ParaGirl

Hi all. I am 37 and live in Georgia. I was banded in October, 2007. I remember on my birthday, December 31, I looked in the mirror and thought to myself that this was the last birthday I will have as an overweight person. It felt good to realize that.

Just think of how great it will feel when you are out of the 200's!

As far as speed, when I did my very first workout last night, I did 3.0 for walking and 4.7 for running. I just know that if you walk a very fast 4mph, you can walk a mile in 15 minutes, so I figured anything over 4.0 is good. It didnt kill me, and I was good and sweaty after the workout. I did some pilates exercises afterwords and that helped to relax me after the work out. I will do this again on Tuesday and Thursday of this week. I am excited!

soups and chili are really good ideas. Also, depending on what you can eat, the South Beach Diet meals are really good too, and some other frozen dinners like Lean Cuisine. Good luck.

I work out at home almost daily. I have an elliptical and do 45 min. on that and pilates, 20 min. Today I started the couch to 5K program and did that on the treadmill. I am excited to see results from all the hard work.

Guess what? I went ahead and started tonight. It was harder than I thought. I have been going 45 min on my elliptical at least 4 times per week and this was harder and took less time. The only problem I can say I think I will have is that I have had surgery on my foot, they cut the bottom of my foot from the end of my heel for 4 inches, right up the middle, and I know I have scar tissue and have pain. But I plan to just run through the pain and do this. I have always wanted to be a runner! I want the runner body.

Way to go...YOU ROCK!

Im really excited to start this. Starting this tomorrow!

I think cc and ml are the same, but not exactly sure. You could ask your doc.

I am not exactly sure why he does the port in the upper left chest, but I suppose it is easier to access. From what I understand, my doc is the one who originally started doing this port placement.

I would like to offer my condolences to TxGirl too. Is it too late for me to join in??? I can start tomorrow.

I have an Eclipse and LOVE it. It has preset programs, or you can do your own. It measures heart rate also, so I can check myself. I bought it from another individual who was crazy enough to sell it to me for 60 bucks! She just wanted it out of her house. I like to vary my workouts and am now up to 45 minutes per day.

That is the weirdest procedure for fills that I have heard. My port is in my chest, right above my left breast, and all I do is lie down and she fills me. There is pressure, but no pain. And the whole idea of sitting up and drinking with a needle sticking out is odd. I dont know about anyone else, but that isnt how they do it where I go.

Got my second fill Wednesday. After my two days of liquids, I started to eat a little late this afternoon. I had some salad crackers, which have been easy for me to eat. Well, I got the pressure and stopped eating, but it kind of scares me. Let me explain... I have had this band for a few months, have lost a good amount in my opinion, but guess what? I have not really followed all of the rules. Now I do not drink within 30 - 45 min. before and after eating, I get all my Protein in, watch my caloric intake and just started exercising... So what am I not doing??? I have still been able to eat fast, take big bites, chew too little, and swallow large bites of food. Well, I know with this fill I just received, I will not be able to do this any longer. I am so scared that I will forget and get stuck. I did really well at dinner, ate very slowly and all that, but I normally dont have time to concentrate on food (I am on vacation right now). I teach, and when I get back to work, I am not going to have the time that I have now and it scares me. Oh well, I think I just needed to get that out. For those of you still reading, thanks for indulging me. Tell me if you have had this same issue. I would love to hear anyone's feedback. Dana:help:

I like the idea of shake for breakfast and soft protein for lunch, then a good dinner. I was wondering what people did if they were a little too tight at times. Thanks for this thread.

Hi all. I had my second fill on Wednesday, January 2. I now have 7cc's in my band and after two days of liquids, started eating a little today. I had some crackers first, which usually are easy for me, and I got a little full too fast, it scared me. I then had dinner, smoked turkey and baked beans. I ate extremely slow and did ok. I am definately feeling restriction.

By the way, my name is Dana.

I am in Albany and would LOVE to meet in a group setting. I teach, so the evenings would be good for me also. I think it would benefit us if we could all decide on which night of the week is best. Some of us go to church on Wednesday nights, and that may not be a good night. I, myself, prefer Thursday nights, or even Tuesday, but not Monday, only because I dont like to plan something that early in the week. I know this is only once per month to start out, maybe we could first all decide on a day, then decide on the first, second, third or fourth week of each month. Thanks for taking it upon yourself to get this ball rolling georgia girl.

Well, At first I only told my mom and my hubby, both sworn to secrecy. This was before the procedure, I really didnt want to hear any negative comments or have people try to sway me either way. Afterwards, I told a few close friends, and after my mom heard I told a few people, she started blabbing! I was not happy about that, but I guess that is what i deserved. She only told family members, but those where the folks I didnt want to be told. I felt very betrayed that she told them (my dad, brother and BIG MOUTHED aunt).

Ok, Everyone with a medical bracelet, please tell us exactly what you have writen on it. Thanks.

I can't believe this is the first time I have seen this thread. I was banded on Oct. 11th, right before nip did! Mia, good luck on your banding, I too was self pay and things went really fast for me. I am so glad I did it.

I had my first fill on Nov. 26th. I have the APL band, the 14cc band, and I have 5 cc's in there now, however, I feel like I do not have a band at all. It is so weird. When I got the fill, for that next week I could barely eat, I lost 8 pounds and only had protein shakes and soup in that week. But then, I got hungry, I started eating, and now I cannot stop. I dont even feel like i have a band there. I have NO restriction. NONE. I have eaten like a maniac lately. I am so bummed out. I have gained at least 4 of those 8 pounds back. I just dont know what to do. Has this happened to anyone else?

Nip, you have lost a lot of weight, you are doing great. I teach and have a hard time getting in around my schedule. I was very glad to get the appt. for tomorrow, it was made when i went in the last time and didnt get a fill, i was so devistated!

You have good weight loss for having been banded 2 1/2 months. Are you following all of the band rules? Are you tracking your intake and exercising?

There was some pills that you had to take 30 minutes before eating and they were supposed to "eat up" all of the calories that you just ate. After they sold them on TV for a while, GNC started selling them. I bought a bottle, and after about a week, I got to feeling nausiated and took them back. Not sure if I lost weight or not, but I know I felt sick as a dog.