Candle

You make some good points and this thread serves as a good reminder. I'm glad you aren't being too hard on yourself; the holidays can be rough for most people. I ate entirely too much yesterday!! Have you thought about seeing a therapist? I'm looking into working it into the budget for the new year. (my insurance doesn't cover it) I really think dealing with "head issues" is one of the keys to successfully keeping off the weight!!<!-- google_ad_section_end -->

Merry Christmas to you too! I have to admit, I'm glad it's over! Too much family stress and I ate entirely too much crap! I got a ton of compliments from my boyfriend's family on my weight loss though!!! Most of them I had not seen since before surgery. I'm finding I'm not a fan of all the attention. I particularly hate this question >> "How did you do it?" It seems most people want to hear that I'm on some new magic diet. My answer to people who don't know about my band is usually "Portion Control and Exercise" They never seem happy with that answer - lol. I hope everyone had a nice holiday!

Don't expect restriction with your first fill. For most people it takes a few. My first fill did nothing for me.

My doc is VERY experienced and the band is all he does now. I was given pills too. Vicodin. I ended up never needed anything but Tylenol once I left the hospital. If you are really worried about it, you could ask for something liquid but I don't think pills should be a problem.

I was banded on 8/27/07 and we spent a week in Disney 10/21-10/27/07. It was an amazing vacation!!! Everything worked out perfectly. We stayed off site in a townhouse at Windsor Hills. 3br + 3ba, full kitchen, each room had a tv/dvd and the kid’s rooms had a PS2. We even had our own little 10 x 10 "splash pool" but spend most of our pool time in the big resort pool and hot tub. I would stay there again in a heart beat. It was cheaper than most hotels and worked out better space wise for 3 adults and 1 child. Our favorite parks were Universal Studios/IA and Animal Kingdom. Eating wasn't a big issue for me because I ate Breakfast and a few dinners at the townhouse. I brought Snacks with me to the parks (protein bars, fruit, etc) and that got me through lunches. Have fun guys! Our next vacation is Vegas in 3 weeks!! I can't wait!!!

I have the 10cc APS band with 1 fill of 2cc's so far. Didn't make any difference at all. Not even for a day or two.

Merry Christmas to you too! '08 is going to be a good year!

I hit 300lbs and finally said ... enough is enough.

Made my goal!!!! Woo-Hoo!!!! Candle................238.........221.5 ........223........... -1.5

There are 2 10cc bands. As mentioned above, the "new band" is the AP band. Small = 10cc and large = 14cc If that's the band your doc placed, it may be just because he wanted you to have the new band. There is also the 10cc VG or Vanguard band. If that's the one you have, you'd have to ask your doctor why he used that one. Usually they determine which band to use during surgery, depending on the size and shape of your insides. It usually has nothing to do with the size of your outsides. Although it sounds like he decided BEFORE surgery which band to use. For this reason, I'd guess you have the APS band.<!-- google_ad_section_end --><!-- google_ad_section_end --><!-- / message --><!-- sig -->

Since I had a Disney trip planned at the time of my surgery, I asked this question. My doctor recommended 6-8 weeks to let the port site fully heal. If your port is still tender, I would avoid any ride that the bar is going to be in that area.

I've heard that the 4cc band can be over-filled to around 5cc's.

Thanks !!

I made this 2 weeks ago and it was really good. I think it's a WW recipe. Buffalo chicken Soup 6 cups milk (I used 1%) 3 cans 98% fat free Cream of Chicken Soup 3 cups cooked, shredded Chicken (thigh meat might work best if you have good restriction) 1 cup Sour Cream (I used fat free) 1/4-1/2 cup hot sauce (I like Frank's Red Hot) Everything in the crock pot on LOW, for about 4 hours

Yesterday- B: sugar free oatmeal w/ PB2 L: salad w/ Chic/Cheese/Hard boiled egg S: 1/2 cup cottage cheese w/ blueberries D: Chic Salad in a mini wheat pita & 1/2 apple w/ laughing Cow cheese Plan for today: B: Sugar Free Oatmeal w/ PB2 L: Chic Salad in a mini wheat pita & 1/2 apple w/ Laughing Cow cheese S: Yogurt D: Shrimp stir fry w/ Broc/carrots/snow peas/garlic & lemon Sometimes I snack in the evening - 100 calorie pop corn or cookie/snack cake, fruit, yogurt, fudge pop, etc. I've been trying to eat dinner a little bit later to eliminate that "after dinner snack"

I hope you feel better. If she has an AP band ... a lot of doctor's are putting in 1-3cc's during surgery. (mine did not)

Whoa! How did you lose 28lbs in 1 month!? You're kickin' ass!!!

What do you guys take for calcuim?

Long Island here

P.S. I like the orange, peach ice tea, and *raspberry ice. * my favorite!!!

You could buy it on amazon.com [ame=http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw/103-5129418-8677440?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=crystal+light]Amazon.com: crystal light[/ame]

Now that you've vented - it's time to take action. -Being in finance and aware of your perfect credit score - you should have know better than to co-sign a loan for someone who couldn't get a loan on their own. What's done is done ... now you need to find out what your brother's plans are with this car. If the late payments are going to continue to be a problem, he needs to sell the car and pay off the loan and/or find some other way to finance the car, removing your name from the note. -Start looking for another job, at least so you have a back up if you do lose yours. Especially if that means you will also lose your health insurance!! -Start looking for ways to cut expenses/save money (use coupons, cancel extra cable channels, cheaper cell phone plan, ebay some old clothes-toys of your son’s, etc). -Start looking for part time work/extra income. Even if it's just babysitting. Just making an extra $50 per week would cover 1/2 the monthly payment for your band and take away a big chunk of stress. -Start working with your band! Just because you can eat anything doesn't mean you should. I have no restriction yet either - you just have tough it out! You have to count calories, you have to drink a TON of Water, and you have to exercise! The band is not a magic fix. Even with restriction, most people can still eat crap - ice cream, chips, Cookies, etc. Time to break the cycle of stress eating! You dedicated yourself to becoming healthier and loosing weight by getting the band - time to get the wheels in motion. Go see a therapist and a nutritionist. -Tape those loan statements and your empty bank account statement to the fridge and look at it every time you go in there for food! Stop buying and having the junk food in your house! You just started this journey but sound like you've already written yourself off as a failure. Consider this your official kick in the ass!!!<!-- google_ad_section_end -->

I'm glad to hear you are doing well. Thanks for all the great tips and information.

I know the "look" you speak of and that was one of my concerns too. I'm also someone who isn't trying to get to a really small size. I'm comfortable with curves - I just don't want rolls any more - lol. The band should be a good choice for you because you can control your restriction and rate of weight loss. At this stage in the game, I wouldn't worry too much about losing the weight too fast ... for most of us, it can't happen fast enough!! There's only 1 person I can think of in all the Lap Band before & after pics I've seen that I thought had that "look". I feel like I have dark circles under my eyes and for some reason that's an area that I've always hyper-focused on. It seems like they are more pronounced now that my face is getting slimmer.

I think two big factors would be what type of breasts you have and how much weight you have to lose. Do you have a lot of weight to lose? If so, your breasts could go through some MAJOR changes. (like mine have - lol) Are they big, round, & firm and you just want them smaller or are they just large and already sagging? I would be inclined to say wait. (you might want to post this in the PS Forum)