KristyT

thank you all, i did make it through yesterday thank goodness, i did the protein shakes and went to sleep. LOL sleep is always good. today I am going to do a bit of mushies even though he said liquids for 48 hours but I am going to wait until the end of the day. thanks again, just being able to post and type about my feelings helped me over come that battle yesterday. god bless

you keep your head up and just remember that its all about what you are willing to do for yourself. you are already on the right path with a insulin resistant diet the band will only make it easier to follow that diet. now do remember that the band is slow in the beginning because right after surgery you will be very swollen and healing so you wont be able to eat much for about 2-4 weeks but after that when the band heals, the stomach goes back to normal and you can eat like a pig again. lol but be patient and keep on your diet until you get the right amount of restriction which took me about 5 months to finally get in the green zone and then dieting becomes much easier with the help of the band. i wish you the very best and im going to go to the gyno myself here shortly about this pcos because no matter how much weight we lose it is still so frustrating to have pcos. good luck and god bless.

pcos, a terrible thing it is but it has become a part of me that i try to learn to deal with the best way i can. let me see how i can help you with this nasty thing you are referring to. first all, im 38 almost 39 yrs old. I have been fairly heavy most of my life averaged about 200, 205 from the time i was 18 until i was 30. i never really exercised and i pretty much ate what i wanted to and always stayed the same weight. well when i was about 30 yrs old, i started having these horrible periods, mood swings, hot flashes, grouchy, i mean all kinds of strange stuff started happening and I also low and behold started putting on serious pounds despite the fact that i was not eating any different. i gained 50 pounds in about 1 year. i got up to 252 and said lordy lordy i gotta go to the dr, so off i went to a gynocologist and what do you know. I have pcos. so in turn, they tell me that my weight is going to be very hard to control and they give me some antidepressants , metformin and some progestrin, well, me being me, i took the meds for a bit and they didnt help and i just faught threw it and kept doing what i always do and kept eating what i always eat until i started getting dizzy, sweaty, sick feeling and yada yada yada, i go to my primary dr and this is about when i was 34 now at 265 lbs and he says well kristy you have diabetes and my hgb a1c was like 7.4, so he tells me take the metformin and if its not better in 4 months we start insulin unless you can control by diet. well, i didnt take the meds and i didnt really try to diet and i really didnt go back to the dr. and Im a registered nurse, so yeah, im pretty stubborn. LOL well in 2010, i had enough, i couldnt walk, couldnt do anything, im 5'3 and i was 272 lbs and my blood sugars were ranging from 325-400 a day. so, i went to a seminar for lab band. decided it was what i wanted to do, turned in my papers and had to see my dr for 6 months on a supervised diet. dec of 2010 i weighed 272, seen my dr once a month for 6 months and some how got back down to 254 in like july of 2011 and i really think it was because i was taking the metformin and insulin injections because my blood sugars were still so crazy and they told me they would not operate unless i had my blood sugars under control. i got approved for the lap band, i did one week pre op diet and day of surgery which was aug. 31 2011 i weighed 249. 7 months ago i was banded and i am now down to 225. now during that 7 months, i didnt not exercise nor did i count calories but i did make better choices of food. i started exercising 2 weeks ago and i also joined weight watchers to keep myself more accountable of what i eat and i have lost 3 lbs a week for the past 2 weeks as to where i was only losing about 1 lb or .8 of a lb prior to exercising and weight watchers. now during the times that i have my menstrual cycle i dont weigh because for 2 weeks i hold about 4-6 lbs from the pcos. but after it settles my weight goes back down. i also now have blood sugars from 85-130 so my diabetes is very well controlled and i feel 100 percent better. i even mowed grass yesterday. so the bottom line is. yes the lap band will work with pcos if you work with it. now it might be slow but hey, the turtle still finishes the race. if you have any other questions, pls feel free to email me and im sorry i wrote a book but i wanted you to understand how much this lap band surgery has been good for me with diabetes and pcos, for 8 yrs i couldnt lose a pound, couldnt exercise or even walk around in walmart, couldnt get my blood sugar under control without medicine and insullin, now im doing all those activities, still slowly losing weight and im not on any medications except for antidepressant. good luck to you and i hope you make the best choice for yourself. Kristy

very nice and uplifting, we often beat ourselves up and succumb to jealousy and envy over what other people have or their success being greating than ours, instead we should focus more on what god has blessed us with and be thankful we were even able to take this great journey rather it be slow or fast. god bless and thanks again for the uplifting message

