Jill10191130

Thank you so much!

I'm the same way and have been for months now. I haven't had an fill since like July, I think. It's weird. I just go with it. It seems to be working for me for now. It is frustrating though because you never know if you'll be able to tolerate something.

Well this is not exactly an after because I still have about 40 pounds to lose before I'm where I want to be. So this is my before on the left from about 3 years ago and at about 300 pounds. Then on the right is my current from a few weeks ago. I was about 202 in the pic. I am currently at 199. Yay!

Hi all! I'm Jill. I'm 31. I've been banded for almost a year, one year in Feb to be exact. I've lost 96 pounds to date. I've never felt better or been happier. My only regret is that I would have done this years ago.

Yeah...I think I'll stick with just shaving down there. haha! I'm not much for pain. I have used the Veet mouse on that area and it works very well with very little irritation.

I weigh at least twice a day. Usually before I go to sleep and when I wake up.

I'm only 9 months out but I've lost 83 pounds. Still have a ways to go though. I do think i've been fairly successful though. I do visit this site periodically but mainly to offer others encouragement. I know how much I needed it. I haven't attended a single support group since surgery. I only did the ones required of me. I have been meaning to go, but I just haven't. I only drink water. I eat very, very small meals. I do have carbs but a very limited amount. Early on, I counted calories. Since i've got good restriction now, I don't really find that I have to. I also find that a lot fo the things that they make a big deal about early on, like drinking with meals and drinking through a straw, carbonated beverages, etc are not a big deal at all in the end. After you get good restriction, it is difficult to do those things anyway. I can't do any of those things. I really can't eat bread, so that is not a big deal either. I'm learning more and more to overcome hunger. I find that if I can get past the intial pangs then it goes away. I lose the best when I try to go as far as I can past the hunger. Something I wish I knew before surgery is that you do still get hungry. I have a difficult time even feeling full, it is more of a pressure than a fullness that you are used to before surgery. I do exercise about 4-5 days a week, 45 mins or so. I started out walking. Now I'm running about 2 miles a day. I feel like a different person...so good. I wish you the best of luck. It really is just a tool and you must still do the work to get to where you want to get.

I was told that chewing gum was a no no, but I do chew it occasionally. I do find that it makes my band feel tighter and it gives me excess air. I also would not suggest swallowing it...other than that I don't see why it would be a problem.

I went when I was about 4 weeks out from surgery. I had just went to soft foods and I did fine. You will do fine.

I just had to lower my BP meds after going through a trial off of them. My BP was getting to low on my former dose and was too high completely off of it. SO he just had me 1/2 my former dose. It is working well so far. I hope that I eventually get to come off of it all together. I'm no holding my breath for it though. I have a very strong family history of heart disease and hypertension.

I counted and tracked on myfitnesspal.com until I had good restriction. Now I find myself not tracking every bite because I know there is no possible way that I can be taking in more than 1000 calories a day. I need to get back to it though. I think it is a good thing to do, even with good restriction.

I will be 6 months out on the 11th of this month. I've lost 52 pounds. I was hoping to be at least 60 pounds down by 6 months out, but i'm still happy with where i'm at. I know that I could never have done this without the band.

My doctor does not numb the area up for fills. He just doesn't do it. I've had 3 fills without it.

I think that weight loss is just more complicated than calories in vs calories out. Although most experts will tell you that it is not. All I know is that with my own personal experience that it has been.

Someone asked me the other day if I had had my surgery yet! I was like, 'yes'. They were like,'oh have you lost any weight?'. Idiots, I've lost 50 pounds. Some people are just ignorant. DOn't let it get you down.

I'm the same way and I was never like that before the surgery. I've only lost 44 pounds and I'm already like that. I don't understand it. How could just 44 pounds make that much of a difference in temp regulation?

I think you're doing well also. I've only lost 44 in almost 6 months. I get discouraged sometimes as well. I just keep on chipping away. Don't let people get you down. Just do what you need to do and little by little it will come off. Might take a while, but it will happen for you.

I understand this as well. At times I wish I had not told anyone except my immediately family about having surgery. People do watch you like a hawk. I've gotten so when people ask me how much I've lost, I tell them. Then I also tell them that it is not like gastric bypass surgery. It is much slower and safer. Then they usually act like embarassed and it shuts them up.

I totally understand. When I am somewhere public and eating now. The first thing I do is locate a bathroom. So I'll know where it is in case of an emergency stuck episode.

Oh you'll know....no explanation needed. Just wait. It's an awful feeling.

Thank you for anwsering this. I think it is possible that I am overfilling and then getting sick because of that.

I'm confused as to why I'm having so many problems with getting stuck and pbing. I had a fill about 2 weeks ago. This was only my second fill. He put in about 1 cc which put me up to around 4 cc's. He never tells me exactly how much, just says around 4 cc's. I could tell a difference right away after this fill. When I drank liquids, I could only drink about half a cup at first. I even pb'ed on my medications, espically my vitamin d supplement. This had never happened before. After about 4 days though, it seemed to get better. Now I only get stuck and pb occasionally. I'm not sure if I'm feeling this tightness, pain etc because I'm not chewing properly or because I'm getting too full(eating too much food). I went out with a friend to a mexican resturant the other night. I ended up spending about half the meal in the bathroom pbing. It was awful. I ordered a grilled chicken with some grilled onions, peppers etc on top. Before the meal came, I did eat a few chips with salsa. Then after about 2 bites of my meal, I started feeling that awful feeling. I went to the br and pbed. I went back to the table. I didn't eat anything else but started feeling it again. Finally after doing this 3 times, I felt better. Weird thing is that I never felt that satisfied full feeling. I felt the pressure, pain but I still felt hungry. When you get good restriction do you feel satisfied like you did preband or do you stop because of the pressure, pain, etc? Or do you think I'm just not chewing properly or eating too fast? Thanks.

I was banded Feb 11, 09. I've lost 36 pounds since surgery. I feel like my weight loss is a little slow but it is steady. Lately I've been losing about a pound a week. Just had my second fill yesterday. My doc is extremely conservative with everything. I probaley have about 4 cc's total in my band. Can tell a little difference since yesterday, but difficult to truely tell yet because i'm on liquids right now. I'm working out about 5 days a week and I'm reallly working hard on this. I document every bite that goes in my mouth and I am determined to be successful. It has been more difficult than I thought it would though. All in all I feel much better and I am still happy with my decision.

I think you are doing great being that I am 3 months post op and have only lost 35 pounds.

I use myfitnesspal as well and I too love it!!! I read on their boards that an iphone app is in the works!!!! So excited about this! The site owner did say that it would probaley take a little while to get it going though. iPhone application? - Free Calorie Counter - MyFitnessPal.com