musicfrommyheart

Wow, I have to say that I'm so relieved to see this post. I'm not even sure what to do anymore. I was banded last March, lost about 30 pounds before the surgery and another 20 after the surgery but I had the weirdest issue with gas (and still do). For me, I always get severely bloated if I DON'T eat. It drives me crazy. The only way that my stomach can feel better is after I eat. Sometimes, if I wait to long to eat, my stomach gets so bloated and gassy, I can't even stand up straight. I went to the doctor, and they did the GI test and discovered that my band was working properly and that I had no other issues, but still the gas hasn't gone away. I've gained almost all of my weight back and am very disappointed in my band. I'm almost ready to just have the thing taken out and go back to square one. If I continue to have this gas issue, I'm going to go to the doctor one more time, and then I'm going to look into alternatives. I can't take it anymore.

Awwww, thanks Mom! I'm glad to see that you are posting and getting familiar with this site. It has been so much help to me! :smile2:. Love you! -music

I also wanted to say, don't forget that muscle weighs more than fat. I would ask, how are your clothes feeling? Are you still getting smaller in size? Generally when you are working out like you should you are also building muscle and toning up, so you might be having more muscle mass, which would make it true, you aren't losing pounds, but you are probably still slimming down. I hope this helps and that you feel better. You still made the incredible decision to have this surgery and to take 50+ pounds off of your body. Congratulations! -music

Wow, I am so glad to read these posts, lol. When I first starting working on getting my surgery done, I refused to get on the scale. I think I even threw mine away cause I can't find it now and will have to buy another one. I thought that by not getting on the scale, I could hold myself accountable by keeping my eating in check and weighing in at the Bariatric center. My surgery date is March 30th, but I've been slipping recently and haven't been keeping to my diet program. So, I've decided to buy a scale and get back on track monitoring my progress. I definitely do not want to get to my surgery date and not be able to get my band .

Hey Ibbanded, Wow, I could completely relate to your psot and also to your renewed commitment to getting back on track. I haven't been banded yet, I go in on March 30th, but I have noticed myself slipping back into some old patterns recently. I wish you the best of luck and hope that by talking to us you feel more encouraged and strengthened (as I do from reading all of the posts). -music

Hey Sonipez, I had an appointment with Dr. Schneider, he was so nice and patient with me that I decided to choose him. I'm really glad I did. I know that people like Dr. Jones, but since I hadn't met Dr. Schneider yet, I wanted to wait and see what he was like. My surgery is on March 30th, I can't wait. How are you doin?

I actually didn't see anything offensive to me personally in those photos. I think that all of us who are fuller figured have been ignored for way too long in the media and that America (or even the whole world) needs to get a good look at what obesity looks like. And also get a good look at what someone who's "different" from you looks like. Perhaps by doing so, we can love a little more, and learn a little more about others. That being said, I do agree that were I to take photos like this of myself (with no Spanx on, or naked) I would not find it attractive at all. Seeing the effects of years of misuse on my body does not make me proud. As a plus-sized model, I've struggled with this issue. How can I portray myself as beautiful and confident, knowing that I wasn't taking the best care of myself? But also, how can I encourage other women who have low self-esteem like I did, how to love themselves, right where they are, so that they can treat themselves better? I appreciate your post. I think the issue of larger people in the media and whether it promotes or denotes obesity is a real one, and one that we should look at very carefully. Especially as we are looking to have this surgery, to give ourselves the gift of better health. -music

Usually, each trip I take is measured in the smallest increments- each step. For years, I have painfully walked to each destination, marking each breath and the pain in my feet. Now, I'm NO where near where I want to be, but I can say that today I've noticed that I no longer get so short of breath when walking from one building to another at my job. And for me that's a really huge non scale victory! :thumbup:. Wow....I think this whole process, even before being banded, has really inspired me. I can't wait to keep marking the next phase in this incredible journey. Have a good night everyone, -Music

Hey Kaelin's G-Ma, tricking the body sounds like a great idea. I've been working on keeping my calories under 1500 (more like under 1700 most days, but still) and I do notice that I seem to be MORE hungry on days that I eat more than on days when I barely eat. I'm going to try to do that on again off again thing. -music

Oh my goodness, I had to tell someone this. I went on My Virtual Model.com today because I thought I could create a new cute virtual model. I was shocked, when I went to put in my weight, they wouldn't accept it! I put in 274 and got an error message saying that they were recalculating my weight to fit their BMI maximum requirements. They wouldn't accept a weight larger than 249!!! This site: My Virtual Model - Your portal for social shopping Wow, it's bad enough that we have a hard time shopping at stores, let alone to be kicked out of a "Virtual" site for being too big!!! Anyway, that's my rant and I'm stickin to it, lol. Hope you all are having a great day. -music

Hi Lips You should check out the thread "I have failed my band", not to say that you have, but there's a whole host of people on there who are trying to get themselves back on track. Hope this helps -music

Hey Tabithan, I'm crossing my fingers for you on that Nyquil situation :sneaky:. I haven't even gotten down to eating 1300 calories a day, so CONGRATULATIONS on keeping that up :thumbup:. I have a question for all of you post-ops. Are you able to do ab exercises now that you've been banded? I think about the way the stitches are held in there and the stories I've heard about the ports flipping and wondered if any of y'all had a problem with that. Not that I'm uber excited about ab exercises anyway, but I'm trying to think of ways that I can combat the excess skin post surgery. Hey Scarlett, congratulations on keeping up with the exercise! Hope you get good restriction soon :thumbup:. -music