B-52

Quick...where's the "UNLIKE button.......(ONLY JOKING) but making a point......

They are still my favorite "MUSHIE" On those tight band days...it's a nice soft food to go down....

I totally understand where the OP is coming from, and I too have a belief what a forum like this is supposed to be like.... But CHEER UP!!! I understand that soon we can all hate each other...or give each other the "Thumbs Up OR the Thumbs Down" So when you make a post, everyone will judge you and what you say....

Yep...can't wait to leave this forum again....but then there are those that would like to see me, and others go.... Somehow I think that there is something wrong about being judged "thumbs up or thumbs down," "Like or Hate" "acceptable and Non acceptable" based purely on someones desire to express themselves..... I would suppose knowing that the "police" will be watching, a lot less people will be willing to speak up....unless of course they have favor with the prison guards.... But then again...just like people become leaders based upon the "Likes" they receive, maybe we can start another tally and post the leaders of the "Hates" received....and post it for all to see just as the "Likes" are..... There are all kinds of Orwell things we can do with this..... I think I will need to put a Blue dot over my face......less someone recognizes me.... I'm gonna change my profile and become a "troll" (I'm sorry, but I'm a product of the 60's and I can get....well never mind, no one here would understand )

Crab Cakes are my all time favorite, and fallback food ever since getting banded.....but I'm not too concerned about calories so I buy mine from the store....

I belong to this other site...having to do with travel actually, and it was suggested that everyone's points and status levels be removed....no one objected, untill it was done...then there was a mutiny.....everyone being equal.... I was wondering what people's reactions here would be....so far no one seems to care about their points....

I have - had a pretty big gas tank in reserve to burn...... Now I have to put gas in the tank to work out.... Our bodies store fat for those days when food sources are scarce...to survive....

I am 2 years out, and have been at my goal.....my Dr. tells me because it is lifestyle, as as long as I continue in that lifestyle (rest of my life?) my body will stop loosing when it feels it is ready to...in other words, things will reach a normal state...and stay there..... Anything can happen I suppose, but I cannot imagine gaining my weight back...as long as the band remains intact...and the only way I can imagine the band changing is if I encounter some sort of Medical Issue, and the band would need to be modified, unfilled, or removed.... As far as averages....it is just that...an average...meaning there is a high side - 100% weight loss, and a low side....complete failure, for SOME reason not specified....so in the middle you have an average...and that is what you are told...an AVERAGE.....

I usually go to the gym every morning between 5-6, but I had a long stressful day yesterday at the Hospital, so I'm taking it easy this morning.... and I am BUMMED by missing....I will go later today around 3, but for now I am down.......

Green Zone............... NOT HUNGRY....People say 4-5 hours between meals....I experience No Hunger 24/7...I mean the band is there 24/7 so is the effects....the signal sent to my brain for me anyhow., and many other people I know.... PORTION CONTROL....I do not measure or weigh my food....My band dictates to me when to stop eating, automatically setting portion sizes... GOOD WEIGHT LOSS.....with no hunger or cravings, and automatic portions when I do eat, this is a no brainer....how can it not happen. PATIENT SATISFACTION.....I have NO COMPLAINTS!!! No whining here! I COULD NOT BE MORE SATISFIED!! This is what I learned during my research before being banded, and this is what I expected after being banded.....I WOULD NOT SETTLE OR COMPROMISE FOR ANYTHING LESS.... I am happy to say I have been in the Green Zone for over 12 months, and experience all these things every day....I LOVE MY BAND.... Once I got into the Green Zone, this became the EASIEST THING to do to loose weight.....People say it's hard work and takes determination....well for me, that may have been true ONLY to get to the Green Zone, first 4-6 months for me.....after that...it became a normal lifestyle with the word Diet out of my vocabulary.....true, there where many lessons to learn along the way.... THIS is what the band is designed to do, in my opinion, and THIS is the way my life is now....others may have different experiences, but THIS IS MINE........You can't argue with success..... I read all these different posts on this forum about this and that....and everyone's opinion how the band should and should not work....some don't have a clue I have learned......IN MY OPINION people should be asking themselves whether or not they are in the Green Zone, and if not, WHY.....

Because people are basically irresponsible....give them an inch and they'll screw it up.....abuse it.....and screwing up your band by carbonation abuse can have dangerous results.... Speaking with my DR., he said I would be surprised how many people who have undergone this surgical procedure, just don't understand what is actually happening... It's much easier to tell everyone No....and not worry about who knows what....it's the same for a lot of rules we are taught to do..... ( he knows I drink beer, but he asked me a lot of questions first then finally nodded his head and said Ok....)

I'm not a big drinker...but I drink the same as before I was banded.....and that includes beer....just have to know what you're doing...and if you are still trying to loose weight or not...

I say get rid of all the buttons....and the "like" tallies....Points counted...points leaders..... This is nothing more than a competition for some people ....???

You may hate it now...but once the REWARDS start happening, you won't be able to get enough of it! I live for those endorphins ....... I used to be embarrassed.....tried to stay low key..... But now...(and excuse me, I'm just a harmless dirty old man)....but I love running on the treadmill with a young Bunny on either side, and me keeping up! Talk about motivation!

6 days post-op....hate to say it but it is going to get rougher before it get's better..... I was convinced I wasted my time and effort going through all this...kicked a lot of garbage cans, etc.... It took me at least 4 months before I could tell a REAL change taking place....something totally different than traditional dieting..... As far as hunger...a big lesson I learned is to differentiate between " Head Hunger" and genuine hunger.....or understanding the signals the band was sending me.... But early on the band ws not speaking to me all that much, if at all..... After a few months, a few fills, and learning to "listen" to my band....I can now say I am very rarely hungry anymore.... But don't worry...this thing really does work! REALLY!

