Chickie

I live in Australia, so it is a little different, but I had to get a referal from my GP to the reconstructive surgeon. It really wasn't a huge deal, because I did need the surgery. I hope all goes well for you.

It works like this. When you are "banded" you have the band around the upper part of your stomach. When you have a fill, your band will tighten, and when you eat, the food takes longer to get through the band. It keeps the food in the upper part of the stomach, keeping you full for longer, on a much smaller portion. I don't feel the uncontrollable hunger that I once did, but I do get hungry. But it is a totally different sensation now.

I eat salad daily. Maybe even a couple of times a day. I love it. But I can't remember the last time I had lettuce in a salad... LOL!

Everyone is so different. We all have different activity levels, and so, we will all lose different amounts. It's just too hard to compare yourself to other people. Good Luck. Sam.

We NEED to exercise. Exercise should be part of the lifestyle change we adopt when we are banded. If you were to start exercising now, it is unlikely that you will gain enough muscle to outweigh the weight you lose. It takes a lot more than you think to gain that sort of muscle. It takes lifting weights in the gym daily, heavy weights, and lots of reps. We are talking body builder type activity. And remember, as we lose weight, we do not just lose fat. We lose muscle too. So resistance work should be part of our exercise routine, like it or not. Or we will end up flabby. And again. We are very unlikely to build the type of muscle that it takes to gain "muscle weight" with just 2 or 3 days a week of resistance training. Sam.

After my little unfill last week, I had a teeny bruise. It's pretty normal.

It's been over 2.5 years since I last drank coke. I can honestly say I don't miss it, or any other fizzy drinks.

I was going to say pretty much what Alexandra said. The first fill often does very little to restrict. It is the first fill for a reason - you go back for a second. And as Alexandra said, it can take anywhere up to a coupe of weeks for a fill to kick in. That is why surgeons usually do not offer fills closer than 4 weeks apart. This give you a chance to see if the fill kicks in, if you lose anything with that fill amount, and to let you adjust to that fill level.

A BMI of 15 would actually be considered very, very underweight. I am at at a BMI of 19, and am teetering on underweight. The "healthy" BMI range is 19.9-24.9. The reason for the 5 point range is to take into account different body shapes, and frames (not that I put a lot of stock into frame sizes - I always said I had a large frame. I am super tiny, I do NOT have a large frame like I always thought) It takes a body builder type muscle to make a person with a healthy body fat % to be considered "overweight" by the BMI charts. And really. A skeleton of a 500lb person is not going to be dramaticly heavier than that of a 150lb person. I know it is hard for people to picture themselves at a normal weight or BMI, but just because you cannot imagine it for whatever reason, does not mean that it is unhealthy or unrealistic.

Low GI eating has proved itself to the Australian endocrinologists to be the best way of treating PCOS in combination with diet and medication (if med are required) I have suffered from PCOS my whole reproductive life. Periods every 6 months (maybe more at times) and when they did come - woah! I have 6 cycles worth of period and PMS. The charming excess hair, acne, mood swings, trouble losing weight. The whole nine yards. Prior to banding, I ate very starchy foods, and did myself, and my blood sugar no favours. I lost very little on Metformin. It did help to regulate my blood sugar and insulin, and that is fantastic, but I lost very little that I didn't gain right back. My point after all that, lol (I tend to be long winded at times) PCOS can be managed through a combination of diet, exercise, and if required medication. There are no easy answers, I am afraid. It takes a crap load of hard work to lose with PCOS, but can be done.

Hi Sizewize! Congrats on the 4lbs. I know they will have been hard fought for!! Regarding your PCOS. The best thing you could do in terms of eating with PCOS is to eat low GI. It keep your blood sugar stable, and that is what helps us PCOS'ers lose. There are quite a few good books out there in low GI. The best way to treat PCOS is actually diet and exercise, I am managing all of my symptoms through lifestyle change (low GI, plenty of exercise, Water, and so on) I was on Metformin for years, and lost and gained the same weight (plus a few Kg every time) It was only after my banding, and conversion to Vegetarianism, I started losing significant weight. Best of luck. Sam.

I am so glad that your surgery went so well, and that you are feeling ok. Best wishes. Sam.

My husband is both best friend, and romantic interest to me. So 2 of the above?

