windycitywids

OK honey, just stop tormenting yourself!!!!!! Since you've been banded you have lost 44 pounds. How great for you!

Be positive! Be realistic! I know you didn't put on the weight overnight and it will take time to lose it, even with the band. And your goals aren't silly I think they are quite normal. My only goal so far has been to be able to cross my legs again, so there. By saying the amount of weight you want to lose is disgusting, you are really calling yourself disgusting and you aren't, in fact you look lovely to me.

Try this, instead of focusing on the seemingly monumental task ahead of you, Celebrate the small successes you'll have. Every pound lost is a step towards a healthier you which is the main goal anyway right?

I had the band surgery, an appendectomy and gallbladder surgery all within 3 months of each other and I thought the band surgery was the easiest.

When and if I eat bread which is rarely I have it with Soup and have to dunk it to get it mushy.

I've just removed it from my list of foods that I can eat because it isn't worth it to me to have it get stuck.

My doc's office doesn't take off anything for clothes and my appt's are usually in the early evening so I always weigh more at their ofice than at home.

I have the same problem after my gallbladder was removed and the benefiber didn't do it for me. My doc says I need to drink MORE Water. I have started that today and I hope it works because I feel bloated most of the time. 2 movements in a week will do that to you I'm told.

I know that it's been a while since anyone visited this thread but I would like to revisit as I am having a lot of the same issues with being a slow loser and the guilt is horrific for me. I have had a lot of medical issues this year...banding followed by a surgical site infection, followed by appendectomy, followed by gallbladder removal and just plain loss of motivation after all of it. I gained 4 lbs after my last surgery but otherwise it's been all forward progress. I only started getting any restriction at all this February and have lost about 12 lbs since then. I went to the doc's office on Tuesday and found out that I have only lost, get this, 32 lbs in a year. I am happy for that believe me but when I know I've been exercising my a** off literally, eating correctly, after realizing I was eating too damn much, I saw a 1 lb only loss. I broke down in the office which I haven't done at all throughout the entire last year's ordeal.

Saying that, I have noticed, and so has everyone else, a change in my body. Smaller bra size, smaller blouse size 2x-3x to an XL and I went from a size 20 to 16 pants. This is a good thing really but my mind tells me I'm failing when I don't see the numbers moving. My doc told me that I am losing fat and building muscle which is just as or more important than seeing the numbers move. I felt better after that and I'm wondering if other slow losers like me are experiencing the same thing. If it matters I have a Realize band with 9.5 CC's in a 12CC band.

I do and going on the meds hasn't done a darn thing to help with weight loss.

Wow, you aren't even a week post-op. You're still healing and certain positions are just harder on the stomach area. I had the same issue though, see if your chair at work can tip back and forward kind of like a rocker. When I did that my problems with the pain stopped. I also stopped getting back aches.

Yep, I read that post and I agree that it doesn't really apply to banders. Although I find that I cannot drink as much now because after 2 beers I really feel it. I believe it is the fact that I weigh less not having a band.

I said the same thing a couple of weeks ago. I was so happy I could feel my collar bone again. I was like hey! Come feel my bones. The ladies at work thought I was an idiot.

Good for you happy bones!

Yay for you. I know the feeling. I had to buy size 16 capris for my trip to vegas last week and I am still stunned. Way to go keep up the good work.

Nevermind

I was the same way about not wanting to go public and we all have our feelings about that.

I eventually told my teenagers the day before my surgery in case something happened to me in surgery and I told one or two close co-workers including my boss and of course my husband but there are still people I haven't told because my personal choices aren't their business. Good luck to you

I can drink carbonated beverages with no problems ( I drink them minimally now) and I chew gum almost daily. If I really need a soda (diet Barq's is the bomb) I pour it into a glass first. It cuts down the fizz dramatically and lessons the belching. I never thought about swallowing the gum and having a problem.... I may need to rethink gum all together

I get most of my calories in the PM as I am not really hungry most days.

I'm personally not a big chicken salad eater ( harder to eat than tuna) but I have the same recipe for both chicken and tuna salad and they are delicious.

Can of Tuna drained well. If you have a cat give them the Tuna Water ( in moderation) they love it!

1 largish Jalapeno pepper diced small remove seeds please

Red Pepper half a medium diced small

Red Onion (to taste) and again diced small I use about 4 Tablespoons or more

Chunky salsa 1 or two tablespoons

Olive Oil mayo 1 or 2 tablespoons

Lime juice just a little for flavor

Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper.

Chopped Cilantro

Mix all the ingredients except Cilantro and taste. Add more of what you think it needs then mix again.

Add chopped Cilantro right before serving and Viola! Mexican Tuna/Chicken salad. I used to eat this with Whole Wheat Pita when I still could but crackers or tortilla chips are delicious as well.

Hi All,

It's been almost a year now and what a journey it has been for me. July 28th 2010 got my band all was ok there. 3 weeks later got a surgical site infection from the underwire of my bra ripping the beautiful scab, had a round of antibiotics and had to pack the infection site for almost two weeks. So then 8 weeks post-op my appendix had to come out. I still believe, even though 3 surgeons, the general surgeon and the 2 band surgeons said at the time there was no literature to back this up, that it was a direct result of the band surgery. Now, it's 12 weeks post band and my surgeons are happy at the healing and I schedule my first fill, 2cc's. I'm cool with that and happy to be on my way with my weight-loss journey.

I was back to work full time again about two weeks when I began to have little twinges of pain on my right side but didn't think anything about it. I got up from my chair to go to the fax machine and said to my co-worker "gee, I'm having a funny pain in my right side", and laughingly said "watch next it will be my gallbladder". Ha Ha Ha. That friday night we went to a city street fair and my side really started to hurt bad and I was feeling really bloated and sick so I stayed in bed all Saturday and when I woke up on Sunday, knew it was back to the ER for me where I had a ultrasound that showed, you guessed it, inflammation and gallstones. The tech showed me because I had asked to see what the scan looked like and since I am an employee of the hospital I went to and know almost everyone who works there, she did. She showed me all of the stones and where my gallbladder was inflamed.

Ok, I'm thinking great, I had to open my big mouth! Well the ER doc, whom I don't like at all, told me his diagnosis and said I would need to contact a surgeon to have it checked out. He diagnosed it as a lesser gallbladder problem of just stones instead of the with inflammation which indicates an infection and sent me home and said to contact the surgeon. I couldn't believe it! I was in such pain I almost couldn't stand it. I couldn't walk to the car and had to use a wheelchair. Anyway long story short because I was sent home. I called the surgeon's office the next moring and again because I wasn't admitted it was pre-determined by the office staff (before I spoke with my surgeon) that it wasn't an emergency and that I could schedule the surgery at my convienence so no one followed up with me for two days afterward and never told my surgeon that it was a priority. When I spoke to my surgeon he had told me that after reviewing my test results his diagnosis was Chronic Cholecystitis and that the gallbladder had to come out but again because I wasn't admitted at the time the Anesthesia dept didn't want to work me in to there already overloaded schedule. I waited 5 days in really bad pain to be able to get my surgery because of a misdiagnosis by the ED doc and miscommunication between my surgeon and his office. A few weeks later I went back to work and haven't had any more surgeries

My progress was stalled and my motivation went by the wayside after all that and I decided not to get any fills until after Thanksgiving but did have one, another 2cc's before Christmas. I ws losing but very slowly like 2 lbs every 6 weeks. Finally by the end of February I got some real restriction and started to lose a little more quickly but in April I was up to 9cc's and stalled. I went to talk with the doc in the band office and got some counseling on foods to eat and exercising and stuff and scheduled another appointment 5 weeks later that I cancelled because I was just starting to do my Water aerobics and the scale hadn't changed. I finally went back the beginning of this month and by chance saw my band surgeon instead of the FP doc there. I had lost 7 lbs in 10 weeks and he said let's tweak you a little and gave me .05 cc's for a total of 9.5 and that with the exercising has really started to work. I have lost 5 lbs sind the beginning of the month and have gone down another size in clothes. I've lost 40lbs now and can't believe it. I went shopping for clothes yesterday and am now in a size 16 pant and an 18/20 top. I am so amazed and happy to finally be closer to my goal which was 100 lbs total. I hope to lose another 20 by the end of the year. Thanks for reading my epic saga!

Ok,

Whether you have a liquid diet or not is your physician's call, period.

