geology rocks

Hey! I had my surgery on 03/25/2012. I have pretty much EXACTLT what you just described! I will get a pain in the center of my chest that radiates to my ack. It almost feels similar to the ache one gets when bending over a desk all day. Sort of a dull ache that feels like muscle strain, but I don't think that's really what it s. I have been mulling it over for some time now. I also have about 4.5cc in my band (not that it really matters).... More to the point, I noticed this "feeling" shortly after my last fill (which was about a month ago). I am suspicious that, as much as I hate to admit it, the feeling is a result of over eating! I know it is hard to imagine that less than one cup of food could possibly result in "overeating", but I really think that is what it is. In fact, I just ate a serving of baked chicken breast about the size of a deck of cards with a small salad and I am having the "feeling". The chicken was very moist, so it went down easy with the lettuce. I may have not allowed enough time between bites or may have taken a few "bigger" small bites, but I think the feeling is different from being "stuck". I've only been stuck once, but it was VERY memorable! I guess this is where the idea of "head hunger" starts to have meaning for me! My head wants to finish my modest little meal, but I think my band is telling me that the small bit of food is too much! Ugh!! Gotta get used to leaving a little food on the plate...... :-)

Once I stopped eating back my exercise calories, I began to lose at a more steady pace.

I wasn't losing much at first, either. As hard as it was, I upped my intake by about 150 calories per day and started the scales moving.....slowly. My first fill did nothing. The second fill made getting my 1350 calories a bit of a challenge and now the scales are really moving. I try to never eat fewer calories than 1350 and no more than 1500. I used my fitness pal to arrive at those numbers. They are a lot better than the arbitrary 1200 calories that I had selected before hand. I think there is a reason why there is a big-ol-long calculation used to estimate our calorie needs. I think the reason is that we are all different sizes and weights, have different ideas about how fast we would like to lose and also different levels of activity. Toss in the fact that we all have different metabolisms and you start to realize why different things work for different people. Try experimenting with fat/protein/carb ratios, B vitamins, eliminating late night snacks, eating 4 small meals, 3 small meals, snacks, no snacks... If you keep a record you will quickly learn what works and what doesn't work! Wish I had just one answer for you... Best of luck! You will get it figured out before long.

I had my daughter when I was 18. I weighed about 130 before she was born. After, I weighed about 200! I went from young and "attractive" to fat and homely overnight! I spent all of my 20's and now most of my 30's being fat. I feel like it made me feel old before my time and also like I missed out on a lot of fun. I was lucky that my family was supportive, so I could have gone out with friends; but I often chose to stay home because I looked so bad compared to my friends. It's no fun to dress your 230 pound body when you feel like there should only be 130 pounds of you there in the first place! I have a picture of myself from before I got pregnant that I use for motivation. I may not get to 130 and I certainly won't look like I am 18, but I will look better than I did at 230!

Why not ask your nutritionist? I am sure they could help you out. So far as the "all chewed up" comment for visualizing your portions is concerned..... They actually told me to imagine it puréed in a one cup container. Chewed up.....puréed.....same difference! :-) I hope I didn't confuse anyone with that comment. The point is that your stomach above the band only has about a one cup volume. This might help..... I have juicer at home. Three good sized romaine lettuce hearts will condense down into about 2 cups of "juice" and about 3 cups of pulp. In short, when I make a salad I get a 2 cup plastic ziplock container and fill it with lettuce (not packed in there too tight, but not super lose either). After adding dressing, feta, sunflower seeds, etc....the rather large looking salad is actually just about the perfect size for me. I try very hard to keep meals down to 1.5 cups or less, so the salad is just about perfect even though it takes up more space than "one cup". Remember!! You can't eat the empty spaces between the leaves of lettuce, so they don't count as part of the one cup volume!! Lose, fluffy foods are challenging to measure for this reason. I agree with the gal above..... You will have a good idea of how much is enough after a while. Listen to your band and you level of satiety. Best of luck! :-)

