vinesqueen

Okay, time to check in with this challenge to myself. I'm doing pretty good on not counting every calorie and I've been managing to get in at least one snack. I find that I automatically count the calories in most of my meals, only because of habbit and the fact that I know how many calories are in most of the things I'm eating. (yay obsession!) I'm doing pretty good with Breakfast everymorning. I don't always make it, and I frequently eat and drink my tea breakfast at the same time. But I'm doing this on purpose, other wise I don't get in my morning liquids. I haven't seen any weight loss, not really surpirsed anymore. But, I have lost 2 inches total from hips and waist since I started this challenge for myself. The added Snacks are definately adding calories to my total daily intake, I know this, even if I haven't activly been counting. My skin is betting better, for a while it was looking pretty ragged and my color just wasn't right. Really blotchy, and normally my skin is even toned. I obviously wasn;t getting something I needed. So, just thought I'd check in with my challenge to myself.

See, I don't have this problem. I don't generally obsess about food (except for my calorie counting). I'm perfectly happy with the proper food portion, I might not always follow it, but I don't go crazy either. I know a portion size of cookies is 2 sandwich cookies, but I want 4 or 6. But I can't even imagine eating an entire bag of cookies in one sitting, not even before I was banded I couldn't imagine that.

Hey Kendra, at 24 pounds in 26 weeks you are just under the 1 pound a week mark. (.92 pounds average loss) So you aren't actually out of the range. I just know it's hard when you see everyone else losing at a much faster rate than you. Schedule that fill appointment. I've had 4 fills, 2 being within a month of each other. I need another fill yet, but I'll have that done next week when I meet with my surgeon to talk about why I'm not losing weight. (I average 5 ounces loss a week, and I'm not even the slowest Turtle.) Welcome back!

Last year was physically very difficult for me. I was having serious health issues, which included a lot of trips to the ER for asthma and breathing related problems. I missed one of my finals, which meant that I had to take an incomplete for the course. When I went back to make up the incomplete, the instructor, who is rather old, called me a lier and said I was never in his class. I had an "A" in the class, but I have to take it again this spring. I too thought that I would have lost a huge amount of weight by now. I'm days from being 9 months out and have only lost 27 pounds. Not even close to the amount we are told, the amount most people lose. That sent me into a spiraling depression, but I'm better now. Now, if I can only get through calculus!

(hijack) HI KENDRA! We've missed you!

Honey, you just had a major surgery. Of course you don't have energy to do anything but sleep. Your body needs to heal You need to take small sips, not long big swallows. You body is not rejecting the band. It is inert, and doesn't react to your body. Your body knows something is there because it is taking up extra space, but you are not rejecting the band. It simply doesn't happen. You can get through this rough week, you can and you will. Honest.

I don't believe I've been discriminated because of my size, but yes to my gender. I can't honestly say that my weight has ever been a problem, other than for me health wise, but I don't believe that it's ever been a problem for me.

*snork* don't we all? I have gone down a half a cup size, so I'm almost a DDD, but I sure don't know for sure. I'll need a brest reduction before I'm finished.

Well, it depends. Some people can, some people cannot. I can, but corn makes me hungry so I generally don't.

Do we have another crop of Turtles? I was banded in March, and I've had 4 fills. I'm down a grand total of 27 pounds. No where near the expected 1-2 pounds per week. I've had 4 fills and I need a 5th. Some of us are just slow losers. It doesn't make it any easier, but I think knowing that other people lose slowly helps. http://lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=10174 is the offical slow loser thread for the Turtle Tribe. It can be so disheartening when we see people complaining that they've only lost 50 pounds in 3 months, and expect that they should lose more.

Hi Tod, it may be that you need to change your definition of what "full" is. Many of us equate "full" with being stuffed to the gills. Maybe you need to concentrate on "being satisfied?" I know that this has worked for many folks. Cheers, and welcome to LBT

veggies aren't normally classified as a liquied, but anything in a soup is considered liquid. The bits are generally very small, about the size of an eraser, in commercial Soups anyway. They are generally cooked until there is no crisp left in the neighborhood of veggies in soup. Stews I would classifiy as a mushy.

