lola0806

Congrats on your great accomplishment. You have done a wonderful job be proud and show off your new body.

They really left it up to me. They didn't think I needed one since I have had a steady loss, so I decided to not get one at this time. I'll continue to weigh my self and if I see my loss slowing down or gaining I'll call them to get a fill. My surgeon does not believe in being too tight and has been very conservative with my fills. I only have 3.5 ccs in a 10 cc band. I can honestly say that I have had only 1 problem with being stuck and I think I probably didn't chew enough and the chicken was too dry. So as long as I continue to lose I am a happy bandster.

I had a similar problem too, I would fluctuate between a few pounds. I actually started using sparkpeople.com and according to this website I was not getting in enough calories. I increased my calories and I've been losing at about 2 lbs a week for the past 6 weeks. You might not be eating enough and your body is trying to tell you something.

We have all gone through this same thing. It can take several fills before you feel any restriction, you should keep on top of it and make the follow ups with your Dr to get the extra fills. I have started to keep track of what I eat on sparkpeople.com and it's helped me a great deal. For a while I was eating less calories and my weight loss was slowing down, when I went onto sparkpeople it calculated more calories than what I was eating and since I've been monitoring it this way my weight loss has sped up a little. I even went in for a fill this week and they decided not to give me one since I am doing ok. I know a lot of people eat only 3 times a day, I actually eat about every 3 hours and I don't feel those hunger pains. Of course, when I'm home and bored my head is constantly telling my stomach to eat :ihih: so that is when my self control has to kick in, sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn't. Your doing great so don't give up on your self, we are all here to help you out.

I eat some type of carb at least twice a day sometimes even 3 times. I usually have oatmeal for breakfast or ww toast or ricecakes, and then again for dinner I'll have a carb. I have tried italian bread, but it does not agree with me so it's really not a big deal if I don't eat it. I've had pasta and rice, but now I buy the whole grain pasta and brown rice. I figure everything in moderation works for me and it prevents me from going overboard on something that I haven't eaten and might start to crave.

Everyone is doing great!!! I too have been going slow and steady. But any weight loss is great so I take it day by day. I go for another fill on 6/8 and am hoping to have some restriction, so far I haven't had any restriction at all. I have weeks that I fluctuate between a few lbs then all of a sudden I lose them and a few more, not sure what my body is doing but as long as I'm going down that's all that counts. Have a great weekend!

The only rule my dr stresses is not drinking a 1/2 hour before and 1/2 hour after my meals. I actually eat protein, veggies and carbs for lunch & dinner everyday. I also eat fruits between my meals if I find that I am hungry. I will have a sf pudding or a low cal fudge pop or skinny cow ice cream after dinner sometimes. I pretty much eat something about every 3 hours.

I too noticed that my weight loss was slowing down and I was get frustrated, even though my Dr. thought I was doing well. I logged on to www.sparkpeople.com and registered on the site, well according to their guidelines I am eating a few hundred calories less than what I have been eating. So I decided to eat the extra calories on the days that I go to the gym and I noticed this past week that I lost 3 lbs. Keeping a log of what I eat is really helpful and this website is a great help for me too.

I decided to only tell a few close coworkers, one of whom is also banded and my immediate family. Like many of you, I didn't want people watching to see what I'm eating and watching my weight come off. Even though I've had several fills, I still don't feel much of a restriction, so if I wasn't watching what I ate and exercised most of this weight would still be on me. And that's what I tell people who have commented on my weight loss, I watch what I eat, smaller portions, better food choices and I exercise. My husband thinks I should tell anyone that asks that I was banded because he doesn't think it's some to be ashamed of but proud because I decided to do something about my health and weight. Maybe one day I will, but for now only the handful of people that know are the only one who will know.

I agree with Melody, you should try a food journal. I just started one on www.sparkpeople.com and find it very helpful. The reason I started this was because I went for a fill on 4/14 and still don't feel restriction and can still eat a good amount of food, but I noticed last week when I got on the scale I only lost 3 lbs in 3 weeks and I've been so used to losing an average of 2 lbs a week I became frustrated, I felt as though I am always hungry and the scale isn't moving. So I registerd on sparkpeople and once you enter all of your information about the weight you are at, your goal and your exercice program it will tell you how many calories you need to consume. The range it gave me was between 1440 and 1800 a day, and I've been eating between 1000 and 1200 a day. So I decided for a week that I would eat the extra calories on the days that I go to the gym which is usually 4 to 5 times a week and when I got on the scale this morning I was down 3 lbs. I will try this out for the next few weeks and see how it goes. My next fill isn't until 6/8 so when I see my doctor I'll mention it to her and see if she agrees with me.

Like most of you have said this is a "Life Style Change" and that's how I've been living my life for the past 10 months. But I also know that if I don't have a glass of wine when we go out to dinner or a taste of a dessert or some other treat once in a while I'm afraid that I will binge and go back to my old habits. Every day is a struggle so I take it one day at a time. There are days I wish I can just lose all of my weight and be done with it and then there are days that I am glad that I am losing at a steady/healthy pace. My last visit with my surgeon I had not lost as much as I wanted and I complained to her, we had been socializing a lot more lately and I said to her if I didn't have the drinks that I did, or eaten what I did I would have lost more. She told me that I was living my life and if I didn't enjoy some of the foods that I ate before I am depriving myself and might go off the deep end later on. So during the week, which is the easy time of the week for me, I stick to my "Healthy eating lifestyle" and on the weekends if we go out and I have a martini or a glass of wine or eat something that is not as healthy I don't beat myself up over it or at least I try not to :smile2:. As long as the scale is going down I figure I'm doing what I set out to do. Good luck to all of you.

Hi All, I was banded on 12/23/08 and have had 4 fills. I still don't feel restriction, but I notice if I eat slowly and chew, chew, chew I will start to feel full. I am not eating the portions that they told me I would be eating, but as long as I continue to lose I am fine. I am hoping that with my next fill I will have the restriction that everyone talks about. Good luck to all of you.

The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood has seminars. The group of doctors/nurses that do the seminars is the group that I used for my surgery and they were great. Let me know if you have any questions.

Having my husbands arms go around me Being able to sit next to someone on the bus/train and not worry about squashing them Walking up the stairs from the train and not being winded when I get to the street Starting to have more confidence in myself and a much happier person Crossing my legs My wedding band/engagement rings fit, but are now getting to loose I was nervous to walk into a regular size store because I thought the sales people would wonder what was this fat person doing there, but I did it and was able to fit into a size XL top from Ann Taylor