B-52

I'm a big coffee drinker....so I picked up where I left off maybe 24hours after surgery...on my 2nd cup as I type this, @ 5am.....then heading off to the gym. Never affected my weight loss..... My weight loss has always been about the Quantity and Quality of the food I eat...very little, and very good......

You've mentioned everything that YOU are doing...even mentioned that YOU are afraid to fail the bad....is the Band doing anything for you? Or are you trying to do it all by yourself..... Not nit-picking, but sometimes we loose sight as to why we went through this surgery.......

I have not lost any weight in over a year now.....but since I started running...5 miles per day, 5 days a week....I dropped 2 clothing sizes..... I had someone say to me "You're a runner, right? I can tell..." All all the exercises one can do....running is the best for burning calories and and toning up he body...including loose skin..

Keep it up...should be encouraging....What was your starting weight??

I did not tell anyone...other than the closest family members that needed to know.... As far as SOCIAL STIGMA'S I am as thin...MORE THINNER than most people around me....I am MORE PHYSICALLY FIT than most people I know...and if I consider my age group that is a very small fraternity... Social Stigma's??? I have to chastise myself when I observe Obese People trying to get out of a car, or huffing and puffing simply from walking......and I do ask myself WHY DON"T THEY DO SOMETHING..... Which Social group would you rather be in??? I don't make any excuses for turning, no check that......SAVING MY LIFE....... EASY way out? SO WHAT......yes, for me it was the easiest thing I could have ever done (after hitting the Green Zone, first 4-6 months was hard) but dieting....now that was hard...so hard in fact I could not do it and failed numerous times, each time I failed it LOWERED my self esteem.........but what does that matter to anybody but myself and those closest to me.....

I love that...."Remember this feeling" Also, I agree...I will stand and stare into the refrigerator and forget what I'm looking for....I guess I do it out of old habit...but staring I see nothing that I really want.....and realize I'm not hungry and really don't need anything........

Wow...that sounds high... On one hand the band is designed, just as any traditional diets do, designed to get us to eat less....overeating is why we are fat..... Then your Dr wants you to eat more...for me it would be eating AGAINST the band.... But it's your Dr. and to make things work you need to follow his/her plan...... For me, my Dr. NEVER preached to me about calories...just concentrate on Protein and Water.....and that's still all I ever do....and it worked just fine... Eat more to loose weight.....I know there is truth in there somewhere...it just rubs against MY common sense....but that's just me....I have always found that when I wanted to loose weight it was always about eating less....

When I told my Dr. I was having problems with red meat, he said most of his patients cannot tolerate ground beef.... I tried ground turkey, etc, but that did not work...all they're doing is trying to replicate the texture of ground beef...so the effects for me were the same..... Because of the overwhelming health benefits, I took it as an opportunity to stop eating all Red Meat altogether....and I CAN tell the difference....

That is what the band will do...at east for me...but it took a few months to get to that point......you're experiencing it now....it may drift away, hopefully not....there are people who can go for a very long time without getting much of a fill..... Green Zone says "No Hunger" Does not say anything about being full.....although I hear people say that all the time....but I have never felt full...impossible for me because I cannot eat enough food for that "Old" unbuckle my pants feeling.....(only if I have more than 1 beer, it gets close) When the band is working, it sends a signal to the brain, telling your brain that you are full...and that you have no desire to eat anymore....thus the "Lack of Interest" in food....WITHOUT actually FEELING full.....It's hard to explain to some, but I don't know how else to describe it.... I have to remind myself that I need to eat most times, especially when I am pre occupied with some other activity.... I have been NOT BEEN HUNGRY.....have had NO INTEREST in food, for well over 1-1/2 years now....THAT'S a characteristic of being in the Green..... I have never sold the band short....I wanted..and have received, EVERYTHING I was told the band was designed to do...... Of course, the band is adjustable and I could determine where I want to be with it...but I wanted it all..... Don't sell the band short......

Because I no longer have any belly fat...mine sticks out like a golf ball right under my skin...Dr asked me if I get any "alien" jokes at the gym.... Anyway it does not bother me...as I was loosing weight I would get a sharp stitch type pain....my Dr said it is sewn to the muscular wall, and as I loose weight and my abbs tighten, that would be expected.... My last visit he said he can move it for me if I liked....more around the side where it is less conspicuous...I said I'll think about it...but they can move it.....

Welcome to the "White Knuckle Club" Even after my first fill, 4 weeks after surgery and 4cc's........I GAINED weight because it made no difference, and I was allowed to eat regular solid food at that point... 2nf fill started to make a difference, 4 weeks after my first, 8 weeks after surgery..... Something we all go through...unless you have a great deal of willpower...but then, if you did, you would not have needed WLS.... Hang in there...there is life at the other end...and it is worth it!!!! Oh, I was in Bandster Hell for about 4-5 months, and then purgatory for 2 more months figuring out what the heck was going on between my band and myself...the band won......

Never tied it to protein....but ever since this surgery.....definitely a change....

If you're laughing, you're getting it....

It is very funny....I'm having fun with this......I guess there are those who think I'm serious...... I could care less....this s the Internet! People come and go......It's not the city planning board...... I have a real life....this is entertaining to say the least...I'm curious to see where it actually goes...... You have the right attitude.......

IMHO, that is how it should be.....I read posts, look at their profile and success also....What gets me is when someone talks with authority and TELLS people that THIS IS THE ONLY WAY....etc, etc...I look at their profile and see they have only been banded for a few months, etc, etc...and I wonder where are they getting their information from? certainly not experience,,,,, If they started their statement with something like "This is what my Dr. taught me" I could accept that......but people with ego's...that is something else... we don't need committees or monitors....we can keep each other honest by our own experiences, examples and stories..... BTW, IMHO means "In My Honest Opinion"

My last fill, it took me about a month for thing to settle down entirely.... I could not get anything down the first week and came close to calling my Dr. I decided to give it a rest also..trying to force foods so close to a fill only kept irritating it.....during the "rest" I stuck with Soups, shakes, and things like mashed potatoes and other mushie foods.... eventually things started to get better.....actually I feel I CHANGED also... I know a lot of people who experience this and stuck it out.....I also know people who went and had a slight un-fill....not going to say one was right or one was wrong.... I will say, I am very glad I stuck it out...i enjoy the restriction I currently have, and have had for about 20 months now..... You'll never hear me complain about being hungry - tempted with foods and fear of over eating,....It's just not part of me anymore.... I am, not only comfortably in the Green Zone....but have also found that "groove" where life just goes on from day to day as though I never had the band....everything taken for granted and has become part of me...not some set of rules I need to remember or abide by....I suppose there are rules, but I don't have to think about them anymore.. Well, the only "rule" I need to adhere to is "Listen to my band" and obey what it is saying....otherwise....

A committee for every forum topic......"All Chiefs and No Indians" I'm curious too...a committee to do what? Sounds like big government....if not big brother.... This whole subject is so LAUGHABLE.....and getting funnier every hour......for the 3 years I've been here, I did not even know there were any problems that needed this kind of scrutiny...

Ready for this??? Dr. Seun Sowemimo, M.D. Central Jersey Bariatrics Centr-State Hospital, Freehold... centraljerseybariatrics.com They're also out of Bayshore Hospital where I had all my testing done....

Should be fine....the storm is moving up the east coast and won't reach Boston till later in the day.... If it were me, I'd get to the islands and hope for storms so I could not get back Home...... Have a Red Stripe for me........

Thumbs up Thumbs down can be abused.....there are clearly personality differences here...I have a few people "Ignored".... But if a person or group people wanted to, they can "Thumbs Down" EVERY post you make, not for the content of what you say, but just because it is you.... A person can easily be "Voted off the Island" socially....

Sorry to hear...and Thanks for the response.....myself, and other people here are always concerned about possible complications and reasons for them.....

I'm more interested on why you're having the band removed...... and how long has it been since your surgery???

YES!!!! It's 4am, having my coffee....reading my E-mails, and the School I was scheduled for clinic today, a CP Center way up North, is CLOSED today..... I can either go back to bed, or go to the gym before it starts snowing....I'm heading to the Gym.....!!

I live right on the coast, and we are being warned of flooding, and power outages.... Snow or no snow, this is a classic "nor easter", but a big one...like hurricanes in the summer, we get these in the winter....and they can carry a lot of moisture, and hurricane force winds... I have my generator all ready to go...we were without power for 13 days with sandy.... I'm hoping I get the day off tomorrow....

It's none of my business what the Admins want to do with this site...... Bottom line...I do not want to judge or be judged...... I come here simply to share my story with others who have had the same experience and have their stories to share..... I do not want to tell people what they should or should not do....no do I want people telling me what I should or should not do.... If I'm going to be judged for that......for sharing something that is truthful and sometimes personal....well then.....have fun! I'll sit back to wait and see.......