JennBand08

Apples! I have tube sock boobs too.. you mean there is hope?? I am SO happy to hear this. LOL. I will be a little more patient.. I really don't want surgery, nor can I afford it so I am just working out and praying! Your post is inspiring! yayy. Thanks for sharing your experience. And to the original poster, I know just how you feel. I am getting comments like that too. I don't let it bother me, I know people mean well they just word things wrong. And there are aspects of my old body that I do miss as well.. especially my ample bust! But I am hoping in time I will adjust(and find a good bra!) Hang in there. Changes take time to adjust to.. but being healthy is so worth it!

Have you tried swallowing them? I am able to swallow pills fine. I just do them one at a time with a big sip of water. If its morning I make sure I've had my tea or something hot to loosen up the band. I just recently quit my chewable vitamins for ones I could swallow too. Sorry this isn't ideas on how to crush them, but hope it helps.

I was surprised by how long I was still wearing my plus sized clothes, even though the scale was moving down. But what I found is that when I tried on smaller sizes, they did fit(yay). This was at around 30 pounds lost. Good luck to you!

Hi Nazzy, I might still have a few things in 18/20. I am 5'2 though, so any pants would be petite in length. Where are you located so I'll know what season you'd need?

Yes.. either of those reasons can happen. If the food is there sitting in your pouch and you drink water on top of it, the water wont go down and can back up your esophogus make you throw up. Or it can mix with the food and make it all go down easier(whoosh!) and then you will be hungry again.

I'm still around. Like some of you I've plateau'd for a few months. I hit my 50 lb mark but then gained a few pounds back over summer. I refuse to change my ticker... LOL..I just can't do it! Now that the kids are back in school I'm going to the gym again and determined to hit 50lbs loss again. And then 60.. and 70. I love my lapband, but it is definitely harder than I had anticipated. I get so tired of always making sure I get enough protein.. and I admit I miss bread!! not all the time, but a nice warm crusty French bread sounds so heavenly at times. Happy Bandiversary Samurai's....

Oh I never thought of Craigslist for clothing. I hate the work involved with ebay, the photos and waiting for the auction to end and shipping it.. I'm such a procrastinator with that stuff. I have alot of stuff I've just given away to get it out of my house, but I have some nice dressy outfits from Cold Water Creek/Dress Barn that I would love to get a little $$ for if I could. 18 Petites, and petites were always so hard to find in plus size. . It would certainly help with the expense of buying new clothes. Which I have done my share of.. realizing I buy things because I LIKE them now and not simply because they fit was such a pivotal moment for me. I luvvvvv my lapband!! :blushing:

PB= productive burping. The food that is stuck comes back up. I'm a year out and have never had one, but I have however been stuck a few times. Luckily when I'm stuck it seems to go down on its own if I alternate touching the floor with reaching the sky. And papaya enzymes have helped me out a few times too.

I really have not had to say goodbye forever to steak and shrimp, or really any specific food item. sometimes it's more of a concious choice as to whether I want to invest in the work involved to chew it, but nothing is really completely off limits for me. Shrimp requires alot of chewing for me, so unless I'm really in the mood for it, I will skip it. Steak I do okay with it if its tender cut and not overcooked. You'll probably be able to share your birthday steak with your wife and still have some to take home! Love that about the band!

The flaxseed has the added benefit of keeping you regular. At least it does for me. I sprinkle it on my oatmeal or mix it with strawberries. It has an earthy, nutty taste. Not bad, just took some getting used to. I did experience a bit of hairloss despite my efforts to get enough protien in. I started taking Biotin pills and using Nioxin shampoo/cond and it did seem to help. Or maybe it was just coincidence, as I've heard the loss phase doesn't last that long. Now I have new little 'baby hair' growing in at my temples where it had gotten thin. I waited a few months before getting highlights because I didn't want to further damage my hair. I got highlights in July and did feel like I was losing hair every time I showered, but I think I'm just really aware of it more now than I was before. It could likely be the same amount I always loss with each shower. Who knows.. lol. I do struggle to get Protein in sometimes, but before banding I wasn't this diligent about protein so I have a hard time believing it's the protein that is related to the hair loss.

Mine has been really awful this week, and I can't figure out what I'm doing differently to cause it to return. It was so bad the other night I was in tears. Eating didn't help, GasX didn't help, nothing seemed to. I went to bed in pain, woke up the next morning and it was gone. It came back later in the day, but not as bad as the previous night. Again this morning I am fine. I don't have to work today so will see if it's related to the fact that I sit all evening at my job. So frustrating

Why would beer be a safer alternative than pop/soda? It's still carbonated.. which from my understanding meant it was off limits? No?

I just wanted to say I too am a shoulder pain sufferer. Mine is mainly if I let my stomach get too empty. So I keep nuts in my purse, and have cheese sticks and cottage cheese in the fridge at work. Sometimes I think about getting another fill (been plateauing for a couple months,but know I need to exercise), but I'm so afraid of the shoulder pain getting worse it keeps me from getting one. If when my kids go back to school and I have more time to exercise, I still am not able to jumpstart my weight loss again, then I will have to bite the bullet and get another fill. I'll have to try the higher doses of B-12. I usually just do that once/week.

