Kime-lou

I have gotten a fill each month since being banded in June 2012. My doctor generally does this until I tell him to stop. This is me, if I were you, I would go to him and say, I do not have restriction and I am gaining weight. I would really like a fill. If he says now, respectly ask for a second opinion. We must advocate for ourselves, doctors have many pateints and sometimes get them confused. If he is a doctor worth his salt he will explain why he doesn't things this way or will refer you. On not losing. I guess I have been blessed, I have SLOWWWWWLY, but steadily lost weight since June (50 lbs total). I still have another 60 I would like to take off, so I am still working hard at it. My questions for you would be- are you following smaller portions (3/4 to 1 cup of food at a meal)? Are you eating nutritious foods (not crap)? I am sure you know all these and it's insulting to be ask these questions, but some times we have to really look at ourselves and say, okay am I really work this the way I should be or am I doing it half as$ed? I have had to ask myself that question several times. I hope things get better for you!!

Charles Swindall wrote a statement about attitude... "The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude... I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our attitudes." I have always loved this and have it hanging in my office. I hadn't really thought about it lately, but I happened to notice it this morning. I think we can add that attitude can make or break a weight loss plan. I know for me I have days when I am down in the dumps and it would be so easy to reach for a candy bar, but I choose to reach for my water bottle instead. The people around us, the scale, the weather, heck the day of the week tend to play a role in our mood. But the part he says that 10% of life is what happens to me and 90% is how I react. How freaking true is that? So when my mood gets skewed I have to choose my reaction, I have to choose to deal with out using food. Also, in situations where food is avalible, how will I react- I should react with - if I am hungry= eat, if am am not= pass. For me I have got to not use food, well let me change that- calories, as a reward for doing well or a reward for dealing with difficulty situation. For instance, yesterday was one hellva day for me. Crap hit the fan for work, dealth with several difficult parents and one pissy co-worker. I could have gone home and drank and entire bottle of wine. After all that would calm me and I deserved it after a rough day. NO I DID NOT DESERVE IT- I deserve to do something better for me than take in empty calories. I am proud of myself, I jumped on my elliptical and did a 30 min intense interval tranining. I was sweating like a pig, but when I got off I felt better, my mood was better and I was happy when the hubs got home. So, the question is how will we react to this band, how will we react to situation that use to cause us to eat till we were stuffed? What's your attitude?

My doctor told me 4 weeks. The first 4 weeks only walking after that I could run. No ab work for 6 weeks.

I really believe there are "spells" of hunger. I will have a day where I want to eat everything and I never get full then after a few days a glass of Water will fill me up. Even though I am on the pill and the doctor says I should have PMS, I swear the week before my period I could eat the house down. Maybe it's all in my head. When I have those days I try and drink, drink, drink my crystal light water. Eat a SF popcicle. Go for a walk or run. Play with the dog. If I am still hungry I eat, if not I move on.

You can eat whatever you want, just make sure you "spend" more calories than you take in. I eat Lean Cusine, Smart Ones, and the like because they are easy. I try and make healthy meals and take left overs, but sometimes these prefabs work great.

Very true. We all have raw nerves when it comes to something so someone may totally not mean to offend but does. It's hard. This is a personal journey that is different for each person.

A few things you should look at are- if you are not self pay what does your insurance require. Mine required that mine be done at a Bariatric center of Excellence, which means I had to find a surgeon that could operate there. Look at the hospitals that are centers of excellence, I had 3 choices. One makes you pay upfront what the insurance doesn't cover, one allows you to make 3 equal payments, one allows a payment plan. Also the seminar is great if you can go to one with a surgeon, it is important that you feel comfortable with the surgeon you are working with.

sounds like you are to tight - I had surgery the day after you and am on fill 6 and have fairly good restriction and never had that happen before.

It's always best to check with your doctor when it comes to pain, because only they can determine if the cause is something not to worry about or not. With that being said, the vagus nerve runs pretty close to our band and stomach and some times if something happens to hit that nerve it can cause odd pains and or dizziness. I get the dizziness whenever my band is messed with. So if I get a fill to fast I get dizzy and pass out, or if I get stuck I will get dizzy. My doctor also told me that the tube that runs from the port to the band is lose in there and can float around so sometime that will hit a nerve or something in there and cause an odd pain. I had a lot of that the first few months post op, but now I am fine.

Okay- I know gross, but we all have to go so...... Pre surgery I never had an issue with going potty, I went daily. Now I am having major trouble. I will go sometimes a week with out going, my weight will go up by 2-3 lbs. When I finally do go I feel weak and I drop that 2-3 lbs. I take stool softeners daily, and that helped for a while, but now it's doing nothing. It's been 5 days and I am feeling horrible- any advice? My doctor told me before not to use stimulate laxitives- what else will help? I am getting Fiber in each day, but that doesn't seem to do much.

Wonderful to get complemented!!

I have to agree with Missy. Mine has gone up. I never was a person who stocked up on crap (I have never kept chips and little debbie in the house). I ate a lot of frozen meals that were loaded with calories and sodium. Now I cook using fresh meats and fresh veggies. Plus grocery prices have gone up since I was banded so where yogurt use to be 50 cent a cup down the yogurt I buy is a buck a cup. How banding effects your food budget is hard to figure out when food prices have gone up and I live in a city where prices were already high enough.

