Jim1967

What Honk said!! I didn't start getting real restriction until my 4th fill but everyone is different.

Thank you and the feeling is mutual :-)

I haven't written in a while so.....What or who is an experienced Bandster? At nearly 6 months post op apparently, not I even though I have dropped 81lbs. Being an experienced Bandster is not all about weight loss.... This morning on the way to the Office I stopped at Dunkin Donuts for a sausage, egg and cheese wake up wrap and a large decaf coffee. I don't drink with my meal but I wanted to have it for when I got into the office. Well without thinking much about it I proceeded to head to work on the freeway and ate my wrap. Not paying attention I ate it too quickly. Stuck episode on the freeway in traffic is not fun by any means. I ended up pulling over to the side of the road and got out and paced back in forth for about 15 minutes until it passed. With my last fill I am definitely in my sweet spot. I can eat almost anything if I do it correctly. Correctly seems to be a problem still. I am eating the right things for the most part but I am still eating too quickly and not chewing enough. I have spent my entire life eating junk food and binging at times and just shoving it in. I never thought learning to eat properly with the band would be this difficult. I have had probably about 7 or 8 stuck episodes since being banded in April. One episode led to (and sorry for the tmi) vomiting. So a couple of things are going to happen here. I am either going to get this straight and follow proper band rules or I am going to cause a slip. Next week I have another support meeting and I am going to sign up and re-take the hungry head class again. That class focus on binge eating and eating habits. I don't think I need the hungry head class as far as binging but I think being around people and talking about experiences will help me keep focus. My next Doc appointment follow up is 9/25. I am not getting a fill. I am still getting the needed "restriction" from the fill last week. In my opinion and I have said it before the word "restriction" sucks when it comes to band talk/terminology. It's not about restricting at all it's all about appetite suppression and satiety. I got that going on right now, no question about it. Now if I can only learn how to eat properly. I also know my band is tighter in the morning. From now on protein shakes only in the morning even if I am running late. ***

OK then...

I still have a long road ahead. I'll check out your program if you don't mind sharing.

Chances are that first amount of weight you lost was probably mostly Water weight. Most and I know we are all different, tend to lose quickly the first week or two. When I started I was given a 5% weight loss goal by my surgeon. He wanted me to lose 24 pounds and I had 6 months to do it. Given my size I was starting at I hit the goal in a month and I am betting a good 15 or more was water weight. Again we are all different though. Stick with it and the scale will come along. Remember our bodies need to adjust as we lose also and sometimes they go into survival mode and don't want to give up its fat stores. Good Luck!!

Awesome Virginia!! Small successes certainly add up. Funny thing my wife said to me in the grocery store the other day. I used to struggle walking the store and keeping up with her now she is the one who tries to keep pace with me. My back and legs no longer ache. Just the simple walking of the grocery store is so liberating. So I definitely know how you feel.

Was it dry at all? I had a similar issue with chicken and I have found if it is too dry it will not go down. Did you have gravy with it last night or just the beef?

Wow congratulations. You are truly inspiring. I hope to join you in the 200+ loss club soon.

Also they may have pushed a little too hard with the needle to make sure it was fully into the port. That could be causing you some aggravation. I had that happen to me on my 2nd fill. Yesterday was my 5th fill I really felt the needle for some reason. Usually the pinch doesn't bother me but it sure did yesterday and I have high pain tolerance.

Have someone take the scale away from you. I struggle with the scale all the time and my wife at times takes it away from me. LOL. I know mentally I am not doing myself any favors...and neither are you.

Awesome!! I am down 77 post-op. Things have been slowing down a bit as of late. I seem to lose right after a fill and then the scale doesn't move for two weeks. I have to admit I have not been exercising as much as I should be and I step on the scale way to often.

Never give up, never surrender. Too much at stake and already invested so much. Feeling too good to slide down a rat hole with bad eating.

I went in for a fill this morning. I am now 9cc in an 11cc band. I hoping this is it for me in the way of adjustments. I am getting a little concerned as I have so much in the band already that I worry about maxing it out. A few people along with the Doctor told me not to let this concern me. Still plenty of room in the band and I could only be one small adjustment away from the ever elusive sweet spot. Adjustment I got today could be it but who knows. How do I really know for sure though? I seem to come out of a fill appointment feeling good. I hardly get hungry and when I do it's about 5 to 6 hours after my last meal. My appetite is so diminished. I am really starting to believe I am in the zone but my brain is waiting for some kind of magical light bulb to go off in my head. Scale will drop 10lbs or so in the first week after my fill then I sit idle for the next two until my next adjustment appointment. I can eat any kind of food that I want or have tried I should say. I am yet to attempt a hamburger or sub roll. I haven't had an actual hamburger since March but I am not missing it. For the last week or so I was really looking forward to this appointment so I could see the Nutritionist only to find out one called out sick and the other was on Vacation. Needless to say, I was disappointed. After talking with my Wife and Mis73 it is determined that I am not taking in enough Calories and most likely putting my body into survival/starvation mode. My last 8 day average is 898 calories per day. I am going to work on increasing to at least 1200 a day with a goal of 1300. My next appointment at the center is 9/25. My appointments are typically three weeks apart. We'll see how it goes. I lost 11lbs during this past three week window.

