Nykee

THIS IS WHEN IT HIT ME: My band was tight all day and mashed potatoes adn sherbert was as solid as I could handle but not till like 5 pm... I sipped juice and ate soup in the afternoon... I just ate as much as my band allowed me to.. But by 9 pm or midnight (depending on my sleeping pattern) I was so open.... That I could gulp milk and juice, eat sherbert or soup or mash potatoes till I was FULL like normal (not pouch full) and never feel the restrcion feeling I felt all day. I took advantage of the milk and juice and sometimes drank 60 ounces of milk... or juice. I found out I could eat Cookies and chips and toast. I never felt restriction. So here I was eating 10 cookies and a grab bag of cheetos each night... I coulnt eat solids... well I didnt really try, I was affraid.. i was able to have some corn and chicken in soup....but if anything didnt chew till it was gone. I spit it out. I was reminded of what food addiction felt like and how I couldnt control it. I knew I was consuming enough calories at night to hinder weight loss, yet I couldnt lay off the cheetos and cookies and night after night I had sworn I would just eat a meal and a couple cookies.. But I just ate and ate until I was stuffed. Then I realized how different I was.. I had been the same for 15 years or so...Whenever I couldnt have the food I wanted (cuz of a diet) I would go crazy, I had to resist and well you guys must know what that feels like.. IT SUCKS. And now I suddenly dont care? and hadent even noticed? I have been obsessed with this little impossible fact ever since. It was obvious that I would eat as much as my band would allow, and the kinds of food it would allow... I began to think of fast food and pizza and wonder WHAT IN THE HELL WAS MY PROBLEM... How had I not noticed these things? So facinated.. I made a list of what my eating habits were....before the fill.. It took some time to really remember everything but I ended up coming up with a really good account of how it was on a daily basis and the same every month.... and had been for a long time. INSERT THAT LIST FROM POST ONE HERE. I was discusted and shocked at what I saw. I had made the list to show how obsessed I was with food and how much I wasnt eating any more and yet I wasnt obsessed any more. I thought it would be really neat. It wasnt neat. It was mortifying, It made me feel ashamed and ignorant and stupid and unable to find any excuse or remotely acceptable reason why I had lived like that and MY KIDS HAD BEEN involved in all of it. I wanted to share the list with the kids (13,14,17,18) and show them how different our lives were just two moths ago...and havent they noticed that we never have fast food or go to a resturant and did it bother them or did they miss it...? I talk to my kids about everything.. and I was too ashamed... And just now I have thought of something else.. Dang it.. Its big.. and its horrible and its just now dawned on me and thats what i will write about next.. even though I am no where close to explaining why I think I can take the credit for my sudden lack of obsession for food.. I havent even started that theory yet.. My fingers are bleeding lol

Well after a few weeks........ I was still on soup and juice and milk and began to realize I may need an unfill. This was a huge stressor for me.....just thinking about making a phone call, driving, walking to the office, back out and driving home...overwhelmed me. I didnt want to go... I was all paniced.. ?? My kids were like "get the unfill so you can eat" SIMPLE. (usually) It wasnt that simple because: Thing was I hadnt been able to take my pain pills all this time. I usually took about 4 viccidan a day (the crushed pills were too much to swallow along with the amount of juice needed to get it all out of your mouth... and 60 miligrams of MSContin (not to be crushed) I had a morphine patch.. but for some reason my doctor thinks a 25 miligram morphine patch is enough to replace 60 miligrans of it and vicidans too.. I felt like crap.. Not until this prospect of going to the fill came up I hadnt realized how crippled up i was. I didnt realize it cuz I had began living in a camper at the same time.. I slept on the couch and everything was two feet away. I alos stopped driving cuz loss of insurence, so I wasnt running erronds either. My daughter was doing all my duties. (we had a crisis..long story) Now had I still been in my house... I would have noticed it and been bed ridden by now. So when the kidds said "just go, so you can eat" I didnt give a crap about eating!!!... I was worried about the pain and suffering and exhaustion and UGH So this makes perfect sense because there was one and only thing that could keep me from food and that was pain. It was always true that I rather starve all day long than get up and get my own food... if it was going to cause extra pain. I often waited till noon in bed, until the kids woke up and I would immediately say "get my juice!!!' The kitchen wasnt far... I would be parched, I would wait and wait and hope someone got up soon and crave it... BUT I WOULDNT GET UP AND GET IT. Many times I didnt eat anything till 5 pm, 9pm... cuz I was in bed or the reclyner on the computer and no one was around and I was in too much pain to climb down and up my stairs to get food, or even into my kitchen and readh for something and grab a drink. Its NOT that I didnt care about food when I was in pain... Its that I wouldnt physically obtain my own food. So thats not a factor I had these intense crippling moments like 2 or 3 times a month or for a week strainght.. But when I was hurting... NOT even food could move me. So... that explains why I was sipping my soup and not caring about food cuz I rather sip the soup and never eat again than suffer the pain of the trip. My plan was to tell my doctor to medicate me real well, I had stuff to do.. I put it off and put it off..... and during that time I learned alot about my band and what it could tolerate and when and what it's signals were and such. BUT.... I am not completely convinced... I could of been whining "I am too bent to make the trip but I want some FOOD.. wah wah.. poor poor me" If your wondering if my recent move and hardship and lack of driving to be temped by all the foods was something that distracted me from food.. NO WAY.. Those things never had any impact on my obsession for food. At this time I hadnt even realized that I wasnt craving and crying about the lack of food.. prolly all the stress i was under and fact that I wasnt driving around and my life was totally different now than in our home and I didnt notice my obsession over food was not rearing its ugly head.

