lellow

There are huge variances in post op instructions. Do what your doctor tells you to do. In this time just after your op, you're healing and dieting (as in restricting your intake) may not be what your doctor wants you to do. My dr did not expect me to be on a diet following my operation. Also for my first op, I went through a very quick progression from liquids to mushies to solids - like I said, every doctor is different.

Yeah I felt like that with my spinning too! Which is why I'm keen to start. The boyfriend and I spoke about it today and we're going to look at investing in a decent home gym to start with, and some free weights, and will see how we go. I'm having lipo on Monday so it will be a few weeks before I can do any cardio exercise again, and a month or so before I can lift anyway.

Yeah I have those already and have used them in the past but am looking for something a little heavier than that now.

yes, like MIs I went from being treated like I was invisible if I was lucky, to being treated very well indeed. Like Mis it pissed me off for a long time because I am the same person on the inside and I felt angry for my heavier self. BUT I now use this new 'visibility' to be more assertive, and this includes calling people out when they discriminate against heavy people.

yeah I know, I lost all of my weight on a spin bike at home and a bicycle. Only time I ever went to a gym was when I went to visit my brother and he made me go with him. But I now I'm not looking to lose weight anymore, I want to try to reduce my body fat percentage so am looking at strength training, but it's hard to do when you're adverse to the gym! I'm considering getting home equipment to start off with.

I definitely have more energy. I'm a bit anaemic so struggle for energy at the best of times, but now I'm happy to walk for ages where before the idea of getting off the couch was usually beyond what I felt capable of. Though having said that I forced myself to exercise from the beginning and I think that also contributed greatly to increased energy levels. I just got fitter in general.

Pineapple juice may help with reducing the swelling, if you can get some of that. I've heard the same of papaya enzyme. If you are looking for something to help relieve the discomfort, I'd suggest maybe try one of those two and see how you go. Good luck.

It can take a fill a few hours to kick in as it swells. If you can't drink, you probably need to go back and have a little bit taken out just to ease that feeling a little bit. It might just be that they went a little too much too fast.

I have a lot of tattoos, and the ones I had before weight loss generally just shrunk along with me, especially the ones on my arms and legs. I did have a couple that were on my tummy (over a lot of stretch marks from pregnancy, not just weight loss) that kinda looked saggy and weird once I lost the weight, but I blame that more on the fact that the skin was all stretched out. When I had my body lift they were cut away with the excess skin anyway. I have pics in my gallery if you want to have a look at some of my tattoos before and after.

Make an appt. There is nothing stopping seeing your Dr if you feel like your need to. Discuss why you think you need another fill and the both of you can work it out.

Lost my boobs first. And my butt. My tummy and double chin were the last to go. Kinda sucked to be me! My thighs NEVER really lost and looked thinner. But I have since had a boob job, and on Monday I get lipo for my tummy and my thighs, so screw you, body shape! lol!

I read it a few days ago (being from Australia) and I agree it's spot on, and one of the reasons why on one hand, while I've always told my daughter that her worth has nothing to do with what she sees in a mirror, I've also had to explain why I underwent WLS, and plastic surgery. In the end, though, it was actually two sides of the same thing, I just didn't know it. The WLS made me think about ME and stopped me putting myself last and self-deprecating. Losing weight made me focus how my outsides never changed the person I was on the inside, and I think that's a GOOD lesson if done right. I am talking about myself in more positive terms now, and it's not because I'm thinner, it's because I've learnt to actually love myself in the process of all this.

You look great! I'm so not a gym person so I'm in a bit of awe of anyone who ends up living at the gym. Even now, most of my exercise is incidental! Do you lift?

I know the pain sucks SO much. I was miserable (and I did the band surgery TWICE!). But 2 months out, I can say, I don't regret it, even though I really did in that first week. It's tough when you're going through it but it does get better, I promise. Just take it one day at a time. And every time you think of falling off the wagon, remember what you went through to get the band and kick your butt into following the rules!

I promise you all in not very long the swelling will go down and then you'll miss feeling full all the time because you'll be ravenous! This stage is the hardest, the time between surgery and starting to get fills. It happened to everyone!

Ummm maybe not the first fill. It's possible if you're lucky. I took a fair few fills to get to the point where it was the band helping me lose instead of me doing all the work. But the good news is if you do the work, once the band does kick it it will help you lose faster and keep it off!