Yup, you have to stop beating yourself up. NOW. And yes, I know that is easier said than done. The Band is not a diet. It is a lifestyle. Diets can be cheated on or broken, but a lifestyle is how you life your life. It takes time to learn any new skill, and this is no different. I know that many of us get stuck in the "perfection" mode. If we can't do it perfectly, the first time we try, we give up. Obsessive compulsive behavior, overbearing parents, or take your pick of hundreds of other reasons. We want to do this perfectly, and when we can't, we feel like we've failed. Failed our families, our doctors, our friends, even ourselves. But that's the thing, with a lifestyle, you cannot fail because there is no perfect. There is only "doing our best." Sometimes that best means we fall short of the ideal. But that's okay, because sometimes "the ideal" in unatainable, unreachable. For instance, take my supposed "ideal weight." By the charts and the books and schedules, being 5'5", my "ideal weight" is 125 pounds. But given my body type and composition, the only way I will ever reach that weight is if I end up with a terrible wasting disease, like cancer, that eats 50 pounds of muscle and bone. For me, the "ideal weight" is unatainable, unreachable, and unwanted. The other wonderful thing about the band is that it is always there for us. It is a friend, a mentor, a cop. You can always start over because you cannot fail at life. The only way to fail at life is to die. So. You need to call your surgeon, make that doctor appointment. You also need to find a therapist who can help you with some of your other issues around food. You need to call your friends and let them know you are okay. Let your band heal. Take care of it, and it will take care of you. And just so you know, the first weeks before your first fill are for healing, and NOT for weight loss. Any weight lost during this time is just bonus.

What a blast! I think it's possible this is an even biggger NSV for your kids. For the first time ever Mommy joined them in the tubes! I know for my son, the biggest NSV is when I chased him down the stairs, round the truck and out into the street. I almost caught him too . For me, the biggest thing about NSVs like this is that they have real impact on our children.

Wow, you've lost 50 pounds in 3 months? Which puts you at well above the average rate for bandster loss! Holey Crap! That's a huget amount of weight gone. I would say that you are eating way too few calories, there is no way you can get in all your nutients at 400 calories aday. But *sigh* I'm a turtle, so what do I know. (and damn Molly, you're a Rabbit too!)

When I tell people, I just say, "I had weight loss surgery in March." Of course, I don't care who knows. No softening, just bam! I know I'm not taking the easy way out, and I believe in being up-front and honest. I'm not ashamed of my band

You must take control of your band. No one else is going to have a journey like yours. Every band is different, every bandster is different. Don't let your doc take a one-size-fits-all approach. I mean, we all know that when it come to clothes, one-size-fits-all actually fits none. I'm with Kathy, I think you need an unfill. You hadn't been eating solids before, so it isn't surprizing that you are not able to eat solids now. The band is designed to work with solids, not mushies or soft foods. In fact, one of the ways to eat around the band is called "soft food syndrome." Where you are too tight to eat solids so you just eat soft foods, which of course, we don't feel full on for long.

Well, the first thing we need to look at is your calorie intake. If you are still really low calories, you might need to up them. You might need more Iron, but that would also show up in a low calorie diet. Low energy is what my nutritionist, and the fitness assessment guy worry about with me being at about 1000 calories. To loosen the band, you might try hot tea or coffee before you eat. The heat seems to relax the restriction for most poeple, just as cold blended beverages (like margaritas ) tighten the band.

Pat, I do believe you are full of spit and vinegar today!

hmmm, I believe we have a couple of bandsters who have Tricare as their insurance company. Isn't that the military insurance? (I'm guessing here.) Maybe start a new thread called "military insurance" or something like that. You might also search the Insurance Forum for tricare. Sorry I can't offer any further help on this matter

Big Paul, I don't believe it is possible to watch too much sci-fi. Not possible at all. Sorry Wheetsin, I just get on these tears sometimes and can't seem to control my fingers. It's Kathy's fault, honest! Really, the point is that you have done your research, and like Kathy (the best me) said, we are just going to send the newbies to you.

Hippo Birdies, two ewes!

Half a bowl of vegitable soup, eh? Well, I suppose it depends on the size of the bowl. Now, if you bowl was the size of oh, I dunno, a kitchen sink, then it might be possible that there was no restiction. Now, on the other hand, if your bowl is the size of, say, a regular bowl, then that's about 1/2 cup? 3/4 cup? Those are perfectly resonable amounts of bandster proportions. Even a cup and a half of soup is reasonable, I would think. What exactly are you expecting? a couple of tablespoons and your are done for the meal? When were your banded, and how much fill do you have? Cheers!

Oh, I forgot about Foghat -- saw them in a bar...

Every doc is unique. I just need to "take it easy." It seems the more experienced the doc and clinic, the more liberal.