coolcrystal

I can't believe you've only had two fills in 6 months.. Wow.. Unless you just didn't need a fill.. I know there are some rare cases that you just don't need one. My doctor told me to get a fill every 3-4 weeks until I felt perfect restriction. That took 3 or 4 fills for that to happen.

And bands can be fickle. All it takes is a stressful day or a happy day to completely throw me off. Sunday I could eat whatever I wanted, today I could barely get a smoothie down and have to go get an unfill today because other than sunday I've been barely eating for about two weeks now. So what was up with Sunday?? just some freak thing I suppose.

Bands react to what we feel.

Sorry, I just got this message, but it's a few weeks late unfortunately!

I actually had looked into Botox on my stupid crease in the middle of my forehead (I always had it though) even before the weightloss.

But, I called about 10 different places and they were between $200 and $350 per section. So for instance, if you had that little crease in the middle of your forehead, that would be a section.

At the last minute I chickened out though and didn't go through with it. lol.

I still have almost a full month before I can say "9 months". I got banded at the very end of February... And I'm still stuck at 60 lbs weightloss. I think it will be slow and steady from here on out for me. But, that's fine. I don't ever want another 7 week plateau again, but heck, I'm happy with the 60 lbs so far.

That sounds about right. I was belching and all that for a long time. It will subside soon. You'll be fine!

Trust me, you can't eat whatever. Luckily, my band seems to know when I shouldn't eat naughty things. It won't let me eat breaded fried stuff or french fries.. yep, I tried eating a Mcdonald's fry once.. not a good idea to eat 3 at one time.. nope.. i dont' even attempt bread... but, salads and fish and veggies and all the good stuff always goes down fine for me!

The last time I was this weight my butt was two inches bigger and my waist was an inch smaller. This time it's the opposite.

My boobs are flattening out like a pancake and this upper roll I got the last 20 lbs I gained, isn't going away even though I've already lost that 20 plus 40 more!

Oh well. There's just too many more positives, so it's hard to complain. lol.

I doubt you'll need more than 5 or 6 days off. By day 5 I was going to the movies and playing fetch with my friends 100 lb dog. I only took the 5th day off cuz my boss insisted on it.

The first day I had the surgery, I wasn't really in any pain. I just slept the rest of the day.

The second day I was in a pretty good amount of pain, but the third day hurt the worst. The fourth day it was a little painful but not bad and by the 5th day I was pretty good to go.

Getting the band was the best thing I've ever done!

Best of luck

I usually do mushies/soups for the rest of that day and then I eat regular after that.

I've had a few pointless fills that did nothing for me so there is no way I could just do liquids. lol.

Hi Sherry!

what part of TX are you from? I'm in the DFW area.

Welcome to the group! If you have any questions, just let me know.

I'm so glad I got my band and I'm thankful for it every day! Best of luck!

You are looking awesome! You look like my friend Stacy.. it's funny! Well, funny in a good way! She's hot and gets all the guys at faire! lol Ever thought of trying a bodice on? lol

Plateaus are the worst, really mess with your head. Glad you have it figured out and are back on track.

I had an unfill a few weeks ago because I was getting so tight during my TOM that I couldn't take it anymore. It was really scary with the thought of being so much looser the other 3 weeks of the month but I have lost 6 lbs since....go figure.

It makes sense. When I got stressed out before and had to get that unfill, I was so tight I just barely ate and didn't lose. Then I got my unfill and could eat and lost like 4 pounds right away and then didn't lose anymore. lol. but, I think by not eating, our bodies tense up and go into that starvation mode and you just won't lose. That's why finding the sweetspot is so important. Restriction, but not too restricted that you can't get calories in. It's weird.

I was born in Fort Hood and lived in Killeen for 3 more years when I was 8. I was a military brat of course! Welcome to TX!!

Congrats on your weight loss!! wahooo!