I have dark skin so I know how you feel. My scars go brown instead of fade. But as someone who rocks a bikini (often) I can tell you not ONE person has ever mentioned my scars, and if they did, I'd tell them they're looking at all the wrong things! Having said that, I've since had tattoos on my tummy to cover my body lift scars, which were massive. There are ways you can works with having scars, I think, but honestly I think the little ones from the lapband op aren't so bad and I would warrant a guess than only you would be conscious of them.

One thing I want to say, and not in an alarmist way, is that even if you follow the guidelines, it is possible to fail. That is one fallacy I need to point out as untrue. Some people don't ever get the right restriction, for some people the band exacerbates health issues, and for others, the band fails (and I should know, I have experienced band failure in the form of a leak - this is NOT something that is caused by patient non-compliance). The GOOD thing about the band is that you have options to try to resolve issues. If you have health issues and these are picked up quickly enough, unfilling may help. If you have band failure, you can get a replacement band. But the band can also be frustrating, high maintenance and requires more input (I believe) from the patient than other WLS. As for hunger, in my case, when I'm in the green zone I lose all hunger. I am actually choosing not to seek out being in the green zone again (after replacement band surgery) because I want the balance of being able to eat relatively normally and still maintain my weight, and yet, as of this morning, I'm still losing. I've dropped another lb in the last week since my last fill, and it's simply because I'm eating less and it's keeping me full for longer already, but without the potential for stuck episodes or not being able to eat certain things. And lastly, I got to goal in 7 months, maintained for 3 years with the band, and the minute the leak happened, my hunger returned and I started to gain. I eventually managed to arrest the weight gain and even lose a little just prior to getting my band replaced but damn, it was bloody hard work fighting hunger all the time. So I cannot imagine, despite my success to date, being able to maintain easily without the band. Nor do I want to.

I like that your doctor told you that. Many don't explain that after you come off liquids and before your first fill, gaining can be completely normal. This time really is for healing, so be kind to yourself!

Just think of all the years to come where you'll be swanning around with your more healthy self able to eat pretty normally if you give up just this ONE day.

Work on your mindset prior to getting your band. Know that the band will help you feel fuller for longer, but start from now to work on your fear of loss for the foods you think you'll never eat again (you will, just less of it!), and to recognise when you're really hungry instead of bored, or stressed, or just want to use it to feel good. Try to stop thinking of food as some sort of golden reward, because you get to eat 3 times a days at least for the rest of your life, so food will always be there. Taste your food, enjoy it, but remember that you don't have to be full in order to stop being hungry, or satisfied.

I have no doubts that you will likely gain after an unfill, especially if you were barely eating beforehand. But what I also believe is: You CAN get back in the green zone and you CAN slow, cease weight gain and eventually lose while unfilled if you really want to. It's harder to do than when with the help of the band but it can be done. So don't throw your hands up and give up.

I've made the decision (and it was an easy one to make) that I'm no longer aiming for a specific weight but a specific body fat percentage, which for me, is a goal of 15%. Some background - when I was losing, I got a little bit addicted to it. I eventually got down to a BMI of 21 and a BFP of about 22%. At a weight of 118lbs, I was 'skinny fat'. I now weigh 144lbs or 27lbs more than my lowest weight and I have a BFP of 19%. I know what I'd rather be! I've broken that mindset that skinny is what I want to be any more. I want to be healthy, that was my first motivation and it will continue to be henceforth. Which is why I now want to monitor my BFP and get rid of my scales forever. So I was doing some research and I found the following info: Essential Fat: women 10% - 13% Athletes: women 14% - 20% Fitness: women 21% - 24% Average: women 25% - 31% Obese: women 32% + Essential Fat: men 2% - 5% Athletes: men 6% - 13% Fitness: men 14% - 17% Average: men 18% - 24% Obese: men 25% + It says my current BFP is in the athletic range for women, which is great but I know I can do better. So I'm looking for fellow bandsters now to support each other through getting to a goal BFP instead of concentrating on the scales. Newbies or vets, it doesn't matter, if you need motivation and someone to help and cheer you along, I'm your girl. Anyone else with me?

I would say that the 4lbs your lost when you couldn't drink water was not fat but water. If you're still too tight to eat solid foods, you probably need MORE out. Despite what a lot of people think, being too tight will not help you lose weight. Being JUST right means you can stay full on a small amount of solid food for up to 4 hours and have enough energy to exercise as well. You can't live on protein shakes and little nibbles of protein bars.

Had 8.5cc in a 10cc band with my last band. Now with a new band, I'm topping out at under 7cc.