im almost 7 months out and I have only lost 20 lbs, i get discouraged and frustrated but we need to realize that we are all different and we all lose weight differently. 48lbs is great, i lost 25 before surgery but only 20 since surgery, maybe there is something with a plateu after closing in on that 50 lb marker, keep your head up as i am trying to do myself and remember 48lbs is a small child that you are no longer carrying around. god bless and good luck

thank you all for the positive comments, i truly do believe that exercise is my downfall, I need to do something even if it is just walking for a bit a day. I just feel so frustrated because of reading how successful everyone is and no matter how you look at it , i still feel like a failure because my weight loss is so slow, today was my weigh in day and i lost 1 lb. guess that is better than nothing. I am going to try the walking and I have a swimming pool but cant use that right now, but i do remember last year when i was alot heavier that it was easy on my joints being in the pool, so i do have that to look forward to. thanks again for all the positive comments its good to know you can vent here and not be judged. god bless

Im not sure when you were banded and how much you have lost prior to and after your surgery but dont get discouraged, we are all very different. I too have pcos and I also have diabetes. some of us just lose slower than others. my high weight was 272, I got down to 254 on my own before surgery and then I lost 5 lbs with 1 week preop diet putting me at 249 day of surgery. My surgery was 8/31/11 so thats what say a lil over 6 months ago and I am down to 229. so only 20 lbs in 6 months, my dr does things slowly and I just finally got restriction last month on my 4th fill so give it time. I also could eat all the stuff you were eating until that 4th fill, I didnt even know what a "stuck" episode or "pb'ing" was until 5 months after surgery. so pls dont get discouraged, just focus on yourself and the good that is going to come and DO NOT compare yourself to others, everyone loses different and everyone has different metabolisms and chemical make up. good luck to you

the gas pain lasted for me about 2 weeks it was awful, walking helped alot, i also lost 18 lbs before surgery and then 5 lbs with the pre op diet so 23 lbs before surgery, i was banded 5 months ago and i have lost 20 lbs since surgery. I am a slow loser but I have learned not to compare my weight loss to others as you shouldnt either. we are all different and just because someone is losing fast doesnt mean you are doing something wrong, we all are made up chemically and anatomy wise very differenty. I have pcos and diabetes which slows me down as well and I choose not to exercise. you have made a good choice and you are doing fabulous so far, keep up the good work and remember that positive is as positive does. dont compare yourself or beat yourself up, be glad you have accomplished the weight loss that you have and run with it. the turtle might be slow but he still finishes the race. good luck to you and keep your head up. god bless

i had major anger and frustration after the band and I did take it out on my poor hubby. 4 days after surgery I was packing up to go to the hospital "to have this thing removed" LOL my hubby is actually the one that calmed me down. I think weight loss, surgery, change in diet and change to your body in general causes all these hormones and feelings to fluxuate. dont get discouraged, it all goes away in time and NO, i did not go to hospital and have my band removed.. LOL I survived. good luck to you

i had to do 6 months supervised dr visits and i ended up losing 18 lbs before my surgery then another 5 with 1 week pre op diet. so it is worth the waith, be patient and think, it could always be worse, keep your head up. good luck

slow down there chica LOL its great to lose weight fast, but it is healthier if it comes off slower, you didnt gain it all in 4 months so take it slow, dont set too high of expectations for yourself because if they are not met you will get discouraged, you are doing a fabulous job but go easy on yourself. I just went to smoothie king and got the strawberry gladiator smoothie stuff and i cant wait to try it. congrats on your excellent weight loss

well i seriously doubt he would know if you contacted her or not, I dont even think he remembers our names to be honest with you LoL, he is in such a huge hurry that he doesnt get to know you as a patient. always rushing. but if you do talk to her and she gives you any good insight, let me know so i can contact her too. good luck

i was wondering about the comment you mentioned regarding gastric bypass for diabetics? I was never really given an option or discussed which WLS would be best for me. I am diabetic and I have fibro and pcos and was told about the lap band. I am wondering if they stated in the show rather the lap band or the gastric by pass was better for diabetics? guess it doesnt matter now seeing how I have already had the lap band performed LOL but was just curious. thanks

Glenda,

I know right, I did the same thing, I checked your profile and i said ohhhhhhhhh she has same dr. Im glad to know that he is telling others the same thing, but oh how he confuses me so much.. lol I was wondering if you have talked to the nutritionist or thought about it to get some insight also? pls keep in touch and let me know how things go. good luck

