Holly Dolly

I am a year out and wish I was in the green zone! Thought I was there yesterday and then had soup for lunch and realized I was tight. Everyone is different. Yesterday was the first day I didn't feel hungry way before my lunch time and I was excited. But then I ate and realized, that nope that last fill wasn't good. So I had the .4 taken out that she gave me last week. I guess I am in the small minority who the band doesn't help my hunger. Well, with too much restriction it did but I can't live if I can't swallow my own saliva! So after a year of sucking up to eating only what I measured out I am sucking up that I will still be hungry. I am going to up my calories to 1300/day and have a morning and an afternoon snack. I am happy that I had that last fill though because I had been wanting one for the last few months and she thought I was already full enough. So my questioning on whether or not I was full enough has been answered! I go back next month and may try .1 cc and see how that goes.

A lot of people say they are tight in the morning. I am not sure really if I am or not because before breakfast I always a huge cup of hot tea which may loosen it a bit. I would say if you haven't lost since Oct.and you are more hungry now, I would get a fill. Do you keep track of your calories? Maybe you are consuming more than you think. If you end up being too tight, you can always go back in to have some taken out. That's what happened to me this week!

I miss my morning 2 pieces of toast and snow peas with dinner. Now I could still eat the toast but choose not too. As for the snow peas, no matter how much I try and destring it, the still get stuck!

the controversary was with fen/phen. Now they only give you the phentermine. I say whatever it takes, it takes. I feel like it really helped me for a few months.

well, you prob don't have much in your band so everything is prob going down fine. When I had surgery the dr put in 3 cc initially. I am filled to 6.5 and still feel like I can eat pretty much anything, no problem. Only a few things go down slower. You just have to get focused on what you should be eating and stick to it as best that you can.

Where you are at now, I was having 3 shakes a day and having broth, sugar free jello and popsicles. I had my postop visit at 12 days and she said I could start food that night. I started eating fish every day after that for awhile. What are you eating now?

one thing that has changed for me after the band is eating what I really like to eat. Before I would do mindless eating and eat just because it was there. My work is bad and there is always tons of food around. Since I don't eat that big of a portion anymore I savor every bite til the end! I enjoy food way more now than I did before, and never thought that could be possible. I am not one of those that the band has made indifferent to food and not hungry.

when I have had a bad stuck episode, I feel it is harder to eat the next day or so. My dr said that the stomach got swollen around the band and that is why I felt the way I did even a day or 2 later. I actually had a problem today. Didn't even eat much, thought I had finally reached my greenzone and was on cloud nine! Then I had a little bit of soup and a bite of a pastry and bam! There I was feeling like I had to spit up. Did it 2 times in the car and decided to make a beeline for the dr office. She pulled out the .4 cc she put in me last week. I thought better to be safe than sorry because I am going away for 5 days. I go back on the 9th and planning on getting half that amount next time and see how I go from there.

In the beginning I really ate within a small box. My dinners have always varied because I usually will eat whatever I am making for my family. If I make spaghetti I just have the sauce and skip the noodles. other than that, I eat just about everything they do. And crazy thing is, my 14 year old boy now rarely eats any carbs at dinner. He eats a ton of meat and some veggies. The kid has gained 18 pounds since school started! I told him he is gaining what I am losing and soon he will weigh more than me!!

I would say for me it is to aim for 15-20 grams of protein for each meal. For lunch I have 3 oz protein and veggies, sometimes a little bit of fruit. For the last couple of weeks I have been having Lean Cuisines for lunch. For dinner I have 3 oz protein, veggies and 1/4 c potatoes or a small baked potato or other starch. My breakfast of choice was egg whites and an oz of chedder cheese but now I am hooked on CarbMaster yogurt, 1/2 c Kashi Go Lean Crunch cereal and a few chopped up strawberries. The foods that I avoid now are bread, pasta, raw carrots, and my beloved snow peas. Obvious foods to avoid are cookies, chips, ice cream, crackers.....all the bad stuff that goes down easy!

I have been pretty good from the beginning measuring and weighing what my meal should be. I finish it all almost every time. Sometimes I feel I can eat more but I choose not too. I was like you before surgery, I would eat dinner til I was stuffed! Just didn't seem right if I didn't. It was a hard thing to grasp to eat a meal and not feel full. A week ago I went out for dinner and had more rice than I should have. I had about 1/2 cup and normally I would have 1/4. Well, as soon as I got into the car I was stuffed! It may be the first time I really felt full since having the surgery. It was nice to see that I do not miss that feeling at all. Like Brown said above, it is a learning process!

Honestly, I have had the faith from day 1 that this IS my last diet. I am one year out and had my 9th fill last week. I finally feel restriction and for the first time today have gone over 4 hours before I got hungry. I am having some soup now and totally content after just a few bites. I may be a tad tight right now, but I am going to wait to decide if I want a little out on my next visit the first week of March. Good luck to you, it will get better! I waited a year to get here and I swear I feel like pinching myself to make sure I am not dreaming!

at first when I saw it I would have been mad if it was mine! But you know what, when you lose the weight it would more than likely show anyways. So there prob isn't much fat on top of it that you would be losing later. Hopefully it wont get any more noticeable than that.

I ate pretty much the same thing everyday for Breakfast and lunch. I would switch it up every few months. My dinner depends on what I am making for the family. breakfast- 2 egg whites, 1 oz chedder cheese. or I would do 1/2 oz cheese and have half an OroWheat thin toast with the eggs. Now I am having a yogurt with 1/2 c Kashi Go Lean Crunch Cereal with a couple of strawberries chopped up. Lunch- 2 or 3 ounces lunch meat, 1 oz sliced chedder, veggies and a few grapes. or canned chicken with 1/2 T mayo and veggies. NOw I have been having some Lean Cuisines. My dinner just depends. But I usually have 3 ounces Protein, veggies and 1/4 mashed potatoes or a small baked potato. It has been easy for me because this is what I would have normally ate for the meals before. Except I do miss not having toast for breakfast now. It is prob the only thing I really miss! Sometimes eating the same things gets boring but it is easy to plan and I know where I am at caloriewise. I also really like these carmelized onion chicken patties from costco. Add a little teriyaki and it is so good! Anyways, all this talking about food, I am ready for lunch!

My dr put me on phentermine back in October. I took it for 3 months. She gave it to a few of my friends in the office also. My hunger was still out of control and she thought I was already on the high end of my band being filled. I was at 6.5 in a 10cc band. I got another fill last week and this one is doing it for me. I am finally able to go longer than 2 to 2.5 hours without getting hungry! It's a first! I have dealt with the hunger for a year now, told her I wanted the band to control my hunger not the pills. I like how phentermine works. It controlled my hunger well. But I paid $14 k for surgery and don't want to rely on a pill. In retrospect, I wish the fills were done using xray so we could tell when my band was in the sweet spot. It was a long time coming to get to this point! If you feel good restriction and are still feeling hungry, I would ask for them.

woo hoo, look at you!!! Amazing inspiration there CincyUdy!

Life is TOO short to NOT enjoy chocolate! I log my food intake, so I am accoutable for the calories. Takes the guilt away!

that's a whole lotta "sick and tireds" that will be a thing of the past! Good luck to you, you are now less than a week away!

u4leigh, I was a slow loser in the beginning and look where I am at now. Everyone is different with their weightloss. I know how it is though, I am very impatient! First to admit it, but amazed really how fast my first year went. No regrets!

Cazzy, I was thinking the same thing too. Get your bf on board, research this out together and maybe he will decide it may be a good decision for himself to have it done. Nothing better than having someone to go through it with. And better yet, you live together! What more could you ask for?!