So this is typing as I am thinking... and sure to be rambly. Sorry its full of typos and hard to read.. I dont have the energy to fix it all up before I submit it.. (this is why all my posts will suck.. they are just too long and exhausting enough to write, not impotant enough to edit..) I looked at the facts first. First few days: I got the fill and it was real tight and I was real happy that day... But I got alitte blue too once home. I was really really in it now, no more freedom, struggles ahead, fear. The reality that I failed a 20 yr batttle to loose the weight (on my own)....and the hope that sustained me was now gone. I felt like a pathetic loser who had to have a band and wished I coulda done it on my own.. I was just having some moments that come with change... Moping about how I came to be this way at all and stuff.... I sat in the house and when i drank some juice or had some soup and felt lots of resriction.. When i had to stop with out having had much at all.. I felt like I deserved it and didnt have the right to complain.. I was 'taking my medicine' It was common for me in life that when ever I felt sickenly guilty about something, I wouldnt eat. food was too good for me. It only lasted a day when the initial shock wore off.. Ok.. So this little mood only lasted a couple days.... and can explains why I wasnt upset over being hungry or feeling I needed lots of juice to comfort me. First couple weeks Then I was back to my self... excited and so happy to have been finally filled and having restricion and getting this band thing going.... I was very tight... and it was exciting to feel the proof that I really had his this thing that was gonna help me lose weight! When i couldnt get much down, it made me giddy and excited thinking about my new lease on life.. I actually lived on hot cocoa from seven eleven for a whole week.. three a day...it was all I could get down... but i got the worst diareha and realized I was being stupid. I began tomatoe soup instead. I love tomatoe soup. So.. this initial honeymoon period with my band can explain why I wasnt freaking out over food yet. I was able to diet for a week or two... before i freaked out.. So this also could explain why I was fine with the lack of food.. I wasnt at that point yet.

I want to thank posters here for telling me to give my self some credit. That sparked my ability to start thinking that maybe i did deserve the credit, and wasnt able to see what I had done yet.. like in denial? So I began to wonder what could of happened subconscously ... I mean I cant keep thinking some magic, out of this world thing happened to me and cant be explained. And as I was tying I was just coming up with so much stuff..... new thoughts..... and I am not done.... I came to make a new post and finish it in a minute.. I dont even know where I am gonna end up... But I cant wait to find out.. (funny thing... wont mean I am right..)

