ADJL

I just had my first fill...3cc's in a 10cc band.

Fantastic! I love success stories.

Fantastic difference! The weight must have come flying off you! Way to go.

Amazing progress! Your photos are such an inspiration! It still seems so far fetched that in 9 months I could be where you are! Thanks for the motivation...and 9 months from now I'll tell you what I'm thanking my band for.

I'm not a runner...by any stretch of the imagination...but I want to be...or at least want to learn to tolerate it better than I have and incorporate it into my repertoire of exercise. So...I started the C25K and have been doing ok with it and I decided to reward myself by signing up for the Nashville Color Run this fall! I'm super excited!

I don't think it sounds silly at all....i've got a slew of clothes that I can't wear and some that I bought SURE that I would fit into them in ajust a few months...and they still have tags on them. Aiya! I can't wait until I find that "suit" fitting from my closet!

WOW! You look great! Congratulations!

Love this idea! And take measurements...until you get a scale they will help you know inches lost!

Pinkypunk9...I did the same thing. I was so hungry and I cheated a little here and there. Missy is right...stop, reverse...go back. It was hard for me too because I KNEW I could eat those things...add protein powder to your soups to beef it up a little and hopefully get you feeling fuller...

Luck and strength, my friend. You can do this!!! Tracking food is one of my downfalls too. I guestimate and am usually way below where I am really at. Starting over can be a really good thing...I'm glad you are taking advantage of this opportunity and not deciding to quit!

I'm 6 weeks post op and getting my first fill on Friday. I have some restriction in the sense that I can tell when I'm "full" and certain things don't go down very well if I eat too fast. I've had one instance of PB and its not fun...its gross and it HURTS. I'm excited to see what a fill does differently for me. My self discipline only takes me so far...

The complications that happened for me at the beginning nearly made me demand the band be removed and I seriously questioned why I'd made this decision. But, posting on here I actually got some good feedback which I appreciated AND helped me solve my issues. I'd been dryheaving hours at a time for three weeks after being banded...turned out to be caused by Vitamins of all things. If someone is attacking others for having the band or just generally telling us we're stupid for taking this route then I ignore them, but if they are having complications and really want some advice/help then I'd try and give it if I can. As a side note...Lots of times people say to just see the doctor (which I find unhelpful because its likely they already have a call in to their doctor) but the ones who try and help using their own experiences I really appreciate.

The protein will help you heal faster. I'll bet if you followed the diet but only ate salads (w/chicken or shrimp on top, etc) you would lose weight, get in your protein and feel satisfied. I promise that once you have your surgery you'll be hungry. Those liquid diets are KILLER. At least it was for me! I had the same pre-op diet as you did for 1 week and dropped 4 pounds.

Wow! Thats a great loss! Congratulations!

congratulations! I had a rough start and questioned my banding...but I'm super happy with it now. My prize? Health! A less big picture prize? A cruise (which will require a new bathing suit!)

Awesome job!!

Way to go! Can't wait to be hitting the place you are at!

Here was my take on that. 2 years ago I was saying the same thing...and I vowed I'd do it myself. Fast forward to February when my world caved in and that pre-diabetic status changed to Type 2 diagnosed. It was like that switch in my brain occured and i realized that I was KILLING myself because I thought WLS was the easy way out and I was obviously NOT disciplined enough to do it all on my own too. So I sat down with a good friend and had a good cry and then she said, "Why is it such a big deal if you have help in this area?" And the more we talked about it the more I realized that my weight affected so many other areas of my life that if I didn't ask for help and get this under control they would all eventually go the direction of my health. The more I read the more I realized that my thought process making this some kind of magical "easy way out" was way off. You have to work at this. I can eat whatever I want. I can eat chips, icecream, candy...hotdogs, fries, burgers. Anything. The band can take months and many fills to be really effective in food management and even then I can stretch it back out and stop it from being all that effective. I can sit on my butt and not exercise too. I can do all the same things that took me to 270 pounds in the first place. So maybe the stars aligned for me and it was that turning point...who knows...but what the band has done for me is make me better prepared to mentally lose weight. I think about everything that goes in my mouth now. I make concious decisions to choose Protein then veggies then fruit. I still make mistakes, but even if the band is only ever a mental help for me it will be worth it. I'm 21 pounds less...and 21 pounds closer to being healthy than I was 6 weeks ago. There is no cop out in that.

Thanks for the information. Its good to know its less pain than a blood draw. I'll be interested to see how much my doc fills my band. And maybe I can push him to once every 4 weeks...he is on the 6 week schedule... Have you been having any eating issues at all? I occasionally get "stuck" when I eat fast...and I've passed that first PB milestone already too. I'm hoping that means a fill will make a difference, but who knows.

I just started this today too! This is my third time trying it. Both other times I ended up pregnant at week 5. (The irony...) There is NO WAY thats an option this time around so I'm breaking that juju and plan to actually finish it!

Your sis sounds like she identifies as being the skinny one. IMO thats totally tied up in her self esteem...or lack thereof. Your desire to be healthy pushed her buttons...and probably did a great thing for her health too if she's losing a lot of weight. I agree that there is probably not much you can do about it...but don't let her one-uping overshadow the awesome progress you've made! Great job!

One more question for everyone! What's your goal weight loss? Mine is a total of 135 pounds. Feels like a ridiculously huge number still to me. I take it 10 pounds at a time right now.

Hi! Yay for a poster in the April banders section! I'm doing really well. I had some really big issues with dry heaving at the start until we figured out my Vitamins and B12 were causing it. I've been taken totally off those as of 3.5 weeks and its stopped the problems. That did, however cause a 4 pound weight GAIN because I could suddenly actually eat again. (I was literally starving myself because of the dry heaving) That being said...I've relost those 4 pounds and am down a total of 21 pounds so far with a goal to hit 25 by this next sunday...4 pounds this week? lol. I can try, right? I was banded 4/24/13. Two days ago I decided to try on a pair of capris that have always been too tight and hurt my belly if I wore them for any amount of time. They fit! No pain! No rubbing! No gut sucking to zip them up. That was a great NSV. Those capris have caused me so much grief over the years, though...I can't wait to get rid of them because they are too big! No fill yet...Scheduled for June 7th.

Wow! That seems like a much more agressive schedule than most doctors will agree to. How was that first fill. I have to be honest...I'm a little nervous! Also...did you feel much restriction from it???

I think 28 pounds is fantastic. If you've been stalking the boards (like I did) then you've surely noticed that people lose at very different rates...so much of it is your own body chemistry. And if you are doing all the right things then eventually the weight will come off. As for the eating. I'm 6 weeks post op and also can eat pretty much whatever I want and don't have to chew to mush very often. I'm trying to practice doing it anyway, but it doesnt' always happen. Again, from reading the boards I hear that most don't find that restriction green zone until 5-6 fills in. (I'm a newbie so anyone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.) I'm also impatient for "more" to happen faster and then I remember the thought that it took me 10 years to get to this size. If I can drop half of what I want to lose in a year I'm doing AWESOME.