Even indulge in real ice cream on rare occasions, and butter, and olive oil. (You know that candy bars and potato chips aren't "real food," so let's not even go there.) Stay away from foods that are processed and refined and look for food that has real flavor. Now, remember that I only eat 150 calories at any given sitting, so 150 calories of butter or cheese is not going to go very far. I might eat some hummus with 1 Tbs of feta cheese on Tomato wedges. Or Peanut Butter on an apple slice. Watch your portion sizes carefully, but ahead and eat the real stuff.
7. Stay away from soda, even diet soda. For that matter, avoid anything with man-made sweeteners, carbonated fizziness (which only helps to EXPAND your stomach), corn Syrup, or processed crap. Okay, I'll have a beer maybe once a week, which I probably shouldn't, but as a general rule I don't consume sodas anymore. I used to drink Diet Pepsi like it was going out of style. No more!
8. Drink Water, but do so carefully. This is a little trick that my weight loss surgeon taught me. One hour prior to eating, chug a ****-ton of Water. Then while you are eating your meal and for one hour following your meal, don't drink anything. The theory behind this is: (1) the water prior to your meal fills you up, and (2) avoiding water during your meal means that you are not physically flushing the food out of your stomach. Because the food remains in your stomach (3) you end up feeling fuller, for longer. It really does work. Try it sometime.

A fun before pic!

Me now:

Dear Afraid to Fail group,

I guess that's what keeps me from committing to this procedure. I have researched WLS for 9 years now. I have two relatives and three co workers that have had WLS. I have been to probally 5 or 6 seminars. In the beginning my insurance covered it then did not for several years. So I thought the cost was just out of my reach. A year ago my insurance company started covering it again. And another co worker/friend took the step to get the Lap Band. I was so excited for her and jealous. So once again I went to another seminar. But this time book an appointment! Contacted my insurance. Did the 6 month required diet and joined an exercise club. Then my "recent Lap band friend " contacted me... trying to talk me out of THE BAND. Then a co worker that had Gastic by pass tried to convience me to do the Gastic by pass procedure because many people are not satisfied with the Lap band.

I was about to have my last supevised diet visit and my Mother dies in a car accident. Now my head is spinning. Is this another sign I am not supose to do this surgery? I had to take the money I saved to pay for her funeral etc.. She did not have insurance.

So I ask the WLS staff to give me sometime to straighten things out. Then a friend of mine just 4 years older drops with a heart attack. I think now I MUST DO THIS SURGERY. That will be me...

Now I would have to borrow the money to pay what my insurance doesn't cover. But I am afraid to commit! To take the step..AFRAID to FAIL.. And Afraid not to try. A group at my work had found a diet center that gives him pills. They are dropping 15 lbs a month and say they have lots of energy. I am jealous of their weightloss. One reason I wanted the band was to help me keep the weight off. But that's not a guarentee is it?

I AM AFRAID TO FAIL ... I didn't know that until I read this posting topic. *** But if something doesn't change they can print that on my headstone "She was afraid to fail".

Sincerely,

Ace Of Hearts

Thank you for your honesty. I have been researching weightloss surgery for 10 years now, My Aunt had the Gastic By pass in the past, I have a friend the had the Lap band. And a second cousin that had the Band but had to have it removed; then had the sleeve. I just completed the 6 month supervised diet required by my insurance. And my paper work is being resubmited to them for approval,

But I am having second thoughts about WLS for myself. My Aunt regained about 60 lbs of her weight. Not bad considering she lost almost 200. Seems to be living with the WLS ok. Except she still misses ice cream; she can't eat it. My friend is very unhappy with her journey with the band. She is one year and a half post op and only lost 50 lbs. Now she is taking some kind of shot from her Band office. Each shot is $500.00. That's worst than the 100.00 fills, She very unhappy with her band journey. And told me if she had to do it all over again she wouldn't. My second cousin had lost of success with his band. But the family said he barely ate anything. On Thanksgiving he cut a grape into small pieces and that was his dinner. He had to have his band removed. Immediately gained 70 lbs; then the Dr did the Sleeve. Now he is getting back on track. Another person I know had the Band. She lost about 40 lbs. Then she got a Trainer; and unfilled her Band, Told me she doesn't even use it,

I was so excited about my decision and ready for a new life. But now I feel like I am getting negative vibes everywhere I turn. And now reading the lapband support page... well, every post I ready is discouraging. Either someone is in pain. Or they haven't lost much weight after a year of being deprived and discouraged.