I feel so different... I read thru the posts over the year.....and I feel like I am the only one this happened to... and I want to share it, but its so different than everyone I am affraid I will look like I am putting down people or showing off or look like a total liar. I LOVE this thing that happened to me and no one understands and I have no one to talk to about it,, and I hope I can not ramble too much and be clear. I would like to know if others felt any of this... or if they can explain how its even possible. magic? lol sooooooooooooo info: I got a tight fill two and a half months ago. My first real fill experience with restriciton and all that. I was so tight, I was on liquids a month and mushies a month and just started solid food a week or so ago. I couldnt take but a sip of juice upon waking... and after a couple hours I could add more sips of juice or milk slow but didnt try to come up...All day long I struggled with thin Soup and milk and juice....the later in the day the more I could get in.. Then I could have some mashed potatoes and thicker soup......late at night I could have chips, Cookies, sherbert, more soup and mushies, toast, and lots of juice and milk wiht it..but not solids. I ate the same thing's for 2 months...(see above) The MAGIC: I always stopped eating when the band gave me the warning feeling, I did NOT try to have more and push it and feel like I couldnt help but have some more.... I simply stopped. I didnt Pb or slime or golfball or any of that stuff. And still havent. (I did spit up real gently sips of juice in the A.m. until I figured out what was too much and I had to gag myself a few times when I ate too many chips or drank too much to releive the pressure, but within a few weeks I knew how to avoid that) PLUS: IT DIDNT BOTHER ME MUCH AT ALL... eating so little, so different. Those two things dont make sence to me. NOt reality! I do not use any self control to stop or to feel fine about it. (well alittle) It was just automatically what my brain wanted to do and how it felt. But that was NOT how my brain felt before......(quite the opposite) and HOW could the band change my brain? LOOK WHAT I MEAN: Prefill eating habits....just a few months ago this was my life: I HAD to have fast food daily, many times more than once..I would feel all uptight if I couldnt get my little burger, KFC snacker, cheese curds, hershey pie, egg mcmuffin, ect... I had a rootbeer float or a coffee drink or a smoothie everyday, minus maybe 4 times a month. Sometimes 2 or 3. I had to have one or feel sad. I could drink 1 to 5 slurpies a day in the summer. I drank a gallon of milk and juice per day. There had to be milk in the house at all times and everyone made sure of it, daily ritual. If I was out of juice and no one would get me some I would cry and feel lethargic until It came and then I would gupl it like a maniac feeling blissfully refreshed and alive again. I went out to china, resturants, KFC, buffets, about 4 times a month. I would spent bill money on it unable to resist. I did this all the time.. I spent money we couldnt afford on pizza and fast food all the time. I would seriously be holding the money, knowing i cant do it and the food was just too tempting. The house food I ate was corndogs, nachos, frozen foods, candy, chips and cookies, cerial.. we made a simple meal maybe once a month. I liked fast small amounts of junk foods over a meal. I didnt eat alot at once. but I ate plenty. Soooooooooooooooo.... WHY.. HOW.. is it not bothering me that I am missing out on all this.. I thought it would be tormenting.. I thought it would SUCK... I dont even notice the fast food joints when I used to plan my day around them. I got a slurpee and a cofee drink and a smoothie once and I never finished them, didnt care for the thickness becasue it caused restriction and I rather use it for milk and juice. Now I dont get drinks (cept root beer float) Of course we havent gone to a resturant for months... that was out life! I watch my kids eat the corndogs and pizza and cerial and nachos and I sometimes take one bite and chew it and spit it out and otherwise I dont give it much thought. ??????????????I should be drolling over the pizza, saying "god i want some" and moan and groan and make it get away from me...?????????????? Ya know.. I have been dieting for 20 yrs... I have tried it all and it has always been so hard.. I would feel deprived and want it even more. It would take a HUGE effort to refrain and follow my plan. IT was Hell and full of anxiety and fear and hope and failure.. I made rules all the time. no milk, no carbs, no fast food, ect ect.. and it never lasted.. EVERY diet sucked cuz I couldnt stop my desire and craving for the foods I liked. So... how come I dont care now that I cant have it... just cuz the band makes it so I cant eat it all doesnt mean I dont still want it and crave it...like I always have.. I started each day guzzling ice cold OJ...and taking two vicodan before I got out of bed. Couldnt live without it. How can I keep from just gulping more without caring about the consequences...and regret it later...?? Now I take a sip or a couple slow drinks of warn grape jice and NO PILLS... and so be it... I dont even cry over MY PILLS.. HEllo! I needed those.. I took 6 a day and now take 6 a week. I am in pain but I am accepting the pain too... and I HATE PAIN and I never in a million years would of thought I could give up my pain releif... I mean I would of thought I would get an unfiill before giving up pain control! (I couldnt crush them cuz I couldnt keep it and the juice down until about noon) HOW in the world Could a tiny little feeling from my band make me stop eating and not care about food... after you can see how I was before. Well... I assume the band just tells my brain and thats that... Or my brain reacted to the band in that way.... and its just one of those things... HOw lucky am I!!!!!!!!! I see people on here having so many problems..... with the restriction and control and being hungry and obsessing over food and going through all that stuff I always went through before... and thats normal.. But becasue I have NO problem stopping eating and NO problem with cravings and dont even mind being hungry....(when the band restricts me). And as tight as I am I do not Pb and that stuff.... I wonder why this didnt happen to more people like it did to me. NOW... when I am not restricted i am as out of control as before and cant resist........ RESTRICTION in the smallest form...controls me and protects me... Its like a gift from another realm.... Sometimes it feels so easy.... I cant understand fully how many problems people have with it and then treatrd like its all normal.....and part of the process...and OK...... Sometimes I just want to scream 'hello.. if you really stopped eating the MINUTE you felt that weird band feeling, you would never have these problems... and 'I can feel it easily way before it gets close to getting bad, so why cant you?.... and 'who gives a crap about food... god, we are surpose to be letting go of talking and thinking about food food food... who cares if you never eat this or that again, ect ect.. BUT I know that they are doing is normal and what I am feeling is rare.... I have this rule about never allowing my self to go too far and not letting food be my slave... BUT, How am I following that rule I made is beyond me. I dont know if anyone would read all this.. But I am wondering if anyone was like changed like magic in any way...