Glensand.. 11/14 days? That is AWESOME!! That is close to an 80% average.. woohooo.. you must be feeling so proud!! And well you should!! I was out in Michigan for 10 days. I walked/swam/rode a bike about 5-6x. Not enough, but more than I've ever worked out on vacation before. Some days were just too oppressively hot to work out. I'm back home now with my treadmill but ofcourse struggling to find the time. I can't wait until the kids go back to school!! I was out there visiting relatives, who hadn't seen me since last summer so I got a lot of compliments. And that always helps to motivate, ya know? I'm really proud of you.. and yes I'm sure you are building muscles, and it weighs more than fat does.. and does more too! Yayy. Talk to you soon!

I'm sorry I wasn't replying... I was out in Michigan, and couldn't figure out how to find posts. I was just reading another post and saw where it showed you could find threads you had subscribed to in your user CP. yayy.. I found you guys again! I'm a dork.. I know.. sorry. I did exercise a few times out in MI and on my mom's scale I thought I lost 2 pounds.. but I got back home on Monday and it shows I am 2 pounds more than I was when I left... so.. a total of FOUR POUNDS more than I thought I weighed. What a bummer. But I'm already down a pound, so maybe it was just Water weight from being sedentary on the 14 hour drive or something. I don't know.. I'm not going to let it get me down. I'm eating Protein first and drinking water like crazy. Hopefully I'll have some lower numbers to report soon! Glad to hear you guys are doing well!!

"I just don't understand is it the band that helps you stick to your diet plan? What makes you not cheat and eat thing you shuouldn't what do you eat with the band is it a strict diet or what? " The band is not magic, it will not magically make you not want junk food anymore. It simply makes you full on less food. The fact that you can still eat the foods you once loved(well most of them anyways) is a double edged sword. Yay.. I can eat sweets without 'dumping syndrome' .. but then again.. Boo.. I can eat sweets without dumping syndrome! . I love my band, don't get me wrong. I feel more in control than I ever have. I do look at food differently now. I look at it in terms of what it can offer me.. Protein? I'll take it. No nutritional value? I am usually strong enough to pass. It's still alot of work making healthy choices every day, but I couldn't have gotten to this place without my band. Good luck with whichiver surgery you choose.

Hi.. I'll join you! I really need to up my exercise! I've been such a slacker this summer with the kids being home from school. That is no excuse, I know I should just get them moving WITH me! I'm coming up on my ONE YEAR bandiversary and I so want to have at least broken the 50 pound mark( 3-4 pounds away). I am about 20-25 pounds from goal. I've been on a plateau for a few months now. And I know its because I am so inconsistent with exercise. So Yes.. I'll be here.. how do we support each other?

Hi Karen.. Don't beat yourself up. This whole banding thing is a big learning experience. There are days I do really well and other days I don't, but I just try to stay focused on Protein first.. that is my most helpful suggestion. Hey.. I just noticed we were banded by the same practice. I've never gone to the support group through Norwalk though, I go to the one at Greenwich hospital. Just hang in there and keep up the good work.

I am 5'2 -161 lbs. I am wearing Medium tops, but my hips and belly are still pretty big so I'm in 14's and a few 12's in pants. I really am starting to feel uneven, so I hope the weight starts coming off my belly a bit more soon. Ugh!

Just wanted to add.. if you put a spoon in your glass with your ice when you pour hot tea over it, it will keep the glass from breaking. I haven't tried Stevia sweetener yet, is that the new one in the green? Or is that Truvia? There are so many now... Splenda is my favorite so far though.

You'll definitely know when it happens. It hurts.. anywhere from mild discomfort to flat out pain. My stomach also makes noises when its happening(like a meow sound, lol). And 'sliming' usually accompanies it. Which is really just extra saliva accumulating in your mouth, you can swallow it, which may cause you to throw up, or spit it out, which is what I do. I also bend over and touch the floor and then reach back up to the sky as that helps with the pain.

Good luck Agnes, people sure got fired up over your post. I have seen this happen in real life too though. And sadly, it is why I don't go to the support group meetings in my area anymore. Some people seem to think there is a certain point at which it is acceptable to have weight loss surgery, and if you aren't 'fat enough' you aren't deserving of it. I have had people look at me and say, YOU had WLS? with a sneer.. as if just because I wasnt MORBIDLY obese it was unacceptable. I was OBESE (I'm not now, thanks to lapband, woohoo) . Why wait until your health further deteriorates before doing something proactive?? Good luck in Mexico!

I always wondered if that could happen with all the different types of lettuce leaves out there. I eat spring mix lettuce and I cut my salad leaves up before I eat it because I have always feared this happening. I hope it never happens again and I hope the month goes by quickly so you can get your fill back. Yikes. that must be tough!

Yes.. to some degree it has definitely changed. I seem to like stronger flavors now. I've just recently started drinking coffee too. Never drank it before in my life. I also find if I don't like something, I mean really like it, I don't eat it. I used to eat desserts (and other things) even if they weren't that great, but now I'm really picky. It has to really wow me for me to want to use up the space in my pouch and spend my calories on it. I wish I could say the cravings for junk food went completely away, they haven't. I do still enjoy salty crunchy snacks. But I just can't do as much damage as I could before banding. And it's not every day or anything. Just occasionally. Like the others mentioned I feel so much more in control now. Well.. most of the time. I still have my moments..

I didn't think they tasted very good either. I had heard about Celebrate vitamins online, so I used Celebrate Bariatric vitamins for the first few months, now I am able to swallow regular vitamins without any problems.