kacee

Stats: 5'3" Age: 56 Starting weight: 218 (225 high) Doctor's goal for me: 160 (!!!!) My goal for me: 150 Where I am now: 152 Where I THINK I can get to: 145 I wouldn't want to be any less than that. Too much sagging going on. The younger you are the less you can weigh. Us older folks start to look pretty nasty when we get to what we weighed when in our 20's. That being said, I think a 5'7" person in the 120's is not very realistic unless you are about 24 years old or so.

Do you feel like you could eat a lot? If so, it might be time for a fill. And yes, you should be getting the calories you need every day. Vary them. Try 800 one day and 1200 the next or something like that. Log your food. That makes a HUGE difference. You will hit plateaus (some of mine were 6 weeks or more), but you should overall be losing IF YOUR ARE WORKING IT RIGHT. Best way to find that out is to log your food.

bumping this back up

In my eyes, portions are not necessarily limited to the amount you eat on a plate at one time. Portions could be the PORTION of your entire diet for the week, day, month, pick whatever, that you include any certain food. A bad portion of your intake would be 25 cupcakes in a week (or whatever). There HAS to be some sense used in this too, of course. But when you drastically limit your intake to those foods you consider "good for you" to the total exclusion of those foods you actually enjoy, you are a recipe for disaster waiting to happen. You obsess about those foods you consider TABOO which only adds to the misery....and you WILL fall and binge at some point because of it. The show I watched last night covered another thing I thought was very interesting (and true). Junk food tends to have extreme amounts of fats, salts and sugars. If you SLOW down and eat the items slowly, you will start to taste them more, and many people find that junk food doesn't taste anywhere NEAR as good going down when you chew it and "savor" the flavor, and they find that they tend to draw away (or be ABLE to draw away) from the obsession to some extent. I have found that to be the case with a lot of foods I used to just CRAM in my mouth and swallow whole.

Do you suppose there is some sort of foundation somewhere that hands out grants to folks who have lost a lot of weight so they can go out and get clothes? I'll be in line! I bet I've spent several thousand dollars just since November on clothes. But understand.... (here comes THE GREAT RATIONALIZATION)...I can spread this over 15 years because (1) I hadn't bought any clothes for that period of time, and (2) I have plantar fasciitis so bad for 6 years I could only wear 1 pair of shoes 24/7/365, and that was a pair of New Balance tennies with orthotics that I replaced once a year. So I think I am entitled........:mad2:

I felt a "golfball" in my chest and a dull ache for about two weeks. Very normal. It is probably the swelling. You won't feel the band, per se, and the port shouldn't be in that area at all. The rash sounds like an alergic reaction....either to something they may have swabbed his abdomen with, the bandages possibly, or a reaction to something they gave him. Always good to call the doc for that stuff to make them aware and to have them advise you of what to look for in any potential changes...

By lifestyle change, your doctor does not mean "DIET". Lord knows, a diet is no lifestyle change for US! I just watched an extremely interesting show on TLC---Paul McKenna's "I Can Make You Thin" and this guy is DEAD ON right. He has four master rules...and this is where the lifestyle change comes in. We are used to stuffing our faces, eating in front of TV's, walking around and grazing, and eating FAST FAST FAST. Here are his four main rules.... 1. When you are hungry EAT (if you deprive yourself you will just "snap" down the line and binge...this will stop that). You will no longer DIET. 2. Eat what you WANT and what you LIKE. You don't have to live on rabbit food to lose weight. Slender healthy people eat chocolate, hamburgers, french fries, macaroni and cheese....but the big difference is they do it consciously and in moderation. If you deprive yourself of the foods you love, you will become obsessive about it and then guess what....you'll "snap" and binge. 3. Eat CONSCIOUSLY. Eat at a table with NO distractions. NO TV EATING. Cut your food, pick up a piece, but it in your mouth, PUT DOWN YOUR UTENSILS, chew your food 20 times and savor the flavor. Try eating an entire meal blindfolded. Feel the food going into your stomach. Stop when you are nearly full. You'd be surprised to find you probably have food left on your plate (we eat with our eyes, not our stomachs). 4. If you begin to THINK that you might be getting full, STOP EATING. (If you get hungry in 20 minutes you can go back and eat some more). These are absolutely what we lapbanders should live by. As the saying goes...there are no BAD foods, only BAD portions. This is a fascinating show and next week they are talking about emotional eating and how to curb it. Check it out (Sunday nights 8:00 and 11:00 pm CENTRAL time).

Next week is how to curb emotional eating. I think that pretty much encompasses the majority of us here. I will be very interested to watch.

Amy, GREAT pics! You are looking fantastic. I went to Coastal last Thursday and got some Juvederm injections. I can't afford a neck lift or tummy tuck right now, but the marrionette (sp?) lines and hollows under my eyes were really bugging me (they also happened to be having a "spring special" Thursday and Friday when I just stopped in!). I'm fairly bruised now, but I think when that goes away I will be very satisfied. They said it would be about 30 days before everything "settles".

