Jaffa

Use an online BMR....basal metabolism rate calculator to figure out what your burning per day. Then just add in any calories burned for exercise to get a total burned for the day. It will end up being about 800 to 1200 calories for most people to lose weight without going in to starvation mode.

Your body going into starvation mode is really only a concern if it starts to metabolize muscle instead of fat. This won't happen if you keep your Protein up and keep yourself consistent. Your body will adjust to whatever your doing, but if you have sudden changes of excessive calories, or excessive calorie defecits, this is when you create more problems then you solve.

A good rule of thumb is to eat at least half the calories you are burning a day. Frankly, that number needs to be adjusted slightly up or down depending on the person and how much excess fat they have to lose. Track your calorie in versus out carefully, keeping it as consistent as possible. Make small changes of less then 10 percent at a time, and it will never be a factor.

That is great. My wife will really like seeing this, and it may help her understand how completely the body heals.

She still suffers a little from anxiety about it truley being healed.

I agree, you need to be careful, and really watch for any side effects. I didn't have any, but I was a little bit more emotional then usual.

I might just do that, just to know. I know that they did do that in the beginning and it made adjustments a little harder, but not a big deal.

I did get tighter after this last one, but it sure didn't seem to be that much considering I'm now at 10.25. I heard that you can actually get 13cc in a 10cc band.

I will probably just hold at this point, and see how I do and then consider a revision in the summer?

Just a side note, my insurance company doesn't even charge you a deductible for Chantix, because they have found it to work so well, and save them money in the long run.

I had tried many things. Then I used Chantix, and never smoked again. If it isn't covered by your insurance you may want to just pay for it, it is that good.

WARNING....evaluate yourself daily and be watchful of any mood disorders that can happen with it. Also, even if you think it isn't affecting you mentally it is, so don't make any big decisions or decide to talk to someone about something you wouldn't normally do, while taking this drug. Just use it quit smoking and then move on with your life forever.

I'm at one year and 9.75 in a 10cc.

I'm going for a fill today.

Yea, probably, but I'm self pay, so it would probably get expensive real quick.

My thinking is that it would only tell me that yes, there is a leak. If there is a leak then I will pay for the sleeve way before paying to fix this thing. Or it will tell me there isn't a leak and if it tells me that then I'm already full and I have to accept that the band is at the end of its ability to create restriction. If the second result is true then I would still need to revise eventually.

I'm just thinking going for one last fill and if it doesn't last more then 3 weeks, then I pretty much know that one or the other is true and either way I would opt for a revision. Maybe that is screwy thinking??

Well, I now have 9.75cc in my band. This number is known by adding up all of the fills minus one unfill.

I know of course, that the 10cc band will hold more then 10cc. They say somewhere around 11cc.

But, what really, concerns me is that my fills haven't seemed to last me more then about 3 weeks? The first week I'm usually a little tight, then second just right and by week 3 too loose.

I'm beginning to worry about a leak?

I'm at the end of my one year of free fills, so monday will be my last fill. I figure full is full, or the band has a leak, and if that is the case I will revise instead of repairing the band.

I don't know what to think. I'm almost exactly one year out and 10lbs to goal.

Nope, she didn't want the band after seeing what it was like for me. She really wouldn't have done as well with the band. Her peronality would have lended itself to just eating slider foods and making the band irrelevant.

She loves her sleeve though, and I will revise one day.

Make sure you take your nexium 30 minutes before you eat anything in the morning. It could just be moving to more solid food and excess acid. The nexium takes 30 minutes before it prevent too much acid procuction.

Go back to easier levels of food to give your stomach a rest.

My wife has never thrown up. But, she has eaten too much and made it hurt. But, it is nothing like being stuck.

The hardest part for her has been learning not to eat too much. She is getting pretty good at it now.

The hardest part for me with the band is you can't learn anything, because it changes every day and sometime even between meals. It is very frustrating.

My wife was extremely afraid of going. But once she was there and especially after going through the surgery, she wouldn't want to go anywhere else.

She loves her new stomach.

One day I will get one from Dr. Aceves. For now, I will plug along with my band.

My wife is about 7lbs to a normal bmi....I'm down to 3lbs to normal bmi.

She sometimes sabotages herself to, but she doesn't ever gain, and will eventually lose the rest of her weight.

I'm right at 11 months and my goal is just to make it to a normal bmi....my wife has done it in half the time, and almost zero follow up necessary. I now have 9.0cc in my 10cc band....I hope I don't need another fill for awhile, but it seems I need one every 3 weeks.

I can eat one bite and have no problem, and literally the next bite sticks. I am then in horrible pain, when I finally get unstuck, the swelling prevent me from eating anything for 24 hours.

This really isn't the way to live. DON'T get a band unless you have NO other choice. It is so much more maintenance and work. The only thing I have better then my wife with the sleeve is, I can drink my Water quickly. I would trade her in a second.

32 ounces of Water 15-30 minutes before eating.

3 meals a day

1 snack....usually an apple in the afternoon

A balance of Protein grams to carbs/sugar grams, and at least 70 grams of Protein

consistent fills every 3 weeks until almost reaching goal, now only every 5 weeks or so.

Fatty liver.

No question. Get a good revision surgeon. But, I assuming that the band was getting you towards your goal until it failed?

In other words restriction was working for you?

The sleeve is like having a band that works really well every day, without all of the up and down changes in restriction. It also doesn't have the same degree of problems with slider foods. If I eat sliders, I can literally eat all day long, but my wife who is sleeved can eat the same food and be full with 4 or 5 bites. I am many times so jealous of how simple things can be for her. She does have one complication, and that is that she does occasionally get spasms, but the heat pad takes care of them in about 5 minutes, and she is totally normal. I have a stuck episode, and it causes me problems for 3 days.

My brother had Rny about 12 years ago. They saw problems with his liver and did the Rny anyway. Be thankful they didn't continue. It killed him. A bad liver with Rny has proven to be pretty deadly.

Oh, and just for clarification, for the not so informed, liver disease happens to people for many reasons not associated with drugs or alcohol. In fact, many obese people who have been on long term starvation diets and yo yoed to many times have liver problems.

Good god no. I hate to even imagine the calorie count on that bad boy. I will say my recipes are good to eat, but not necessarily good for you....LOL

Supper tonight???

One fresh large chicken breast.

One jar of spagetti sauce.

Put it in the crockpot and cook on hi for 4 hours or low for 8 hours. Serve with spagetti or if you hate boiling spagetti like I do, just serve with a small baked potato.

Jaffa Cornbread

1 Box Cornbread Mix

1 Can of Corn (don't drain it)

1 Can Creamed Corn

1 stick of butter

8 oz sour cream

Use the stick of butter to coat the inside of a casserole pan....10 x 8 or something close

Then melt the rest of the butter in the microwave. Mix it with the cornbread mix. Add sour cream, open all of the cans and put them in the pan, mix well and pour into casserole dish.

Bake at 350 for 55 minutes. Bake until inserting a knife gives you sticky mush on knife, but not liquidy. Take out and let sit for 10 minutes, while you finish up your other parts of dinner and serve.

Tomorrow, the best cornbread ever!!!!!!!!!!

Just a repost of my original recipe

Chili

1 large can Tomato juice

2 cans of diced tomato

2 cans of chili Beans

2 cans of dark red kidney Beans

1 lb hamburger

1 lb cheapest ground turkey

1 cup dried onions or one real white onion...

8 tbsp of mild chili powder...or to taste

Cook the meat until crumbled.....in a large crockpot.....open all of the cans and put it in the pan. Your done....cook on low 4-20 hours.....it doesn't really matter. Heck of your really hungry and can't wait....just put a bowl in the microwave and heat it up.