lellow

My band has been loose for about 12 months then BAM got gastroenteritis a couple of weeks ago and now the band is tight. In fact I pb'ed for the first time in about 6 months last night. I'm not so tight I think I'll need an unfill but I have a lost about 4lbs and I really, really don't want to lose anymore, so I'm hoping whatever it was that made it tight will settle so I go back to the way things were.

Only the comments I've made since the move to the new server. I got a msg when posting the comments that a mod had to approve it before it would become visible. And they never became visible. I checked out my settings on my Gallery too and it says that one of my albums has (+6 queued) against "Comments". So I'm assuming that other people have made comments against pics in that album which are not visible to me. All comments made prior to the server shift show up fine

Erin, I'm sorry to hear that your mum isn't taking on a healthy lifestyle change with you, but honestly it's not such a bad thing being in control over your own diet. You can learn to choose and eat the right foods for you, and these will be life-long lessons. Now I'm not going to try to advise you on calories simply because I never counted them myself and as far as food goes, I ate whatever I cooked for my family, and being Asian, I guess stir fries were a good healthy meal most times. I used common sense, tried to eat whole foods whenever I could, and stopped before I was full. As for exercise, I used an exercise bike but a treadmill is just as good. You need a combo of aerobic exercise and weight resistance training, and to be honest, if you want to do it in the comfort of your own home, a kettle bell, a resistance band and a gym ball is a great, cost effective way to start. Trust me, you can get a whole body work-out with just those three things. And finally, good luck. You sound positive and ready for a change! I wish you all the best!

Thanks Apples2, I thought about PMing a mod but figured I'd try here first. Yeah it's still pretty glitchy, the new forum, so I'm hoping as people raise issues, they'll slowly work on them. This forum crashes my computer so often it's not funny! So I know how you're feeling about 'enough already' lol! I'm just hanging in there though! Been here too long to give up on it now.

I left a couple of comments against member's photos in the gallery, and both times got a msg saying a mod had to approve my comments before it would be published. It's been a week and the comments haven't appeared. How long does it take a mod to approve photo comments?

MKrupa thank you! I have youtubed it to death and have ordered one for myself now. It's great to hear from someone who's used it personally though! Thank you!

Never been hit with a baseball but my son's kicked it pretty good a couple of times. Now it's healed, it hurts no more than, say, stubbing your toe. Not even that much. My port isn't a low profile port. It's just under the skin and now I've lost the weight, it sticks out a lot. Even then, I reckon if it got hit, it wouldn't hurt an undue amount.

I don't want to lose anymore weight, I just want to keep fit and keep myself toned. I enjoy exercise and have missed doing it (who would have thunk it! Lol!) Was telling my brother about the above because he's a personal trainer and I wanted to NOT build bulk, I wanted to work out from home, but I also wanted a total body work-out without having to buy home gym equipment that would take up heaps of room. He suggested the TRX ssuspension trainer. Now I've seen it at use in his gym and I'm thinking of buying it but to be honest, I don't know much about it. Has anyone used it? Is it easy to learn to use on your own? Does it do what it claims and give you a total body work-out? The reviews I've read on it have been fantastic but would love to talk to someone who has first hand experience. I don't know if anyone here has used it, but if you have, please give a girl a hand and tell me honestly what you think of it?

I have 7.5 cc in a 10cc band.

You sound very close to maximum restriction. Yeah I definitely got the feelings you described as I got close to my sweet spot. But remember the fill would have you extra tight right now, so stay on liquids (go SLOW with them) and take it easy when you got back onto solid foods. Make sure you chew well and eat slowly. Try not to PB, coz that causes even more swelling and can take you to the point of feeling way too tight and/or needing some fill out. Hopefully in a week or so things settle and you can 'test' your restriction levels to see if you're too tight, too loose or just right.

I told heaps of people. Almost everyone from work knew, my whole family knew. Friends, cousins, mere acquaintances. Everyone. I got it all. "You're not big enough to need surgery, just diet and exercise', "you're taking the easy way out', 'if only you didn't eat so much, you'd be fine' and the best one 'why have surgery, risk your life like that, when you could do it on your own' Lazy, I am not. I am a mum of 4 kids, do all the housework in my house, work full-time, was studying part-time and have a full-on life. I do not sit on my arse all day pigging out. And you know what? Having the band means that I eat the equivalent of a 3yo child to lose weight and keep it off. How exactly was I supposed to maintain that for the rest of my life? No wonder every other diet I tried failed. I also had food addictions. How many addicts NEED to use their addictions 3 times a day like food addicts do? Make a heroin addict take heroin 3 times a day and ask THEM to break their addiction and you'd be sued for cruel and unusual punishment! The band helped me break my food addictions, because when you can only eat so much, you choose more carefully. I always was active. But truly exercising only became easier when I started losing significant amounts of weight. The band worked in conjunction with life-style change and made it easier for me to make those positive changes to my life. So you know what? I let the haters hate. And now I'm lighter than most of them. 38 years of my life I fought a battle I couldn't win until I had the band. There will always be people who don't understand. Ignore them and make the best decision for you.

Tell your doctor when you see him. Yes, every doctor is different but they have reasons for issuing the instructions that they do. Some are more conservative and wish to allow for longing healing time to ensure that no damage is done, for whatever reason. So be straight with him when you see him, so that he can make a decision as to how best to proceed. It may end up being nothing. But the best way to ensure you get a good result long term is to be honest with your medical team, so they can make the most informed decisions on how to continue to treat you.

Nah I didn't get my band unfilled for this surgery, and I don't know if it's because my band is fairly loose already, or I've proven to not have a history of up-chucking from anaeasthesia. The pain factor was pretty low. I was on oxycodones for a few days so can't really say for sure what the pain was like those days - I was so out of it, I can't really remember lol!. But I stopped taking the oxys on day 4 and aside from some discomfort, wasn't really in a lot of pain. Once in a while, I'd get a sharp pain at the incision site, but that got less and less and now almost 6 weeks out, I feel no pain at all. Though I have heard that a lift hurts more simply by virtue of the incisions being bigger. And it is exciting! I love the new girls and wouldn't change a thing! I'm sure you'll be stoked!

I got my first fill 4 weeks post op. I went from feeling no hunger at all in the days after my surgery to feeling significant hunger within the next few weeks. I then got fills every 3 -4 weeks until I achieved restriction. Then I simply didn't go as often. Just when I needed to. I'm pretty loose now, but a not trying to lose weight anymore, so don't feel the need for regular fills. I am a firm believer in getting fills. I have dieted before and lost some weight but couldn't keep it up long term. The fills physically stop me from eating more than I should. It gave me portion control, something I never achieved long term on my own. I got fills of between 1 cc and 0.25ccs. More at first, less as I went on. I now have 7.5cc in a 10cc band. I agree that will power is needed. Hell, there are heaps of bad, high calorie, fat-filled things you can still eat while well restricted. Ice cream, potatoe chips, chocolate all slide right through the band. You need will-power to make good food choices. You need will power to get off your butt and exercise. The band doesn't give you that. I personally believe that the restriction you get with your band and your will power is supposed to be used in conjunction with each other to get the optimum result in weight loss. Use your will power where it matters and let the band do it's job to help out too. That's my personal belief anyway. The band is a tool for sure. It works best when it gives you restriction. Having one and not achieving restriction is like having a toaster but not turning it on, IMO. I never got overfilled. I lost weight. I've kept it off. I've been banded over 2 years and I'm past goal. The band and the fills helped me do that.

It's funny but we have completely different ways of doing things here in Australia. We never get told to have only this or that many calories, we don't get told to eat low carb or low anything. Just a balance of foods, eat when you're hungry, listen to your body. But I do think there are many ways to get to the same goal, so I don't advocate my way of the thinking as the right way at all. However, if any of it helps you get to where you want to go, I'd be stoked! Good luck and I hope you find success which ever way you get there.