I didn't have to do the typical preop diet. I only did one day (the day before) on liquids. My surgery went great.

My advice is water, water, water!! I drink plain water, water with crystal light flavors, water with propel flavor, water with lemon wedges. This breaks up the every flavor and makes it easier to drink. Plus the drinking more helps with the hunger.

I would call the doctor. If redness and heat are there to just go to the doctor don't wait. It is possible, that the fill when outside the port and is in the tissue and that could cause swelling. Either way the doctor needs to be notified.

Yes, laziness plays a role. But in the case of some (I work with families who are in this boat) they have a very low buget and they never eat out, never go out to movies, ect. One lady I know, a single mom, making minumum wage- she is lucky just to put anything on the table. Between paying for housing, car insurance, gas, clothes, she has little left for food. So she spends wisely, she trys to give her and her kids good food, but sometimes the budget isn't there for many veggies. I help her out when I can, but it's not easy. Basically, it's not easy. I choose to eat healthy and I can afford to, but it still ouchs at the check out sometimes.

I keep mine around 1200 and that is good. Some days I go up to 1600 or go as low as 900. According to my fitbit I always burn around 2000 calories or more a day and this last month I did loose 7 lbs. My doctor say I am doing fine.

It's hard to really measure you success on this journey- there are so many things you can look at.... Scale number going down Clothing getting to big Eating less calories Exercising More Being able to move better Breathing Better Lower BP or Glucose levels Feeling better These are all ways that we can measure our success, but the one I think we all tend to harp on is the almighty scale. After all, at the doctor's office your scale number is what tell your doctor if you are obese or not. I am the worlds worst about getting hung up on a scale number. When I went for a check up in Dec I was only 2 lbs down from my last visit so I was bumed. Yesterday I went it, I had lost 7 lbs since I was last there, so of course I felt great. I am excited, yet no matter if I lose 2 lbs or 7 in a month I always wish it were more. I am a member of the instant gradification society, not that I want to be. I wish we could see the results we want to see quicker, but we must wait and take it one step at a time. Besides my scales number going from 247 (highest) to 195 what else has been a postive effect: My BP is totally normal again My asthma is almost non exsistant I am able to move better (even run- oh my) I am no longer in a 22 I am in a 16 petite or a 14 Women's Petite I know I am being successful, but there are days when I compare myself to others and feel I am not what I should be because I am not doing the same as them. We have some amazing people on this site who are and have rocked this they are losing and keeping a positve attitude. Some choose to go carb less, some opt to do couch to 5k, some don't excercise at all, some do this some do that. Each time I read about someone elses "way" I think well I'm not doing this right, I need to do what they are doing. But....Have a lost weight? Yes Am I healthier? Yes So why do I feel the need to change? Each of us are different, each of us have had our own addiction to food (some love bread, some sweets, some soda, some salt, ect) We all have our down fall, and we all have to deal with that in our own way. We have to find a balance in us for what works now and what will work forever. Our goal is forever weight loss right? So each of us has to figure out what we are going to be able to do now and forever. For me I know I am not going to exercise like a maniac, but I know I need some, so I make an effort to hit the elliptical 4 days a week - this is something that I can manage long term- but no way could I do it every day (well I could, but I know I won't) I am a carb lover and I know I would never give up carbs long term so I keep carbs in my menu, but I just eat less of them. I love pizza, but instead of eating 4 slices I eat 1 and am happy. I only eat desserts on special occassions, this isn't a big deal to me, I am fine without; so on my birthday or Christmas I will enjoy, but I won't make them weekly. Bottom line is, I, Kim must make changes that I can and will be able to maintain for the rest of my life. This like a marriage- I am married to my band till death do us part. I will not get a divorce from it so I must do my part to keep our relationship happy and healthy. For each of you out there you must find your way and I can't tell you what that is. You may have a trigger food that would cause you to binge so you need to stay away from it. You may be able to toss carbs to the side forever, if you can more power to you and bow down!! Just find what works for you. If you are loosing steadily then you do not have to stress about what others are doing and that you should do the same. This is something I have got to work on. I am me and my way is working so I am going to do my best to own and work it and work my weight down to goal. So what is your measure of success?

I have to do the protein shake in the morning because of band tightness. It works for me.

Oh, in the summer I freeze and can a lot of veggies (corn, string beans, squash, peaches, apples, strawberries, sweet potatos) so I will have them for the winter and won't have to buy it at the higher prices.

I agree, it's hard, especially once you start loosing a lot and you are having to buy new clothes to. I love the local farmers markets during the spring, summer and fall- I can get all sorts of nutritous goodys for a good price. A big part of the reason a lot of people are obese is this trend that healthy cost so much more.

My nutritionist recommended 60 g of protein a day or more. As long as your calories aren't going over the extra protein is great. Just make sure you are drinking enough water.

I drink one of these shakes every morning for breakfast and they are awesome. I place it in the freezer for about 10 min before drinking - almost like a milk shake. I tried the bars this week and wasn't impressed, but the shakes are most excellent!!

I recently found Slim Fast High Protein shakes. 20g of protein, 2 g of carbs and 180 calories. My biggest problem with shakes were the calorie counts seemed high, but this one taste really good and is reasonalbe for a meal. I drink it every morning for breafast.

The plain to me is good, but it has a little more tartness. I use the plain in the place of sour cream for all things- you can't really tell the difference. Even my really picky husband can't.