donnalemaster

I am a female with a 12cc band. I can eat breads, Pasta, rice, you name it- I can eat it. I have 9cc's in and am getting another fill next Thursday. The only thing I have any issues with are fibrous foods and it isn't because they get stuck- my tummy just has a hard time digesting them. My best friend who also has the band is only filled to 6cc's and cannot eat ANYTHING lap-banders are not supposed to eat, so it just goes to show. . . . . it's different for everyone.

Hi, Courtney! First, I am with Maryanne regarding your husband. . .what is it EXACTLY that he is opposing? Is he maybe afraid you might not make it through the surgery and fears losing you? There is something else there- it isn't just the 'diet and exercise' thing. Secondly, you have taken your first step for support by joining here. Next, your Dr. should have supplied you with some support group locations and times- you need to get in there and join right away. Thirdly, your Dr. should have made you sit through LOTS of education (seminars, web education, reading materials, etc) to make sure you FULLY understand what the lap-band is, the surgery, how it works, etc., etc. THIS is the type of information to be shared with those who are not supporting your choice. It is usually ignorance of the device that causes people to oppose it. I had quite a few 'enlightened' friends after I educated them and now they are considering having it done. Education is power. Once you FULLY understand everything there is to know, you can help stave off nay sayers by educating them. Of course, there will be those die hards and you just have to 'live and let live' with them, but educate yourself so that you can educate them instead of feeling like you're defending your decision. We are all here to support you, so if you ever need us, just let us know!!!! Good luck to you, Courtney!

I have started monitoring my intake in fitday.com and upped my workouts to 30 minutes 5x a week. Just this week I have lost 5 pounds but more importantly I've had TONS of energy and my clothes are getting extremely lose so something is definitely happening. Bfast: 2 HUGE cups of coffee w/ splenda and 1/4 cup 1% per cup 1/2 cup oatmeal w/ 1TB butter and 1/4 c evaporated milk Lunch: Usually salad w/ chicken added, homemade oil/vinegar dressing OR 98% fate free turkey and swiss on rye with a TB mayo Dinner: Because I eat with my family, this varies nightly but my calorie intake has been between 800-1300 daily. My baseline is 1800 so -700 from that and I should be averaging 1100 daily. My Protein is supposed to be 90g p.d. per my nutritionist

I have the same insurance as you and I used Dr. Douglas Krahn with Western Bariatric. I cannot say enough about him, his staff, and his P.A. They are all awesome and I would VERY HIGHLY RECOMMEND him. His office is in San Bernardino, however. I found him when some nurses/doctors at my work had done LOTS of research and their choice was Dr. Krahn. He has a website as well if you would like to check him out: www.westernbariatric.com Good luck!

I would VERY HIGHLY recommend tracking your food and getting back to exercise.. I wasn't losing weight until some people on here gave me that advice and I've had mine almost a year (I still don't have enough restriction yet, though). If you really want your fills to work- start changing your lifestyle. I know it's hard with a baby but just try to eek out 20 minutes a day to walk 5 days a week and count your calories- you'll lose fast! Good luck!

Thanks to everyone who has offered advice!!!! I've actually LOST a few pounds. I think I was eating TOO MUCH! Since I've started keeping track of my food and exercise (fitday.com), I've come to find I was taking in too many calories for the activities I was doing. Not to mention- my husband likes to eat burgers and bad food every weekend so I think that was doing me in too! This weekend I told him to only go where I can get something healthy. Threw a wrench in his plans, but he's always telling me to increase my workouts so I can eat what I want- nevermind that that is what he does and he has high cholesterol and high uric acid. No thanks! Anyhow, I am increasing my workouts to 5 days from 3, staying at 30 minutes, but I'll be doing the treadclimber Tues/Thurs and the stationary bike M/W/F. PLUS watching my food intake- I think I will start dropping much faster very soon. I DEFINITELY need another fill! They are wanting me to eat 3oz. of meat and I am still easily at 6 oz. This is much smaller than before the band but still too much. I can still eat quite a bit. Anyhow- I will give you all another update in about a week! Thank you all so much again for your great advice!!!!

