Bright

hi Kathy, It's over seven months since my surgery, and I haven't touched a drop since - I was drinking up to 5 cans a day, absolutely loved it! But amazingly haven't missed it a bit - I was never a coffee drinker but now long for my daily cappucin...I have a large one most days and it seems to give me a mini caffeine fix. You'll cope way better than you think without it - best of luck with your surgery and happy band journey xx

Apologies for not posting for so long - as I recall, my last post had me vowing to post more often - so much for that! Just wanted to update anyone who's interested, in my progress... Yesterday was exactly 30 weeks since my surgery, and my loss to date is about 62lbs - mind you, this morning that was more like -59lbs but being an optimist, I always go by the lowest ever I am still really happy with my decision to have the surgery and feel absolutely 500% better, both physically and mentally since. Having said that, I don't think the band is a no-brainer, and will do all the work for you, but it is a brilliant tool, which i almost forget I have most of the time. I have the 9cc Inamed band, which my surgeon filled to 4cc during surgery, and I haven't had a fill since. This is for a few reasons - firstly I have to fly to France to get the fill, which at the moment I haven't either the money or time to do - secondly, I have a level of restriction that I am relatively happy with right now - if I want to have a really nice meal out or lunch with my girlfriends or whatever, I can pretty much eat what everyone else does, if I drink with my meal, which is really nice. For the rest of the time, i try to eat healthily - while still trying to appease the screaming food addict inside me... The magic of the band for me is, that once I eat, whatever I eat, I feel full and the cravings are gone. So mostly, my inner demon is begging me for icecream or cookies or pringles or whatever - my brain is soothingly saying "yes of course we will have all of that, once you eat some pumpkin seeds and turkey - I eat the healthy protein and *poof*, the craving for the rubbish is gone, and I am full. But then, it's all about habits, and once I "break out" of my healthy pattern, it's very hard to get back in. My husband and I and another couple just had a great long weekend in Barcelona for our anniversary - and while, I stayed away from bread, I did have way too many cosmopolitans (well, it's hard to find non-fizzy drinks;) and white wine. I had put up 3lbs by the time I got home, and another 2lbs during the week after, trying to get back on track. This sounds like I "diet" - which I don't really - I just found that sugar triggers cravings so I try to avoid white bread, rice, um, sugar! and am much happier for it. I don't eat any low-fat or diet products and have lots of treats - probably too many! Also I am proud to say that I haven't eaten in McDonalds, kfc or any of those fast food joints since being banded. Also I rarely drink alcohol, and try to get the bloody required 2.5 litres of water in per day - I go to the gym (which shock, horror, I now love!) three or four (or sometimes two!) times a week. I eat pumpkin seeds, nuts, prunes, rocket and spinach very frequently as they are brilliant "fuel" and *oh my god*, I ran UP a hill with my kids the other day, and it felt better than anything else in the world! I am down to a european size 22/24 (think that's american 18/20) on top and a size 24/26 on bottom (again think that's american size 20/22) - I feel way better than "only" -60lbs - I feel like the scales should say -479lbs - I have plateaued here for almost a month and I am getting kinda frustrated with the numbers - but it's not all about numbers, right?! I still often eat "emotionally" - when I'm not hungry, just feel like eating - after all it was pretty much my only "hobby" for over ten years! Hope this isn't all too long and boring - I am now going to try to attach some photos of befores and durings.....

I know what you mean Alex, I always blamed our high grocery shopping bill on food for the kids - since I've been banded we have saved 50 euro a week (about $55) since I've stopped throwing impulse purchases into the cart.... can you believe it? That's over $1200 since I've been banded! And that's not even taking into account how much we've saved on not eating out as much! Considering my surgery was self paid, ($6000) this operation will actually PAY for itself! Well, it would, if I didn't have this nasty new shoe addiction.....

God, reading Nancy's thread, I felt SO guilty - I read all the new posts on this board every night but contribute less and less lately - I know it's really selfish but most of the "posters" seem new recently, the same ol' questions are coming up.... and I am just too damn lazy to answer them all as diligently as Alexandra does (I dunno how u keep it up Alexandra :kiss ). I sometimes think we should have a mandatory "read all the old posts" line written somewhere in big red letters, but in fairness, many of the other forums do request this, and I always found them so daunting and unwelcoming when tentatively starting to ask questions. I guess Sue, I'm another type of person NOT on your list - I am the absolute WORST type of person at a meeting - there to glean all the info I can, and hope to god someone else offers to do the photocopying/coffee making/fund raising !!!! Are you getting just how VILE I am? I tell myself my lack of contribution is due to the fact that I am Different - ie Living in Ireland, with a 10cc band filled to 4cc during surgery, 6 months banded, never had a fill, still one episode to go in Sex and The City - you see, COMPLETELY alien over here!!!) I do agree with you tho, the more people, however different, make the "meeting" work hence contradicting my crappy excuse, and hereby promise to contribute more here. It definitely is the best forum, I can't really do the Yahoo ones, as I can never find the start of the threads :squareeye. I read the Spotlight posts a lot but have to say, 'cept for our Jennye over there, I have never felt very welcome - and Ms Know-It-All revels in her throne a bit too much for my liking....! anyway, great thread Nancy - I'll make sure I'm "here" more.... (editted to read intelligently!)