I'm no expert and everyone's doctor is different, but my doctor said to imagine your food puréed in a one cup container. A "cup" is a volume, so you cannot use weight as an approximation unless you are considering a Fluid like Water. This is because 8 fluid ounces is equivalent to one cup. Using ounces only works with drinks. That said, invision what you are eating all chewed up in a one cup container. Hope this helps. The weight / volume thing is hard if you don't work with weights and measures on a daily basis. Don't worry! You will get it figured out! :-)

I'm a geologist and work in a microanalysis lab. My job is physical and I spend a lot of time on my feet in the lab. I cut rocks with a diamond blade saw and make thin sections (microscope slides) from the rock. I look at the slide with a variety of microscopes to determine how the rock formed. I took just a little shy of 2 weeks off from work. I felt that I could have gone back sooner!

I am 2 months out and have only lost 9 pounds. It sounds pretty good, but I didn't lose the "1 pound per week" that it appears. I lost a few right after surgery on the liquid diet and the rest in the last 2 weeks after having my 3rd fill! I didn't think the scale was ever going to move. Look at it this way, if your hernia has caused some problems, then your doctor has probably been conservative with the fills. Once you heal a little more (some of us just take longer than others) you can have more fills and gradually move into restriction/satiety and start to lose. Slow losing is better than no losing (or even gaining), so you ARE successful right now......even though it may not feel that way! Hang in there!

Hang in there! It will get better. I have been struggling to not gain, as well. I lost most of my weight on the pre-op diet, too. I have had 2 fills now and it is getting a little better each time.

If I make it to 130 (ultimate goal), I'm gonna get plastic surgery to fix all the sagging bits. If I don't make it to 130...... But I still manage to lose a decent amount...... I'm just going to take myself shopping for some new cloths. However, I am finding that I will probably end up doing that all along the way! I have already had to get a few new shirts and can see that pants will be next. Maybe I will have to come up with a better reward than shopping...... ;-P

Is this the main reason why they suggest not drinking after meals? Vomiting? :-)

I don't know the answer to your question, but I would love for someone to explain it to me as well! How DO you know if you have stretched your pouch??

I also end up feeling "full". If I eat too much, then I get the sensation that there is a lump in the back of my throat. There isn't much space between "full" and "too full", mind you! If I eat too fast I will blow right past "full" and right into that lump in the throat feeling. I have noticed that if I slow WAY down towards the end of a meal that I can actually feel the full feeling starting to happen.....very slowly. It is so weird, but I totally understand why they say to stop when you feel satisfied. For me, it seems that the satisfied feeling is shortly followed by the full feeling. The full feeling is more of a "wait for it" kind of sensation. It is SO weird, but it is so nice! I could not eat more than about a cup and a half before feeling full if I wanted to!! Unfortunately, now I have to still work on what goes into that cup and some change! One step at a time, I suppose...

If you had 100 pounds to lose and you lost 80 of those 100 pounds, then you would have lost 80% of your excess weight. In short, take the weight you have lost and divide that number by the total amount of weight that you have/ had to lose. If you have lost more than what you set out to lose, then you have lost more than 100% of your excess weight. Does this help? ;-P

I have read in "the literature" that "they" don't really know for sure why people have hair loss with weight loss surgery (and even low carb diets). I was a hard core low carb, high protein dieter for years and can remember losing hair like crazy during a big jump in my weight loss. I could never keep with those low carb diets for more than about 8 months. I just kept losing the same 40 pounds over and over, but that is another story. In short, I was really not surprised that my hair started falling out like crazy during the pre-op liquid diet. I lost 12 pounds in 2 weeks!! I was getting about 70 grams of protein per day during this phase, too. My weight loss has slowed down now and the hair is growing back. I am spending a lot less money on drain cleaner.... That's a joke! I have only had one fill, but I bet that I lose more hair when I get to the green zone!! That just seems to be a part of weight loss for me; regardless of the diet I am following. I wish someone knew "why", but at least the stuff grows back! Just remember that it is not permanent!