Bandista

I have no idea what is usual but cool you had a barium swallow so they could see what was going on, how tight, etc. Congratulations! I've had four fills and am feeling good. The surgeon does not tell me how much he's putting in, no fluoroscopy, etc. but it seems to be working. Good luck and take it easy. These are exciting times!

Wow! Congratulations on all the hard work that brought you this success! What an inspiration. Thanks so much for posting!

So happy for you!

Sashimi solves the problem for me as well -- and these days I'm not eating much so it's not too expensive. Trick is to go slowly enough as the people around me enjoying sushi just keep eating and eating and eating.... That used to be me!

I'm doing a Protein shake with frozen berries and Fiber.

Mornings -- otherwise it doesn't seem to happen. Life has a way of getting in the way, or I get in my own way! I hang out my exercise clothes the night before and have a jar of tea by the bed. Alarm goes off, I sit up and sip the tea, don my togs and then go downstairs. I have a cousin who joins me and that helps a lot -- accountability to another person. We have a treadmill and recumbent bike in the basement along with a Bowflex. It's not glamorous but it definitely works. We live in a rural area so going to a gym would mean time driving, etc., but when spring arrives I may try to fold in an evening class or two each week. Good luck to you -- sounds like you're doing beautifully! Isn't it wonderful thinking about exercise the way we used to think about food?

I fill up 32oz juice bottles (I like drinking out of glass, not plastic) with Water and a half cup of aloe vera juice and a big splash of unsweetened cranberry. It's my comfort drink and I try to get in two bottles a day, plus plenty of other liquids -- probably a pot of tea on some days. I usually drink one bottle after working out and another around five o'clock, which is when my body thinks it's time for the wine and cheese party to begin. Gets me over that hurdle and that way I get hydration early enough in the evening so I don't have to get up and pee in the night.

There was a thread a couple of months ago, "Peanut Butter is the devil" or something like that. It's one of the things I'm still afraid to have in the house. I feel like I might get out my baby spoon and just keep going back. As for chocolate, I have a little dark chocolate once in a while and am amazed that I don't want to consume the whole thing. I was always such a finisher. If I started on something -- a stack of Cookies or whatever -- I would have to finish. I just could not override that impulse. Now I am nibbling like a mouse on a small piece of dark chocolate and feeling like what I have is yummy and, importantly, that it's enough. For me it's important not to restrict foods. That said, I could not tolerate a work environment with all kinds of sugary foods on display like that. Eeek! It's mean to bring that stuff in -- no wonder so many people have weight problems!

Congratulations! This is very inspiring as, like the others, I can identify with every word of your story. Here's to a healthy happy future where our weight does not define us and all the energy we have now in our lives. Best wishes for the next 50. You are doing beautifully!

Congratulations! I was nervous, too, and very excited. You are choosing a healthy future for yourself and that is a very emotional step. I had never been an overnight patient in the hospital before and it was all so much easier than I thought it would be. I felt well taken care of and I'm sure you will, too. Keep us posted. I just saw another Post for some one getting banded tomorrow so you will have a band birthday to celebrate together. Just think of a year from now!

Congratulations -- what a great way to begin the year and a new chapter of healthy living. So happy for you!

Hi there, it sounds like you are doing well with your new banded life. I am enjoying a Protein and fruit shake most days around 11:00 or so. I'm not hungry in the morning. Today I skipped the Protein Shake because I knew I would be having lunch with my parents at a retirement center. Sometimes when I'm there I have a thick soup but today it was tomato and I don't like that plus it's thin, so I had a small bowl of cottage cheese and broccoli. I came home and ate a protein bar (200 calories 20 grams of protein -- the 20 that I missed out on by not having my shake). Dinners are whatever I am cooking for the family but just a little of it. If I'm hungry beforehand (usually, as I haven't quite got my timing down right), I might have some applesauce with a dollop of plain yogurt or something like that. I've been making chilis and stews and those seem very band-friendly. I like chicken thighs and will probably be making those next. I do them in stock so they are really falling apart. Last night I had the hungries after dinner and I had a Popsicle. That seemed to appease me.