Trisha, I have fibro, diabetes and pcos. exercising as never been an option for me because it either hurt too much or I just didnt have the energy to do it. I found some great video tapes for chair exercises that are non painful. I also recently ordered tony littles easy shaper which was only like 30 dollars on home shopping and it comes with a dvd that has chair exercises using the resistant band and I was able to do that and felt great. I liked it because it has beginner, intermediate and advanced. I of course did the beginner but am setting a goal to try for 3 times a week. hope some of this helps you. good luck

that is great and I must say I laughed when i read everything taste better with bacon and cheese LOL I am going to make one of these list myself, thank you for paying it forward, good luck to you. I also watch videos on youtube, I have made a few in the very beginning but stopped doing it, I might go back and try again. thanks

sunshine,

when they say chew chew chew that is for when you are tight and eating solid foods like chicken, beef jerky and other hard things to get down. the reason they say chew it good is because if you put a piece of chicken in your mouth and barely chew it then swallow it is going to get stuck and you will "slime" it up. my dr says dont drink protien shakes or any other liquid as a meal but I agree with shelly being that in the morning I am very tight and have a difficult time eating before about 2 pm so I tend to drink a shake in the morning to get some nutrients in my body. before I was adjusted I didnt drink the shakes i just ate and i dont drink them for lunch or dinner only in the morning now when it is difficult to get food down. i was on solid foods by week 2 and had a little restriction left from being swollen from the surgery but then that went away, i got 3cc fill at 6 weeks but it did nothing for me, i still could eat alot, another fill of 1cc at about 10 weeks and still nothing, my 3rd fill on jan 10th 1.5 cc now a total of 5.5 cc in my 10 cc band I have restriction, I am now eating smaller, chewing meats better and having the protien shake in the morning but only to get somethbing in me. this is very very confusing because there is so many different rules but i think we all need to do what is right for us and what works for us, you will learn as you go along as I am still learning and only been 41/2 months since banded. this is a great site with lots of information. hang in there and keep up the good work all

thank you shelly, I just got on myfitnesspal to start tracking my daily food intake, I am going to try the higher protien but I also have to have low carb because of diabetes, the fitnesspal said i should have 1200 calories a day, that is about what i have been having unless i have snacks which i usually do then i tend to have about 1300 calories a day. i usually get plenty of protien in but finding low carb things is difficulty due to diabetes. thanks for the input

hey, i got on that fitnesspal and it is great, add me as a friend on there, my email is kristytaylor07@yahoo.com looking forward to doing this with you

very very good for you, small goals is what we need to succeed and always congrats to our non scale victories. wtg

i was told alcohol was not a no no just to be careful with it because it could absorb faster, I had to give up my drinking days due to diabetes long before the surgery was done. my problem is snacking, I like to snack and I feel I need to have something right before i sleep or I cant get to sleep right. bad bad habit. guess i need emotional eating therapy lol good luck

I agree that the weight loss should only be 1-2 lbs a week because with the band that is the average thus a slower weight loss but life time change of retraining your brain, what I dont get is all the different rules. first he says to eat til im full then he doesnt want to give me a fill, so i eat til im full, dont lose any weight and he scolds me and fills me, so I guess what Im getting at is what is right to eat? how much should I be eating for a meal. I suppose seeing the nutritionist is a good option and I just ordered a book about the lapband and weight loss for success, hopefully this will help. I also have the god awful diabetes and PCOS so this doesnt help any, I try to eat low carb with protien but hard to lose weight with both of these co morbidities. any suggestions on what to be eating daily?

Callie - I was at a stand still for a bit also before he finally adjusted me, some surgeons just seem to be stricter about adjustments. Im getting discouraged though because my surgeon seems to be so wishy washy. let us pray LOL

I really liked your post. I am going to try the tool box as I think it is a fabulous idea. you sound just like myself with battling over food. I try to explain to my husband about my food addiction and although he pretends he understands I know that he does not. He does not get excited over food nor care if he even eats period. when i am cooking food I get so excited over the smells and cant wait for the taste and he doesnt acknowledge it, makes me jealous in a way. I believe that I have food addiction due to the fact of being lonely and depressed for most of my life and food was my "everything" even though I am older now, not so much depressed anymore and not lonely, the food addiction is a long standing "addiction" and "habit" that is hard to break. makes me sad sometimes that I have complete control over everything in my life except food. again, I appreciate your post and I am going t try the tool box. thank you again and I pray for both of us with our ":head hunger" struggle. god bless

I have noticed that in the morning I always eat less. I am tighter in the morning than in the evening. when I an egg in the morning I put salsa on it to help it go down but in turn it still gets stuck at times. there is something you can buy to help with the "stuck episodes" its called papaya enzymes, I bought them at walmart. they help disolve the food that is stuck, they dont however seem to work with meat as well with other foods but great for eggs. try eating cottage cheese or yogurt in the morning and save the eggs for later in the day. hope this helped some.