Purpleshell

It's my 1 year bandversary today and I'm down 48 kilos (over 100 pounds) and at the goal weight my Dr set!! Wooohoooo!!! I would like to lose another 5 kilos (can't believe I can say such a small number LOL) but will be very happy if I can maintain this weight. This has been an incredible year and one of the best things I've done for myself. Its fantastic to read all the wonderful posts and the successes. I look forward to reading a lot of bandversary results this month

Good luck to all of the December 2011 bandsters!! I am a December 2010 Bandster and remember exactly what you are all going through. I just popped into your thread to wish you all the best and a successful weight loss journey. The band has helped me to lose over 100 pounds. Its not always easy but well worth it.

Have you had any luck finding a Dr in Shanghai? I've moved to China and need a Dr for follow ups, fills, unfills etc. If you have any further info could you please post?? Thanks!

YES! I haven't had a winter for 8 years so my body is definitely feeling the change. My band is so much tighter and this is the only explanation. My last Dr's appointment was in may and I had an unfill!! Now I can hardly keep my food down and have lost 10 kilos (20 pounds) in a few weeks. I didn't lose much weight after the unfill to now, so this is a pleasant surprise. Its not getting any looser either. I'm off to a warmer climate for Xmas, so it will be interesting to see what happens. I was hoping to see a Dr then and get a check up and things sorted before I come back to snow!

WOW Great work everyone! I haven't been on here for months. Moving countries, new job, kids etc. I just haven't had time. My weight loss stagnated for most of the time I've been away from the forum. I had an unfill back in May and haven't had a check up or found a Dr here in China. Then suddenly the weather changes here and get rather cold (for me anyway) and my band is suddenly tighter and I've lost another 10 kilograms!!! I can't work it out. It almost feels like I need another unfill as I can't each much at all and its quite uncomfortable at times. I've even had to go back to the protein shakes. I'm not really complaining though as I'm only 4 kilos off the Dr's goal weight (I want more). I didn't think I would ever get there for a while and was starting to just accept it. I now might reach my goal by my bandversary and Xmas after all! Keep up the great work everyone.

So its been a bit quiet on here lately! I haven't posted for ages but love reading everyones experiences. Beergut- I hope you bought some new clothes, you will feel so much better and it will give you a boost to lose those last few pounds. I'm buying a few new things each month and it is really making me feel good and excited to lose more. I'm not buying expensive things as I hope to be out of them soon and I'm finding that the 'normal size' clothes stores are a lot cheaper anyway. Its just realizing that I can actually go into them now and not be embarrassed. Well its been 6 months (yesterday) since I was banded and I am down nearly 39 kilos thats 85 pounds! I'm very happy but still want MORE! My Dr only wants me to lose another 10 kg (22pounds) but I want to lose 15-20 kilos more! I'll see how it all goes. Since I've had an un-fill I've started losing again but very slowly. I'm loving that I can eat properly again and not throwing up after every meal. I will try to insert a before and after photo. Hope you are all well!

I'm moving to China soon and need to find a Fill Dr. Shanghai will be my closest city. Do you have any information you could pass on? Any info would be appreciated.

I'm moving to China and need to find a Dr who can do adjustments. I will be moving close to Shanghai. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Are you still in Shanghai? I'm moving near Shanghai this year and needing information regarding fills and lap band Dr's in the Shanghai area.

How many fills have you all had? 2 and 1 unfill How many cc's are in your band? 4.5cc What kind of band & what size is it? Lapband 10cc Do you feel like you are at your sweetspot? No not anymore. My last fill was fantastic and I was losing the right amount of weight and then suddenly it became too tight. I was vomiting daily and hardly eating anything. Then I stopped losing weight! So now I've had a 1cc unfill and I feel great but can eat way too much! I even ate a slice of pizza last night which I wasn't even able to swallow before! Who knows?!! I'm either under eating or overeating My Dr wants me to go back for another fill (1cc) in a few weeks but I think I will ask for .5cc. I don't want to be overfilled again and I will just have to work harder to get the scale moving backwards again.

Yeah I had my un-fill and I feel fantastic...... but very hungry! I can drink water again without it hurting and enjoyed 1/2 cup of coffee! The Dr. took 1 cc out which surprised me. I was hoping he would only take out 0.5 cc, so I'm only 0.5 cc more than my last fill. Most of my restriction has gone. He said I needed to give my stomach/pouch a rest for a few weeks and then go back for a refill. He also mentioned that I could have aggravated the band by eating spicy food or by drinking something really hot. He explained that spicy food often sits longer in the pouch / band area and can irritate the stomach lining near the band. Anyone else heard of this? The effect was immediate so now I have to make sure I only eat small meals and continue my exercise regime and maybe put up with my hunger pangs. Better than a lump in the chest and water hurting going down though, not to mention the vomiting and sliming and weight loss slowing down! Dr. was very pleased with my weight loss and only wants me to lose 15 more kilos (33lb). I want to lose more, but he said I might be disappointed and never get there if I set the goal to high as the people with the lap band don't always lose 100 % of their excess weight. Well I didn't tell him that this board proves that theory wrong and there are heaps of people reaching their goal and plenty going under their goal. I'm aiming to be one of those people! However, 15 kilos seems so much closer than 20. Maybe I'll make this my mini goal

Congratulations Joan! How exciting! I'm nearly at my goal of no longer being obese and only overweight which will then bring me under 100 (kilos that is). I've taken the day off work today to get an unfill. I can't stand it anymore. The lump I'm feeling in my chest constantly and tiny amount of food that I can actually keep down is driving me crazy and the scale didn't move this week! I found a Dr nearby yesterday but he refused to help me out and told me I need to go back to my Dr which is a 1 1/2 hours drive away. So I spent another unpleasant night with my stomach gurgling and slight reflux. I can't wait to see the Dr. this afternoon. I still can't work out why my band is getting tighter. Its been over 2 weeks now and each day is getting worse. The only thing I've been doing differently is lots of exercise and ab workouts! Who knows it doesn't make sense to me.

I went to the movies recently and had a few handfuls of my daughters caramel popcorn. It was sooooo good and thankfully didn't get stuck. It was a treat and doesn't happen very often so I enjoyed every bit of it. My band is very tight at the moment so I think if I ate before the movie I wouldn't be able to snack now even if I wanted to. I like the idea of the atkins bar and I love sunflower seeds. You could try blueberries too. They're small, healthy and you can have more than 1 so you get the feeling of munching during the movie.

I should have been more specific. My friend was banded a month ago. I was banded 4 months ago. I thought her Dr meant no sit ups forever! I would have never been able to straight after surgery. It took me three months to get serious about exercising

A friend was just banded and told by her Dr that she can do any type of exercises as long as it doesn't involve sit ups, crunches etc. My Dr. hasn't told me anything about this and I have started to do serious ab workouts 3 x a week. It doesn't hurt and I'm actually enjoying them What has your Dr. told you? Am I doing damage? PS: My band has become tighter since starting my exercise classes, has this happened to anyone else?