I have been doing my supervised diet at the office where I planned on getting the Band, And the Dr treats me like it's an asembly line... He wasn't like that when my Aunt had Gastic bypass, He was so compassionate, Now he acts too big for his britches,

As you can see,,, lots of negative vibes, I don't know what to do,,, I have been exercising. I had lost 14lbs, Thought I was on the right road,,,, I expect the office to call in soon to continue this process after they receive the insurance's approval.

My mother recently passed away unexpectly and I had to use the money I saved for the surgeon's fee for her funeral, So that's gone,,, See ! Everything keeps telling me this isn't for me.

What do I do ? I still sit here about 290 lbs. I have to get healthy, I thought with such a large amount of weight to lose surgery was my only hope,

i was only 54 lbs overweight but had been carrying it for over a decade because of long term antidepressant use. i tried everything and was so sick of people not recognizing me and just feeling horrible about myself. when the fda recently gave the ok for lap band for people 50 lbs or more overweight, i was so excited. i found the best doctor in my area felt good about the decision i was making. everyone in my family has type 2 diabetes and i knew i was headed there, so i felt like this was also preventative. my insurance wouldn't cover it, so i decided to pay the $16k to do it.

my surgery was on 3/15 on an outpatient basis and i figured since they were doing it that way, that it wouldn't be a big deal. well, turns out that if people's insurance is paying, most people stay 1 night at the hospital. it was rough when i went home all alone. i started having pain in the center of my chest and was told that it was pain from the band and swelling and would go away. but 2 weeks in, the pain was still there and getting worse. at this time, my dr happened to be out of town for a week so i only had his nurse to consult. i finally went to the ER and they said that sometimes even when there's no fill when it's put in, there can be excess air. so they extracted air out of it and i immediately felt better. felt like everything was going to be ok and i was happy.

but the next day, even with only being on liquids, the pain started again. my dr gets back to town tomorrow and i have a feeling he's going to want to do surgery, which i'm going to have to pay for out of pocket if that's the case. and if i have to get it removed, i will have spent $32k for weeks of pain. i don't feel very hopeful because i'm in a lot of pain and there's nothing in my band, so i don't see what he can do to help the situation without doing surgery again to either see what's wrong or take it out.

when i started researching the band, i knew that there were a lot of people who had no problems at all and had a great experience with the band. i also knew that there were people who had issues with constant vomiting, erosion or slippage. i felt like it was kind of a crapshoot because you have no way to predict how your body will respond or what your experience will be. i felt like it was a risk i was willing to take in order to get my life back. in retrospect, i feel like i made the biggest mistake of my life. i have been in almost constant pain for weeks now and spent thousands of dollars.

i am posting this so you can make an informed decision for yourself. you need to know the risks and the benefits and decide if it's worth the risk for you. i definitely don't recommend doing self pay unless you are extremely wealthy. if you have to scrimp and save or take out loans to do the initial surgery, be aware that you may have to have later surgeries. also, i don't think this surgery is for people who are merely 50 lbs overweight, as the risk, in my opinion, outweighs the benefits. if you are someone who has an extremely high bmi and has comorbidities, the risk may be worth taking for you.

anyway, that's just my story so far. just wanted to share so people can know both sides of the coin.

It's nice to know everyone feels the same way on this subject. I haven't had surgery yet. Waiting for insurance approval. But I feel very private about this decision too. I asked my husband not to tell his family. None of them have ever had weight issues. And my in laws would be frightened by the procedure. And as far as my co workers... I don't want to be watched like a science experiment. "What is she eating... how much weight has she lost... All she had to do is go to the gym and exercise!" I , like many of you - I am looking for a better life. Help out of my obesity state; this jail sentence. That NO ONE can understand unless you have been there. I just found this site and look forward to your support as I take this journey.