January 1 - 225.5 January 8 - 223 January 15 - 218.5 Broke my plateau and got out of the twenties -- yippee! Now to get out of the teens. That's what I'm talkin' about!

Nice sneakers, Catfish, and we'll see you coming! Don't be tempted to buy a second pair and put them on the shelf for later as apparently the plastics break down and foam hardens whether or not we're on them. Weird, huh? That's one of the reasons shoes from a running store, etc. are superior -- the discount houses have the older stock and the foam hardens up over time. I don't run but even for walking, etc., good shoes are where it's at. I have orthotics that I got through a podiatrist, expensive prescription, etc., and then I have Sole inserts for other shoes. http://www.yoursole.com/us/mens/footbeds -- I have to say, these are just as good if not better than the custom orthotics. I've tried other brands (SuperFeet, and Orthoheel) but these Soles are really something. I got them at our local high-end running shoe store. IT Band, I hear you. That can cause a world of problems so great to keep on those exercises, use rollers, hot tub jets -- whatever it takes to keep that area from seizing. Have fun on your new shoes! I'm going for a walk at the lake this afternoon -- on top of my workout this morning. This is really my goal, to try to get in a secondary form of exercise each day and not just think to myself I have done it already.

Boy, talk about timing -- pretty amazing the way that lines up with the insurance year. Know that you are going to be there before you know it. I had a five month wait and used that time to read posts and learn all I could here. Plus I got a therapist to address those food issues once and for all. I'm 52 so it's not like I hadn't worked on this before, but since I was getting a band it felt very different. I was able to cop to the ways I used food to soothe myself, quell anxiety, reward, etc. I really worked on breaking down the why and when of eating and found those triggers. Without the band I wasn't really able to override them -- at least not all the time -- but I was doing the important part, the noticing. So take this time to notice what you do. Do you reach for food when the phone rings or when you have the house to yourself or when you're driving, etc. Write it down, analyze it. Have the scone if you want it but know that there's a reason you're doing it -- figure out what that is.

The stuck thing happened to me twice (banded 11/5). Once gulping food -- steamed beets so it was "good for me" food but I went too fast, didn't chew well enough, etc. Second time recently I got too hungry and ate cold over cooked fish from the fridge -- was looking for protein. I notice that after not even being able to detect hunger now that I'm banded I do actually get hungry and when I'm hungry sometimes I've got to eat. That's when I went for the fish. Have not experienced PBing (I don't think). Both of my stuck episodes were similar. Extremely tight solar plexus discomfort, violent hiccups for 20-30 minutes then spitting up the food. I am in the process of getting fills to achieve the green zone but I will never get so tight as to accept spitting up, PBing etc. That is not the idea do the band. The point is to have the appetite dimmed so we eat less.

This is a very common time to feel a bit of discouragement. I noticed it when I read so many posts while waiting to get banded and I filed it away -- people have a dip a couple of months out. Still that knowledge didn't keep me from experiencing it myself. I think it has to do with all that excitement at the thought of getting banded, the tremendous lead-up to that, all the courage and determination then the act itself. Afterwards there's so much to learn and then of course we had the holidays -- all the hoopla wears off about now (eight weeks out) and that's when the blues can come along. The band is installed, initial weight from pre-op diets in some cases and the post-op loss has taken place but then the scale isn't moving much and the hunger is still there. This is where the fills come in. Until the Lapband is adjusted properly it isn't really doing anything (unless the band was primed, etc.). I rode on the tightness of my band post-surgery but then when I was all healed up and the appetite returned I was worried. Even though I knew all this already from those who went before me. Why isn't it working? Am I going to have to DIET!? What if I can't do it? All those thoughts. Now I have had fills and I'm feeling good again. I know the band is working and there is that relief. The appetite is dimmed and I feel in control and happy. This is why followup care is so very important with the band. Good luck to you and keep reaching out. We are all in this together and it's going to be fine. More than fine!

