Ang1982

Well I had my first fill yesterday and it was SOOOO easy and quick I was surprised, I am excited to see what kind of restriction I have from it (just doing the liquids couple days after part at the moment so I will let you know as soon as I know). :tongue: 9" down is fantastic! Whooo hooo. Way to go. Hope that your foot injury is healing up okay that's gotta get you down a bit. A 2lb per week loss would be fantastic, that's my goal too :tt2: 2lbs a week/10lbs a month would be great. Hope that your finals have gone well! I just had my first fill yesterday, prior to that I hadn't lost any weight since the end of the post-op diet phase, at least I didn't gain any back! Heh. I hope that your next fill is more sucessful! :thumbup:

Girlie, I wouldn't worry about it too much yet, it could be anything from Water weight to gaining a bit of muscle. You're doing fantastic! Are you enjoying Curves? (I mean as much as someone can haha).

Thanks for giving me some ideas, I'll have to check out those ziploc steam bags and prefixed meats. I had my first fill yesterday - went VERY well, super easy experience. I'm in the "recovery from fill diet" mode at the moment so when I start to eat actual food it will be interesting to see how that is. :tongue:

:thumbup: Are you serious? I used to love seeing your pictures because it was always such an inspiration! That sucks that you got crap for that. Some people... *shakes head*. Hey if they can put the disclaimer on Jenny Craig, etc. that "results may vary" or whatever it is, why can't that be understood here. You did fabulously and if I did 3/4's as well as you did I would pleased!!

Yikes! Good thing you happened to look down and see your ring! Rather than getting it resized right away since you may have to do it again with additional weight loss have you thought about getting one of those little rubbery things (i don't know what they are called exactly) that you put on the inside of your ring and it works like a little spacer? Am I making any sense? haha.

Wow, you are doing fabulously! 48 lbs is nothing to sneeze at - well done!! :thumbup: Girlie, can you tell me some pointers to doing something similar to what you are doing with Atkin? I've never done Atkins before and it seems to be working for you - do you have any base tips on where to get started? What kind of things do you eat for breakie/lunch/dinner? You are doing so fabulously keep up the awesome work and to lose all that weight before surgery is awesome!!! Wow that is crazy! But interesting because my sugar craving mode has been kicking in full force lately and I wonder if I drank or ate something not realizing that made it do the same.

Congrats on your loss so far! My understanding is that they will only give you a fill if they think you need one. So if you have reasonable restriction and are losing steadily then I do not believe they would do one. You'll have to talk to the doc about how you feel about your level of restriction and what not.

I was going to say the same thing - Dr.Kirschenbaum in Denver has done what would seem to be a TONNE and is the competitive price for Mexico. He has quite a few threads you should be able to find some good information on him.

Yay! Fantastic news!! How excited you must be feeling. Keep us posted on how things go. :thumbdown:

*big hug* Sounds like you are ready to get back on the horse girl. You can do it, you know you can, we know you can. Sounds like you had a pretty rough go of the past year or so. My heart is with you as I couldn't even imagine... Go get'em!

Ohmygosh Kat! What a crazy ordeal. Glad that they got you a smaller pain med that you can take. Hope you are feeling better soon!!

Haha, you're right starbucks mocha is basically the same price as an entire chicken and I do pay the piper. I was just quite flabergasted (sp) to read such a huge difference in price in a different area. I know my girl friend who moved to California from here said the groceries are WAY cheaper in the US and to buy the exact same stuff and brands as you would by here would cost you about half as much there.. Grr, oh well lol. Hmmm, I don't like cooking, gardening or cleaning for that matter LOL Martha Stewart I am not :mad2: Hehe, thanks girlie you have always been fanstastic and I'm sure you will lay me straight again some time :thumbdown: I did see something interesting at the grocery store the other day that I'm gonna pick up once I've moved and am doing grocery shopping .... it was a combo cottage cheese fruit cup thingy... looked interesting.

Thanks you guys, for everything. You are always so amazing and I know you are right! I just need to give my head a shake and not fret so much as it's all just part of the journey. I KNOW I can do this I just need to remember to tell myself that and this is just a tiny hiccup in a bit journey. I am going to tell my doctor how I've been struggling on my fill appt on Monday and ask for an aggressive fill. As for why I hate cooking - I honestly don't know, never burned anything or anyone lol. Don't get me wrong I can cook and food is good and edible when I do I just prefer not to. It would be so much easier if I was only cooking for myself as opposed to cooking for me and the fiance but we'll figure something out. I am going to look into some of those Healthy Choice meals for the remainder of this week as I packed all of my kitchen last night haha, all I have out is plastic cups, paper plates and plastic utensils. Need some microwavable goodness. I think that my side pain was a gas bubble of sorts roaming around in there as it seems to be gone now. My surgeon actually doesn't sew the port into place it just kinda "free roams" that way if needed they can try to manipulate it if it flips to get it back in place rather than perform surgery. On a side note, I've noticed somewhere else someone put in a post the cost of roasted chicken from a grocery store and it was only like a couple dollars... are we west coast canadian's getting screwed or what? To buy a roasted chicken from the store its $7. THANKS AGAIN YOU GUYS!! You are so right, this is all just a phase and it too shall pass!