Holding Steady @ 242 but clothes are getting very loose and I have energy in abundance so something is happening. . . .

YES!!!!! Go to fitday.com- I LOVE IT! Just about every food you can think of AND it's nutritional information is there! If it isn't, you can customize food (put in your own name/nutritional info). It keeps track of everything: calories, fat, carbs, Protein, even exercise and how many calories you've burned in comparison to calories taken in! It might sound a bit daunting but it really is easy! I started it 3 days ago and have lost 2 pounds just by monitoring my intake! I wanted to tell you also, please, please, please be sure you follow your doctors pre-op diet. It is difficult to do but it is important; 1- so your liver will lose weight and not get in the way of the surgery and get nicked, 2- to helpyou heal and get through the surgery FAR easier than if you don't follow the diet. It was extremely difficult for me to do the liquid part! I used to use a diet called Medifast where all you did was drink 5 shakes a day- so that is what I did. This way I had all my protein. But i ate tomato Soups and broths too. I lost 6# pre-op. . . .goes to show you how slowly I lose weight. Anyhow- please don't hesitate to contact me if you have anymore questions or worries!

That's great! My friend lost weight like this too. My portion sizes are much smaller but still not as small as they should be. I lost more than 20# after my surgery but because I need alot of restriction and my Doctor likes to take it slow, I gained 10# back. So I will be in for another adjustment which will bring me up to 10cc's (my friend that lost all the weight only has 6cc's in hers). T This is the beauty of the lapband- it can be tailored to each person's need. . .I obviously need more restriction than most. Good luck to you.

I understand your apprehensions! It took me well over a year to finally get my surgery date because I was so undecided and my thinking was along the same lines. What changed my mind was by the time I'd finally gotten my date- I had gained more weight. This brought me to realize there was no way I was ever going to lose weight and get rid of my knee/back/ankle pains and lack of ability to walk long distances UNLESS I followed through. I was just so afraid that I wouldn't wake up from being put under. I came to find my peace and accepted that if God wanted me to come home than His will be done. . .and I moved forward with the surgery. My weight loss has been very, very slow compared to many other people, but I have done this to myself. I spent so many of my young years starving myself that I taught my body well how to store fat. When I got older and ate like a horse- I put on pound after pound. Now that I'm eating very little, my body has gone back to starvation mode and is holding onto the fat for dear life. I don't say this to discourage you, only to demonstrate that your past behaviors can bite you in the butt when it comes to weight loss. In time, my body will learn it IS being fed and will stop storing the fat. Ultimately the decision is yours but I must say, even though my weight loss has been very slow, it is still one of the BEST things I've ever done (preceded only by my marriage to my husband and having my beautiful children). I wish you the very, very best!

Thank you all for your advice! I've NEVER been a bfast eater so this is really hard for me! I had a banana this morning so I will call that bfast! I am not a big egg eater and I know that is more along the lines of what I should be eating! When my pullets start to lay I will start eating them- I don't like store bought eggs- AT ALL!!! I started yesterday on fitday.com and am logging my food. I hope all of this helps. I will increase my workout to 4 days. I have a VERY hard time increasing my intensity as I have exercise induced asthma and my lungs burn and sting and I can hardly breathe when I overdue it so I'm trying not to overdue things. I AM getting exercise, though. I will get back to ya'll in a few days to let you know how things are going! Thank you all again!!!!!

coffee in the a.m. (splenda and milk), lunch is usually whatever I can throw together but usually 98% fat-free turkey lunch meat slices rolled around swiss cheese (3-4), then whatever I make for dinner. I usually grill meat or bake it- I never fry. My Protein is where my nutritionist wants it (based on the fitday program that keeps track of everything and carbs are a bit below protein intake) and I'm burning more calories than I am taking in so it just doesn't make sense to me at all.

YEP! I totally agree! I just joined a couple of days ago and put up one post. Pretty rude response- assuming I was doing nothing but sitting around waiting for my weight to come off. Let's encourage and help one another- not be so rude, discourteous, etc. Not EVERYONE is built and wired like the next so everyone's journey is DIFFERENT!

Yep- protein, water, calorie intake all good!