Hi there, I am surprised that people don't really take note of what I'm eating as they are busy with their own meal -- for instance I worried about dinner parties and having such a small portion, etc. It has not been a problem at all, even though I know some pretty amazing cooks who want to know how the food is. That part has all been easy for me. I do some eating and also some pushing around on the plate and I'm no longer a member of the squeaky clean plate club. No one has even commented. Bandster Hell is the time after the band is installed and healing has taken place. People are different post-surgery as far as appetite. I was lucky in that I had a diminished appetite, which was a taste of what being banded feels like. That appetite monster was gone! What a relief that is. By put then the appetite returned and it was soon time for my first fill. I have had four now since November 5 and am happy to have the appetite dimmed and the weight coming off. Some people come out of surgery ravenous and then of course it is a while before fills. That is the Bandster Hell, the band in but not tightened at all yet. I live Simpson's article about restriction. When I was doing my research I reread it every time it came up in the signatures of a few core LB veterans. So helpful to get that straight. It's not about restriction! It's about listening to the band and the appetite being dimmed. Will you return to AZ for followup appointments and fills? What is the after-care schedule like for you? I see my surgeon 11 times post-op that first year. Good luck to you -- exciting times ahead!

Your big day almost here! Best wishes to you! What a great way to begin 2014 -- congratulations on this commitment to yourself and your future.

Hi there, congratulations on your success so far -- way to go! I am relatively new but those sound like classic symptoms of needing a fill. Make an appointment and they will go over everything with you. Don't forget how important followup and after-care is to this process. The more you lose the looser your band becomes and then you need a little more saline. You've lost quite a bit, yippee! But now get that appetite back in check so you're not fighting that. This is why we got bands, right?

This whole process is so fascinating! I hope this is the perfect fill for you and that you soar through these next few months. 2014 is going to be a big year for weight loss -- we are rocking our bands! Best wishes to you......

http://www.ted.com/talks/sandra_aamodt_why_dieting_doesn_t_usually_work.html Hi there, I've been watching Ted Talks while working out and this one struck me as quite interesting. The speaker, a neuro-scientist, has some thoughts on what so many of us already know: diets don't work. There is a missed opportunity here as WLS is not discussed, but I still really enjoyed the background from a scientific point of view. In my own life I have been such a professional dieter (though unsuccessful, obviously) and I tend to be a restricter, so I am working the mindfulness angle heavily in terms of assessing my hunger and whether or not I am delaying eating because I am so used to the old mentality of deprivation. For the first time, I feel hope in this area. I feel very connected to my brain and my stomach -- so happy for my band!

What a wonderful inspiring post -- thank you so much for sharing your success. I always love reading your pieces as they are so compassionate and balanced. You give me hope!

Oh dear, so sorry. Hope you feel better today. It's a reminder to us to take it easy, choose wisely and chew slowly. I don't eat bread as not only is it too gummy but I am also trying to do Protein first then veggies. I have had a slice of gluten-free toast with an egg on it -- the GF is not glutenous (well, duh) but also the egg soaked into the bread and made it softer. However, now that I've had another fill I doubt I would try this again. I just had a stuck episode recently (it was fish, cold and overcooked and I probably ate it too fast!). Even the day or two after I was still taking it very easy, doing liquids, smoothies, applesauce & yogurt, etc. Now I'm back to having a bit of chili, etc. "Real" food, which is my goal. Best part of this post is that you called it in and got advice from your surgeon's office. That's what they are there for! We are here to tell you we have done it as well and we sympathize! Best wishes!

So happy for you! You are going to be beautiful on your wedding day no matter what you lose so please don't put yourself under too much stress. Post-op the loss can go a little slowly until you get the right adjustment through fills. But the weight will come off and you'll be so happy. What a gift you are giving yourself. We will be thinking of you Thursday!