Congratulations on getting banded! I was banded in Paris, France and got precious little information from my surgeon as my french isn't too great, especially on medical terms and his english was pretty bad! Luckily for me I had three sources of information - #1 I printed out the Inamed Lap Band book (the one I think you are refering to... if not you can find it at www.inamed.com). I read this over and over before surgery and also read the whole inamed website information too. #2 I communicated regularly with someone who had the band inserted by the same surgeon - if you can find a buddy who has had pretty much the same sugery experience as you, and try to keep in touch, it will be a great help. My friend Sarah introduced me to the surgeon in the first place and as she had the operation a few weeks before me, she could advise on all the first little landmarks with great authority! #4 is, of course, the internet! Especially this forum - I find it the friendliest by far, and therefore the most helpful. If I were you (or any newbie) I would spend as much time as possilbe reading through ALL the old posts. I used to spend an hour or so every night reading thru all the old topics - it really helps to see the problems people have overcome, and got on with this journey. I also used the web to find as many bandsters sites as possible and read their journals as much as I can. For example if I'm at 12 weeks since surgery, I read a few journals at their six week mark and see how they coped! Try these sites: http://mysite.verizon.net/vze6pwwz/ ("Our" Leo's site!) http://www.geocities.com/robinh26/lapband.html (the legendary Coffeewench's site!) http://www.geocities.com/laylaburd/AGB/laylaslapband.html (another really good site!) Hope this helps - good luck! :eek:

I'm thrilled for you - been away for a week and was so happy to come back to see you're doing so well! Keep it up hon xx :banana :banana :banana :banana :banana

Chantal, that is so great! Here in Ireland, smokes cost about the same as in Canada, they are super taxed to try to discourage people from smoking! Also, I am very proud to let u know that from the 29th March Ireland is a smoke free zone in all places of work - ie pubs, bars, restaurants, taxis, even company cars - it is causing a lot of contraversy here but as someone who grew up in a very smokey house (mom, dad and 2 sisters smoked! - dad smokes a pipe!!), it put me off for life - but apparently 50% of children whose parents are smokers become smokers themselves - which is exactly what happened in our family - two of us kids ended up smoking and two didn't.... anyway just wanted to heartily congratulate you on your descision - i hope you get on really well - with all your eventual savings you can come and visit me in Ireland - no temptation here when socialising!!!! Well done xx

Congratulations guys - wish you both lots of luck on your band journey

what a great moment, love when that happens Alexandra! I had one too the other day - I took out this extra tight lycra sports top to wear in the gym under my teeshirt (mostly to help prevent black eyes;) !!!) - it was super tight, and I always wore it under things to pull me in if I was going out etc - well, shock, horror - it was too loose! It just hung on me like a tee shirt - I couldn't believe it - it meant more to me than seeing the scale move to under -50lbs (my first mini goal) - it seemed REAL , if you know what I mean! lovin those N.S.V.'s - would love to hear more from anyone else out there.............

wowzer, you look fantastic, Michelle, what an amazing difference! You also look about ten years younger.... I'm so happy for you - congratulations xx :banana :banana :banana :banana :banana :banana

wow, Donali. fantastic goal-news! I'm so happy for u, feels like I've lost the 90lbs too! Which I haven't so can really stand back and appreciate you getting so far - this band is a great tool but boy, does it require a lot of effort to keep it working. Well done, and am totally supporting you all the way through the last ten pounds to the Bandsters Holy Grail of -100lbs mark! :banana :banana :banana :banana :banana :banana :banana :banana :banana :banana :banana :banana :banana :banana

wow, Babs, I'm so thrilled for you - what an accomplishment, I am so proud and happy for you xxx :banana :banana :banana :banana :banana :banana :banana :banana

congratulations for making such great progress - I am so happy for you! You have been such a great inspiration for me - and I love your mini goals, I must make a few!!! take care xx

Well done Audrey! Brilliant progress - keep in touch! :P

I was self pay too - I I had been looking at paying around $12,000 to have the op in the UK which was a lot of money for me to find - then Babs (bbrecruiter) on this site went to a lot of trouble to find me the name/website of a banded women who now runs a consultancy service to help have the surgery in Lyons in France - this would only cost around $6000 which I was thrilled about! THEN I decided to have the surgery in Paris, in France after meeting another really nice person on this forum, who suggested I use her surgeon. After recieving a quotation from him and his hospital for "only" $4000, I was delighted and went ahead and had the surgery there - I found it quite difficult as my french isn't great, and NOBODY in the hospital spoke english - ANYWAY (sorry for rambling!) now it turns out that the hospital want to charge me another 2000 euro (about $2000)! I thought it might be a little extra but I was really annoyed at it being 50% more expensive! I know I ended up paying a lot less than I originally thought but in the end, it's not easy to find an additional $2000 lying around when we hadn't budgeted for it - we spent a lot of money on car hire, flights, hotels etc too, so my advice would be: find out all you can BEFORE you have the surgery or commit to anything - talk to two or three other patients of your surgeon to find out their experience!

