Gone23456

1) I am doing the C25K program 3 days a week and walking for another 30-60 mins those days. On off days, I either do an exercise video at home (Jillian Michaels, No More Trouble Zones, Pilates or Yoga), use my elliptical or walk. I use arm weights every night to try to tighten up my bat wings... Now that its nicer I can get my bike back out! Just need to pump up the tires. I work out 6 days a week (most weeks) for an hour at a time. It's so much easier now that its beautiful outside! 2) Started walking at the gym a week after surgery and built back up to 3.5 mph for an hour - took til about 3 weeks post op til my port was capable. I started the C25K program 7 weeks post op. Could have started at 6 weeks, but waited for my Dr's approval. 3) I had to take it slow when I first started walking. I had been exercising during my six month supervised diet so I was in the habit of making myself get up and go... just had to readjust my pace to accommodate my sore tummy.

Finished w4d2 today! Kind of worried about w5d3! 20 minutes straight seems frightening to me right now! It's gone much smoother than I expected. I love this program! My last 30 min. run for the C25K is on May 6th and I am signed up for my first 5K on May 8th! I'm super excited! :frown:

I know how you feel about gaining even a small amount of weight! I gained 2 pounds after starting running and then it stuck around for 2 weeks! Even with working out 6 days a week and eating "right" 90% of the time... mildly frustrating! Just remember we have our bands and this is a life long journey... The weight WILL come off!

Had my monthly appointment with my surgeon today. According to their scale I lost 14 pounds since last month. Woo! (I want their scale at home, I only lost 9 according to mine!) I didn't get a fill today. So far, no fill and have lost 20 pounds since surgery, 39 since start of pre-op liquid diet. Only 50-ish left to go! I've been blessed with not being hungry. I still crave bad for me food all the damn time, but I don't have the physical hunger anymore. If I keep myself busy I can usually ignore the craving long enough that it goes away or I just forget about it! That has to be my favorite part of having my band! NSV's - I'm wearing size 14 jeans, training for a 5K, am able to shop in normal stores, can run up the stairs without my legs collapsing/lungs gasping, and best of all - I have collar bones and hip bones for the first time in my adult life!!! Life is definitely good!

I started walking about a week after surgery. I was able to start on the elliptical at 4 weeks. I started the C25k program (walking/jogging) at 7 weeks. (could have started at 6 weeks) I bought a compression shirt to wear when doing strenuous exercise. It keeps my port from aching. Good luck! My advice is not to rush it. If you are walking and your port feels sore, slow down a bit. You shouldn't stop, but slow down the pace for a while. The first day I went back I set my treadmill to 3.5 and away I went... for about 5 mins before my entire stomach hurt! I walked at around 2.8-3 mph for the first couple weeks. Then worked up to the first half hour at 3.5 and the last half hour at 2.8 - 3 to let it rest.

My goal has adjusted as I've lost weight. At my highest weight (312) I though 175 sounded like an amazing number. After I started losing I decided that 155 (5 pounds less than my highest weight in ideal range) was a goal I could accomplish. My main goals have been health and fitness related. Weight is relative, but I would love to be in my ideal range! Even if it is only by a few pounds!

Hey! Sorry I missed your post! I just finished up Week 2 of C25K today. I've never ran in my life, my motto was "Run only when being chased..." I find that going slow is best for me when building up a new form of exercise. I love this program! It seems so impossible - but then I do it, and its not as bad as I thought!! I feel so energized after my "runs"! Take it slow, make sure you wear good shoes and don't try to move too fast during the program. I plan to stay on a week for a bit longer if I have problems with it and don't feel comfortable moving on. I signed up for my first 5K on May 8th, which is 1 day after I'm supposed to be done with the 9 week program, but its a walk/run - so that way I can walk if I'm not quite done with the program. Good luck! :frown: Take care of yourself - have you talked to your doctor about jogging?

Congratulations!!! That is amazing!

Hi! I hope the stomach flu doesn't invade your house!! That would be awful! Hopefully your port pain will go away soon too so you can bend over again! That was the most frustrating part of surgery for me. I run, walk and use the elliptical for exercise. I wear my compression shirt whenever I run or use my elliptical since they cause my chubby tummy to bounce around more :thumbup: My port is right under the largest part of my stomach so it really pulls if I do any major jumping/bouncing.