Thanks everybody! when I hit a solid 60 lbs I'll be really happy!! lol. I'm very happy with my results so far. I know our bodies are all different and we all lose differently. I can't believe it's almost November now! This will be my first Thanksgiving with a band!! Ooh, maybe I should start a new thread! lol

Crystal...I agree on the liquid diet...wholeheartedly. I'm always surprised at the 'holier than thou' contingent...if you're doing great, good for you! But it never gives you a reason to be a bitch to others...if you can't say anything nice, get off the thread. Besides...I said it once and I'll say it again...if you're so disciplined, then why did you need the band in the first place? Why were you even fat? Seems like the same people who go on and on about others' lack of discipline are being a bit hypocritical.

yep! but what really irritates me is when poeple post that they feel bad because they slipped and had some nacho's or icecream and other bandsters will bash them and be like "why did you get this band if you can't be serious!" UM, hello.. you can have a band and live a pretty normal life. I eat something naughty at least once a week, wether its nacho's or icecream or what not. It doesn't mean you have to spend the rest of your life counting calories and not enjoying fun foods.

Or, when people are stuck on a plateau and not losing for a LONG time the first thing people want to say is do you count your calories? do you work out? most of the time the person just needs a fill.

I really just say how I feel on this group. I've had a few arguments but I can back my arguments up with facts.

Oh yes, I have used quite a few times "the lap band police will get ya".. lol. You should see some of the responses I have gotten with my "the pre-liquid diet is pointless and old school" comments.

I'm also sick of doctors having different procedures for before and after care. But I'm also tired of people not educating themselves and rushing off to get some quick fix surgery. Heck, I came on this group and kept my mouth shut for quite a while and just researched on here before saying something and researched it online for a solid year before that.

Finding a doctor who actually cares about you is pretty hard too. I got lucky. Mine actually calls me from time to time to check on me and told me little things that most other doctors won't. But, a majority of my info came from this forum.

Here is my answers to these questions:

1-Why am I starving? This isn't magic! Don't expect any long term good restriction until your third fill. Period. Some lucky people get restriction after fill 1 or 2, but that is rare.

2-Why isn't the scale moving? Because you were probably forced to be on a dumb liquid diet for so long your body is going into a starvation mode. Don't look at the scale for at least one month after surgery. Seriously. You are still healing..

3-Why am I depressed? The stupid liquid diet again. Your brain is starving litterally.. once you start getting normal food into your system you will feel better!

I'm not dissing the liquid diet for the first week after surgery, as yes, that is when you should be on liquids, but before and after that, it really is pointless. If anybody would like to argue that with me, feel free to message me privately! :thumbup:

Yeah, I bought a scale in the beginning too. I just never used it. I stopped when I was full and ate when I was truly hungry. It seems to work just fine.

Yes, that is bandster hell. You haven't stretched your pouch. Don't worry. Trust me, I just made a big post about something I went through recently and let me tell ya, I ate a big meal and the rest of my hubby's salad and had a barium swallow done and my band was fine. It's just you have hardly any restriction.. it honestly takes about 3 fills to get really good restriction. It's not easy to stretch the pouch. :thumbup:

So, after only losing about 1 pound in 6-7 weeks and with the ability to eat anything under the sun I figured it was time for a fill. I did have one just 3 weeks before, but it was VERY small. Well, as you'll find out, pretty non existent actually.

The night before I was able to eat my entire dinner and even finished off my hubbies salad.. he gave me the funniest look ever.

After telling my fill lady this she wanted to do a barium swallow and make sure my pouch wasn't stretched. I got worried too. But as we both looked at the xray as I swallowed, my band and pouch looked perfect. But what we also noticed was that I litterally had hardly ANY restriction. She said maybe a tinge, but barely anything. She basically said, "you probably couldn't eat 3 pancakes and hashbrowns, but pretty much anything else you wanted". HA HA.

It made me feel good to know that I had maintained my weight for so long without restriction. And that I even lost one pound was a miracle. I asked her about my previous fill and she said that for some reason it didn't take. Not to mention, when she took out my fill to check it, it was 6 something and it was suppose to be 7 something. But it made sense to me because it didn't hurt at all with my last fill and usually I feel like a hard pinch or something.

I do feel very behind everybody, with a pretty much 7 week stall, but I feel relieved to know that my pouch and band look great! and that I had the ability to maintain.

I don't wish that hell on anybody!

