bandster_1007

i told everyone.

and i regret it daily.

they put you under a microscope..and then you have days where someone walks up to you and says, "my neighbor had that same surgery as you at around the same time, and he died this weekend".

...i don't want to know..and stop looking at me.

(of course if i were real successful, i would probably feel different, but i am a little slow).

it does thank you.

and in your picture it looks like our hair is very much alike. in color and everything. however, your face is thinner than mine. guess i'll take off a few inches and see.

at least if i cut off enough i can donate it.

my doctor put me on metformin, and my band doctor took me off.

he said it makes you hungry.

ok, so i was hungry, but i wasn't wanting sweets. now i do.

i did not have any stomach problems taking it.

I have not been posting a lot on here, but I have a slight dilemma, and I thought this would be the best place to bring it.

I’m losing my hair. I’m not bald yet, but I’m thinning. And I already have super fine hair. So, this only complicates my problem.

My hair is healthy, very little breakage or split ends (I use a flat Iron almost daily on my ends because I wear my hair up a lot). My hair falls just below my breasts and about 4 inches below my bra line in the back. I have light long layers now with slithering sides to frame my face and wispy bangs.

This is my dilemma. I seem to think that if I cut my hair off I will lose less and it will look fuller.

I am short and I have a round face. I read that short people should not have long hair, but long hair is flattering to the round face.

What recommendations do you all have, if you have pictures of your own style, please show them to me. I’m getting it done Saturday and I need to have my mind made up by then. Right now, my hair is just flat to my head and straight. (it has some natural wave).

i know that we each are different, but i am curious to see how we are all reacting to different foods.

i have 7 cc's in my band and although i do pb often, (just got restriction), i have only found a couple of things that i cannot tolerate:

captain d's fish----- that was the most awful experience of being banded. i did not pb, i ate 1/2 fillet of fish and 2 french fries, 5 minutes later (everything went down fine), i'm drooling, unable to breath, and have a for real vomit. not a pb. i'm now completely turned off by the thought of fish....from captian d's.

mcdonald's cinnamon melt---- ok, so i know that i am not supposed to have these. i used to eat them at least twice a week before surgery and i had not had one since. well, this morning, i'm stressed over my son (sick) and running him a around, and i stop at mcd's to get him a sprite, and i fall to my weakness and order one of these. well, that was an hour ago, i only had 3 bites, and i am still sliming.

turkey breast lunch meat------ almost as bad as the fish incident

other than that, i can eat chicken, steak, hamburger meat, lettuce, cheese, bread, oranges, bananas, green Beans...everything that i have tried.

what about you? ---you may want to share you restriction level too because that makes a difference, i am pretty tight right now.

i had my fourth fill last saturday. i too had agreed with you on this post about restriction, but i lost it after a week. i'm over a week out now, and i can still eat very little. for instance, we had chilli for dinner last night, and i could only have 3 bites. i can eat 3 slices of pickles (the hb style slices) and i am full:eek:. i know that i will loosen up some, and i probably need to as it is very hard to get my Protein right now. but i'm riding it out for now. although the scale shows 214 today (pms), the other night i actually weighed at 206. that was an awesome feeling. i must have been dehydrated though...because i really weight about 211.

it is great to finally be losing the weight isn't it? i had finally broken down and bought new clothes BEFORE i lost any weight because it was a new season and i work in an office and i needed to. i had sworn that i wouldn't until i lost weight, but i did. most of those clothes are already too big for me, and i'm finding clothes that were too small when i had the surgery are fitting or are loose!!! i finally get to feel some of the excitement. i have energy now, my blood pressure is down, i actually want to clean my house instead of sit on the couch..now it's time to exercise!!!

now, we just have to find that fill that keeps us here :wub:....maybe this is it!

i am losing slowly also, but i think restriction is key. with each of my last 3 fills i felt like i was getting restriction, but each time i got a little tighter. i was hesitant this last time about getting another because i thought i was tight enough but i wasn't.

i'm not going to lie, i like being tight. but i think each person's definition of tight is different. that is why i like to follow my doctor's definition. his is inability to swallow your own saliva, acid reflux, night cough, inability to eat solids, soft food syndrome, etc.

sooo...with that said, i went from being able to eat 2 meatballs and some salad to being able to eat 1 meatball. i think it takes our heads a while to wrap around what real restriction is. i think most of us are scared to death of actually eating that little, but the thing is we can survive on it...as long as we are tracking our Protein and calories.

