Erin O'Donnell

So this coming August I will have had my lap band for a year, and I've literally made no progress. I lost about 30lbs. initially and have put it all back on. I will be seeing a lot of family that I haven't seen since last summer and I look exactly the same. I'm so embarrassed. But, I recently got back on this forum and started reading all the posts and I've been newly inspired to get going again. I'm so glad this forum is here and I know I have support from so many people! Thanks! -Erin

Okay I'll check it out! Thanks!

I'll check it out! Thanks!

Thanks so much for the advice!! And good job on the 5k!

I've seen a lot of weight loss success stories and in nearly all of them running has been a huge part of their success. I really would like to work up to eventually doing a marathon. I know, at this point, a marathon is a longggg way off, but I'm willing to work to get there. I was just wondering if anyone had any tips for beginner runners ?? Thanks!

Hey everyone! So tomorrow I am headed off to Colorado for a week to ski! I've read posts before about flying with the band...are there any complications with flying with lapband like added restriction or anything? I'm sure I'll be fine but just thought I'd ask. Thanks!

I ate a lot of Soup. I got a ton of different ones to try because I know soup is easy to get down if solids weren't going down as well. I also made a lot of smoothies with Greek yogurt and fruit. Then when I was feeling like I could handle more solid foods I just started eating salad and eggs (which I've heard is hard for some people to eat..but it wasn't a problem for me) umm...low fat cheese sticks. Also, since I'm in college and the microwave is my best friend, I would buy some frozen dinners from lean cuisine or healthy choice. But yeah, while I was healing I ate mainly soup and smoothies and things that were easy to chew up...but it didn't take too long before I started incorporating more solid food.

I think it's common because people are still learning how to use the band..I didn't follow the 'rules' when I was plateauing. I wasn't exercising and I wasn't eating right. But it didn't help that I didn't have restriction. Now that I have restriction I have a new sense of motivation. I do work out at the gym. I do the elliptical for an hour. 30 minutes in the beginning and then 30 minutes at the end. In between I do weights. I usually switch which muscle group I work every day. And my diet isn't super strict. I eat the typical 'healthy' foods. For me i focus on limiting how much junk food I eat. I only eat enough to satisfy me. And only when I'm actually hungry. Now, I've just started this new kind of eating/work out lifestyle in the new year. So I may have to switch some things up but so far that's what I try to do. hope this helps. I'm not really that far along in this journey so I'm not an expert or anything but feel free to ask me anything lol

It wasn't going as well as I'd hoped. I lost 25 pounds but then I stopped losing and I didn't have any restriction. But I just got my second fill and I am already feeling the difference. I have restriction and I'm losing weight don't worry about the failures...I freaked myself out reading those. There are so many successes. And we're both young and I have a feeling the odds are in our favor because of it

I'm 20 and I got the band in August of 2012 congrats on being banded!

1. Seeing my collar bone 2. Being able to paint my toenails with ease 3. Not having to worry whether I'll fit onto an amusement park ride or not 4. Buying clothes from stores that I really like that I can't buy from right now due to my current size 5. Not feeling like a total outcast in public. There's mannnnny things I'm looking forward to, these are just a few of them

Good luck! You will probably be pretty sleepy at first. I wasn't terribly sore the first 12-ish hours but once I woke up the morning after surgery I was pretty sore. It basically feels like you've done a LOT of sit-ups...but I don't say this to make you more nervous! Just make sure you keep moving and drinking water

If you can't keep liquids down then I would suggest going to your doctor as soon as possible. I agree with the person who replied before me, you definitely have to remember to chew, probably even more then you used to with just one fill because obviously your band is even tighter. Good luck! Hope you stop sliming soon!

Just as losing weight doesn't happen in one day, putting on enough fat to ruin the chances of the liver shrinking in just one day is not likely, but as everyone else has said, you don't want to cheat anymore. You don't want them to get in there to start the procedure and then realize the liver has not shrunk enough. Then you will be sore and uncomfortable AND band-less :/ but yeah, I wouldn't worry if it was just one time.

Like the others have said, you'll know when you get stuck lol! For me it hasn't been too terrible, but it's definitely not a comfortable feeling. To me, it feels similar to when you try to swallow a chewy piece of meet that is too big or anything that is too big, except its more intense when you have the band. I've never experienced a stuck episode so bad to have thrown up or anything so I hope I never will

Hi! So I just had a fill a few days ago and my surgeon has me on 3 days of liquids and 2 days of soft foods before moving on to normal food. I'm in the soft food stage now and am curious what people might consider 'soft'. This is my second fill but when I was in this stage then, I just ate Greek yogurt and soup....I'm getting kind of tired of soup and yogurt and was hoping some of you may have suggestions. I understand that different people may be able to tolerate different foods in this stage but it'd be nice to have some ideas thanks!

Hi! So I got my second fill yesterday and I can tell it's a lot tighter than my first. I'm noticing today that I'm a little gassy/bloated. I'm wondering if it could be related to the fill? If anyone has any insight about this please let me know! If it continues tomorrow I will probably call my doctor and let them know but it's after business hours now. Thanks!

I was banded August 13th and I have not made a lot of progress unfortunately. I initially lost 25 pounds and have gained 13 back. Until yesterday I had only 1 fill and it just wasn't tight enough. I was able to eat whatever I wanted and a lot of it. I was back to my old habits. And to make things harder, my surgeon is about 6+ hours from where I go to college. I'm on the hunt for a good surgeon near me but I really like the surgeon and nurse that did the surgery. I can definitely tell that the fill I got yesterday is much tighter than before so hopefully I'll get a little more help from my band but at the same time I understand that it's ultimately up to me. Just gotta break the bad habits! I hope you other August banders have had more success then I! Here's to a new year and a new me

Bikini!!! And pretty much everything sold at pacsun. ???