jack&kota

Who knew I had a really bony tailbone.

I'm not at goal yet but I do have a big sweet tooth. The thing with sweets is that once you start on a regular basis, you crave more and more becuase of the way your insulin and blood sugar levels react to the sugar. My suggestion is to detox. Like when I did the south beach diet pre-band, after the first three days I was fine. I find that if I go back to liquids and Protein like I do right after a fill, then I do fine for awhile. If that doesn't work, try sugar free fudge pops, only 40 calories. Great work getting to goal and remember that a few good treats is not as rewarding as the hard work you have done in the last year.

As you lose weight the fat pad around your stomach is also losing fat thus making your band looser. Every two months or so I would go from the perfect restriction to needing a little top off.

As a fellow All Star, I'm so jealous that you are under goal and all slim and trim. Most of us are about half way on our journey. I am certain I will need a TT and a thigh lift when this is all said and done. Congrats on your weightloss and your recovery through surgery. Hope you get your restriction back soon.

This is a natural thing to be feeling. I ate some of those items I enjoyed after surgery when I was on normal food (12 weeks out). As I got to the right level of restriction and over time, I just don't desire those foods anymore. It was a nice transition and I lost during it so I am happy.

Always good to see fellow North Carolina residents. Good luck on your journey. I was banded by Bauman in Aug.

I would think not. Any unnecessary anthesia should be avoided and it would not be healthy for the baby to lose weight like you do on the liquid phase.

You hit the nail on the head when you said you are not at your sweet spot. My DH is a chef so his life revolves around food. We bonded over food from the beginning of our relationship. Luckily he puts my needs first and is willing to bend in quite a bit of areas. Now that I am finally (6 months out) at my sweet spot, I am no longer bothered about his love affair with food. I hear in your tone a real fear of this not working, probably because nothing has worked before. I am sure this translate to stress. Remember you can do this. Your determination is obvious. Remind you husband it will not be like this forever, compromise like the previous poster suggested, and find some not food activities you guys enjoy so that you can bond again.

I asked my dietician what to reasonably expect from here on out and she said if I work out 5-7 days a week and stay within 800-1000 calories, I could expect to lose 5 pounds a month. I think Joe Shmoe could lose that. That being said, I just hit my sweet spot and am no longer struglling to maintain such low calories levels which I would not have been able to do otherwise.

Do not settle for less than what you deserve. I had a third fill on 2/4 and it was too tight, I too had trouble eating. I had 5cc previously and got filled up to 5.6cc. I went Monday and the dr took out .3cc and now I have 5.3cc. It made all the difference in the world. Most doctors have the poster in their office and it says that you need an unfill if you have pain eating, weightloss is not occuring, your making bad food choices. This is you from what you have described. Don't give up on your band, make it work for you. My first fill did nothing for me and my second was almost right but I lost restriction after 6 weeks. Then my 3rd fill was too tight and now I think I am at my sweetspot. For the first time I am not obsessed with my next meal and I am staying around 1000 calories a day. Before I was lucky to keep between 1280 and 1500. A little tweak can be encouraging. Good luck.

I don't have any answers to your question but I will tell you I was glad to have work when going through recovery. I am a teacher and was mad that I couldn't get the surgery when I was off in the summer and now I am glad that didn't. I couldn't imagine how hungry I would be if I didn't have the distraction of work.

I was banded by Dr. Bauman in August. He is very cut and dry and has a quirky sense of humor. He came highly recommended by my endocrinlogist. Surgeons tend to be that way. Dianne (the nutrionist is great). BCBS required weight history showing I had a BMI over 40 for multiple years. Dr. B just took over all of Dr. P patients as Dr. P moved to Matthews, so the office is busier than usual. I have had great results. Good luck.

Amy- As someone who has had her fair share of medical issues, don't underestimate the role of stress. When I went through one of my worst medical problems, I became depressed from not knowing why I wasn't quite right and then ate to stop the worry, tiredness, and depression. You have gone through a lot and by being critical of yourself and in looking back instead of ahead, you are undermining your weightloss. If you are doing the right thing and the scale moves slowly, so be it. Focus on the small things you can control. I.E. Did you drink all you Water, did you eat at regularly intervals,etc. Good luck and I am glad to hear your health seems to be turning around.

Okay two things. Bathroom issues: Try to have a bowel movement within a day or so after surgery. Waiting too long is painful. After that, be aware the liquids in can mean liquids out. And sometimes without much notice (beware of what could be an innoncent fart). This does not last long luckily. The real hard part is how hard on the process you can be. Even though I have lost half of my excess weight in 5 months which I could not have done pre-band, I still expect more. Faster results, comparing to others loss. Not because I expect it to happen without my following the plan and exercising, it just my body will hold on to weight at times without anything I am doing wrong and then let go of it at times when it seems unlikely. I can be tight and pb but still want a fill to speed things up even though I am losing. This process is not for the faint at heart. With anything in life worth having is worth working for. I guess I wish I allowed myself more grace and celebrated more what I have accomplished. I love my band.

I had to do a program called emmi after pre-op testing so maybe it is similar. It was an online program that showed what to expect in surgery, what to expect after, had me go over the risk,etc. It allowed me to flag questions I had that would get emailed to my dr.