I know what you mean Cool, every day every mood every time of day I have different favourites - but the things I don't like (particularly in movies) never change. And I have to say, I HATED Titanic...ship hits iceburg and sinks. As for The Notebook...it is more of an 'chick flic; why bother'; I have my own interpretation of how the ending went, and (unintentionally) made my SDs both angry and cry when I said it....

Yeah, Titanic came out back in 97' (I still have my ticket stubs. LOL) and I saw it like 10 times at the theater. But, I was young and in a different place then. I just had a break up... and it reminded me of my first love.. So I loved it. I watched it again about 3 years ago and didn't like it as much. The Notebook is the only movie that has ever made my dad and husband cry. LOL. So, I gotta like that..

I was a bored eater. My hubby would play his games online and I would sit around watching tv all the time and go into the kitchen every 30 minutes to munch on stuff cuz I was bored. Now that I've lost some weight I'm more active.. I have two new hobbies that keeps me busy and food just doesn't seem to be my mine focus anymore.

Crystal:thumbup:

Books/Writers - Twilight Series/Stephenie Meyer, Stardust, Neverwhere, etc/Neil Gaiman, Harry Potter series/JK Rowling, these are just recent ones.. Too many to list really.

Movies - Last of the Mohicans, Legends of the Fall, Goodbye Girl, While you were sleeping, Titanic, Braveheart, The Notebook, Juno, Sliding Doors, Somewhere in Time, Count of Monte Cristo, Romeo and Juliet.. humm, there are just too many to list. I have lots of favorites.

I had Jimmy Dean ham and cheese omelet this morning, 1/2 cup fat free yogurt for breakfast. I had a low fat string cheese and a cucumber for snack. Thinking about lunch but not sure what I'm gonna do there. I have some roast beef lunch meat or some chicken. Tonight I know I'm gonna have stuffed bell peppers. Last night I made the mashed cauliflower made like mashed potatoes. I was really good, almost tasted like mashed potatoes too, just a hint of cauliflower taste. Yummy

Some other great things to try is blackeyed peas with a tinge of salsa and some green Beans.. I also have a recipe to a crustless quiche that is AWESOME if you want that. I can't get eggs down, so I can't make it anymore, but it was really good. Also, I haven't heard ya'll mentioning the nuts. You can have nuts and pisatchios, etc.. there is a limit to them, but you can have them as a great snack.

Are any of you planning on staying on Phase 1 longer than the 2 weeks? I'm not sure yet. Figure I want to try and get thru them first. If the weight loss is great I'm sure I'll be tempted to stay on it longer but I really, really miss my fruit.

Today felt like it went really well for me. I stepped on the scale in the afternoon and was down. Usually if I weigh in the afternoon I'm down 1-4 pounds from that in the morning. I have my fingers crossed really hard right now. I didn't lose any weight over the past month so it will feel so good to be on the right track again.

No, you don't want to do that. If you read the book, he clearly says NOT to stay on that phase one for more than two weeks because your body will go into starvation mode and you won't lose anymore. You need to add carbs and stuff back into your diet.. a little at a time. Also, in the future if you decide to go back to Phase one you can, but you should only do a week of it. I believe in phase two you can have like one serving of fruit and two carbs equalling like two pieces of whole wheat bread... or something like that. I can't remember exactly, but close to that.

If you are on the mushy stage you could probably take some refried Beans and add a little light sourcream and cheese on them. If you have a Taco Bueno there, they sale cups of Beans and this goes down well, very filling and good Protein source. Depending on what your doctor considers mushy, you could also take Bumble bee tuna (or any tuna), add some light miracle whip and mix that and eat that as well. Plenty of Protein there. You could also do skim milk with a little bit of flavoring in it.. that is a good filling protein source. Star bucks has latte's and you can use lowfat or skim milk and those have like 18 grams of protein I believe. Any more than 20 grams of protein in one sitting does not get absorbed into your body.

When I got banded, I was told to get at least 60 grams of protein a day.. I guess each doctor is different though.

Hope this helps.

I think I might try a week of phase 1 southbeach as well. It does work and it may be what I need to kick my weightloss back into motion. I've been eating too many carbs lately. not good..