2muchfun

I told everyone and now regret it. It's fine now but for the first 3-4 months my friends kept asking how it was going and at that time, it was going crappy. I went 3.5 months with no weight loss. Some would say, oh, you should have tried this, or that, but of course, they aren't obese so they really don't get it. They mean well but I got tired of answering the questions. Now that I'm down 45 lbs and over half way to my goal, I don't mind talking about it as I clearly appear to have lost a lot of weight. That shuts up the naysayers and then the supporters are still supporters and that's fine. I don't have a lot of family who would encourage or discourage me so from that standpoint I was fine. But, I've read many stories on this forum from people who are in a very close nit family group and I can see that could be overwhelming. You just have to keep in mind that most of these friends and family mean well and want what's best for you. So you have to cut them some slack because they really don't understand what you are going through before and after surgery. tmf

What isle will they be in? tmf

I would imagine that patients who rush into banding have a higher rate of fallout and failure than those who move into this slower. And if you plan on getting pregnant 6 months after banding it seems like you should wait till after the birth to be banded. You won't lose much weight before getting pregnant and that 6 months is an important period where you learn so much about how to eat with you band. Won't you have to put your band journey on hold while you are pregnant? It's difficult to eat for two when you can barely eat for one? Book learning and reading is important but the experience is a whole different ballgame. tmf

"this is what I have to look forward to?" Better this than a lifetime of being fat, unhealthy or worse, not alive. tmf

Welcome to bandster hell. It will be like this till you get a fill that gives you restriction. Like B-52 says: Until there's restriction, it's just another diet! Before anyone takes any medications(phentermine) after surgery, check with your doctor. Many meds can cause ulcers in your pouch that could lead to erosion and band removal. tmf

One of my all-time fav quotes: "I'm so stinkin' thrilled with my weight loss I dont even care about what i can't eat!" Pink Dahlia

I was in BH for over 3 months with no weight loss and no weight gain. It's disappointing when we go into this thinking we'll immediately start losing a lot of weight only to find we didn't read the fine print. Looking back, for me, it's been a blessing to take longer for the band to begin to work. I've learned much about myself, my eating habits and how to communicate with my band. tmf

There is no standard for maxing out your band? You can fill them to their max and most doctors will if they need to. And how many CCs you have in your band is irrelevent. Doctors choose sizes based on your stomach size, how thick the lining of your stomach is, how much fat tissue is around your stomach and the shape of your stomach at the point the band is positioned. So, you may only need 2 CCs to find restriction and someone else may need all 10 to close the loop tight enough to find restriction. I doubt any doctor would stop at 6.5 or any arbitrary number if the patient isn't experiencing restriction and losing weight. tmf

There are two types of weight gains/losses. Most of the weight you lose in the beginning will be Water loss. It depends on how much you have to lose. The more you weigh, the more fluids you retain. Fat loss is what you really want. So don't pay much attention to short term gains as they can be just Fluid retention. I can go up or down 7 lbs in one week(all fluides) if I go nuts and eat chips, ice cream etc. If you are eating healthy foods and keeping your caloried count down you probably are not gaining fat. tmf

You might expect that your surgeon may use your next visit to see how you're progressing and could forego a fill. 3 weeks is very quick for a fill so just be prepared that he may go a different direction. If not, then you are a lucky patient and you've stumbled upon a very progressive doctor. Just be aware that just when you think you've got this lapband journey down, you'll find that you don't. This is a roller coaster ride for many of us and there's a learning curve that can't be avoided in such a short period of time. tmf

Enjoy those soups while you can because they'll be nearly a food of the past once you start feeling restriction. I so miss my soups at lunch. I love the beef and barley, southwestern chicken w/rice and fajita chicken soups. But, they're slider foods now. Oh, sometimes I'll have one but the penatly is that I'm still hungry an hour later since they don't satiate me and I guess they never did. tmf

Bite the bullet and spend a nickel on a nutritionist. Preferably one from your surgeons list of nutritionists. Be prepared to be brutally honest about your eating habits. Honestly, all we can do here is give you attagirls but a dietician/nutritionist who understands bariatric surgery patients can offer so much more insight and knowledge if you've fallen off the bandwagon. Locally here we have support groups mentored by a very good nutritionist and you could get your feet wet if you tried finding a local support group near you. Then take the plunge and go one on one. You will gain so much more if you're serious about losing weight. tmf

You're about 2 weeks away from Bandster Hell and then you'll be posting that you're eating 2000 calories a day. Just follow your doctors orders and enjoy the ride. tmf

Go to youtube to see a fill administered. It's usually a painless injection into a port that is sewed somewhere inside your abdomen when the lapband is placed. They inject a small amount of saline into the band through the port to squeeze the band tighter so you can't eat as much. In a nutshell. tmf

I believe that many times our weight gain is not necessarily fat gained. My daughter and grankdkids came for a visit for 6 days. Grandkids are teenagers and we had chips, ice cream, breads and all kinds of bad stuff around that house and I ate my share. But, we did ride bikes most every day so I did get in my exercise. Long story short, I gained 7 lbs in 6 days. BUT, after they left I went back to my usual lapband friendly diet and lost 9 lbs in one week. Now it's impossible to lose 9 lbs of fat in one week but it's easy to gain or lose 7 lbs of Fluid in one week. So, the net loss was 2 lbs over the near two weeks they visited. So, don't dispair. Most of what you've gained is probably Water weight and not fat. tmf

Aint it the truth? Waiting too long and getting too hungry can make you eat too fast. Also, distractions. OMG, I get distracted so easily and before I know it I've quickly shoveled 5 bites in my piehole and I just sit and wait for the pressure near my diaphragm. tmf

Egg beater omelette with turkey crumble sausage, light cheddar cheese and some hot salsa. About 200 calories. Pear snack at 10:30 am. tmf

It takes me so long to eat a plate of food I'm sick of looking at it after 30 minutes. That's cured me temporarily but I'm sure if I was around relatives who can eat and do eat everything they want and my band was loose, I'd fall back into the same old routine. Slow down your eating routine and see if that satiates your appetite? tmf

I probably shouldn't answer this but I don't count anything. I'm eating less but eating healthy. I still lose weight. Everyone will be different. Men seem to need more calories than women. Since I've cut out most white food(flour, sugar, dairy) I really don't worry about carbs. I seem to be able to eat meat with no problem so I eat 4-8 ozs per dinner meal. You'll find that some bandsters find it helpful and in some cases vital to count grams of everything. I just don't want to live my life that way. I spend far toomuch time obsessing about weight loss as it is and calculating every gram of fat, carb and Protein would take toomuch time and cause toomuch stress. From my point of view. BTW-I do allow for some whole wheat thin breads or low carb tortillas, one hershey's bliss dark chocolate, 2 8 oz skinny latte's and some sprinkles of low fat cheese for my morning omelette. I just do it in extreme moderation. tmf

I allow myself 2 alcohol beverages a week but it's usually only 1. Alcohol reduces your inhibitions and can lead to binging. Hershey's and Dove make these small dark chocolate bites that have about 40 calories each and I have one every night. tmf

This might help. Click on the link to the Peachtree band patient manual: http://www.peachtreebariatrics.com/docs/Gastric-Band-Patient-Manual.pdf

I ate hot food before and after my surgery. I love extremely spicy/hot green chili. I love to make Pad Thai or stir fry and I add sriracha garlic/chili sauce to my asian meals. I also add jalapeno's to my eggs and omelettes. Hasn't bothered me a bit. tmf

I really really love these kind of stories. tmf

You can drop 10-15 lbs in two weeks if you go on a strict low carb diet.

I have but not with little pills. Big pills sometime hang around my pouch and have burned the lining of my pouch. Makes it difficult to sleep when it's happening and is noticeable when I consume food the next day. But, it goes away in 24 hours. Still, you don't want to cause an ulcer in your pouch as this is the main reason for erosion. tmf