Adding liquid of any form during a stuck episode will make it worse at least in my experience. For me up and walking around and waiting on it to pass is the only thing I can do.

Thanks Missy. I am due to go back to the Clinic on Sept 4th. I'll bring them all my journals and reiterate my opinion and let them weigh in on it (see what I did there ) Maybe my expectations and lack of patience is what's bring me down. Doesn't help that I step on the scale so much. As for the fills you're right I don't want to have bigger problems by lack of patience and over-filling. At the same time I am nervous that I have very little room left on this band for adjustments.

I guess I am questioning my restriction because I don't know what else it could be. My Nutritionist has been happy with the food journals so far so my eating habits are OK and I am making good choices. As for the one cup of food it would not sustain me for 4 hours. I am tighter in the morning so perhaps yes a cup would sustain me for the first 4 hours in the morning. At dinner time I can eat 4oz of Protein, 1/2 cup of a veggie and maybe a 1/4 cup of a carb (potato or rice). I always eat the carb last and most times I cannot finish that. That will easily carry me 4 to 5 hours. To me that is a bit much food to take don't you think? I'm not eating until I am stuffed so I'm not eating around the band.

Another weird thing I noticed as well is I always seem to lose weight right after a fill and then the next two weeks I fluctuate back in forth. I am really wondering if my restriction is not where it needs to be. I am a little concerned though because my band is only 11cc and I have 8 in there already.

Glad I could help. I found it to be a bit of a bumpy road in the beginning mentally. Even though I did months of research and such I still somehow had that expectation I would wake up from surgery and the weight would start falling off. It didn't happen and I got frustrated. I still have issues with the scale. I weigh myself way to often and that leads to frustration and annoyance.

I love the Unjury chocolate but I found the vanilla left a bit of an after taste. I only tried it straight up with milk blended with a little ice. Maybe with a banana it would be better.

I recommend calling and ask for the policy in writing just to be sure. Last thing you want to do is waste time doing prep work just to find out you need to do the supervised diet. Just my opinion of course.

Congratulations!! Welcome to the band club. Sounds like you are off and running. Remember you might run into some time when the weight is not coming off. Try not to get frustrated. This first month is all about healing and giving your body time to adjust to the new foreign object inside of you. I lost a bit of weight the first week then I was stuck for like three weeks with no loss. I got frustrated. Hopefully, this will not happen to you. We are all different and react different. I just thought it was worth sharing in case you run into something similar. :-) Best of luck on your journey!!

It is really a personal choice. Everyone's taste buds are different. Experiment with them and find one you like. I use the body fortress chocolate from walmart. It runs just under $15 for a big 2lb bottle. 1 scoop with 8oz of Simply Smart milk blended with a little bit of ice will give you 36g of Protein. I also like the body fortress vanilla powder as well. I make is the same way I make the chocolate but I also add a small banana. Nice banana smoothy. A lot of people rave about

Price is the difference....that I can see. For example: Walmart - Spring Valley Vitamin B12 sublingual 500 mcg, $3.94 for a 200 count Bariatric Advantage - Sublingual B-12 1000mcg $18.25 for a 90 count You can almost buy 5 bottles to 1 Walmart vs. Bariatric Advantage. Even with the difference is dosage 500mcg vs. 1000mcg Walmart is still a better deal. Bariatric Advantage is just a name. Don't let "bariatric" in the name fool you into thinking is it something special. Just my opinion anyway.

I had my seminar Sept 5, 2011. I had my first consult Oct 12, 2011 and that was the start date. My Center requires all patients to lose 5% of their weight. They also wanted to see commitment plus they need you to shrink your liver to ensure a safe and successful surgery. Liver is quite large and the Surgeon has to work around it and move it out of the way to properly place the band. On that same day (Oct 12) I saw the on staff Nutritionist and together we developed a diet plan to help me reach that 5% goal. So from Oct 2011 to March 30, 2012 I dropped 38lbs. I exceeded the 5% which was 24lbs in the first 6 or 7 weeks. My Surgeon was extremely happy with my weight loss but was worried I would pack it all on before the surgery date was even made. He was opposed to Cigna's requirements because he felt 6 months was too long to make someone wait for Surgery. He felt in his experience most patients typically do well on a 3 month diet but begin to falter before hitting month 6. I promised him I would do my part to make this surgery a success. I will admit I could have lost more during those 6 months but who can complain about 38lbs. As for the insurance company they don't care if you lose or gain. They want to see that you've made attempts to lose the weight. Insurance company is not going to punish you for losing weight by denying you surgery approval. They want to make sure you are serious and truly invested in making a change. I was told by my surgeon that they submit the highest weight to the insurance company so even if you lose that is the number the insurance company will use.