Guys, I don't know what to tell you - I know I am thick in the middle of this Bandster Hell period and that it is definitely affecting my emotions but I cannot help but feel like I'm a failure or that I am going to be a failure with this band. I do not want to be overweight anymore and I know that it will take some hard work and determination to get there and this band is supposed to be my crutch to help me along the way... but this is what scares me and worries me that I may not do it: 1) I hate cooking, not just dislike it, hate it. How am I supposed to make decent and healthy meals when I hate cooking at all. 2) While I followed my post-op diet to a T now that I am out of the post op diet phase with no restriction what so ever I find myself eating my old ways (not as much before but still not the greatest food choices) again and struggling with that. What if I can't break this bad choices habit? 3) Exercise is ... well I'm sure I don't need to explain that one. I am forcing myself back to Curves next week (this week I am spending every spare moment packing my house - moving on Saturday). And I have some kind of strange soreness in my belly on the left side today which is driving me crazy. Wow I am such a whiner. :thumbup: I am so scared that I will fail.

Yes indeed, do not worry about the incisions, they are small and nothing in the grand scheme of things. Good luck with your pre-op diet!

I was just going to suggest the Protein Shake. I usually make a protein shake for breakie every morning before leaving for work (granted I have no restriction at the moment) and sip away at it for a couple of hours when I first get to work and I find it usually tides me over until lunch time - plus you get a head start on your protein for the day.

Agree with what the others have said, it's very well written and I think it's perfect. Best of luck!

First of all... *big hug* I'm sorry you are having such a rough go of this. I do not have any restriction yet and am only a month and a half out but just wanted to give you a big ol' hug and tell you to hang in there - there are some very informative and supportive people on LBT and I hope they stop into give you the wise words of encouragement that you need. I will ask though - do you find that you have restriction right now? Are you exercising? Drinking a lot of Water? I know these are all questions that the more seasoned bansters would ask so I thought I would throw them out there.. Hang in there!

How fabulous, what a great group of friends you have there. What a thoughtful and beautiful gift!

Thanks Alisa. It's reassuring (yet saddening) to know that I am not alone in this. Hopefully our first fills will be fantastic and take charge of things! I am tired of being discouraged. I know we can do great things, lets get them going already haha. Personally, I have been overweight my entire life... I know my skin is too damaged to really shrink back in so loose skin is pretty much a guarantee for me so I'm all for FAST FAST FAST weight loss! lol. Thanks for the words of encouragement. Wow, a busy lady you have been! But how exciting to be starting a new phase of life with retirement and buying a boat, moving to a different place! And you will look fantastic in those new shorts in June! Keep up the awesome work. My first fill is next monday March 10, and I will do what you said about being sure to tell my surgeon how badly I am struggling these days. Thank you for the advice on that. Thanks again to both of you for your support and encouragement.

Ooo, touche.

YAY!!! That's awesome but nerts to you :smile2: for getting your fill first when my surgery was two weeks before yours HEHEHE. That's soooo awesome I am SO Glad they fit you in! Whooo hooooooo :thumbup: Omygosh I hear ya, that's exactly how I feel!! WE CAN DO IT!! HANG IN THERE LADIES!!! I wish my skinny demon would just go ahead and eat the fat demon already, seriously.

*HUGS* I hear that, I ended up managing to get my first fill appt bumped up a few days as it wouldn't have been until march 13 (my surgery was jan 23) and I managed to get bumped up to March 10. Hope you can get in on a cancellation, I would phone every couple days to see what they can do for you. Hang in there girlie!!!

I just have to say I love love love love love your guys' March Shrinking Shamrocks logo with the little carebear that is tooooo great. Well done!

It's nice to know I'm not the only one going through this - I mean it's not nice because it sucks that anyone goes through this, you know what I mean. Lol hate to be your hubby today he better watch his back lol :biggrin: With the weight loss and all the crazy hormone surges my poor fiance gets to bear the brunt of my psychoticness, poor guy. *HHHHHHHHHUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGG*