Toby&theBanded

I know theres almost one of these posts every day, but I'm too excited not to share! I finally got my first fill today!!! Yay! I feel like finally im on the road to really getting a good use out of my band. Congrats to all the first time fillers! We took a big step today

I agree with them as well. Please get it checked out. I am newly banded, but my dad has had the band for 6+ years and has problems with severe reflux for over a year. He finally went to the doctor after coughing up blood and told him that he had polyps in his stomach and his band had slipped. Now he has to get the polyps removed and is going to switch his band for a sleeve. I don't mean to sound scary, but this really his happening to him and would hate to see anyone else go through the same thing.

3 weeks down and I've only lost 12 lbs. I'm honestly disappointed but all the kind words out on the forums have helped. I finally know that I'm lucky to drop 1-2 lbs a week from here until I get to my green zone. All I can say is I can't wait. My first fill is on Monday. I am super excited! Starting out I was doing great exercising, but this week I skipped the exercising unfortunately. Tomorrow I take my STEP 2 National Board Exam and I've been cramming like crazy. I can't wait to get it over with so that I can finally focus on my health and trying to get into residency. I don't know if I made the right decision to have the surgery and study for this exam in the same month, but it's the time I had and I couldn't let either opportunity go by. Hopefully I've studied enough. I'm sure once I find out if I passed or not, I will announce it on here. Once I get back to working out, I'll restart couch to 5k. I've never been a runner, never liked running, never really could run. So I made it a goal to run a 5k within the next year. I know it will be hard, but it's only 3 miles! I know I can do it. It's not like I'm training for a marathon! My diet has been progressing well, except I want to snack all the time! Moving on to more solid food has helped me feel fuller at meals, but if I really don't focus on big protein items, I get hungry quick. Obviously tomorrow I will have to break the rules and snack so I can make it through my 9 hour test. BTW can't wait to see Dark Knight Rises! I have to have a marathon first before heading to see it, but can't wait!

The first days are the worst. For me, the gas was the worst part because I felt bloated and had pain from being bloated. Walking really does help. And don't be afraid to hit up the gas x. I really didn't like the dissolvable strips so I bought the chewables and chewed them really well. All of that plus some pain meds helped me get thru. Once you decide to stop your narcotics, Tylenol worked for me. A few days from now you'll be out and about you're doing awesome!

I feel ya! Im at 12 lbs too 3 weeks post op. I'm hoping to get my first fill next week to get this show on the road. Eating small portions and trying not to snack in between is hard! Maybe a little fill will help some. If not, it's the first step to get there. Hang in there

I liked core power chocolate - it's a premade shake. I have yet to find a powder I love. I mixed my powder with skim milk to get more protein. My doctor/dietician recommend a skim milk from HEB (I don't know where you live and if you have HEB there) called mootopia because it's fat free, lactose free, and has extra protein (12g for a serving), plus its really tasty since its a little creamer than regular skim milk due to the extra protein. Hope this helps!

My doctor said that cardio was ok after 1 week and lifting weight should wait at least 1 mo post op. I would assume that after about 6-8 wks you should be ok to do what you would like.

I'm 11 days out and totally feel ya. I've been pushing thru the last few days by having yogurt for breakfast since that is the only thing that is close to having a real breakfast. I go use the elliptical around lunch time since I'm at home and then have a protein shake after. This part has been working well since afterwards I feel revved up on pushing myself to be healthier and I feel full after drinking it. Then by dinner... well... soup's on. By dinner I am tired of liquids but, hey!, we only have a few more days left of this! Keep you're chin up!

Today was my first weigh in at the doctor's office and I lost 10 lbs! Yay! Super stoked that the hard part of the past week has paid off. Everything else is looking great and should be progressing nicely. As shy as I am to tell those not overweight that I have had the surgery, I have found comfort in meeting all the patients that had surgery in the past week at our nutrition meeting today and all the friendly, kind, motivational people I have met here online. I feel a sense of freedom I don't have around "normal" people. It's like you all get it. You know what it's like. And I'm not a failure or giving up by having the surgery. I'm making a commitment to changing my life for the better. Thanks everyone for being so awesome. It's amazing what support can do for us all! We're all in this together! A

So today is officially 7 days since my surgery. One week. Every day seemed to pass by slowly, but I can't believe it's already a week. I thought I would never get here! The good part: yes I have already started loosing weight! yay! weigh in at the doc's office manana. Also, no pain when I am just relaxing. I have been off pain meds for several days The bad: I knew what the diet would be like before I went under the knife, but it is so much harder than I thought it would be. I never imagined wishing for crackers and cereal as much as I do now. As you all know, the first week is jello, popsicles, and broth. I cannot wait for the end of week 2! Also, sneezing sucks, lol! As a promise to myself and who ever is reading, I will share all the good and bad about living with the band and how it has changed my life. BTW, who am I? 25 yo 5'1" F med student (1 year left!!!) who weighed 227.5 (BMI 43) as of 6/21/12. I have fought with my weight for all of my life just like many here. I feel like I've tried it all. Fad diets. Weight Watchers (which did work while I was honestly doing it). Calorie Counting. It's just when I am not honestly putting all my energy into dieting, I gain it all back. I don't have any medical problems. I have seen what obesity can do to a person from the medical, familial, and personal stand point and I didn't want to find myself 15 years from now in a hole I can't get myself out of medically. I want to enjoy being young. Wear a swimsuit on the beach without being embarrassed. When I have kids, I want to be able to run around with them and not be worn out. When I see my patients and tell them about healthy eating and lifestyles, I don't want them to think, "yeah, like she knows!" I know I will always have a battle with my weight, but won't it be nice to fight while I'm a healthy weight because I took a leap of faith that this surgery would be the right choice for me? Yup, it will be nice.

I had my surgery on June27th. I know exactly how you feel! All this liquid diet crap is driving me crazy! I figure this part won't go on forever. Us girls have got to stick together! We'll get through it One thing that has helped me in the past week is peeking at the scale. I know I've dropped a few pounds, so that has made it worth it, even if I don't physically see it yet.