....Ok now I know all about crunches! Ask me anything!!! Still sounds like too much hard work! Babs: Would u believe there are two Curves gyms in Ireland but they are down the country, not in Dublin so no use to me - and funnily enough, I really don't mind the male personal trainer - I have always found men way more accepting of my weight than women - it's the women who (statistically!) would prefer to have cancer than to be morbidly obese! I'm sure I'll "need" cosmetic surgery if I ever do get to my goal weight - and am hoping to have my boobs done - the batwings and tummy tuck seem way too painful for me! I am going to wait and see how I feel - the floppy tum may not bother me too much but my boobs are already pretty horrible!!! By the way I would LOVE to meet you too - or ANY of you for that matter! We are heading to France and Spain for vacations this year but are definitely planning to go to the States next year - we were just sitting around trying to pick where to go- we've been on vacations to Florida, New York, San Francisco, Boston and have friends in California who we visited too - my husband has been to Dell in Texas a lot too!!! When we go next year, it will probably be for a week in NYC (as the kids love it) and a week somewhere else so maybe we'll try to get to Texas or Vegas - wow that'd be cool!!!

....great to see you here again! What a brilliant weight loss - you must be thrilled! Hope I catch up with you soon!

I am also losing my hair! It's really upsetting for me as I have fair thin hair to begin with! It is quite noticable (well, to me!) and I have really upped my protein intake since I noticed this - I have a handful of nuts most mornings and take vitamins too - has anyone else found something that may help or can anyone tell me how long this will last before my body adjusts again? My nails were also very weak and slow-growing but this has improved recently - maybe it's just a matter of waiting.....! Thanks for your tips Babs - it is a simple way of eating I guess, but it's really helpful to be reminded of what works for others!

Anne: Thanks for the tip but .... em.... what exactly ARE crunches? I know I'm an idiot but I really don't know.....? Kellymoos: I'm glad to hear you can do sit ups but is your band under your ribcage or in your side like mine? It never hurts but I am very aware of it, my husband says I often absentmindedly have my hand over it, nearly protectively.... it definitely feels tender anyway? Claraluz: Don't worry - I was kinda bossing the trainer around a bit - I'm not one for taking orders at the best of times, especially from a beefed up teenager!!!! Actually, like Donali, when he went on about glutes etc I was jamming MY fingers in my ears and going LA LA LA LA LA too - the guy reckons I may be "challenging" :) :) Gee, ya think????!!! Anyway, thanks for the info - I am fascinated to know what these mysterious crunches are - and would love to know anyone else's tips on tummy exercises - I think I'm going to have the most "toning" problem there, and wonder how to tackle it - I'm way too chicken to have a tummy tuck!!!! I'm REALLY glad my ass is behind me so I don't have to see it all day too!

well thanks for that Donali - I was hoping someone'd say "ooohhh good lord no - no sit ups EVER - way too dangerous! I have always thought intense christmas shopping was enought exercise anyway but apparently my bod doesn't agree!

I presume you guys have seen this on CNN already but guess what? I JOINED A GYM - and actually went today! Well, i met my personal trainer and did a two minute practice on all "my machines" - 5 min warm up on a bike thingy, 10 mins on a cross trainer, 10 mins on a strider and 8 mins on the treadmill, then weights and cool down stretches (what ever they are!) I amost died of shock at how much he expected me to do and would have punched his lights out only he had a really cute Northern Irish Accent, and v cute butt . He even wanted me to do some stuff with a giant beach ball but I quietly declined! Had long soak in the jacuzzi to calm down!!! Joking aside, I'm really looking forward to getting fit and healthy. By the way, my port is in the lower left hand side of my stomach, and I'm wondering if I can do sit ups or whatever with it there? Does anyone know?

Just see that some of my favourite people are online right now, same time as me (which rarely happens to me here in Greenwich Mean Time!) and wanted to say hi to Donali, Shelly, Robin and Megan (missed you Megan, it's been ages since you've posted!) anyway HI!!!!!! :kiss :) :)

Oh My God - I'm thrilled for you babs, can't believe how much you've lost in such a short amount of time! You are such a weight loss hero for me - post some photo's sometime - there must be a huge difference now! This calls for danching bananas...... :banana :banana :banana :banana :banana :banana :banana

Well done Leo - you look fantastic! What an inspiration, hope I do as well as you! :banana :banana :banana

Hi Jennye - apologies for being late with my congrats but I've been away - so thrilled to come back and see photos of your brilliant progress at last! You look fab - your face looks completely different! And your hourglass figure is really apparent now! You should be so proud - well done! :banana :banana :banana :banana :banana