Great news it's done and dusted, bob! I hear you on having to walk around hunched over, it's not fun but it won't last forever. Even with having a full body lift, they removed only about 9lbs of skin from me, so am not surprised that they only took 7lbs from you. Rest up! Hope you feel no more pain and keep feeling great!

Congratulations! What exciting news! Don't forget to take before/after photos too!

I never considered bypass. It's not something offered here in Australia, I don't think. But I did have sleeve envy for ages! Two ladies in my office got the sleeve and they lost fast. But in the end, the band worked for me. It did it's job, I lost weight and have maintained, and I can't knock that. So I have no regrets, and if I were able to speak to my pre-WLS self, I'd still tell me to get the band Just on the aside, one of the sleeve ladies is struggling and has regained over 50% of the weight she lost. So I don't think any particular WLS is a guarantee to success. You just make the best, most well informed decision you can, work it and hope for the best.

Hi Shawnee, I was banded at a BMI of 35 and despite being of a low-ish BMI, my weight loss was pretty steady and consistent. I didn't expect for my loss to be any slower than anyone else's so worked hard (food-wise and exercise-wise) to ensure that I lost between 7 - 10lbs a month. You have the advantage over someone with a much higher BMI in that starting on exercise will likely not be as hard on your body, esp your joints. So my suggestion would be to get to a routine of exercising as soon as you are able, and make sure you up the intensity of your work-out as you get fitter. Other than that, eat well, get your fills regularly and follow the rules. Good luck with your surgery!

I only had moderate sagging, they just looked empty. I didn't get a lift but I did get teardrop (or anatomical) implants which lifted my nipples up a little by the virtue of their shape. My surgeon told me I wouldn't need a lift and he was right. I didn't believe him at the time though, I was sure that at the end of it, my nipples would be too low on my new breasts but they aren't. They look pretty perfect actually. Good luck with your surgery on the 14th! I hope it's all you're hoping for.

Hey Amanda, firstly hunny let me give you a hug, coz you sound really down on yourself at the moment and that's not good for you. I firmly believe that restriction is one thing, but changing your mindset is the second half of it, and the hardest part by far. I set myself some guidelines that I employed to get me past some of my hurdles and I won't lie, it wasn't easy to follow them, but I got there in the end. I wrote about it here: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/topic/119054-i-guess-im-a-success-story/page__p__1530066#entry1530066 Feel free to msg me if you need encouragement or just someone to hold your hand!

Not a guy but am an occasional beer drinker so thought I'd pipe in. I didn't drink carbonated drinks of any sort when losing but now in maintenance, my band isn't that tight and I can have a beer or two without too many issues. More than that and the bubbles make me feel really full and uncomfortable. Despite this, I have been known to sometimes push through this to have more than two (I recall a particularly messy St Paddy's day this year... lol) There is absolutely nothing as great tasting as a beer on a stinking hot day. And yes, I think drinking it out of glass and not the bottle definitely helps as the carbonation dissipates a little as you pour it out.

it's not so much how long between fills but how you feel, I think. I've had fills 3 weeks apart when I really needed it and have been 6 months between fills (while maintaining). I know it's tempting when it's hard to get in for appts to go in for a fill simply because you have an appt, but really consider how you're feeling, whether you have good restriction and whether you're still losing before going for a fill just because. But if you do feel like you need a fill, there's no real reason why 3 weeks between them isn't okay. In the early months just after my surgery, I was getting a fill every 3 - 4 weeks, just like elcee. I think that's the norm for Australian doctors.

You're going to get a variety of answers to those questions lol. I am someone who loves the band. I was banded Aug 2008 and lost 130% of my excess weight and have kept it of. The band modified my eating behaviours, I've developed an active lifestyle and I am grateful for the new lease of life it's given me. While I still love good food, I don't live to eat anymore and there is nothing I really miss. But I also know that not everyone is lucky with the band. Many are, and I am fortunate that I am one of them. But even my surgeon says my results are not typical.

I was banded 1st Aug 2008 and I've lost about 130% of my excess weight. I've maintained this weight plus or minus 3 lbs for about a year now.