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Hi Edel, welcome to the site. YO are making the best decision of your life by going ahead and getting the lap band fitted. I lost 5 stone with a band from May 07 - Feb 08 and I am so much fitter and healthier for it. It totally radicalised my life and I am sso greatful that I saw it as a good investment in my own health. The reason I did it was so that I could make a baby and I successfully made one on my honeymoon there in February!!!! As for the alcohol, well it is inevitable that you will become a cheap date once you begin your weight loss journey. I am not convinced that it is all down to the band that you are more susceptible to getting drunk on smaller quatities of alcohol or if it is because you loose so much weight and your body needs to get use to such weight loss and the alcohol just seems to have a far greater effect! I could still enjoy my favourite glasses of red wine throughout my weight loss and nobody even noticed that I wasn't interested in drinking as much as I use to. Now I'm not sure about beer drinkers as I am not one so you will have to get more insight from them on here. As for your Q: re: the 3 stone weight loss by Christmas. Well if you get the band and follow the band eating rules and add in some exercise, like walking you will definately loose weight, no doubt about it. The trick is to keep working with your band and listening to your body so that you can reach your sweet spot and loose the optimal amount of weight. Keep asking the questions on here an dyou will get loads of anecdotal experience. Good luck!

Poohlvr - I know what you mean about the baby blues! I had never heard of pre-natal depression but I am definatly suffering from it. My Consultant keeps just telling me it is transient and not to worry that it will pass once the baby is born! Well i'm only 22 weeks and the thoughts of feeling like this for any long is just hell. So I definatley know what you are feeling. I am still as sick and nauseaus as ever! I have 10lbs put on but this is all baby and certainly not food as I can't even think about anything more than chicken soup! I will definately have have to learn to live and eat again like a bandster when I have gven birth as I have only been having liquid foods the last few weeks and have eaten nothing solid. Feeling full isn't a priority for me at the moment, just feeling like eating anything at all is more important. The Consultant told me to just get anything in to me at all, even fruit juice etc which I would never have drank at all or anything with sugar in it! I do know that I will probably never want to drink juice agian after this pregnancy though as I hate the thoughts of it even! I have requested a gestational diabetes test too at 30 weeks as although I lost 5 stone to get pregnant I am so small (5ft1") that I am still in the obese range. Hopefully I won't develop this on top of being so sick. I still don't look pregnant at all because there is no bump. My face is very gaunt from the constant sickness too. I don't think I'll have much weight to loose once the baby comes and I look forward to getting back on track and continuing my weight loss and the further 3 stone I need to get to a healthy weight.

Hello ladies, I am 19 weeks pregnant with 7.5ml in a 10ml band. I had lost 5 stones exactly (70lbs) the day I found out that I was pregnant and very happy with my weight loss. However, I have been very sick with hyperemesis (excessive morning sickness) since week 5 and I have not eaten very much at all over this period except for fruit smoothies, lucozade and popcorn. I have gained 7lbs but this has all gone to my boobs and belly and is definatlely pregnancy related and not due to eating!!! I am really glad that I found this thread as there are very few of us banded in Ireland (less than 1,000) and no one who is pregnant at the moment! I do feel that I have forgotten how to eat as I have been unable to now for the last 3 months but I am hopeful that from today I will start introducing more balance in to my diet by adding veg. soups, yougurt etc. I am seriuosly suffering the constant nausea all day long and retch at the smell of everything and everyone!!! I do not intend to get a defill at this time as I do not see it as necessary as the thought of food just makes me want to be sick and my obstritician doesn't feel that it is necessary. Added to that is the complication that the company who I went with for the banding has gone out of business!! Looking forward to hearing how you are all getting on with the eating over the next few months.

Roe - just reading your post there and you seem very down on yourself. What would be good is to have a chat with some of the bandits who have successfully lost weight and see what they have done that could be of help. PM me your # if yo want and I'll give you a call and have a chat.

Hey Lunasa, good to see you back on and posting and it looks like you are in a much better place than the last time you were on! I know that you are down in Clare but if you are due up to the "big smoke" at all over the summer post on here and we will arrange a meet up to suit. There really is great support from any of the meet ups that I have attended and it is a way of getting focused and sometimes even seeing the error of your ways when you talk in a group situation!!! I was on the phone to Coco yestaerday and sure a 10min chat to her and I was able to see that I wasn't trying hard enough to get the right foods in to me and she was able to make some great suggestions. Perhaps we should get her to give us a recipe seminar as she is great at eating variety and enjoying her grub...and most importantly working with her band and loosing weigh! (I've even seen her fit in pieces of pavlova successfully in to that eating plan!). I am indeed 17 weeks pregnant and I have been as sick as a dog. I haven't eaten anything except popcorn and smoothies and boiled sweets in 13 weeks. God what I wouldn't do for a bite of some meat. I am constantly nauseous and not a happy bunny at all! I've still got my full fill in at the moment but will try to make contact with the new group who have taken over the after care to see what they recommend doing. Alesha - welcome home, dying to hear all about the wedding and swap stories and photos!! Hope you didn't manage to get up the duff like I did on my hooneymoon!!! I'm still on for meeting up with fellow banders so if there is anyone else interested let me know.

