Jodi_620

Great list gummykandi! I have gained confidence...strength...energy...flexibilty...better health and even a little money (spend less on eating out, no longer buy junk food...no longer spend on cigarettes and Diet Pepsi and generally spend less on groceries)

Have you started taking any new medicines or new Vitamins? That is the most common cause. Other causes are heartburn/stomach issues or jaundice which you could identify easiy if they were the cause.

Can't say for sure, we all have different genetics and some people are blessed with good skin. You are young and will probably bounce back at least a bit, but I would say that you should expect at least some loose skin with that much loss. Your skin does not tighten up with excericse but doing muscle building type excercise will create muscle which will help fill in underneath the loose skin. Also some other helpful advice:stay well hydrated (important for healthy skin), keep your skin moisturized and try not to lose too fast (so your skin has time to try and keep up).

My personal opinion is that it is not necessary to buy this food. As you said it is expensive and I am guessing it is probably highly processed with additives and preservitive that you don't need. Getting the Lap Band is a healthy lifestyle change and I think it is healthier to learn to prepare your own fresh, high quality, protein and nutrient rich foods at home. As a matter of fact, one of my surgeons rules are to eat food that is as close to its natural form as possible. In other words, fresh meat, veggies, fruits, dairy etc. avoiding food that comes in a jar, box or can. Plus it is easier, cheaper and heathier to cook good food that you and your entire family can eat for life. ...just my opinion, if you feel you need it then go for it and perhaps let us know what you think of the food!

Hi Deann and welcome to the site! I will post my response and email it as well. All of your concerns are normal and understandable. Let me respond to them one at a time. Don’t be ashamed, most of us have lost and gained many times before getting surgery. No, once you have the surgery and get a couple fills to gain restriction you will not be hungry all the time. Although I eat more than ¼ cup of food, I would say it is closer to ¾ cup although I don’t measure. You have to learn to deal with emotional eating and eating out of boredom. The band will not help you there, but I will say that it is so much easier to deal with when you are not constantly hungry. Learning to eat with the band is a learning process. Most of us experience getting stuck at one time or another. It is very unpleasant but it is a good way to reinforce proper eating…get stuck once and you don’t forget it for a while. Slippage and erosion are not common but they can happen. But the good thing is that in the rare event that this happens it is either fixable or reversible. The liquid diet is only temporary, it is necessary both to prep for surgery and while healing after surgery. It was very hard for me but I can’t even begin to tell you how it was very much worth it. I don’t know about it taking three years to lose. I have been banded for 8 months and am almost to goal and I am certainly not the exception to this timeframe, there are many that lose most to all their weight in the first year. How long it takes depends on how well you can stick with the program. I am very sorry to hear about your sister, what a horrible tragedy. I understand why you do not want bypass, the dangers are the reason most of us went with Lap Band, it is much less severe and as I said it is reversible if there are any problems. Some people will judge your decision and that is OK. If you decide to do this, do it for you. I knew before the surgery that this was for me and all of the people that didn’t want me to have it done are very supportive now that they have seen the improvement it has brought. I have absolutely no regrets and would do it all over again if need be. It looks like you are well on your way good luck in your journey, good luck and feel free to contact me if you have any specific questions.

I was told not to drink during my "meals" in the liquid stage. The idea is to fill your pouch with nutrition during these meals, water or other drinks would take up space in your pouch and you could be taking in less nutrition.

I hate to go against your doctors instructions but you should be able to eat a variety of foods. Most of us are told to focus on protein but not that we need to make it our only nutritional source. How are you getting Fiber? You get that the healthiest way from fruits, veggies and whole grains and need it for proper digestion. Are you tracking calories? You may not be getting enough especially since your diet is so limited, weight loss can stall if you don't eat enough because your body goes into survival mode and starts storing fat. Are you getting enough Calcium? If you don't get enough your body tends to store fat but getting extra can actually help you lose weight. You should have protein with every meal but it does not need to be meat...eggs, Cereal with milk, cheese, Beans and even some veggies have protein in it and are all very filling. My doctor and many here suggest about a 1-2ounce serving of lean protein (lean meat, beans, dairy etc.) and 1/4 -1/2 cup of veggies, and if you are still hungry, a small serving of fruit or grains--eating in that order. All three meals should consist of solid food, liquids and mushies slip through the band so they don't keep you satisfied as long.

Good point Heather. I carried most of my weight in my stomach and breasts...much like a pregnant woman would.

Before losing weight I slumped due to the upper body weight. I also sort of waddled, not severely but a little, due to the weight bearing on my lower body. And my balance wasn't great. All of that has resolved itself with weight loss, I walk straighter and stronger and my balance is really good... although I still need a little more work on my posture after slouching all those years, but there has been an improvement.

1.) What are you eating? Weight loss can stall if you are getting too many calories AND if you are not getting enough. 2.) You say you are eating the same things, What do you mean by that? I eat a variety of foods, pretty much everything I ate pre-band except processed and starchy carbs. Eating the same thing every day can cause a plateau in weight loss, switch it up a bit. 3.) Are you exercising? Are you getting enough Water? Are you following the bandster rules and only eating when hungry and not eating between meals? Are you eating solid food that stays in your pouch longer than mushies and liquids? 4.) Are you getting full on less than 1 cup of food and staying full for several hours? If not you may need another fill, see if you can move your appointment up. If all of the above are not issues causing your weight loss to slow then it just may be a simple plateau. They suck but most of us hit them from time-to-time through our journey.