My cousin called me about this earlier today and said she was going to watch it. It will also be on at 11:00 (Central Time) tonight. I started watching it and this guy is preaching EXACTLY what we as lapbanders are supposed to be doing....If you are hungrey, EAT.....Eat what you WANT....Eat CONSCIOUSLY (put utensils down between bites, chew each mouthful 20 times and savor the food), and When you THINK you might be getting full, STOP. As he said, most people eat according to what they SEE. They did an experiment with people in a diner. All ordered a large breakfast the first day and finished it completely. Second day they had the same breakfast but ate it blindfolded, and ALL left food (some a LOT) on their plates. (I am sitting here listening to this and thinking this guy is DEAD on right. We have the help of our tool, but if folks can really take to heart the methods, anyone can eat less doing this.) The show just started today and will run for some weeks. I would recommend checking it out. I will be interested in seeing what the coming weeks hold. I agree with what he is saying about eating what you want. He says healthy people eat ANYTHING they want....the trick is they don't OVERDO it. They eat chocolate, they eat pizza, they eat macaroni and cheese.... I have always treated this NOT like a diet. I eat what I want and when I want, but I find I eat so LITTLE of it I don't have the repercussions I used to have from eating. Subsequently, I don't deprive myself, therefore I don't feel like I need to binge. I get the satisfaction of the foods I LOVE, but on a greatly tempered scale.

Okay, NurseAmy...we're ready for an update here! You know me...I am watching with extreme interest. I didn't know that about Adams' bellybuttons. I did notice that my co-worker's was a little red, though looked completely normal, and I wondered if she might have stitches inside. She's looking fantastic (though she was used to wear more "floppy" tops to hide her belly and now she says she looks in the mirror and she feels a little too "boobalicious" (now that she has a perfect hourglass!)...I really laughed because she looks so GREAT!)). How is the scar doing? Does he do really pretty work like they say?

You could very likely be too tight and need a slight unfill. I have reflux periodically and I know it is because I am borderline too tight. Regardless of your fill you will always have a variable restriction through the day. I went for three days barely being able to keep anything down and then I had one evening where I had no problem at all whatsoever. I think it is the nature of the beast. If you are too uncomfortable tho, I would suggest maybe a slight unfill.

I have a hrd time sleeping in a strange place. They generally have these set up kindof like hotel rooms. Very decent bed, nice linens, pictures, TV, etc. I need my pillows, I use three for sleeping. One behind my back, on between my knees and one under my head. Then by all means bring them with you! I am a side/stomach sleeper so having wires on me is freaking me out a bit. I'm a side sleeper too, but I found sleeping on my back wasn't too bad for one night. I also don't have any button front jammies which they told me I needed. ACCESS I guess. I can't recall having anything on my chest....I had a finger thing for pulse rate and then the electrodes on my head. If you don't have any jammies, just wear a comfortable soft button down shirt of some kind. I'm also worried about doing something "inappropriate" during my sleep. I have VERY vivid dreams! Don't be....they've seen it all and heard it ALL....and I mean absolutely ALL. I actually talked in my sleep during my test...and had a semi-recollection of it. These people do this all the time and I never felt the least bit embarassed or ill at ease.

I have to say I am consistently a little shocked a the response from many people just post-surgery. I mean...HELLO? It's surgery, it's an invasion of the body. What exactly did you THINK was going to happen? This is not getting your teeth cleaned folks. Your body spaces were violated several different ways, with hands and equipment and gasses going into orifices cut with a knife into your abdomen. You are not supposed to feel like running a track race. You are not supposed to feel on top of the world. This is a NORMAL process called healing and recuperation. It doesn't happen overnight, though it does happen pretty fast. Everybody needs to chill out and realize that it's gonna take time...time for everything...time to get rid of the gas pains, time to get rid of the sensitive port site, time to fight the coming hunger, time to eat nasty mushy food, time to retrain your eating habits, and last of all, TIME to get to proper restriction. All things come to those who WAIT. This is a process, not a light switch.

Typically you can get a fill about every 30 days, if needed. I actually went in after a week with my first fill because absolutely nothing happened and they filled me again. Don't get caught up in the "numbers". They mean nothing. It all has to do with the size of the band, and the size of your stomach in relation. Some people NEVER have a fill and get good restriction and some VERY few have to utilize every square inch of their band to get restriction. It really runs from A to Z. Also remember at the first when you tend to lose faster, the fills will "deplete" quicker as fat deposits slough away.

I don't have anywhere to rest my arm when I sleep on my side. I used to rest it on that lump of a stomach blob. Now it just falls down on the bed! HAHA! But as far as addictions go, clothes shopping has done it for me. They talk about shopping like it's a BAD thing, but they have to understand they're dealing with someone who hasn't done it in 10-20-30 years. You don't think a person would be like a kid in a candy factory? Of COURSE they would! I have to purposely stay away from malls now because everytime I go in, I find something and EVERYTHING fits. When you are used to having shopping being a traumatic experience (leaving the store in tears), when things FIT and actually look GOOD and you can actually pick most anything from the rack with confidence.....WHOA! What a rush!

First of all, you've lost a LOT since your surgery! You are doing FANTASTIC! I think we all at some point wonder if the bubble is going to burst. It does get easier (for me it did anyway). I am coming to accept my new body and really love it. That being said, I still have flashes where I feel like I am just "renting" someone else's body and the contract's gonna run out pretty soon and like Cinderella I will wake up....but I will be the pumpkin! (HAHAHA) But...I refuse to let myself be a VICTIM anymore. I am taking control. I am in the driver's seat and I will say what happens to me now. Optimism is the name of the game and I've never been more optimistic in my whole life!

Your sweet spot will stay with you longer the closer you are to goal (i.e., the slower you are losing). I've been working on my last 25 pounds since mid-November. I got a "top off" in early December and then starting in January I REALLY closed up tight (i.e., PB's, reflux, etc.). I treated myself with real TLC and it starting to let up now...probably because the weight is still falling off, albeit much slower. I am 5 pounds from my "final" goal (which I may just sail past anyway....I was trying initially to be really realistic in my expectations). So it's been 3+ months now since my last fill (before I was getting filled nearly once a month or so). Unless I really "open up" in the next 5 pounds or so, I can't see needing a fill for a long time.

Ho Ho! Those "little extras" can amount to HUGE caloric intake!!!! When I started logging everything I had a VERY rude awakening! If you write everything down (I like having it online because FitDay (and a lot of others) give you wonderful comparative charts and graphs to see your progress) you get hyper-sensitive to what goes in your mouth. I start thinking about what I am eating before I eat it. If I am going out to dinner, I want to save my calories that day and have something special when I go out. I keep it down to a dull roar during the day and then can eat whatever I want when I go out.

Some people are BLESSED with these bizarre (what they call) "soft stops", kindof a little tap on the shoulder letting you know you're just about at your limit. Everything from hiccuping, sneezing, runny nose, all kinds of funny things. It apprently has to do with the "vagus nerve" reacting in the body. I have also heard that there are clinical trials going on with on placement of an electrode to stimulate the vagus nerve in trying to lose weight. The body is an amazing machine, I tell ya! Anyway, I wish I had a soft stop I could count on. Sometimes I just don't listen to my body and then I am overstuffed and PB or are miserable for an hour or so or whatever.

I think many, if not MOST, of us are probably emotional eaters. Some eat when they are happy, some when they are sad. You sound like me....a face stuffer....lots of food, big bites, eat fast. Believe me, that WILL stop when you are banded (and have restriction....just being banded doesn't necessarily put you there). I sometimes think we are the folks who benefit the most and the fastest, as opposed to people whose weakness is sweets, or something specific. I just love ALL food, and LOTS of it. My pleasure came from stuffing myself and doing it FAST. That has come to a SCREECHING HALT!!!! (Thank God!). But if this band every was taken off, I know I would go right back to my old ways. This baby is here to stay and we have a great partnership!!!!!

Congrats! I hadn't checked my BMI in a while and when I did, imagine my surprise when it said I was "Slightly Overweight"!!!!! Woooooohoooooo!!!!!

I went to the dermatologist about mine. He said it was dermatitis brought on by shock to the system (loss of weight, change in diet, etc.) He said use both Head & Shoulders High Intensity and Head & Shoulders regular and alternate each day, washing my hair each day (I didn't...but I did wash more often). I was losing handfuls from the 4th month on. I am to month 10 now and it has pretty much slowed down or stopped in the last month, but I probably lost 1/3 or more of my hair, which is REALLY thick, and this is a really new feeling for me! It will eventually stop, but it has to run its course. I did notice a big difference when I started using the H&S though.

My 5th and last fill was the first part of December and I definitely believe my band has tightened since then. Starting in mid-January I was havig problems getting food down and doing a lot of PB'ing and had a siege of about a month where I had the same thing you've got....bad reflux and PB when I am asleep. It would wake me up out of a sound sleep and send me running to the bathroom or I would wake up coughing and choking. Seems to have settled a little since, but I attribute it to being over-filled.

If you are hungrey....GO EAT!!!!! The difference is, think before you stuff. Rice is the WORST thing you could eat...it swells and it's not worth it. Eat to fill you. Don't eat fried stuff or chocolate stuff or whatever, but get something (mashed potatoes! Put some good stuff on it!) to soothe your hungry beast. I find that if you fight it too long, not only do you get REALLY cranky, but you may tend to REALLY blow it down the line. How about some good chinese soup? I had some Miso soup last night that was to die for, and took the edge off. Or get something soft (without rice). I find when I am "starving" that protein really helps. I got into Groton fish filets heavily during my mushie stage. They were just the right size and took the edge off and tasted great.