CHGIRL) Oh Nykee, you are doing totally awsome!!! In less than a year's time you are already redefining your lifestyle. No more fast food, that's huge to give up, I also notice you have given up a lot of the really sugary foods and drinks, how great is that!!! I don't know of anyone personally who stops the instant they feel the restriction the way you do!!! >>>>>>>>>>>its downright impossible... I still think that too, when obviously it is.. I keep thinking something fishy is going on.. lol You need to give yourself much more credit than you do for having self control. >>>>>>>well, as I wrote this post... it got me thinkng alot.. and I started to think maybe I should contemplate if I can have some credit.. Maybe I make up so many reasons why its NOT me because I am so used to KNOWING for a fact I am a loser... I can give my self credit for stopping as to not Pb ot those things cuz I had these thoughts before I was banded like "I am not gonna have PBs these people are crazy.. sounds like hell to me.. watch.. I wont let it happen to me. (but I didnt know there was lots of other things..i WAS THINKING A pb sounded awefull and It would probably be enough to keep me from risking it .. i was thinking Fear of Pain would control me.. But thats not how it works) and then it was explained to me here that its not that simple and its part of the process and I realized I was being nieve about avoiding them.. And the fact is I can go alot further and be no where near a Pb.. But I just have this thing where I stop right away.. and I feel proud. But the fact that I dont crave and mourn my fast food and buffets and thick drinks and guzzling of juice and milk and so on.. THATS NOT ME!!!!!!!!! I have tried to give these things up countless times.. One time we went milkless for 3 weeks...(plus my month of low carb diet) One time we went without fast food for about a month.. Otherwise nothing lasted more than a week.. AND THERE WAS PAIN AND STRUGGLE the whole time.. right this minute I said in my mind "No way.. I LOVE my fast food and buffets and KFC and I love them and want them so bad" then immediately I thought "no I dont" (cuz i dont.. i dont care) hummmmm My mind is wrestling with reality.... Thats new,... I seriously just said it like it was a fact.. and then remembered it wasnt.... and got confused and couldnt decide whats real.. I guess all i can say is.. I do not care or find my self desireing to eat like I listed in my first post. I know what obsessing and wanting food so bad feels like and its not happening at all... THATS a fact. I ate that way for 0ver ten years and it WAS my life.... and the above fact isnt a possibility I think can exist.. and if it does it sure in the heck is some kind of mental trick... or brain damage.. not of my will. gosh.. I cant stop trying to figure things out.. (sorry I am doing it in my responce to you.. lol) I actually went crazy and am gonna make a new thread.. Thinking is fun.

lamadam I can only speak for me..I know for me that when my restriction level is good..I do not even think about food. It is the strangest thing..there is NO obsession on when I'm going to eat again or what am I going to eat. ..sometimes I forget to eat. >>>>>>>>>>>> THIS IS WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR!! WOW I am so excited that You (one of the most successfull bandsters) had that experience.. I so so wanted someone else to have experienced that... I am really psyched out over it.. thats why I call it magic.. cause, I have spent 20 years trying to get food outta my head and never could and cant see its possible.. but it is.. lol Yeah.....

