ddgalarza

Good Morning Everyone! Well it's been a week to the day since my third fill and since my Love Affair began with my band. I am happy to report that the initial restriction that I felt is still there...BOY is it there. In the last week I have had to revisit my relationship with carbs and have decided that we have to break up. Its over, we are done! Not because I dont love them anymore, becasue God knows I do, but my band....my band cant stand them! I can eat them but they are soooooo uncomfortable going down that they are really turning me off right now! They are like an ex boyfriend, you know the one, the ex that you see from time to time, he looks good and you think, lets give this one more try, and then BOOM BAM, still the same jerk...Well thats how it is with me and carbs. I see them, I want them, and I think just one little bite can't hurt...so I eat them, and no sooner than 3 seconds after I swallow them BOOMBAM, STUCK, OUCH!!! ARGH!!!! Bad idea. I am ashamed to say that like going back with the exboyfrined more than once, I tried to eat the carbs more than once. But I have learned my lesson(with both). Limited carb comsumption aside, I made better food choices and I really have to chew chew chew or everything gets stuck. So I eat slower, eat less and get full quicker. Last monday at my fill my home scale read 229 this morning it read 224. I am a happy girl. Delivered and Wanna B~ I am hoping that you guys...that everybody finds the ever so elusive sweet spot!

Wow, there has been alot of good advise, and conversation on this site today. i appreciate all of the input and these are the days when I love coming to this site. It's a reality check for me as well as very inspirational and i really want to thank everyone, good, bad or indifferent for there opinions and input. All I know if this is truely my sweet spot that I have found i am in LOVE with it!!! Im really going to have to renegotiate my food choices and amounts because I'm guilty of consuming carbs and my sweet spot is not a fan of them. they are very uncomfortalbe going down, but they force me to take VERY SMALL bites and chew to the point where my food is literally dissolving in my mouth. I attempted to eat 1/2 of a subway 6" sandwhich today for lunch with about 4 baked lays chips. I took off the top layer of bread, ate most of the meat and veggies and only maybe 1/4 of the remainig bread at 12:30. It's 4:40 now and I'm STILL NOT HUNGRY!!!! I'm expecting great things...from all of us. 6.5cc's in my 10 cc band Oh and BTW I highly reccommend the Boddy Bugg. Inever leave home with out it, I only take it off to shower, I even sleep in it!!!

I FOUND I FOUNDIT!!!!:confused: My sweet spot! Thank God, and I mean that! Before I could eat bread , no problem at all(which isnt a good thing for me because I am a carb addict). I could eat a whole 6" sandwhich from subway no proble and a bag of baked lays. But today as I sit here typing, my six sub has benn cut down to a 3" opened face and it questionable at this point if I will even be able to ge that down. I really hope that this is it and that it STICKS!!!

hey you guys, everyone seems so bumped out. i know its hard sometimes and the scale doesnt always move like we want it to but we really can do this. we have to, there isnt one of us that had surgery for the fun of it. we made the choice to undergo surgery and i know not one of us made that decision lightly. so as serious as we all took the decision to have the surgery we have to dedicate ourselves to the process that is completely our responsibilty of plugging in all the right components to lose the weight. for me personally when the scale stops moving and i retrace my steps i can USUALLY find something that i could have done better (more water, better food choices, more exercise or a more intense workout....something) we are going to plateau on whatever diet we try, jenny craig, weight watchers, adkins and they ALL work as long as you use them the way that they were intended to be used...just like the band. i know alot of us are still searching for the elusive sweet spot but until we find it we have to step up our game in ever other aspect, we have to make the right food choices, as much as possible, and we we dont we need to make up for that with more exercise. calories burned minus calories in equals weight loss. i know i'm preaching to the choir, we all know these things. i just want everyone to do well and try to stay positive!