My first tattoo..... I was sitting at a bar in the Philippines during the Vietnam war.....I paid 5 dollars to have a tat put on my left shoulder....she did it with a sharpened piece of bamboo and a bottle cap of ink.... never left the bar stool...... Years later, I had it covered up with a professional tat....the studio got a kick out of it...took many pictures and wrote down my story...they said this was one of those "classics" that needed to be remembered.... I won't say what it was, it was not dirty, per say, but the people in the tattoo parlor called it "Porn" but it wasn't....but I got tired of explaining it and telling the story to people whenever I had my shirt off....

There are too many people here with too big of ego's.....I could care less about people's "Cred's" etc,.... This is the Internet...people need to get a life as opposed to making themselves feel important and look to get their ego's stroked..... I just want to know people's experiences...good and bad...with this surgery so I can live and learn....and enjoy my life.... I also have a few people blocked...these are people who appear to me to be "Know it alls"....with little or no first hand experience.....always ready to tell other people what they should or should not do...what is the right and wrong way...... I just want to know what worked and did not work for other people.... And yes, I have a story to share...but it is my story...not something I THINK should happen.....

Well said....there is a life after lap band... I am Now NORMAL...I no longer diet, count calories or measure/weigh food portions (not that I needed to with the band) I go to parties, drink beer, enjoy life's little culinary pleasures, EVERYTHING a normal person does....don't run away from cookies, ice cream, chips and dip......I just don't make a pig of myself...ANYMORE A normal person ALSO, as you have pointed out, EATS LESS...they may do it out of habit, I do it because of corrective surgery....(bu they don't need to know that) A normal person ALSO stays very active....whether in the gym, cycling, kyacking, hiking, sports, WHATEVER..ALL of the above.... We call it diet and exercise...they don't even think about it...just enjoy it....and call it NORMAL There IS LIFE AFTER all of this....there is an end....

Loosing weight...BURNING FAT...is all about burning more calories than you consume....always has been, always will be...every diet plan under the sun is designed to get to you to eat less and exercise more...however the gimmick....surgery happens to be what worked for me to eat less.....other people find dieting and hard work works best for them....just like on TV.... We also need energy and our metabolism running ...... 1lb of fat = 3500 calories To burn 1 lb of fat (weight) per week, you would need to burn 500 calories per day MORE than you consume... So, if you consume 1000 calories per day, to loose that 1 lb, you would need to burn 1500 calories that day also...... Speaking for myself and myself only...I do not count calories...one of the most liberating things that ever happened to me on this weight loss journey is letting go of all that and just start living and listening to the band.....I do not play into the starvation mode so easily...makes perfect sense on paper for people of normal weight but not for people who have enough energy stored away as excess fat to last for months.... I always workout first thing in the morning....as early as 5am...ALWAYS on an empty stomach...will have a shot of Protein and Vitamins though, not to mention my 2 cups of coffee every morning.... my thinking is that if I am going to run 5 miles, I want my body to burn the stored fat I have for fuel source rather than what I just ate, saving that saved fuel for some other day...like being on Gilligan's Island or something.... After my workout I have a high protein, low calories smoothie as a recovery....replenishes and satisfies..... Even now that I am at a normal weight and no body fat to loose, I still do not like to eat before working out....just the protein and vitamins.... If we needed to eat more to loose more, then none of us would be fat!! (I just like saying that) Again...I am simply stating what has been working for me and made my journey successful and complete...other people will have their own stories to share on what has worked for them....(not what they think is correct)

You are correct....they inflate the body cavity to easier acess the areas for surgery.....they try to extracrt as much of this as possible when they sew you up.....it does travel up under the rib cage and accumulates in the left shoulder area.......it can be very painful....standing orders in hospitals is to get the patient up and walking asap...this is the ONLY thing that will/can help.... Things like Gas-x stay WITHIN the digestive system...have nothing to do with the "Gas" people refer to from sugery outside the digestive system in the body cavity.......the 2 CANNOT combine, if they did then you have real some SERIOUS PROBLEMS!!!!

Funny....I had to take the 6 month diet also...BUT I was told it was because my insurance co. needed it in my record that I had undergone the 6 month Physician supervised diet, and in that I failed....therefore WLS is indicated..... My word that diets didn't work...had to be documented as such by a Dr....... I did not learn anything I did not know, or try, before with any other of the dozens of diets I have tried, and failed at..... Also, as with any diet, I did good at first, then began to cheat, then utterly failed by the time 6 months rolled around.....

Wow....good info...learn something new....I did not know a complete un-fill (rest) can take care of it.... Thanks

First, see your Dr..... How long have you been banded? When was your last fill? Are you eating / drinking anytime before going to bed? A sign of a slipped band is when everything is status quo for quite some time, everything going well.....weight loss, good restriction and portion control.....can not be happier.... THEN right out of nowhere for no good reason you start having issues....

What device are you usuing.....My I-pad will post when I hit eneter to go to the next line....my PC's do not.....

I am a cardiac patient....one heart attack, coronary artery disiease, surgery...... I take "LOVAZA" every morning....and it has definitley made a difference in my cholesterol......to say the least.... LOVAZA is Rx only, and last refill cost $250...Inurance paid...it is not gummies..... You won't get me to stop....