Purpleshell

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!

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.

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?

I've started barre exercises (Lotte Berk) and its amazing for thighs! Lotte Berk does not recommend running and all her exercises are low impact. My thighs start burning as soon as we start Google Lotte Berk or Barre exercises online. They can be done using a chair instead of the ballet barre and done in the privacy of your own home if you wish. I've only been going for a few weeks but already think my thighs have shrunk! Good luck!

Thank you so much for posting this. I thought I was going crazy!! I had a fill about 2 months ago I think and it was fine. It gave me good restriction like it should and I continued with life eating small meals and losing weight without too much difficulty. I Now for about the last 2 1/2 weeks my band is SO tight and doesn't seem to be getting looser. I used to be able to eat 1 egg scrambled for Breakfast, now I'm lucky to get through 1/2 of it and if I keep it for a snack I it will fill me past lunch. I can no longer eat a small tub of yogurt without feeling absolutely stuffed and when dinner comes along, I'm lucky to eat a few spoonfuls. I thought I must be rushing my food and going back to my old habits, but even when I eat slow and slider food it seems to fill me up. I've also had a lot of stuck episodes. I've just finished my TOM and it maybe is a little bit better but not much. I really don't think I'm getting enough calories in my diet and worried that I will stop losing and be in starvation mode soon. I will weigh myself tomorrow and see whats happening. I'm very happy with my weight loss and want it to continue (70lb in 4 months). I've also noticed that this started when I began exercising. I'm doing a lot of sit ups, crunches, ab workouts etc- could this be doing something? I think I'd better go for a small unfil but I'm scared of putting any weight back on and my Dr is nearly a 2 hour drive away. I guess no one ever said this journey was going to be easy

Thank you all for your useful advice. I'll wait for TOM to finish and see if I feel better. I was able to drink more water today so felt much better. I weighed my protein tonight too. Usually I just eat what I can and I now realise its probably only about 1-1 1/2 oz at any one time, so if this continues I might need a small unfil. Thanks again. The support from here is invaluable.

I had my second fill over a month ago and have been losing weight steadily. I have PB a few times and have had quite a few stuck episodes if I don't eat slowly and chew properly, however I feel like my band is getting tighter. I'm at 5.5cc's in a 10cc band. Its that TOM so I don't know if thats made things tighter, but I didn't notice a difference last month and each day over the past week or so has been different. I usually eat 1egg-scrambled for Breakfast and now I'm full half way through it and not hungry again for hours later. I don't feel like drinking either and that's whats starting to concern me- I don't want to dehydrate. For lunch I can eat a yogurt and be full, as before I would have the yogurt as a snack and a small salad with turkey. Last week I was able to eat a 1/3 of a chicken breast without any problems for dinner and today I was only able to eat a bit of my egg, and not even 1/2 of my salad with beef chili. I didn't even get half eaten and that was over lunch and dinner. Water also seems to fill me up. I can feel it go down slowly but I seem to feel very full after a couple of mouthfuls but I am still thirsty. How do you describe your green zone and approx how much do you eat for one meal? How long should I wait during/after my TOM to see if things settle down? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

I was only on liquids for a day and then pureed foods for 2 weeks. I was then allowed to introduce real food week 3. All doctors are different and if he's happy with your progress and you're allowed chicken noodles soup, (yum) then I wouldn't argue with him.

I was banded on the 6th Dec 10 and have lost 66 pounds. I'm very happy and think I maybe at my sweet spot after 2 fills. If I eat too quickly or not chew properly I slime or get stuck but if I'm careful everything is great and I am full with around a cup or just under in food. I've just started exercising and actually enjoying it.

Mine seems to gets less when I eliminate sugar from my diet. When I say sugar, I mean anything that turns to sugar in the body- eg Carbs. Like the PP said- with weight loss and leg exercises it should get better too.

I can't wait to have this problem congratulations!

My Dr. gave me a cuppa in hospital after I burst into tears. It was heaven! I've been drinking it every morning ever since and it hasn't affected me at all. I'm down over 60 lbs in 16 weeks! I'm sticking to my morning coffee!

So it looks like I'm going to answer my own post I've just got back from the Lotte Berk workout and I feel exhausted! It was amazing and there was no sweat involved! I feel like every muscle in my body has been worked on. I guess that's what happens when you haven't exercised properly for years. lol I will go again (once I'm able to walk properly) and hopefully see a difference soon and start seeing those long lean thighs that Lotte Berk or the Barre methods talk about

I've just heard about the Lotte Berk Technique and how it apparently burns fat and shapes muscles during the workout to get "the body of a dancer" Has anyone tried this? Its meant to be like Madonna's new fitness regime Barre 3- which I'd never heard about before either. There's a lot of abdominal exercises involved and I am wondering how that goes with the lap band. I've had the band now for just over 3 months and haven't done much exercise other than walking. Any info would be appreciated.

I voted for you! Good Luck and let us know if you win.

I'm finding that the numbers on the scale going down don't match my size in clothes going down. I've just gone down another size however the scales didn't move. Also that same week everyone noticed I had lost more weight-even though I hadn't on the scale! It seems like my body shapes changes a few weeks later. Well done on your loss so far and you'll notice a big difference in your clothes soon.

How did you know you had reached your sweet spot? I've had 2 fills. I'm now at 5.5 in a 10 cc band. The last fill has been quite challenging for me. It seemed fine the first week. I noticed the restriction but coped well and lost a few pounds quickly, but then the second week was so much harder as I was sliming and threw my food back up quite often. I seem to be better now and make sure I chew, chew, chew but can only eat small amounts at one time eg: 1/2 - 1 cup of food, can't eat a full apple and depending what I eat get hungry again 2-3 hours later. I'm losing weight still which is fantastic but I feel dizzy after bending down and then standing back up and not sure if I'm getting enough calories. Maybe my body is just adjusting to the limited amount of food- I don't know?! What are your experiences and how did you know you had reached your sweet spot?

That is wonderful Vicki! I'm exactly the same. I never saw myself as the huge person I had become. I never looked at myself in a full length mirror and avoided cameras. When i did see a photo of myself I cringed and couldn't believe it was me. Now I look forward to seeing the changes and braving the camera shots I know I still have a long way to go, but I'm enjoying myself and my new lease on life and can't believe that it was only 3 months ago that I was banded and a different person. Even my boss at work commented on the new me- my attitude and my regained confidence. I love it! Keep up the great work!

I was given a week off. I had my gall bladder out at the same time and felt fine around day 4-5. I just made sure I didn't bend too much and stuck to my liquid diet. It was a bit hard trying to explain my liquid diet to work colleagues, however I told them my Dr wanted me to lose weight and had put me on a strict diet to kick start my weight loss. Christmas luncheons were a bit tricky too I survived though and have managed to keep it a secret from them all so far.