One question, how is it you get a rootbeer float? I was told no more pop EVER again. Is it okay to break this rule? I kinda thought this was the grand rule of rules.<!-- / message --><!-- sig --> >>>>>>>>>>>>>ya know how the root beer goes flat from the ice cream? thats why... you can have flat pop.. so no, its not completely flat but it feels fine.. when i drink a sip of pop it feels very strange.. the carbination.. i dunno about why pop is a rule, i have heard many stories.... i will assume one a week would be fine.. i aint a pop drinker.. some people drink it all day and i bet its bad if your ya know drinkng them every day. I see the grand daddy of all rules being to not allow pbing and slimes and such.. cuz loss of the band scares me to death.

wow thanks people i cant even remember why i was scared to talk about this now i feel special, and thats not easy............ thanks so much for the kind words ans appreciating my post! jachut) I have desperately wanted to avoid (and have done so far) that last supper syndrome >>>>>>>>>>I was ready for a month of pigging our on all my favorite foods and thats when they told me I had to lose 40 to 60 pounds before I came or they would not do surgery and ithat they can tell when they get in me if i had rapid weight loss and if I havent they will pull out if the doctor thinks ts risky ... the fat on the liver gets in the way or something. I was really pissed... I lost 41.. (low carb works) But I still got the 'last supper' cuz they had a really nice buffet for dinner and then we ordered a pizza room service, right before midnight... (the cut off time for food) Even though I was able to eat after banded... I still consider those my last meals,, lol but I really wanted to get some weight off before the op and I just cant do it. I cannot eat little enough, >>>>>>>>>have you tried low carb? you can pig out on crap and lose weight fast.. I mean, if its just for the pre op .. and not for a lifestyle change than its fine. I found a few things i liked and ate them as much as i wanted.. as long as you stay under 20 carbs on average a day... you will loose even if you eat like 5000 calories and 300 grams of fat.. Its coool I lost 41 pounds in a month and a half.. my daughter lost 14 pounds in the same time (she was 154 before) My cousin lost about 20 in total..(she was 165) these girls had EVER ONCE went on a diet cuz they loved food and didnt care about alittle chub, But they saw what they could eat and we all did it together FOR FUN and well my daughter found out how different she looked with out the 15 pounds and she has changed her mind about alittle chub beung OK.. she was really cute shaped..(she is 17) my daughter went back to normal eating and it took 7 months before she started gaining it back..SHE IS JUST NOW LOOKING at 150 and when ever she wants to lose it again she can, but she doesnt really care (I am so glad.. when I was 145, i thought i was the fattest cow in town) My cousin went back too (and she is a hog) and her weight didnt come back on for like 6 months and she is still down by ten pounds We were all really shocked how they didnt gain the weight back real fast, at their size,, i thoughts thats what happened when you resumed carbs.. heck.. we were shocked they lost so much in the first place.. It really works. There is a catch.. Think of it as only having ONE rule. You cannot cheat.... if you cheat, you wont lose 'less'.. you will not lose at all and you may even gain. Cheating is simply having more than 20 carbs a day.. (I honestly sometimes had like 50 a day, and did cheat like 4 times on a big meal.....but thats cuz i was so big...and its easy to do days with zero or 5 carbs...but i wouldnt risk it.... the girls stuct to 20 strictly and didnt cheat ever. Funny thing was.. The biggest challenge is finding out what you can eat thats low carb but you dont feel your 0n a diet and it takes alot of research... Well that turned into a carb speach didnt it.. lol

I remember the day I got on the scale and it said 402... I was hovering around 380 for a few years For some reason, i was shocked.. it had never occured to me that I would hit 400. I starting to cry tears that fell outta my eyes automatically no matter how i tried to stop and was wiping them off.. I wasnt 400 for very long.. But I was 350 for like 10 years... so i really wanna be under 300 the most. I recal being 14-15 yrs old and never even thinking that I would ever weigh 200 pounds... thats a hoot

I eat what I want, or the band allows... But I DO Do some things.. I buy grape juice light. It half the calories, carbs and sugar as real grape juice. I am so picky about juice (100%) and I am amazed at how much it taste like real grape juice.. enouph for me to always buy it lite now. I buy lite OJ.. I was also amazed at how much it taste like real OJ.. I buy 1% milk... I drink alot of juice and milk.. I CANNOT drink no carb drinks as substitutes. I am real happy these lite juices were invented. I buy the reduced fat kettle corn. I buy low fat grahm crackers I buy non fat cream cheese I bought sugar free rasberry syrup to pour into lite lemonaid. I buy 7% lean burger or turkey burger lunch meat is always one gram of fat or less But I dont eat any of that... What I should do.. use Water in my tomatoe Soup instead of milk eat low fat AND low carb soup like cream of chicken (I love tomatoe) eat a lean cuisine or south beach premade dinnner snack on the grahm crackers and popcorn (not Cookies and cheetos) Be sure my sherbert is litest or sorbet