Hello ladies - I'm afraid I have been so unwell that I have not been on the site at all to make any sort of contribution!! I also have nothing to contribute because all I do these days is lie in bed thinking I'm going to die or have my head over the toilet getting sick!!! I am 17 weeks pregnant this week and there is no let up in the illness at all. My social life has completely gone out the window and it feels like an age since I saw any of you face to face. However, I am determined to get going and if anyone is around this Saturday morning and interested in a coffee in Bewelys Leopardstown, just off exit 14 on M50 then I will get out of the bed and I will even bring the wedding photos for you all to see. You can also see my ever expanding belly as it goes back up in weight all over again too - very depressing to see!!! Only solace is that there is a rugrat in there and not all the pies that use to be there!!! Looking forward to catching up with old and new bandits.

Ailbhe - I met an Irish girl in ACS at one of my visits who was telling me about her story of when her port came away from her wire and it was the wire end sticking in to her that was causing her such pain. She ended up in hospital due to the pain and had to have her port replaced. Perhaps this could be another explanation that you could check with your doctor or now that the pain has subsided it might just be strain? I find that when I carry my shopping out of the supermarket that I can feel that strain on my band and need to be more sensible when lifting and carrying. Take it easy and hope you get a resolution to this soon! Lil - I have struggled with restricion hugely in the past and one possible explanation is that the band might have just moved ever so slightly on your stomach due to previous fat loss of the stomach and then getting the small fill. This will rectify itself and restriction can return if you just try to stick to sensible eating and loose a few more pounds. I myself have always been able to eat pasta, rice, potatoe and white bread and still can even at 7.5ml in an 8ml band but I eat them in moderation. The point I'm making is that it's not unusual to be able to eat pasta and keep it down but just continue to eat slow and not over indulge! I hope you enjoyed the pasta as it had been so long since you had some!! I'm still salivating after a bie of steak (Holly123 watch out!!!) but the morning sickness - all day sickness - is not allowing me to indulge! However, I am back eating popcorn, fruit and little squares of sandwiches since Monday, and after 8 weeks of no eating, really enjoying them!!! Roe - do not give up hope with the restriction. If you go back and read any of my entries before Nov 07 you will see that it can take a whole lot of fills before you get to the sweet spot. However, the continued weight loss once Coco - hope you are on target with the weight loss for your broter's wedding! Looking forward to seeing you looking stunning in the photos, try not to upstage the other sisters (or the bride the way you are looking these days) !! Holly123 - I hope that the extra bit of restriction is working for you. Just keep remember to get that protein in to you first and keep trying food that you weren't able to eat over the last few months, like chicken as I've found that different things have gone down at different stages of restriction! Looking forward to meeting up and catching up to get a look at you. As for me I am still suffering with the morning sickness, constant nausea and can't even consider food, except for popcorn and smoothies. So I am still existing on a strange diet and have remaind at the same weight. However for someone who loves their grub and enjoys the variety of food I was able to eat up to getting pregnant I'm so looking forward to being able to eat variety again and I seriously miss whole fruit!!

Ladies, thanks for all the congratulations!!! I have to say that I have been so sick that I haven’t had the chance to get caught up in the joy of celebrating as I have been too sick and more thinking “am I going to die!!!”. Coco – great idea about starting up a pregnancy diary as I’m sure there are many of my fellow banders who like me took the decision to get banded in anticipation of loosing weight to have a healthy pregnancy and will be joining me in pregnancy over the next year or two. It will encourage others on the site from different countries too to share their experience too. Princess LK you will hopefully join me there later in 2008!!! Loriha – you are so right about Nikki32 as Coco was telling me recently that she had a little boy. I will PM her and see if I can get in touch for advice. I did check out the dedicated pregnancy thread but then my internet went down so I will check it out again today Gerri – well done you on 4 stone down, good luck with the weigh in and fill today and let us know how you get on Roe – good luck to you too today!! If I wasn’t ill and bead ridden I would have popped in to meet you lot for a cuppa as I am dying to put faces to names! It is also a good idea when people meet up that they bring their before photos as they really act as inspiration for those who are starting out, stalling or just those trying to decide whether banding is right for them so remember that when you are meeting up! Aleisha – I just read about your poor toe!! You poor love. However, knowing you there is nothing, not even a broken toe that would keep you from boogeing on your wedding day!! I wrote you a big long email with loads of advice yesterday and managed to erase it instead of send it and so I just went “B**k that!! I’ll talk to you next time we meet again!!”