only you can be your judge as to whether you need a fill or not. you do not want to be too tight, but it may be that you need a little more restriction.

but, you are not alone. i've discovered already, that if i lose my restriction, i am not going to lose, and i'm slowly figuring out where that needs to be. i currently have 7.8 cc's in a 10 cc band, but i will be getting another fill in a month, because i lose restriction after 2 weeks (this one may be a surprise, but that has been typical). and the only way i realize that i lose restriction is by tracking. suddenly i can eat more calories than i could before, and that means i need a fill (assuming i am choosing healthy foods).

thank you all for your replies. i am feeling much better now. you are all right, i need to be tracking, and i have to start exercising, if not for anything else, just for the stress.

sometimes, it just seems so hard because i am so slow. but i'm starting to move again, so...i don't get another fill for a month, i hope that i will stay tight for this period of time. that is when i get in trouble, when i'm loose and my doc cannot fit me in.

Ive been following your threads bandster because I am exactly where you are, including the weight. I had my 6th fill on friday and am now very tight. I've lost 5 pounds in the last week or so and am really grateful to see some movement on the scale. I have been waiting (on tenderhooks) to see 215 and this morning I almost went right by it! scale read 214.8 then 215 is where it rested. So go get tight.

It kind of bothers me that I can't eat some of the delicious items that are parading through my mind (and have kept me from losing thus far). But the trade off is well worth it and I know that I won't always be this tight. It's really a head trip when you get to this point though. Sort of like if you had your jaws wired shut (remember that??). You know you can't really have those chewy things you love.

Yesterday I was attempting to have some baked potato Soup. I had about a quarter cup and still had to go real slow. It tasted so good. On my trip to get the second helping, I did what I should have done the first time: looked at the label :tt2:. "Put down the soup and step away slowly..." lol. 400 cal./cup. So I realized at that moment the truth in the 'soft calorie' syndrome.

So I'm finally living some of the bandster lifestyle and learning everyday.

Chin up! Look at my ticker and know I am so right with you in this journey.

Valerie

thank you soooo much!!!! i needed to hear that. GUESS WHAT!! I got my 4th fill Saturday, and i'm down to 211!!!!!!! i've not seen 211 in over a year. I cna't believe it.

i went from thinking i'm tight (being able to eat 2 meatballs and some corn)..to pretty tight..one meatball. 3 bites of a salad and i'm full. some people don't like it here, but this is where i want to stay.

you know what..it is SOOO much easier to track your food when you are actually eating less. i have to try to avoid soft food syndrome too..but weirdly i have not been craving Protein, but boy oh boy do i love some carrots and cucumbers (in italian dressing). 6 months ago if i wanted a snack, it was definately not going to be cooked carrots or cucumbers. blech!!! it would have been potato chips all the way!!!

well..i just had a fill, so i thought i would update my breakfast....no more Breakfast bars..

i had 2 ounces of yogurt.

ok, so here it is february. most of us are 4 months out or almost. Here i am, and according to my doctor's scales i have only lost 5 lbs. (according to mine, i am almost at 17)..i was retaining A LOT of Water they day i got weighed.

so, i am eating less, i have had 4 fills and i have 7.8 cc's in my band. i keep having people tell me that the "band does not work" and most people don't lose their weight, etc. i was feeling fine, but today, i'm kind of bummed.

i need some of my fellow tens to remind me that it is ok, and it just takes a while.

is anyone else in this month losing slowly too?

i am following band rules minus the exercise, but my doc says that i should start losing from just the surgery soon. he says i need to exercise for my health and appearance, but that should not be the only way that i lose weight. with that said, i'm going to start, i just haven't yet.

miami, the rate of loss is very individualized, and basing your expectations off of someone else can lead to frustration and disappointment, or excitement.

i have now changed my goal from losing weight to be healthy to getting down to 160 and then trying to have a baby. i've only lost 6 lbs according to my doctors scale, but 15 according to mine (i was retaining Water on doctor day).

i'm VERRRY slow, but i have not gotten good restriction yet.

thank you kana...i've been to the doctor and have since been diagnosed with pcos. i am not pregnant. now i have to try to hurry up and get pregnant.

ok, well..i am in your boat.

i have lost about 13 lbs., and i swear they were all in my chest. (i'm very bottom heavy too, so now i'm starting to look very unproportional).

