NJGirl32

You definitely have lost a lot of weight!! It does feel so wonderful when someone notices and often those closest to us can't see it because they see us on a daily basis.

Definitely a miracle baby! Congrats!!!

Believe it r not I can feel when I lost weight ( evn a pound or two) and I can feel if I gained. I only get on the scale when I suspect I had lost something. My scale is in my dining room and I rarely weigh myself.

Whoo Hoo!!!!!!!!! I don't think I've seen a size 10 since 4th grade! lol Great job!

I have BCBS and at a BMI of 40 you don't need any other health issues to be approved. It is really very frustrating and ridiculous-hopefully this time all will go smoothly!

I am so jealous!! I wish I had no appetite! I wouldn't question 9 pounds in 3 weeks-but make sure you are getting the protein in or you could begin to have hair loss. As long as your energy is up and you are getting the proteins and water in I don't see a problem at all. Congratualtions!! Can I ask what # fill is this and how much do you have in your band?

I don't mind the ads to the right of the posts or to the top of the posts, but when they are embedded in the actual post itself that's just crazy!! And it's not a small advertisement either-it's really large! They can do better!

I also opted to keep it from everyone. The only one that knows is my DH because he had to take me to the hospital and pick me up. I am glad I told him because at east I have 1 person to talk to about it. I did not tell my 2 daughters (ages 19 & 24) mainly because I didn't want to put the burden on them of keeping it a secret. One woman at work knows too. I have to say I am SO glad-really glad I didn't tell evryone. The weight loss has been a lot slower than I ever imagined. I feel a olt less stress not having to worry what others might think about my weight loss. This is MY journey-not theirs. I will tell my daughters and my mother once I have lost around 50-60 pounds, but I don't plan on telling anyone else. Many people think this is the easy way out and that is so far from the truth! It takes a lot of work and determination and I want credit for all my hard work. I don't want people to say "Oh she had WLS that's why she lost the weight." You will need to be very patient until you have the right amount of fills and start feeling the true effects of the band. Good luck to you!

Thanks for the reply! The only real side effect I notice is a bad taste in my mouth. I don't have any reflux or heartburn-never did-but evidently the bacteria's there anyway. Glad to hear you didn't have any side effects

During my final weeks before surgery I gained 5 pounds! I ate everything I thought I would no longer enjoy. But the truth is I can still enjoy all those foods, but just in moderation. I have steak, seafood, chinese food, BBQ-you name it! I try to stay away from sweets and limit my alchol -but I do indulge. A month after my surgery I was able to eat anything-actually I could eat the same amount as before the surgery with absolutely no problems. I have had 2 fills so far and I am not able to eat as much or as fast. I haven't hit that sweet spot yet but I am inching closer!

Girl you can get on top of this -it's still very managable! Okay so you have gained...now is the time to take control before it becomes anymore. You can lose that 29 pounds-absolutely!! You know what you need to do because you have done it before! Don't let the 29 pounds become 39 pounds and so on. Take charge of it now while it's still very controlable! Get your reflux under conrtol and get your fill. Exercise is a great stress reliever and it make you feel good mentally. 2 months from now you can write that you had a set back but you lost the weight or you can say you are deeper in a hole-the choice is really yours. Today is the day-you don't have to be perfect with this journey but you must always strive to move forward. Good luck to you-you got this girl!

I feel the same way after about a week of my first fill. I felt hungry all the time-even more so then before the fill! It didn't make sense to me. The second fill helped a little more but it's still not there yet. I am hoping fill #3 does the trick!

Thank you for letting us know what's going on. The ads in the responses are absolutely terrible. It would really caude me to think about permanantly leaving this site. There all WAY too many ads all over this site and they are very intrusive. Thanks again for keeping us in the loop!

I am SO happy you kept us updated. I have actually been thinking about you recently and wondering how you made out. You really can't control things beyond you-the only thing you truly have control over is your feelings and your actions. I know this must be a very sad and scary time for you. Please find a counselor that is a better fit for you because they all are NOT created equal. I am not sure if you are associated with a church or not, but if so you can request some counseling that route. During this time you really need to think about you. He will need to work out his own kinks himself-no one, not even you can help him. I hope he is in counseling too. And depending on where you both are perhaps down the road you can see a counselor together. My hubby and I went to 6 sessions with a counselor and it really helped our marriage survive a very difficult time. In the meantime keep busy as possible. Read some good books-go to the library. I read Eat, Love, Pray years ago and loved it and would recommend it. The only thing I truly didn't understand was why he wouldn't tell you where he was living- why was he hiding this from you if he had nothing to hide? Has he told you yet? I know you love him-love yourself more. I truly pray and hope with time that this cloud is lifted from your heart. I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason-even if we aren't sure what the reason is now. Take care of yourself.

This is NORMAL! I know it's very frustrating and I totally agree with you-I didn't get the band to do another damn diet-I gotthe band to make a significant impact on my weight loss!! I am SO glad I didn't tell everyone I was getting the surgery because I am sure they would be saying 'what's the hold up?- I thought she had surgery?" I think you need to be really patient until you reach your sweet spot and then it will all make sense. I had this sweet spot for just a couple of days after my first fill (not since then)- I simply wasn't interested in eating and when I went out to eat I just ate a little bit simply because I was full I wantthat feeling back! It seems that it can take anywhere from 3-5 fills to reach it. Don't be too hard on yourself until you have that kind of restriction. Definitely talk to your doctor about it and see if he can help speed up the fills. I would really advise you to go to support meetings in your area. Call your doctor's office and ask them to recommend one. You will find you are not alone and will regain some inspiration! Hang in there-we will get to the promised Bandland!!

I never heard of a waterproof mp3 palyer! Thanks!

Congratulations! What a great achievement!!! This gives me hope!

Thanks for sharing!

I decided to fully commit and join a gym last week! I convinced my 19 yr. old and my 24 yr. old to join too. They had a really good special going on so I figure why not? Last night I bought myself some exercise outfits. I really hate working out-I am 48 years old and I doubt if I'll ever be one of "those" people who are just simply addicted to working out! But, at my age my metabolism is really slow and I need something too jump start it. I have noticed my weight loss is very slow too and it's my hope that exercising will help. It took me 25 minutes to walk a mile on the treadmill-25 minutes!! I am headed to the gym today so hopefully I can do a little better than that! My eating has been ok-I could do better. We eat out a lot and I do try to avoid the bread basket and I usually order fish, but eating out is definitely extra calories no matter what the heck you order. At a friend's house I had 3 beers. I have felt bloated ever since. I think if I am going to partake in a beverage it will have to be something other than beer. Maybe just bring my own Crystal Light mixture. As far as fills- well my doc wants me to come in every 6 weeks. My last 2 fills have been 4 weeks because I am not waiting 6 friggen weeks! I have an appointment on Monday and it will only be 17 days since my last fill. I am afraid he'll say-sorry no fill - too soon! But I am going anyway! I want this band to start working better! I am so glad I didn't tell anyone about the band (other than my hubby and a girl I work with) because everyone would be thinking-WTH I thought she had surgery-where's the weight loss?! I can tell I have loss weight and I am definitely down a size in clothes-but it's painfully slow and when you are heavy it's not as noticable to other people until you lose about 30-40 pounds. If I can lose 25 pounds more it would be a huge defference-so that's my short term goal! Good luck to all of you in Bandland!

Today is the first time I actually saw one in my posts. This really sucks and definitely makes me think about switching over to another site-I mean seriously who wants ads in their friggen posts ...WTH?!! Like you said it's bad enough that they are all over the site as it is! Anyone have any other good sites they visit?

When I went through all the pre-surgery tests my endoscope revealed that I had bacteria in my stomach lining. They recommended I wait untl I was on solids to take the meds to clear this up. My doc said if I don't get it cleared up that it could eventually erode the band. Well I have 1 month off so I decided to take the 2 week dose now. I picked up my prescription last night and thought it was in a rather large bag. I opened it up and OMG-seriously??!! 8 pills a day? WTH? Did anyone else have to take this? How were the side effects-I have been reading there can be lots of side effects. Did you get a yeast infection due to the high doses of amoxicillin? If anyone had to do this treatment please tell me what to expect. I am hoping that eating yogurt will help with the yeast infection? I am SO not looking forward to the next 14 days!!

Some really great points!1 Thank you!! Both times I had waited a long time before eating and I agree totally with isit5yet that we tend to eat fast when we are really hungry. When I was stuck my throat hurt for about a day. Good advice keeping to simple liquids after being stuck. Last night I went out and had NO bread at all! I order seafood which went down well. Woodslass-you are right-different types of bread items react differently. I did have a little rice along with the bread before the steak got stuck (maybe 2 tablespoons). Maybe the bread is sort of covering the opening to the pouch and expanding and we all know bread can?? I will not have bread when eating out-just can't do it at this point. Mornings are also tough for me. I usually have a yogurt and sometimes that feels funny in my throat going down.

Well today was my first day at the gym! I actually got my oldest daughter to join too (so me and my 2 daughters). The owner suggested I do 30 minutes on the treadmill, and 5-10 on the rowing machine. Then I did 5 minutes on the bike (I know-but it was boring!). Then I wentto some sking-type machine. That was fun for a few minutes and then my last machine was some arm/leg cross country type thing! I am exhausted!!! I hope I can keep up with this. I am off all of August so I really plan to make good use of the gym during that time. They do have Water areobics and I might do a class. They also have Zumba. My goal for now is 3 times per week but hopefully I'll do more! Thanks again!

I found a cute shrug at Macy's it has a cap sleeve sort of -it doesn't cover your arms per say-but it helps to prevent drawing attention to them. I also have a cotton, short sleeve, zip up hooded jacket the does the trick. I think it's suppose to be an active/workout type jacket but I put it on over tank tops. I totally agree with the poster above- no one really cares about your batwings and you should totally feel free to wear whatever you want! PS- I heard the surgery for upper arms has a lot of visible carring accosicated with it so I am not sure what would be worse. I would say to come to terms with your body and to make peace with it. We don't have to aim for perfection just improving ourselves

"New Plumbing" lol I like that analogy!! Oh yes, you never want food to be stuck-never!