1. Bread...................toasted only or a tiny bite 2. Pasta...................with sauce, chew well 3. Pop.....................feels funny 4. Tortillas................no way, spit out the tortilla 5. salad..................used to, cant now?? 6. Steak.................yuck 7. Roast..................prolly have to spit a wad out that wont chew away 8. Cereal................the mix of cerial and milk makes my6 band act up 9. Hamburger...........meatlaof? 10. pizza................thin frozen kind with xtra crispy crust 11. Apples.............doubt it 12. chips................easy 13. cheese.............easy but chew well 14. Shrimp..............chew well, ok 15. Pop corn.............easy 16. pretzels...............prolly gum up Also if you go out somewhere and need something quick and only fast food is available what would you order? Could you order a Mc Donalds hamburger and just eat the meat? Would this be ok on a very occasional basis?? Thanks for the input Jill That meat is grisly..so it might be hard. I get mashed potatoes and gravy from KFC and root beer floats from A&W (the pop goes flat) I tried nuggets and not good

I didnt feel it either AT ALL.. you miht need a fill first

I am glad I found this thread.. Hello to all and WOW on all the weight loss. I started at 415 No one can tell I have lost weight either. NSV: Energy.. I cant take my pills, I dont feel better yet. Sex.... I have had a sexy boy for 3 years who I have a ton of fun with... But Now I'm at the size I was when I was dating 10 yrs ago at bars and picking up guys and had some game.... But I look at myself and think 'no way'...I sure dont feel like her.. (well she was 25... not 35,,lol) Sleep.. no diff Bras.. fitting into smaller sizes Cuddling.. .. I am not prepared for all the sagging weirdness thats going on and think I may not like to be touched as much as I have been Shoes.. I got 3 new pair and wear them without fear of falling.. Clothes.. the same Seatbelt.. iI still shoove it under my boob, I should try it out. Shower.. no diff attitude.. same but happy to be 349 hubby.. no thanks Apperance.. same

that wouldnt bother me.. cept when it required this big story about what was going on.. I just said "its complicated right now" who cares what you weigh.. I mean I am sure anyone can guess within 30 to 50 pounds.. whats the big deal? plus ya know how some look great at a weight and others look fat at the same weight.. I have lost 65 pounds and no one can tell.. But I am proud to say 349.....

yeah,, well its not just hunger.. its more.. Its sending more than lack of hunger.. I do feel blessed... but its also problematic

This is really great news!! (till I get a fill) I'm asking because of that one post on your other thread making so much sense about eating food at night and going to sleep with all this food in your pouch and causing swelling overnight and tightness in the mornings. Do you, in your experience, find that to be valid? (I dunno....I dont think so.. there is NO food in my pouch... at night the food all goes right through... I was washing all the crunchies and mushies down with milk and juice.. Nothing was staying in my pouch... If I had food in my pouch I can feel it...................and I dont think it was all that much food held in my bottom tummy that would cause it... It wasnt like I was engorged or anything.. So no, not in this case.. I think I have a sensitvie stomach or what ever the band irritates. cu At surgery I was pumped full of anitinflamitories and on IV......coulnd handle ice chips while all the other ladies walked free with their gatorades... I still wasnt able to drink Water when I flew home but Ortiz said as long as I can tolerate my saliva, the swelling will soon go down... it did in a day or two. Then...I got a fill that Martinez Meticulously made sure was good and not too tight and I was fine UNTIL it must of swelled on the plain ride and closed me off. cuz I ended up with a 9hr pb and 40 hr choking on saliva and emergency unfil........... THAT FILL WAS FINE untiil it swelled. So I figure I am sensitive to swelling.. I definate swelled alot during my period last week. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>SOMETHING happens as we sleep... to make the band tighter, I assume due to swelling..... I think cuz I am shown to be sentsitive to swelling and because.. I have extreme tightness upon waking that goes down throughout the day until its normal at late night.... I mean 3 ounces of juice and my chest hurts at 9am,,,and by 9pm I can eat all that stuff.... THATS TOO much of a difference and I Want medical care to make it less likely to swell as much.. poo I love the foods you listed above...good for you! That's much better than juice, milk and mashed potatos only. yay!!! You are gonna drop the pounds! >>>>>>>>>>>>I am not convimced.. I am eating more and how can I lose if I am eating more?... <!-- / message --><!-- sig -->

I read where someone called themselves a "turtle" ... one who loses weight slowly... on the band.... I have considered my self one of these... and I have had to tell my family this fact,.. "its a slow process for some... dont worry" But.. I have 4 months left to to 35 pounds and then I will be what seems to be around here as seen as really great.. a 100 pound loser in one year. I dont know if I can do it.. But I like how it has just become a goal of mine and MAYBE something that will get me to STOP the bad eating habits and pigging out I been doing at night! anyway.. Who all here has lost 100 pounds in a year or so???? I know I could look it up, but if you wouldnt mind... this place is really big..

I still dont get soft stops and hard stops and the feelings people have.. Everyone seems to feel something different. Seems she went past her warning sign? Or took too big of a bite and such.

as 150 sounds ridiculous for me.... My chart puts me around 155 .... But I think 195 is the perfect goal..... Iys under 200 and I would feel GREAT at 195.. and IF I lose more that will just be a bonus.. I secretly will feel fine if I bottom out at 250#..... if it has to ya know. They say we have the chance of loosing 75% of our excess weight.. so thats my average... I started over 400 pounds... my skin alone is gonna weigh alot.. I will never look right. At 195 I will prolly look 250... oh well Is it the weight you were last comfortable at?............No...I never was 195, I prolly was 7 months pregnant at 195, .... I had no clue until my baby was born that I had went from a 145 pound teen to a 230 fat mama.

(and Nykee, you say your band has loosened up a bit now...do you know why? Is it the weight loss? the way you are eating? I'll go back and read some more, but was just wondering. I'm glad you are loosening up a bit. ) ummmm I dunno it just opened up alittle the last week ..... like I can take about 3 ounces of juice in the morning instead of just a sip or two. And I can eat solid food like crispy pizza, fish, a bite of sandwitch, a bite of buretto (spit out skin).... cheese slices, quiche, the chicken in the Soup, slit pea and ham, almonds.. What so you think? I was wondering if it all came about because I posted on here and It influenced me to try more foods than tomatoe soup and mashed potatoes.... And when I began to eat more food, it started me on this binge like thing... And it was all cuz of being bitched at..lol BUT... Theres no denying I has lossened up cuz I was barely able to take a few sips before and now I can take like 3 real drinks before I feel restricted. This is great news ya know.

GO get a fill! I couldnt wait to get my first one. My fill has lossened up... it sure feels strange huh Its TRUE.. your fill gets lose with weight loss Plus around my cycle I got really tight... for a few days.. That was my first experience with that too.. Thats the time I felt like eating all day long..

horizontal I saw a lady at the ymca showering who's scars were like wounds... they were like a half an inch wide.. it was kinda creepy.. mine are a thin line..

I tend to wonder if I would gain my weight back if I had the bypass... I mean I think I would alittle but not even close to 400 pounds I wonder that just cuz I gained most my weight (200 pounds) from age 15 to 19...during pregnancies like some freak accident cuz I didnt turn into some hog, I was basically the same as before.. liked junk food and such. O still couldnt have a Huge delux burger and fries and a large blizzard and a pop like my mom and sisters... I always got just a little burger and a small blizzard and a Water (I like water and icecream) cuz thats all I could eat. So it was like NO FAIR NO FAIR>> Plus I would cut calories and keep track and the pounds never matched the calorie reduction, not even close! My weight means 4000 calories a day.. UM not. I really think my body is out of whack and once normal would not go back with how I eat.. (maybe weigh #250 at most... I know that is real big to some of you but if you never been 400 pounds than you cant appreciate how nice 250 would be)

Thanks! I have a mini plan (sems hard!) My band is loosened up quite a bit Oct to nov..............8 nov to dec...............7 dec to jan................5 jan ...................get a fill Jan to feb. 15th..........15 I have to lose like that much a month to make it. IF I dont make the 8, 7 and 5 for oct, nov, dec.... I will go low carb in January and bust it out.. (maybe.. try anyway) I think this is a good goal for me.. No one has noticed my weight loss... not even me. and if I can say I lost a 100 pounds in the year since I had it done.. That has to be recognized!