I have had two fills under Fluoro. In my doctors office I lie down to have the fill then walk accross the room and stand at the xray machine. I drink a small amount of barium and my pouch and stomach show on the screen in grey. Then I am handed a glass of water and told to drink half while facing the screen then turn to my side with elbows up and drink the other half. You can watch the water pass through. As it is passing into the lower stomach he hits "print" and I get to take home a picture to hang on the fridge.

I have not personally gone through this but I have read about it here and talked to one patient at my doctors office that went through it. The excess phlegm and the stress on your body can cause you to feel tighter. If you feel like you are getting over the flu then I would just wait it out but if you are not eating better in a few days call your surgeon. It sounds like you are slowly getting your appetite back though. The coughing should not have done any damage, we cough with our diaphragm and lungs, all above the band. Now if you had stomach flu that would have been a different story.

Congratulations on losing and maintaining so well!!! I suspect that although you were not always 305 pounds, your body spent a good deal of time with excess weight insulating it. Now you have removed all of that insulation. I think that most thin people that I have known have had a tendancy to be colder in the winter and not so sweaty in the summer. I know that I can't wait for winter to be over...I am FFFRRREEEZING!! And I am equally looking forward to a summer where I am not so embarassed with sweat (fingers crossed)

I have been going for a little over a month now. From my research I think that many of these issues depend on your particular Curves location. Whether Curves is right for you is an individual thing. Selling points for me are: my Curves is just a block from my work and on my way home, At first I thought that I would get bored real fast but now that I have been going for a few weeks I am thinking that it is just right for me because it is only 30 minutes in-and-out and the time really does fly by; no matter where you choose to exercise, it will eventually become tedious but I can handle just 30 minutes three times a week. My instructors are very attentive and the other members have been quite considerate. Mine does not have dressing rooms and none that I know of have pools or saunas but that is really not what I was looking for in a workout...I change before I leave work and that works fine for me. I like the atmosphere, layed back,all women, no judgement. I can go in and concentrate on my workout without worrying about what others around me think...I can't say the same about the gyms that I visited close by. As far as the workout, you get out of it what you put in. I go in and give it my all. I pump the machines until I am begging to hear "change stations now", I run in place on the recovery boards and work hard to keep my heart rate up. I am not sure where I will be in a year but I feel like it is a great starting point, I am sure I will be able to complete my first year contract then I can re-evaluate where I need to go from there.

I agree with what crzytchr said, you probably have some swelling from last nights episode and need to take it easy for a day or so. When you are back on solids make sure you sit down and concentrate on eating. Take small bites, about the size of the fingernail on your index finger, chew it until it is mush then wait a few seconds before your next bite. This all may not have been necessary after the first couple fills, it wasn't for me, but I have had to readjust my eating habits with each fill since.

Thanks Heather! At least I know now that I am not the only one to experience this. I suspect my doctor just might want to do a slight unfill.

Just be prepared to answer questions to verify that you understand what the Lap Band is and how it works. For me the verbal questions were like a pop quiz to make sure that I understood the surgery and how the band works. She asked lifestyle questions and about my food habits as well as what kind of support I have from my family. Just be honest...if you are given a psych/personality test be sure to answer the questions honestly...they can pick up on lies. The written exam was long and tedious and was all true and false questions like. "I want to be a fireman" "I love my mother" "I like to torture animals" Things like emotional eating, food addictions etc. are common and if it is found at any time (prior to or after surgery) that you need help with this it will be recommended that you get it but it should not disqualify you. The only other thing besides not being prepared or lying that could disqualify you is if you were to be found to have severe psychological issues that would keep you from being a surgery candidate.

Same here...

Great post lellow!

Glad you found the wraps and like them luluc! :w00t:

I would think it was more the pills than the water that made her slime. But cold water still sometimes just gurgles down slowly for me first thing in the AM.

No sore throat. It is definitely related to position. I have always slept on my stomach with both arms tucked under my pillow. Some nights I desperately want to try to find a way to sleep on my stomach and have found that if fold my arms underneath me and prop my ribcage up on my arms so that my abdomen is not pressed into the mattress then the food stays down...but by morning I have no sensation in my arms and my ribs hurt so that is hardly a solution! My next appt. with the fill doctor is in a week or so and I think it can wait until then, just wondered if anyone else has experienced it...guess I am just a wierdo :w00t: Congrats on your success...we are both oh so close!

No I am eating the right portions, getting in the proper calories, food and liquid is going down fine, not getting stuck or sliming and no acid problems. Nothing else out of the ordinary compared to the first 8 months of being banded...except the last 20 pounds have been slow to leave me.

It may be like mljalways said, you may need time to readjust to your new level of restriction. Also, it is very common to be extra tight in the morning. I have to have my thyroid meds on an empty stomach with Water and as tiny as the pill is, I still get stuck on it sometimes. Having hot liquid before eating does help if that can be worked around your meds and your Breakfast.

Just curious, why do you think you may need to pick them up again? I stopped using them as a Meal Replacement as soon as I was on solids. My doctor does not want me to use soft or liquid foods as part of my meal. Solid Protein helps keep our pouch full longer. I did use them early-on as a between meal protein supplement but I only use them after fills now (I have to do two days liquid and two days mushies after a fill). PS: Oops, sorry. I jumped into this thread from the "new posts" lists and answered before I realized it was directed to a specific group. :w00t: