Bandista

Thanks for this! I am scheduled for a possible first fill 12/4. So helpful to know what to expect -- thank you for all the detail......

Happy, Happy!

Congratulations on the hundred -- that is a major milestone! Hope you find a good exercise routine for winter. Couldn't run here today, that's for sure -- it's a mess out there. Best wishes to you as you figure out behavior mod and/or fill....you're doing great.

My school semester is going crazy!! I don't know how my year is going because I've yet to really decide on next semester. I should really try to finish up my Bachelor's degree, but I have a 3.5 GPA and I'm scared it will drop down if I take on too heavy of a load. I also want to pursue an Associate's in Drama at the school that I work at, which I already have my Associate's in Art from. I still need 7 or so classes for my Bachelor's, and I've only been taking 2 classes a semester. With the way I've had to change everything around the LAP-Band, I honestly don't know how I've kept my grades up AND gotten a new job. I love my job though! Even though I'm a History major, English minor, and I have an associate's in art, I'm tutoring General Biology!! I work with wonderful people and the students who come to see me are so eager to learn! I really, really love it. I get home dead tired most days, but it's so worth it. I feel like I've been really blessed this year! This is also the first year I've met all of my New Year's resolutions, so that's cool! <3 How has your year been? <3 Glad you like your job! I have been in the arts most of my life and was always weak on math and science. Somewhere along the line I realized that math and science are art -- that they are all related. Sounds like you are getting a great education. Too bad you can't add up the degrees and start on that master's! All good here -- thanks for asking. Banded three weeks and one day and I am so happy. Out of food jail happy. And exercising like crazy. Everything seems so different now. Best wishes for a great Thanksgiving!

Welcome! I am just three weeks out -- we can all get healthy together. Choosing yourself is a powerful thing. My husband and I have been married 22 years and have a close relationship. Still, he needed to hear it out loud -- I am in love with him and not going anywhere when I'm thin. It was a silly thing but he there was some deep fear buried in that hulky brain. We don't need our spouses sabotaging in even the smallest ways -- we need them all in. Choosing yourself and your healthy future is a very powerful thing. You can do it! You ARE doing it. Best wishes!

Hi there, I struggled with my weight for twenty some years and knew I needed to do something as the diets just weren't working, nor exercise and dieting, etc. I felt I did all the right things with no result -- or a temporary loss only to gain more back, etc. (story of most of us here!). For me, the band was the only choice for me as I was not willing to do anything more drastic than that. I liked the option of being able to remove should it ever come to that -- and I want my stomach intact. I'm 52 and had never been an overnight patient in a hospital before. The procedure was easier than I thought it would be and I am very, very happy with my decision. I researched a great deal -- with the hospital but most of the more in-depth information came from this forum. I read posts like crazy and asked a lot of questions. People were very helpful. I've only been banded three weeks as of yesterday and I am a different person already. I have tremendous will power that I did not have before -- that's needed because I am suddenly an exerciser (who knew?). As for food, I don't even need will power right now as I am just not really hungry. I eat and get full. I don't think about food all the time. It's a miracle for me -- the whole idea that I am not preoccupied with food at all. Amazing. I wish you the very best. I think there is a lot of good information if you are able to sift through posts from people who may be noncompliant or have unaddressed issues or who do not go to their doctor as they should. It's very important that you have a good relationship with your medical professionals. Only you will know what's best for your body -- what's important is that you're decising you want to be healthy and have a whole different kind of future in front of you. Congratulations on that big decision in your life and best wishes in your research.

Terry, I didn't know that -- that's wild! Waking up with a band instead. Glad it has worked out well for you. So great to have lowered that dose so dramatically.

Yippee! That is great!

Same with exercise -- just cannot compare to any one but ourselves. It's motivating to see people who could not walk out to the mailbox and back now cycling, walking, even running -- or just getting whatever exercise they can. But we all have to begin somewhere and those starting lines are so individualized. Mine was doing something every day. Yesterday is the first day since my surgery that I did not have a real walk. I tried to tell myself that I did walk here and there, it adds up -- those little mind games. Today I was on the treadmill in the basement and I tried to stop early. One day of not walking and I was back to the same head games of not wanting to do something I have enjoyed every single day. It is new for me to love exercise and I'm not letting myself off the hook for that! So I did some extra time just to get my brain functioning properly again. Exercise is not a punishment, it's a reward. Geesh, I am thick when it comes to that basic formula. Resistant! But the new me is overcoming all that and I can thank the band as I did not have this kind of will power before.

I can see the multiple quotes above along with my new post, so that's fine from here......

I totally understand the issues you're having with the current apps. Hopefully our new apps will resolve most of your current issues. In the interim, let's see if we can fix your current issues. What exactly happens when you attempt to start a new topic ? Do you receive an error ? Do you know if you're using our mobile skin or our full web site on your iPad ? We have a mobile version of our web site that's available on mobile devices. Please don't bother reporting problems within the current apps. We don't receive these reports. We will receive them once the new apps are released. My plan is to replicate the LBT experience on here. Give us a little time to make some tweaks and changes and things will start feeling more comfortable. Hi Alex, thanks for all your hard work with these sites. It will be worth it in the end and I'm sure you'll have support of your loyal members. To answer your question above (and let's see if the multiple quote function is wonky while we are at it), I am using the full web version but on my iPad. When I try to create new content, the title goes in fine but then the body of the post is blank. The cursor progresses with each keystroke so I know the letters are there, but I can't see them. Translucent. Weird, huh? I am able to create a new post at a desktop computer, however. If you need an iPad user to test anything you can message me. Happy to hear there is an exercise forum, too. I will look for that. Best wishes as you get all the kinks out. You should see the Common App website troubles. We live in complicated times!

Hi Allie, WOW! So happy for you. How is your school year going! Very exciting about all the exercise. That is where it's at! Best wishes for a nice thanksgiving!

Hi there, I was just going to say that I think my arthritis is much better -- and I'm only three weeks banded! I am so happy with my decision. Honestly I feel better than I have in a very, very long time. I'm sorry you have been confronted with negative information so close to your surgery date. It's a jittery time -- all the more so if you have been on a pre-op regime. No one can decide for you. I feel fortunate that I just knew this was right for me. If for any reason it ever isn't, I have not removed parts of my stomach -- but even this early on I love my band and wouldn't let it go! Best wishes to you......

Oh, and I am not that keen on co-mingling -- I am new to my band and want to chat with those folks, not read about why some one went another direction. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for all the sleevers, etc., it's just not where I'm at and it feels like too big of a community. LB feels smaller to me, more intimate. I like my peeps here! I want to feel safe and supported with my choice of a band, not second guessed.

Hi Alex, I'm on my iPad -- cannot creat a new post from here. Can comment, so I've been doing that as much as possible for snowballing, etc. I tried the iPad app for Bariatric Pal and had to go back to the web for the regular version because on the iPad I couldn't make the text big enough -- can't stretch it to be able to see. I did go to fonts and made that as big as possible but iPad users are always going to want to swipe, enlarge, make smaller, etc. Couldn't do that via the app. Hope that helps! Also if I click the link for reporting problems, it comes up with a weird lime about visiting the URL where I already am. Thanks for all YOUR hard work perseverance and patience. Can't imagine the back end of something like this. I am newly banded, a LB Talk member since June. I learned so much here and really appreciate all the of the people contributing. I think there is frustration with the sorting -- all the old stuff and trending topics so old, etc. Best wishes!

Hi there, I am newly-banded so I can't speak to what it's like to live with the band over time. I glanced at your profile, though, and it looks like you've lost forty pounds and want to lose another forty, is that right? What is your diet like -- do you think the acid reflux could be caused by something else -- many people are allergic to wheat these days, for example. Some can't do bananas. Have you identified when you get the acid reflux? What if there's something else going on and you could resolve that and then get a fill. Is that a possibility? Just a shot in the dark there....Do you take anything (Prilosec, etc.)? Are there underlying food issues which could be addressed. We are all here for that reason. Best wishes to you! I think you can lose that other forty, that you can do it. But you need to think that -- we are here for you!

Hi there and welcome! I'm glad you found this forum. I joined in June and was banded in November. I learned so much here just reading people's stories and I felt fully prepared when my surgery date finally arrived. Today is my three-week anniversary and I am so happy. Not just the weight loss, which is great, but for me I feel like I have been released from food jail. I'm not thinking about food, planning for it, wondering what there is to eat, etc. And I am exercising every day and enjoying it. Amazing! In addition to reading lots of posts and asking questions, etc., I am glad I took the time to step up my exercise prior to being banded just so I'd have that in place. I just increased a little as I was my resistant self, unable to get it together, etc. But I'm glad I tried as post-band that has been a major life change for me. Being a walker. I also started a journal so I could track all my many appointments and I made a calendar in the journal, wrote out my goals -- what I look forward to being able to do, etc. And I got a therapist to help me with the process and to identify the weaknesses for food, when I was eating and why. Just so I could be aware of all that "head hunger." Now that I'm banded I have not had the return of hunger yet -- differs for every one -- so I do notice if my thoughts are turning to eating just out of habit. Best wishes to you! 2014 is going to be a great year!

Hi Ilene and welcome back. Thanks for sharing your success -- very inspiring for those of us just starting out! Look forward to seeing you on the forum! It's being redesigned so is a bit confusing right now -- glad you found us. Best wishes for this next reboot and the ten pounds - and I hope you are recovering well from all the surgery. Mobility is so important. My husband has ambulatory issues so we are very familiar with that world. He is recovering from another foot surgery, no longer using a leg brace but still difficult to walk much without severe nerve pain. Biking seems like the future path for him as far as exercise. Just got to strap the foot to the pedal!

Hi there and welcome -- glad you found us! The forum is being redesigned so everything is a little confusing right now. I was banded 11/5 and am three weeks out today. I'm 52 and weighed in at 248. My goal is 148, so an even 100 pounds. I know what you mean about telling some one the weight. The nutritionist announced it when my husband was in the room. I wanted to kill her. He is a bright guy but I had managed to conceal the number for many years. ACK! Well, anyway, it's going down. Good luck to you on this new adventure.

How is every one doing? Today is my three week anniversary. I feel great. Have walked every single day. That is definitely a new me -- the old me would have squirmed out of it at least half the time, especially because it's so cold! The eating is going well. I find I am craving smoked salmon. Probably need the fish oils as well as the protein. And just had some Quinoa flakes for breakfast. Delicious and protein-filled. I am so happy with my decision. Feeling so much healthier already! The mental part of this process is really wonderful, the release from all the food obsession, etc.

How is every one doing? Today is my three week anniversary. I feel great. Have walked every single day. That is definitely a new me -- the old me would have squirmed out of it at least half the time, especially because it's so cold! The eating is going well. I find I am craving smoked salmon. Probably need the fish oils as well as the protein. And just had some Quinoa flakes for breakfast. Delicious and protein-filled. I am so happy with my decision. Feeling so much healthier already! The mental part of this process is really wonderful, the release from all the food obsession, etc.

When were you banded? I am looking forward to exercising but have three weeks more to wait as my post-op protocol was no strength exercise like stretching, etc. Just the cardio. So it's walk, walk, walk for me. I did try to do some stretching and could tell it was too soon. I think you should call it in, too -- just for peace of mind and maybe some suggestions. Let us know! Best wishes to you.........

Congratulations -- so happy for you! The walking really helped me. I had to make myself do it but it just got easier and easier. Hope you have a nice restful few days and that you get to watch all the movies you want!

I've always had the loudest and most painful hiccups -- just once now since being banded and that was from eating too much too fast. Sound resembles what I think those flying dinosaurs may have made. It all settles down and then suddenly there's another one. Hope that's not my body's signal that I'm nearing full and should stop. I'd like something a little more subtle!

Thanks for this -- still sorting this out. Like whether I'm hungry at the end of the day because there's a true calorie deficit and I need food or if I'm just so accustomed to grazing.