Hello ladies it is so great to be back on the site after more than a 2 month absense. Firstly I was off getting married (I was 5 stone less exactly on my wedding day than when I got banded last May '07, which was brill!), then sure I had to go off on hooneymoon and then sure I've been in bed sick as a dog cos I managed to make myself a honeymoon baby!!!! Yes - a baby!!! So delighted as this is the exact reason why I made the decision to get the band and although it took me 5 months and until 7ml to get to any sort of restriction and real sucess with the band it has all been so worth it(newbies you can see my struggles earlier in this thread). Now I haven't had a chance to read back over all the pages I've missed but I'll do that now and catch up on all the gossip and scandel. Alesha, thinking of you in the run up to your wedding!!! Not long now. It is the best day ever and you are going to look fab with all the weight loss. Dying to meet up and do show and tell with you after the big day!!! Would love to talk to any Irish ladies who are banded and pregnant or have had a band baby so I can discuss band issues. I haven't had a meal in 7 weeks and I am so head hungry. Existing on very fruitey smoothies and flat lucozade at the moment but I have such head hunger, and holly 123 you'll appreciate this - all I can think of is a bite of a juicy steak!!! I'm definately on for a meet up if there is one arranged and looking forward to meeting all the new members that there seems to be on the site in the last few months. Ok so I'm off to read the last 30 pages of this thread!!!

So pi**ed off! My restriction that I had since late in November has decided to leave me once again and I can eat absoluately anything! This for me means that I can't get enough white bread in to me - worse than an alcoholic. I've 4 pounds on over the weekend, which basically translates as 2 full pan of Brennans white bread - no sandwitch filling or butter required!! Why did I even bring the bread in to the house. It couldn't come at a worse time as I am trying so hard to fit in to a way too small wedding dress that I need to wear in only a few weeks. Have an appointment with Lou on Saturday next and just need to work hard at not undoing all my good work between now and then until I get a fill! Elsie - well done on making the appointments and investigating both options. As you pointed out you saw how happy and healthy the girls were who you met last Saturday and what a diference we had made in prolonging our own lives!! Keep us informed how you get on. Kermit - keep on this site and post what you are struggling with so the rest of us can help you.

p.s. Never been to Bewleys in Sandyford, is the hotel big? Is there a particular area where I'll find you? Elsie, the hotel is not too big at all and there is plenty of parking down underneath. When you come in the door head to the main seated area in between the bar and the restaurant and you'll see loads of arm chairs there and that is usually where we all sit. Looking forward to meeting up with you and letting you know about my own experience to help you make an informed decision for yourself.

I just wanted to reinforce what I said to you when we met in Dundrum during Christmas week. You really were a true inspiration to myself and the other ladies when we saw you arriving in such a fab outfit - size 12, I might add, and those great breasts of yours in one of your fab new bras!!!! What a difference a few pounds loss can make to one's confidence because wow, you just were on cloud nine and as we both know it's not like you suffered from a lack of confidence before hand but you were just beaming with delight. You just motivated me so much that day and as a result I went home and didn't touch another Christmas treat for the next few days and lost the 4 pounds that I had gained in the month of December and lead up to the Christmas period. Would you believe I actually managed to loose the Christmas gain in time for the New Year's eve party!!! Now I think you and the rest of the ladies on this site can empatise with me here, it is usually a stone in weight that we put on in the month of December and for the very first Christmas in my life I managed to loose weight in December!!!! So yes I am very happy with myself altogether!!! Another good thing that was organised that day we met up for coffee is that myself and Louise Patricia are supporting each others weight loss by going walking together. We all know how difficult it is to get motivated on your own but if there is some one doing it with you it is a whole lot easier. So if anyone is interested in walking and lives on the Southside or Dublin in the Stillorgan/Dundrum/Sandford area and would like to walk just PM me and I'll hook up with you. So good luch to everyone with the weight loss in 2008!!! I'm really looking forward to moving the nexty 40 pounds I need to get off so I can get on with some baby making later on in 2008!!! Newbies, feel free to ask us old timers any questions you might be curious about. I would recommend that anyone who can make it on Saturday tries their best to do so as it really is a great help and motivation to do well. When 4 of us met Christmas week in Dundrum nobody would have know that we met earlier in 2007 due to a common need to loose weight - why, because in under a year we have all managed to loose enough weight and move ourselves out of the morbidly obese, then obese categories and we looked like 4 healthy friends with not a care in the world!!! Well done us!!! Oh and in case any of the new people reading this thinks it sounded easy, we'll agree that it wasn't!!! There were very challenging months of no restriction for us all at different times, but we belived in getting the band working for each of us individually and helped each other through the rough spots! So looking forward to seeing those of you who can make it on Saturday and meeting a few new faces too.

Coco has asked me to let you girls know that her laptop is sick and has gone for a stay in PC World!!! So she will be off line for the next few days. So don't fret, she'll be back banging out those tip bits next week.

Would you take a look at the signature. I have finally gotten under the 200 pounds mark! I think it might be 10 years since I saw that number on the weighing scales last. I am having a wonderful time with this restriction thing now that it has finally kicked in at 7ml. Although it did leave me on Saturday night for a wee short hours - I was on my hen night and sure didn't I have a few glasses of vino with my dinner! Anyway I am glad to say that it has returned today and I have successfully restricted my intake of food today so I'm back on the loosing train!!! I really cannot express the joy I am feeling at finally after 7 tough months I am using the band as it was intended - to restrict the food intake and to loose the continental quilt I have been wrapped up since my teenage years!!! I have a special occassion coming up the end of February and I am going to set my self the challenge of loosing 2 pounds a week from now until then, and yes that includes over the Christmas period!! So if anyone else would like to join me in this challenge get in touch. I am available as a walking partner for anyone in the South County Dublin area too if anyone would like to hook up for Saturday or Sunday walks in Marlay Park, Dun Laoghaire Pier etc. to help in this endeavour. Just private message me your contact details and I'll get in touch. A big thanks to Coco, Patricia Louise and Holly123 who have been a continuous support both here on the site and in the background in the dark days when I wasn't experience any restriction - or any weigh loss - despite being the best excerciser out of the lot of us!!! And Kermit, I look forward to us sharing band baby pregnancy stories at some stage over 2008/2009!!! I will definatly write an email to Jerome to share my support for him also. Penny2 - welcome to the site - unfortunatly I am not a PBer so I can't really explain them very well but I know that if you search the site by that term you will get numerous explanations or what way it effects various banders. And I'm even more sure that when Coco gets on the site she will give you a most informed explanation as she is great with the indepth explanations!!!! Now don't deny it Coco - when you're good, you're good!!! he he

...I am so excited!!!!!! I am overflowing with enthusiasm!!! Why - well today for the very first time since being banded on the 5th May 2007, I experienced restriction! Yipee!!!!! I now know what you lot have been experiencing at long last. This morning I had the same Breakfast that I usually have, s small bowl of Tesco Suger Free Museli with a small amount of skimmed milk - Low and behold when I was 3 spoonfulls in I felt this feeling that I have never experienced before - something that told me physically to stop eating. I was having breakfast with 2 colleagues in work and so I quickly excused my self and went to the bathroom and spit up some terrible slime. This soon subsided and I took great delighht in going back to the table and taking my bowl over to the bin and throwing out half a bowl of breakfast that yesterday I would have been horrified to waste and throw out - but then again I didn't need to as I have always been able to finish. The best thing that I felt was a feeling of fullness and satisfaction that acted as a deterant throughout the morning in work, even when clients arrived with Belgian chocolate and Tobelorone bars! So then it was lunchtime and I had to take clients out for lunch. So I make my usual healthy choice of fish - cod on a bed of mushy peas today. Then it happens again, I am 2 bites in to the dinner and my body tells me again that it is time to stop eating! The sliming begins in earnest and at one point I nearly think I am going to PB all over the table in fronth of everyone and I only just make it to the bathrooms in the retaurant - so this is a slight drawback to the euphoric feelings that I am experiencing but only slight. Anyway I just wanted to share this with you all as I hope it will motivate any of you who are not experiencing the feeling of restiriction at the moment or at all as was my experience up to now. I stayed away from contributing to this site in recent months as I was so disillusioned with my banding experience and did not want to influence anyone who was beginning their banding journey, but now I am happy to shout out all about this restriction I am experiencing. I really believe that if this restriction holds up that I will finally begin to loose the weight that I need to and become a healthy average weigh woman able to have children next year!!! I also have a huge motivation to fit in to a wedding dress early next year too so I'm off at the weekend to sign up again at the gym to help with the tone up I'll require with this great weight loss I'm anticipating!!! ha ha I'd love to hear if there is anyone else out there who has experience this late felling of restriction, 7 months and 7ml in band later?