It's ok, I don't mind sharing! I had 1cc removed because despite cutting back on my exercise, and trying to eat more, I was still losing. I was happier with my weight at 114lbs... And 107 is just a wee bit low for me. If I continue to lose, I will have more taken out. So far, I am not really noticing a real change in my appetite, and I don't see that my portion sizes have changed any - yet, so the jury is still out.

My surgeon said something similar when I got to my original goal weight of 140lbs. I am now 107lbs, and have had an unfill this week. Unless you (general you) have been starving to get to goal weight, it is very unlikely that you will stop losing till your body is ready to stop, or you have an unfill, or eat a lot more calories than you have been eating to lose. So my advice is, unless you have been on a super strict 200 calorie a day diet that is totally unmaintainable, keep doing much like you were doing to lose. Your body will get to a point where it wants to stop. And if you find, like me, it doesn't "know" then it is time for an unfill. Sam.

It's all been said (and well put) by the 2 previous posters. I have to agree with low GI eating rather than super high protein eating. There is some of good research proving that low GI is as effective, if not more so (particularly long term) as low carb / high protein.

I remember way back when suggestions were being made, the idea of a "life at goal" was tossed around a bit. I was wondering if anything was likely to happen with that. For what it's worth, I am not sure that a whole forum is required. Maybe just a sub forum within the general forum? Thanks. Sam.

It's true that the band isn't right for everyone. Some people do have a really hard time with the changes that are required to make it work. And it is true. You do have to work hard with the band. But nothing worth having is easy to get, right? I live in Australia, and we have socialized medicine (you have that in Ireland too, right?) and with my private fund, my out of pocket was about $1800, out of the roughly 10 thousand Medicare and my health fund was billed for. So cheap as far as I am concerned. For the most part people have been really happy and supportive. I get the odd negative comment, but I brush them off. Usually they come from people with gigantic sticks up their asses, so it's pretty easy to ignore. As these things go, I am told that I lost pretty quickly. I got down to 140lbs by my tummy tuck in August 2006, so a 157lb weight loss in 18 months (I lost the rest of the weight that brought me down to 107 in the last 10 months) So, I guess I have to agree with my surgeon that I did lose pretty fast. How long did it take for people to notice? Well, I am about 2cm taller than a leprechaun, so it took maybe 70lbs / 5 stone before people started commenting on my loss. But I saw it long before the public did. I saw it in my boobs, thighs, stomach, my face, my ass... Everywhere. LOL, the questions are no problem at all!

Some people can eat bread and rice. For me, I eat vegetarian sushi a lot, and often at Breakfast will have a slice of very grainy toast with Peanut Butter. Although I should point out that I didn't even try to eat rice or bread in my first year of banding.

I have been banded since February 2005, and have gone from 297lbs to 107lbs as of today. I had a tummy tuck on August 15th 2006, after getting to my goal weight. Is there anything in particular you wanted to know? Oh yeah, by the way, I freaking rock.

Hello, and congratulations on your surgery! You will be able to eat "good" food again. Food will taste exactly the same as a post op, as it did as a pre op. You may end up avoiding foods you liked before because of the empty calorie factor (high caloric value, with little nutritional benefit) I have found what I called "good" before, or what I thought tasted good before hold little appeal to me now. I find interesting tastes and textures in all sorts of foods that I once would have never tried. Tastes do change post op. And the pain does go away! I promise.

Congratulations!

I had my TT about 10 months ago. I don't recall a lot of pain, but I was very uncomfortable. I healed very well. When I went into the surgeons office for my 4 week check up he remarked that I looked more like 8 to 10 weeks post op. My scar looked good and I had minimal swelling. I live in Oz, so things are done a little differently here. I paid for the whole lot up front, and got various amounts back from my health fund, and Medicare (Australia has socialised medicine) I think my out of pocked was about $1800 out of 10k.

I honestly cannot remember any real pain post op. But some people report pain and discomfort for a couple of days. For me, it has never been painful to drink (hot or cold liquids). Your weight loss within the first year is up to you. Some people can lose a lot in the first year, and go on to lose the rest in the second, others lose all of it in the first year (not the higher start weights, naturally!)and some lose very little. It really depends on you, your exercise, and eating. Best of luck to you.

I got stitches and staples. I don't think the staples bothered me till it was time for them to come out. And I don't recall being very sick, sore or sorry after the op either. I agree with you, the band is no miracle cure. Otherwise why would there be so many bandsters who don't get to, or anywhere near a healthy weight? It's not easy, and it's not always fun. But it is so, so worth all the effort to live a normal, healthy, productive life. Best of luck to you!