hondoford

Nine pounds down since my fill! Heck yes' date=' y'all![/quote']

That is awesome! So glad to hear it!

Lizabeth that is awesome that you got your fill! Mine made a huge difference and YES be careful with bread, rice, Pasta...you creep up on full and then....TOO LATE!!! At least that's been my experience.

I was talking with a buddy that told me his wife lost over 100lbs. with her band, and that's great, but the interesting part is that she only lost about 20lbs in her first 2 years. He said she had to get 'used to it' for a while and then got serious. Only now do you have all the tools and you are SO YOUNG! I know you'll be a success. Year 2 is when you kick some butt and take names.

Thanks for the kind words. Morgan is awesome and I'm glad I have the band because I need to be healthy in order to keep up with her and her big brother. I definitely can feel the difference (I don't sweat 24/7 in the Houston heat).

Take care and keep in touch!

Chris that is great to hear and I agree with you about needing food in my stomach to feel fulfilled. If someone had told me that after surgery it would be this 'tough' to lose the weight I would have told them they were crazy, BUT I would definitely still do it again. No doubt. Keep it up man!

I agree and know what you mean about 'busy year'; Morgan showed up in Sept and it's amazing how everything changes. My workout/eating/sleeping schedules have been drastically changed to say the least (and she's our 2nd!). The other pic is of me and the family on the morning that Morgan arrived. It's the most recent pic I have.

Hi crystaleffexx - I had my surgery exactly 1 year ago and the cost was $5,500 plus my airfare. Very affordable and it was the cleanest hospital I've ever been in. The staff is very nice and professional. I wouldn't hesitate recommending Dr. Kuri.

Marketing Dude? Lizbeth? Where you guys at? All 3 of us are 1 week away from being 1 year out and I'd love to catch up with you guys.

i think you are doing great!!!! i had my surgery oct5,and around christmastime,i saw a cousin that i have not seen since the summer before,by then i had lost about 45 lbs(thats including the liquid diet pre surgery)....and i was telling him how im losing but its sooo slow...he looked at me and said "are you crazy? who loses 45 lbs in 2 months without excercising?? all the fat people in the world would kill for that!!"....And those words put everything into prespective for me.

Wow I would say that too; I'm in the gym 4 times a week, 2 hours each time and its still hard! You are doing awesome!

The best tip I've received and has worked well for me is: Don't eat after 6:30PM....anything! Water and that's it after 6:30PM. That in combo with the gym is where I've seen the biggest changes.

Thank you all! A lot tougher than I thought it would be but then again not too hard when you do the right things. Got to have a plan, like everything in life.

I had my surgery last October and it was my goal to lose all my weight within 1 year (still a goal but still not sure I will make it). I started at 319lbs and I'm at 254lbs as of this morning! 65lbs down and 46 to go! OK I'm done ranting, thank you and good day....

Hondoford - thanks for the advice! I will look into Houston. I'm in the process of moving - or will be until July - so I'm using Dr. Kuri for now' date=' but Houston would be a nice compromise in the future. Congrats on your weight loss - it seems like you're really doing great. Keep it up!!

For those about to have the surgery with Dr. Kuri - try not to be nervous about Mexico, the hospital and staff are great. Just make sure you ask for something if you need it, and utilize Dr. Kuri the night you arrive and have the meeting with him. It's a good opportunity to ask questions, and I brought a list! (I'm a med student so he joked with me and answered all my detailed questions with ease.)

MD - hang in there and keep up the good work. As far as fertility goes, the healthier you are, the healthier your swimmers are! Haha - just kidding. Go to the men's forum! Geez!

-proud of y'all!

Lizzy[/quote']

Thank you! And definitely look into Houston; it's the largest medical center in the world; 93,500 people work there and 20,000 physicians. You throw a rock and you'll hit somebody that will fill you!

Haha...that is so awesome about your success. We are all different and I can't wait to get to those disciplined habits that you are "flowing in" right now. Congrats again on many fronts.

P.S. Any advice on help getting you fertile? My wife and I are having a hard time getting pregnant and I assume its on my end. Any advice?

Blessings !

Thanks very much MD. I don't know that my advice will be of much help with regards to fertility; my numbers were 'good' or 'acceptable' and everything was physically fine with my wife, it just wasn't happening, for whatever reason. One thing that the Lapband may have influenced is by being in better shape our frequency of trying to conceive went up and therefore the odds of conception went up. I know it's a pretty simple answer but we had stopped all treatments, deciding to take a break for a few months and look at our options. Other than that and just luck I don't know that there are any other variables.

After getting my fill on 12/11 I made the commitment to go to the gym 4 times a week, and while I regularly fail to make it 4 times I always make it at least 3 times. I'm up to running 4 miles and lifting weights approx. 45 minutes each session (1.5 miles run to warm up, then lift for 45 minutes, then finish with 2.5 mile run). I'm not breaking any records in weights or speed but I'm improving each week and my goal is to get that number up to 6 miles running and 1 hour lifting in the next 90 days.

As far as food goes most days I do not eat either Breakfast or lunch; my fill is pretty constricting and it hurts a bit to eat earlier in the day. Most days I just do a Protein drink for both Breakfast and lunch. dinner is usually fish, chicken, Soup, chili and/or veggies. Trying hard not to cheat but damn it I'm human and it happens...

As of this AM I'm at 274, so 35lbs lost. My waist is down 4" and that's actually my proudest accomplishment.

I'm finally at that point where the gym is not a nuisance or a pain and I can go at lunch time, grab a quick shower and then back to work and not be crippled or hurting the next day. I say this because I've been at this point before in my life (I lost about 50 lbs and got down to my goal weight of 208lbs, the lightest I've ever been as an adult). When I was at this exact point previously; this is when the weight loss began to happen very rapidly. I think because my body was in much better shape and could take the extra work that losing more weight demands from it. If I'm right, things are about to get interesting.

Last thing; last week I received the best news I could have ever received: After trying unsuccessfully for the last 4 years (starting 1 year after the birth of our 5 year old) to have another child (spending a ton of $$ on fertility treatments, I'm not kidding, I mean Porsche $$), my wife is pregnant! So does it have anything to do with the surgery? Who knows, maybe not, maybe....

Hey y'all - update! I was banded Oct 19th by Dr. Kuri and it was a great experience. Unfortunately, the nurse that I had do my fills didn't have floro and couldn't get a successful fill. I have decided to go back to see Dr. Kuri beginning of Feb for a fill. Honestly, all the docs around here charge transfer fees - basically the cost of two visits to Kuri so I figured I might as well.

Due to the holidays and not working the "Rules" - I haven't lost much weight. I am starting over on the rules, and working on eating gluten free again (I have a sensitivity) - so I will post again after my fill on Feb 5th.

-Elizabeth

Elizabeth - you're in AR right? Have you ever thought of coming to Houston for your fills? I found a bunch of Dr's that would do my fill and ended up going with Dr. Singh : http://www.healthgrades.com/physician/dr-harvinderpal-singh-2mvlt/address

Cost was $200 for the fill. They couldn't find my port on the first try so we did the fluoro thing in at the hospital a week later. I forget how much more that added (less than $200). But since he did mine he might not need to know that he knows where Dr. Kuri puts his ports? LOL.

I know first hand that Little Rock is an 8.5 hour drive and a really cheap 40 min. flight from Houston (I bought a car on eBay a couple of year's ago and flew up and drove back).

If I can be of any assistance I'd be glad to help in any way I can.

Hi Chris! I just had my fill today. I tried to have it last week and the Dr. couldn't find my port! So I had to do one in the X-ray center where he could use imaging and find it. I've been told this happens every once in a while. I received a 1.5cc fill and we will so how that goes.

I'm down about 22lbs and holding for the last 3 weeks. Going to the gym 2-3 times a week. I know that number needs to be 4 times a week but this is our busiest time of year and I'm doing 12-16 hour days in the office 6 days a week so it's tough! January will be much easier.

Talk to you soon!

Hi I saw your post. I had my band done in Mexico by Dr. Kuri in October and Dr. Singh is doing my first fill today. How did you like him? I realize a fill is much less of an ordeal than the surgery itself but I was just curious. Look forward to talking more to you neighbor!

Hey believe me I haven't had a perfect record on the after 7PM thing. Other than that everything is great. So busy at work (which being on 100% commission is a good thing). How about you?

Doing well! but I hear you on the road block. I'm at 20lbs lost and the last week or 2 has been tough. I worked out at the gym yesterday for the first time; nothing too heavy, about 50% of max. just to get back on track and jogged for about 5 min. to end. I'v been trying to make sure that I don't eat anything (OK sometimes a snack) after 7PM. That has been a real help in re-starting the weight loss; I took off 2 1/2 lbs. last week. Can't wait to get a fill!

"Tru 'dat!" - Lil' Wayne

Lizzy that's the attitude! I know exactly what you mean about sticking to the liquids. The more healing I do the tougher its getting. I like your attitude though and you're right, today is a new day. Keep it up!

Way you're a trooper! I'm working from the house today but was able to convince my wife to let me go back to work tomorrow. I agree with the 'habit hunger'; I'm so used to just stuffing 'crap' in my mouth that not being able to do it seems foreign to me. Oh well, this is the new normal and if it's skinnier than before I welcome it.

Take care and keep in touch, I will do the same!

Lizabeth2 how did your surgery go? I was the guy you met in the hallway (along with my sis-inlaw), the one who said make sure you 'walk'. I got to meet marketingdude on the van ride to the airport on Friday. I'm definitely staying in contact with him and would love to keep in touch! I wish you the best on a quick recovery!

I had mine on 10/18 also, same doc as marketing dude (even rode to the airport with him, that's where I met him). I have some pain and gas and shoulder pain but walking helps tremendously. Just walk slow around your home every bit helps. Everybody is different and you will be great in no time!