Savebygod... 6 snakes a day? I would've found a different surgeon! lol.

As we all know misery loves company and people can get quite testy when they think you've gotten something for nothing. I just encountered someone commenting on my lunch at work yesterday she said wow that's a meager looking lunch. I had a small green salad with spinach about 3 cherry tomatoes some mushrooms with about a tablespoon of chicken salad and just a bit more of tuna salad. I thought it was pretty lush. She said kind of off handed you're losing a lot of weight you look good. I knew she was seething behind those words as she has just been ballooning up over the past year. She was jealous of me. I couldn't believe it.

Sometimes it's hard for them to imagine that getting banded is a lot harder to do then it looks. Even if they are close to you and see the day to day struggles you go thru. I just said thanks it's been a battle and left it at that. Moral of the story, don't let anyone rain on your parade.

Oh, I am so a fan of the Jay Robb Protein powder. It's sweetened with Stevia and doesn't contain a lot of heavy metals that you need to be wary of. Take the chocolate add some almond milk and throw in a banana and some ice. Viola! A frozen chocolate banana. Delish!

Give yourself a break will you? Slips happen and you just get right back up on that horse and continue. Your mind plays tricks on you when you go on those liquid diets. Seriously you are going through a detox of sorts and it messes with your mind. You do deserve this so be gentle with yourself

Jim, it's complicated.

Sometimes I do regret having the surgery but....that's usually when I want to emotional eat and I can't do it and it pisses me off. With that being said, no I don't regret it overall because with me, my biggest problem is with Portion Control. I needed to have built in willpower to avoid overeating because I couldn't do it by myself. I tried really hard the year before my surgery and gained all that I had lost back except a few lbs. I had to really soul search to come to the decision to have the surgery and came to the conclusion that I indeed needed medical intervention to lose weight. Do I have issues about needing to have the surgery in the first place? You bet, and that's where the soul searching came in. I have a lot of emotional issues with food. A good friend of mine had the band surgery a year before me and I was really pissed at her for taking the "easy way out" you know? I didn't think she even tried to do it on her own. A common misconception amongst folks who don't know. Having the band is harder than I ever thought it would be but also really beneficial as I am on the way to losing 40lbs soon and know that I would have given up if I didn't have the band. Yes, I struggle with it every day emotionally but yes, I would do it again in a heart beat.

Thanks for your honesty. You stated what I have been fearing. Do you regret having the surgery? Would you do it again?

Jim

You guys are going through quite a struggle right now. You know that shakey feeling you get when your blood sugar drops? I used to get it all the time and occasionally still do when I don't eat for long periods of time, but eating foods that have a low glycemic index do really really help. I would feel almost desperate; like if I didn't get some sugar my body would shut down or something. It was also sugar withdrawal as I am addicted to sugar.

Whole grains and no white sugar or HFCS will go a long way. Try agave nectar, or turbinado or raw sugar or stevia for sweetening. Agave nectar is like honey in consistancy but doesn't have the strong taste like honey. Almost every grocery store carries it usually by the honey. It's a bit pricey but it's really delicious and good on everything from coffee to Cereal and yogurt. I've even put it on vanilla ice cream and it's yummy.

Subie just as an objective observer if you have type II diabetes should you be having sweets? I don't have this disease and I'm not a MD and I'm not judging or anything and I mean no offense. But you're doc is correct I think to get that under control first.

My doc says everything in moderation. Unless he told be that the band would blow up or something if I drank coffee I would never give it up. Can't. Don't want to either. In fact I'm drinking coffee right now as I type. Love it love it loooooove it!

I also really enjoy(ed) eating. I love to go out to Breakfast with my husband on the weekend but it is a lot less enjoyable now as I can't eat what I really want to. The band for me has taken the joy out of eating which for me is a good thing. I can no longer eat for enjoyment - except occasionally when I eat ice cream or something, I have to eat to fuel my body. If I don't look at it that way I am miserable and feel really deprived.

I am so wanting to take a big bite out of a homemade hamburger or a Chicago-style hot dog it's not funny but I don't do the bread and it's just not the same without the bun. I tried to eat some cheesecake yesterday and it got kind of stuck and I felt really bloated and miserable so I know that that's off the menu.

Good luck to you! You will find a nice balance just give it some time.