*Love*

I just added one more snack per day, and that seemed to stop the loss. But add a bit more than that, and it goes back up slowly, like I am dealing with now. :thumbup:

I am in Waterloo. Did you get banded?

I use silver plated baby cutlery from a specialty store for a nice meal, or the bright plastic baby cutlery from Walmart for everyday use. I find that they help me not absent minedly take too big a bite, in case I forget to chew enough. I keep a set in my lunch bag & car. I don't use them in a restaurant. Those are the meals where I sometimes end up in the bathroom, from not paying enough attention. When out, I have to be more concious of waiting for that first bite to go through. I use the small dessert plates & bowls for my meals & cereal. I keep pictures of what they look like with a cup of rice in them, so that I don't over fill them. I freeze leftovers in 1 cup ziplock containers & take one out in the morning to defrost for my dinner. I am finding that lately I have not been as good with my late night snacking, but I have finally started exercising.

I was banded at TLBC (now Slimband) too. My process was 5 weeks, but took that long only because I had some commitments to get through first.

I was banded by Dr Yau 11 months ago. He is in Toronto, Ontario & it cost me $18,000. I believe his recession price is now $16,000. I had 45lbs to lose & I hit goal 2 months ago. I think the worry about only losing a percentage is less applicable to those of us starting at lowers weights, but still wanting to get healthy & breath normally too.

I had 45 lbs to lose. It took me 5 months to lose the first 7 on my own. Nothing that use to work worked anymore. I had tried for 3 years & my asthma was getting worse. I watched a friend gain over 150 lbs. It scared the heck out of me, knowing that every year I gained more. As of this week, I am officially at goal. With the band, it took me 8 months to lose the rest - about 1 lb per week. That is what I expected & I was happy with a 1 lb loss every week.

I really don't remember, but I can't imagine it was very long. The goal was just to not put any pressure on my port.

I am officially at goal! -45 lbs! :blushing:

I have 0.8 lb left to go! :confused:

Nope. I barely feel the needle as it is.

I heat milk, honey, raisins & crushed walnuts or sliced almonds & heat it in the microwave for 130 seconds. Then I add natural flavour oatmeal & heat for another 20 seconds. Then I stir in toasted wheat germ.

I am the same. I don't have restriction yet at 5ml, but it is sheer fear of wasting my $18,000 that keeps me in line.

My doctor told me to eat ever 3-4 hours waking hours, whether I am hungry or not. I eat a cup size portion at each sitting.

As soon as I got home after surgery, I just about choked myself (& violent retching) with a sip of water to wash down my crushed pain pills. After that, I used a straw for all my fluids to contol my sip size. I didn't notice any extra gas.

I was told I would have to take mine off on the phone. I didn't. I wear clear polish. No one said anything.

My husband left me on Saturday after just 3 months of on & off fighting (not over anything really serious). I had been bauling my eyes out til I choked, gagged & then puked. NOT good for my band. I had only PB twice before. I had told him he better be sure this was what he wanted. He only gets to leave me once. He quit on us. He ended our marriage. He left me. I was totally gutted for days while he packed & after he moved out. 26 hours later he sent me a text telling me he had 'some ideas for our future' & did I want to talk tonight (the day after the text). He took me from devastated to furious in seconds. What future!? He left me! He made the choice. If he can change his mind in 26 hours, wait another 26 & it'll change again. After a few more texts back & fourth & one email exchange, he bailed again (surprise, surprise). He didn't like that I didn't have anything positive to say. Is he f**cken kidding me! He left me the day before & I should be all flowers & sunshine! GRRRRRRRRRRRRR :blushing: So now, he gets to do whatever he wants which includes spending his very long Christmas vacation with his kids at his (single) ex wife's house. (We'd been arguing about how inappropriate it was for him to spend 4-5 hours a week every week at her place, (plus full 'kid' weekends except for sleep, while we were fighting). The impression I got from his email was that he wanted to 'have his cake & eat it too'. Spend all the time he wanted over there, while I sat at home alone & we'd talk or 'date' a couple of nights a week. Hell will freeze over before I will settle for being demoted from wife to occassional date. I went & got some happy drugs from my doctor today. So far I haven't noticed any difference.:crying: Sorry for the vent, been doing that a lot the last few days. :mad2:

You will find your port bump can change on a weekly basis. One day it's sticking out, the next week it's a dent. Worry about how it looks & where it is once all your weight is off & you see where it ends up.

No, you won't :biggrin: I can barely feel my fill needle. It only takes a second. I imagine an anesthesia needle would hurt more. Why get stuck twice?

For me, I find it is not the band itself that makes me not hungry. I was taught to eat every 3-4 waking hours, whether I am hungry or not. I eat mostly Protein & never more than one cup of food at a time. I would never have imagined that eating like that regularly would turn into rarely being hungry or haivng cravings.

I keep seeing folks talking about drinking soda on the chat board, & it worries me. I don't want to see anyone damage their pouch, so I thought I would bump this thread up to the top again. Please see the first post to get an explanation as to why alcohol & carbonated drinks can be harmful to you.

You should have been told by your surgeon's office not to expect a loss until after you start getting fills. If you lose anything before that, it's a bonus. My doctor also told me to eat every 3-4 waking hours whether hungry or not, otherwise your body goes into hybernation mode & stores the fat. That is what happened with me before the band. I ate healthy enough foods, just not at the right times or the right volumes, & I couldn't lose.

I had a friend who'd had her gallbladder out years before & was suddenly having the same pain again. We eventually figured out it was the extra strength tylenol, she was taking, that was causing the pain. It probably damaged her stomach. There may have never been anything wrong with her gallbladder. I think most pain killers can cause stomach damage. I got an ulcer from tylenol & the post-banding pain meds caused me brutal pain on day 5 & 6 after surgery.

My husband says my "lips" are changing (getting longer & providing more coverage). I guess that skin had stretched upward to from being pulled by extra belly.