Hey Crystal...you are a loser:thumbup:! 4 pounds a month is awesome (same as me). Just think before the band how easy it was to put ON 4lbs a month with out even trying. Small victories are still VICTORIES! Remember, we signed up for the LapBand a slow and steady weight loss tool where 1-2lbs a weeks is the goal. If we wanted 5-10lb weight loss every week we would have gotten the bypass or tried out for the biggest loser:tt2:. My Dr. is like yours will only give me 1-1.5 cc's at a time with the same philosophy about it taking a few fills to find the "sweet spot". I have been tossing the same 3 pounds back and forth for the last 2 weeks, but if I check my self I know its because , 1)I took the week off from the gym :willy_nilly:and 2)my diet could have been better. So all we can do is take each day one at a time and try to do the best we can. But by the same token, for me I'm really trying to seriously buckle down and get 110% committed to the process and stop being wishywashy with my diet and exercise. I know that I can't afford to slack off because as soon as I do the scale starts to show it:eek:. When I lose even 1lb, that's 1lb that I NEVER want to see again. Keep me posted on how your'e doing.

I think there were at least 4 sites where you could find novemebr bandsters, but I think a few of us have been posting on http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f178/how-banded-notorious-novembers-80599/. Not sure, but you might see some familiar faces there.

Hey you guys, how is everyone doing? Me? Well, I had my 3rd fill today, she added 1cc to my band which puts me at 6.5 in my 10cc band. I had really watery cream o wheatt for breakfast and a very thin low fat creamed soup for lunch. After the cream o wheat (of which I ate the WHOLE thing) I really wasnt feeling FULL or anything in particular. So for luuch I had a low fat cream based soup and about 1/2 way through it I felt it. the ever so feeling of "I really shouldnt' have another bite"....so i didn't. I feel contnent with amount that I ate, not stuffed but content. I'm hoping....praying that this is it, or closer to that magic sweet spot. Wish me luck.

WOW! You guys are doing a great job! I'm curious to know, do you both feel like you have adequate restriction? What's you and your wifes diet like (are you doing low carb, low cal). I'd really appreciate anything more you 2 can share as you both are having PHENOMINAL results!

Hello everyone! I am scheduled for my 3rd fill on Monday and I am really excited to see if they hit the ever mysterious sweet spot. I'm like may others of you who are working off of will power, gym dedication and the power of the body bugg (love the bugg!!). According to my home scale i'm down 5 lbs from my last fill/weigh in. And I am hoping to get more restriction this time. I have had 2 episodes where I felt things get stuck BUT once it passess and I concentrate on my chewing better I can continue to eat WAY TO MUCH! I stop eating because I should , not because I'm feeling full. I wonder if my puoch is just to big? I'm trying to remain optimistic and remember that the band is not like bypass an instant snip and your stomach is the size of an egg . My Dr. keeps reminding me that it takes 4-5 fills sometimes to get it just right, so she's got 2 more attempts to find that magic spot...or else:sneaky:.

Hey to all my Notrious November Memeorial Day Challengers (good lord that a mouth full). It seems as if excitement is in the air regarding all of our mini goals. I really think this a great idea. For me small goals are always better. Its a lot less overwhelming to take on losing 27 lbs than it is 80 or so. In my family no one is bone thin, but my husbands family...thoes women are so dam small i swear they could all shop in baby GAP and what aggrivates me is that they EAT like NFL line backers and never ever gain weight. they are lucky to have very fast metabolisms. But I'm lucky in that none of my family on either side has ever made any negative comments to me about my weight. They are all very supportive about my weight loss far. I'm excited for myself/for all of us!

Hi Cindy and welcome to the Memorial Day Challenge! You have done a great job so far losing 27 lbs since surgery that is awesome! I've lost 15 which is less than the goal that I set for myself but I am still very happy with it. It seems like we all have a good plan in motion, and with having workout equipment at home that must be nice. I'm up at 5am trucking my butt to the gym 5 days a weeks, but it is what it is. The good part is that when I come out of the gym I get to catch a glimpse of a beatiful California sunrise. I've got a fill scheduled for next Monday, I wanted to get one this week but my doc is on vacation {how dare she:tt2:}. so I think that gives about 13 weeks? I've always fround 13 to be a lucky number:thumbup:

OK Jewels, we need to come together and come up with a plan of action! Memeorial day weekend sounds like a great time to set a goal for! ive got 27 pounds to go to get me there, I hope I can do It!

Hey everyone I just want to check in. I've been away on a ski trip with my family for a week and I promissed my hubby that I wouldn't take my laptop (but I took my CrackBerry, so I guess I cheated). I really missed checking the boards daily to see how everyone was doing. I made a decison to workout while on vactaion (on the days I didn't ski) so I'm happy to say that the scale managed to make a move in the negative direction during my trip. I ususally dont update my ticker until I weigh in at the doctors office because I take their scales word over my bathroom scales. I still haven't hit my sweet spot, so my progress is slow, but some progress is better than none at all. They say that slow and steady wins the race and I'm hoping to take home the GOLD! Everyone keep up the good work. And Heather I'm jumping on your bandwagon, my next major goal is to be 200 or less by June!

I got a Body Bugg about 3 weeks ago and I love it! It was kind of expensive but to me well worth it. It's a 2 part system that 1) allows you to track your food intake (like many other sites do) but the part I really love is the monitoring it does of how many caloires you are burning up to the minute. It has an arm display that can show you at a glance how many calories you have burned so far that day and that coupled with your caloric intake monitoring helps me make sure that I have a deficit between my calories in and my calories burned. Is it working for me? I'm losing, but I should be right, because I've had the surgery. Its not for everyone and some people thinks its a waste of money, but I'm happy with it and like my cell phone you never find me with out it.

I Love my Body Bugg....if for no other reason it makes me so aware of how sedintary i am sometimes and makes me accountable to get up and move. Wheter or not its 100% accurate or not it really does give me a measure to go by. Its great to see how much your activity or lack thereof effects your weight loss. I dont regret this purchase at all. I've been wearing for a month and it's just second nature and part of my daily fashion statement. Eventhough its winter everywhere else in the world its summertime in California, 80degress and short sleeve weather, which promtps alot of questions about that "thing" on my arm. Hope everyone is well, take care!

To all the men reading this post just turn away....Ok to all my nortorious november ladies, i've got a question for you. is anyone else's cycle completely out of wack? tmi? i know, but in lieu of searching for a thread on the topic i thought i'd check with thoes i already know. the past 2 months mine is so completely off it's driving me nuts. i have heard tale of weight loss affecting your tom but i was just curious if anyone shared this delimma. i'm a woman of predictability. i like my coffe by 9, my kids to bed by 8:30, and my cycle every 28 days...so this is throwing a kink in my routine....and i'm not pg. already took a test...twice!

ok so i had an "aha" moment. i've been struggling a little since my first fill, with not feeling any restriction but i've talked about that enough. ok so today after work i pick up my 2 wonderful kids (my lovebugs) 18 months old, princess chloe and 4 yr old, self proclaimed, king elijah. after running a few errands locally around town they have both fallen asleep by the time i get home. herin lies the problem. i live in a rather larger condominium complex and my parking space is not at all close to my unit, coupled with the fact that my husband works at night, so that leave me to somehow get them both in the house. i some how get them both out of their car seats elijah up on one shoulder and chloe on the other....and i'm waiting and praying that one of them will open up thoes beautiful brown eyes so i can at least put one down and they can walk, but no such luck. so here i go in my 3 inch heels, trying to walk very quickly trying get from my parking spot at my condominum complex to my front door, a good 200 steps and i'm thinking good lord these kids are heavy (36lbs/24lbs) when "AAAHA" hits me as my arms start to burn and tingle. my 2 kids collectivley weigh about 60lbs, thats only 8 pound shy of what i've lost since my start (pre and post op together). that's when i said to myself, "self." you have done a good job so far!" thats 52lbs down that i dont ever want to carry around again unless its in the forum of my 2 precious lovebugs.

ok so i had an "aha" moment. i've been struggling a little since my first fill, with not feeling any restriction but i've talked about that enough. ok so today after work i pick up my 2 wonderful kids (my lovebugs) 18 months old, princess chloe and 4 yr old, self proclaimed, king elijah. after running a few errands locally around town they have both fallen asleep by the time i get home. herin lies the problem. i live in a rather larger condominium complex and my parking space is not at all close to my unit, coupled with the fact that my husband works at night, so that leave me to somehow get them both in the house. i some how get them both out of their car seats elijah up on one shoulder and chloe on the other....and i'm waiting and praying that one of them will open up thoes beautiful brown eyes so i can at least put one down and they can walk, but no such luck. so here i go in my 3 inch heels, trying to walk very quickly trying get from my parking spot at my condominum complex to my front door, a good 200 steps and i'm thinking good lord these kids are heavy (36lbs/24lbs) when "AAAHA" hits me as my arms start to burn and tingle. my 2 kids collectivley weigh about 60lbs, thats only 8 pound shy of what i've lost since my start (pre and post op together). that's when i said to myself, "self." you have done a good job so far!" thats 52lbs down that i dont ever want to carry around again unless its in the forum of my 2 precious lovebugs.

i really am not to sure on why the doc's are also so varied in thier methodology of how much to give for fills. my doctor (compared to others on this site) seems to be very conservative on her fill philosophy. when i asked her about her giving me more that 1.5cc's, like at least 2cc's she said that she didn't want over fill me. even though she could take some out if it was too much, she said it was her experience that with overfills hat her patients end up losing ground with there weight loss. I dont know. i just hope this additonal amount helps me out.

ok so i had an "aha" moment. ive been struggling a little since my first fill, with not feeling any restriction but ive talked about that enough. ok so today after work i pick up my 2 kids 1 1/2 and 4 yrs old and after running a few errands they are both asleep by the time i get home. i some how get them both out of their car seats, the 4 year old on one shoulder and the 18month old on the other. as im walking very quickly (in my 3 inch heels from work) trying to get from my parking spot at my condominum complex to my front door, a good 100 - 150 steps. i'm thinkg good lord these kids are heavy, when "aha" hits me as my arms start to burn. my 2 kids collectivley weigh about 50 lbs, thats only 2 pound shy of what ive lost since my start (pre and post op together). thats when i said to myself, "self. you have done a good job so far!" thats 48 down that i dont ever want to carry around again unless its in the forum of my 2 precious lovebugs.

Thanks for the words of encouragement guys that really helps. ive lost 10 pounds since surgery and i am proud of everyone, i sepent alot of time sweating them out in the gym. my gym routine thus far has been stickly cardio. i am at the gym 5-6 days a week at 5:30am (its the only time that wont impact my time with my kids) 1 hour of cardio anyway i can get it. my preferred method is the treadmill. i do 3 20 minute increments. the fist 20 minutes is at n incline of 0 speed set at 4.0-4.2. the second 20 minutes is at incline of 6.0-7.0 speed 3.0- 3.5 and the final 20 minutes is at incline 3.5 speed 3.5. i spent weeks on a straight 0 incline at a varying speed of 3.0-3.7 and had great resluts. but once the scale stopped moving i knew something need to change so i started with my workout. for me its easier to make changes to my workout then it is to my diet. i know its time to start weight training and am planning on starting in February. they keep tellig me that "nothing taste as good as skinny is gonna feel" i cant wait to see if that's true.

hey everyone, i had my 2nd fill today. added 1.5cc's to the 2 i already had. for a total of 3.5cc's in my 10cc band. i did lose 4 pounds since my last fill which is good. I'll take every pound lost i can get. I just really feel that it would have been more had i had more restriction from my last fill. but no use crying over spilt milk. im just hoping that im getting closer to my maigc sweet spot.

Hey everyone~I've almost made it. I get my second fill on tuesday and i cant wait!!!! i got my first fill on 12/22/08 had had no restriction and it has been a struggle. I have been at the gym 5 days a week and eating a healthy diet but my portions arent as small as they shoudl be and my restriction is next to none. I am hopeful that after i talk to my doc that she gives me more of a fill. and i pray that at the very least i havent gained any weight!

you and i are in the same boat and i feel your pain and understand your frustration. I hit 2 months post op yesterday and have only lost 6 pounds since surgery. i am at he gym 5 days a week minimaly. i dont have good restriction but i am really trying to watch what i eat(even bought a body bugg which is helping me learn about how many calories my body burns and also provides a forum for calorie counting). i honestly kdont know what's goin on with me, but i'm going to stay at it. the scale has got to move eventually...right? of course it does

Hello everyone! I swear this site is the only thing keeping me sane right now. Banded 11/19, 1st fill 12/22 2cc's and nothing, nada, ziltch! No restriction at all! Any and everyting goes down with no problem and there doesnt appear to be a limit on how much. I know I've said it all before (can you all hear the violins playing?) At any rate I still have 11 more days til my next fill,so wish me luck..my will power is geting it's butt kicked! As far as exercise I do 5 days a weeks/ 1 hour cardio, either treadmill, or eliptical (just depends on what machine is available at the gym whem I get there.) I actually attempted to take a spin class this morning and let me tell you that is a true form of torture if I ever experienced one. I highly doubt that I will even be able to walk tomorrow.