the feel of them has changed a lot too. i had perfect ones.. (not bragging) they were full and firm and sat perky, now they are looking deflated, and slowly my nipples are starting to go south.....

today was not ordinary for me. i keep slim fast high Protein Bars at work for breakfast. well, i forgot that i was out, so i came to work and i had no breakfast. so i went to mcd's and i had 2 bites of hashbrown and 1/2 breakfast burrito.

wow, we are usually such a slow thread, but you guys really jumped in there and responded to me!!! thank you!!!!

in defense of my doctor he did not say that i HAVE to have a hysterectomy, i should have said that. it is just what he recommends. he said one of two things will cure the problem, a: menopause or b: hysterectomy with hormone therapy and removal of ovaries. he said he can treat me with medicine as long as i like and he is leaving it up to me, but he strongly recommends the hysterectomy as menapause is a long way away.

i'm definately not making any decisions now though. i've seen a lot of people on here who had significant improvement with weight loss and that is what i am hoping for.

thank you all for recommending an endo. i will look into that, but right now i've had my fill of doctors. i think i will take this metformin for a few months and see how i'm doing then, if i'm not getting the results that i want i will contact an endo.

thank you again...all of you for your fast and supportive response. i was depressed last night thinking that this was kind of rushing my plans and forcing me to make a decision early, but right now, i'll just wait....i'll leave it in god's hands.

although i would like to get off my bc. and really leave it in god's hands :biggrin:

well, i had a big spill in here a few days ago talking about how i had all the symptoms of pcos.

well i went to the doc yesterday, and i do. unfortunatley. he put me on metformin and will put me on spirole (?) for Hair growth in about 6 months unless i have lost enough weight to stop the symptoms.

he recommends that i finish my family and have a hysterectomy. Has anyone else had the recommended to them? He told me that i may have to use fertility drugs to conceive. he said there is a chance that i will not need them as i already have a 7 year old (which he said was nothing short of miraculous that i had sex and there was good sperm in the 48 hours out of an entire year that i could have conceived.

so, now i know why weight loss is so slow, but i'm not going to give up.

maybe the metformin will help..who knows..

now i'm trying to decide if i want another baby or if i want a hysterectomy..that seems so scary to me I'M 25.

i would do it again, but sometimes i wish that i would have opted for bypass, as i have not lost much weight.

however, check back with me in a month or so, and i'll probably be singing a different tune.

i think i have only posted here once, but i am happy to report that since my last fill on January 16 i have lost 13 lbs. YEAH!!!!!!!..hadn't lost anything prior to that (well i did, but gained it back). i'm getting another fill this Saturday.

i do not have federal bcbs, but i have bcbs advantage, and they have a written exclusion for anything obesity related....anything...

i've had 4 fills already, but since surgery i have only tried to eat spaghetti once, and it wasn't a good experience. now i just eat the sauce.

noodles are hard to chew until they are mush when they are cooked al dente. overcooking them really increases their starch level and makes them not very appetizing..imho.

i'm exactly 109 days out today. My starting weight was 228. i currently weigh 115.

i lost 12 lbs in the first 4 weeks after surgery, then i gained them all back. Then, i got my 4th fill, and i am now 115. My fourth fill was 1/16. So, i have lost 13 lbs in about 2.5 weeks. That is AMAZING for me.

i must say, my doctor says that i had very little fat around my stomach, and i had absolutely no restriction at all until my 3rd fill, and not enough to make a difference until my 4th fill.

(when i say no restriction, i mean literally..i had no idea i had a band)

uhh..i didn't pay attention to the make of it. i'm new at this. there were 2 others that were even less, but i didn't like the feel of those. this one was big and sturdy and smooth and had a digital screen, etc. the arms also moved.

it was at academy sports..but i'm in arkansas.

Ok, so i have a treadmill, but i really do not use it YET (the operative word). I looked at the ellipticals the other day in the store and i even got on one and used it for about a minute.

in just that minute i felt it in more of my leg muscles than i would have imagined feeling on the treadmill. (one of the elliptical's there were other's that weren't too good).

so, this is my questions, which do you think is better and why?

my treadmill is a very nice $700 one, but the elliptical i'm looking at only costs $189 and if i buy it, i'm selling my treadmill (i only have room for one good piece of exercise equipment..and really my treadmill is too big).

so please vote, and let me know.

does anyone know the reason for the caffiene.....i wasn't told not to have it..

and my doc says we can drink flattened soda.