I wear a really tight compression shirt to hold my stomach down as much as possible. If I don't, my port hurts. I bet the binder will work great! :crying:

I wouldn't really call chili and fish sliders. Unless you're ignoring all the Beans and meat in the chili...

Before submitting to insurance, my surgeon required a "self letter" written to the insurance company. He said they had better luck with approvals when the packet was sent with a letter because it makes you a person and not just a number. Plus, it makes you step back and evaluate why you are having surgery... Not that we all hadn't already done that! For me, the "self letter" was the hardest part of my journey. I didn't enjoy laying out my failures for some random person to read...

I'm happy today because I finished the first week of C25K! :frown:

I asked my nutritionist the same thing! I can't physically eat more than that without eating longer than 30 mins, so I asked her about calories and Protein and stuff. We aren't allowed to drink our meals. She said as long as my body was happy, and I was healthy, it would be alright. I eat only protein since I don't have room for the rest. I'm hoping in time I'll be able to have some veggies again!! :blushing: Typical day for me look like this: B: turkey/chicken sandwich meat roll ups w/cheese or chicken salad (if I have it made) S: natural cheese snack L: 1/2 c. chili S: some form of meat (chicken, fish, turkey) My nutritionist told me around 45-50 grams of protein. I don't know for sure that I'm hitting it every day. I work odd hours 4:30 - 2 so its been a challenge to figure out how to work my meals. I eat Breakfast at 3 in the morning and then don't have lunch until 11:30, hence the protein snack in the middle.

I typically take between 20-30 mins to get through a solid meal. I eat between 1/4 c. and 1/2 c. at a meal. If I eat mushier food, it takes me half that time and I can eat a bit more.

Congratulations on being banded! I hope you're feeling decent and everything went smoothly!

My Dr. is about an hour away. It's not that bad with a little planning. Definitely choose the surgeon you feel most comfortable with, even if you have to drive a bit further! Good luck!

Welcome to the boards and good luck on your journey!

Since surgery I haven't been hungry. But sometimes I wonder if it's that I'm not hungry, or that eating just isn't as much fun as it used to be... It actually takes concentration and focus now.

Congratulations!! I hope your approval comes quickly!! :smile2:

Hold tight! I stayed at the same weight for about 2 weeks. Ate right, exercised, and shrunk inches... but the scale didn't move. Then over about 4 days it dropped almost 8 pounds :smile2:

My surgeon requires chewable Vitamins. I take Centrum Silver Chewables and Walgreens Calcium Chewables. I take one of each a day. The calcium chewables are pretty tasty - fruit punch, orange and cherry. The Centrum Silver aren't all that good, but they were the ones I could stomach best out of the multiple kinds I tried! I just got my wisdom teeth out and bought some liquid Multivitamins and calcium to supplement while I couldn't chew and the Multivitamin tastes like old grape juice and I couldn't even stomach the texture of the calcium... ick! I started taking my multivitamin before surgery and my calcium I started about a week after (took that long to go buy some). The upside was they gave me something to chew while I was on liquids!

I'm so sorry that happened! Hang in there!!! Did they get you a new surgery date yet? Stupid snow... :wink2:

Congrats on your 9 pounds!! You're doing great! Cutting out soda and upping your water intake are both great jump starts for your surgery! And walking is going to be your best friend after surgery to help minimize the gas pain!! Keep up the hard work - you're going to do wonderful with your band! :wink2:

Luckily I didnh't have the gas pain in the shoulder. My tummy was painful at first until they let me up to walk, but then that's pretty much all I did. I had to stay overnight and I walked every 30 mins or so because I was bored and I felt relatively good. My port was really sore for the first 2 or 3 days. Felt like it was pulling every time I got up when I still had the big bandages on it. Then after I got to take the main dressings off it was so much better. Not as heavy I guessed, making it not pull down as much. I couldn't sleep on my side for around a week because of the uncomfortableness but pain wise I was good within a week. I had surgery on Wednesday and went back to work the following Tuesday. I could have made it back Monday pain-wise, but I was super tired because I hadn't been able to sleep on Sunday night due to being uncomfortable in bed. Tuesday was a rough day at work and by the end of it I was pretty tired. The worst was sitting upright in my work chair!! Put some major pressure on my port! Congrats on your journey!! :wink2: