catfish87

@@LadyDiva618 Good job on sticking to both of them! You can totally do two 5k's in one day. Just have some liquids in between.....wine? I'd do them with ya, but I'll be in Indy that weekend. I'm on nights tonight, so no meeting for me. I'm gonna do the Cheering up a Sweat 10K Saturday at Maryville firemans park.

I used to have heartburn somthing terrible, pre banding. I haven't heartburn even once since my band....almost 5 year ago now. And I enjoy VERY spicy foods at times.

I wouldn't ever consider myself an expert, but I've got kind of a unique experience with my band....UNUSAL to say the least. But it's my story....sorry for the long post! I had my band installed in Sept 2009, I was soooo excited to be able to have this surgery. It would do what I had failed at....LONGTERM weightloss/control over eating too much! That was the promise.... I followed my preop and postop "diet" to a TEE...never cheated once. The week after surgery was easy....at least for the first few days...NO desire to eat. Then comes week two and full liquids, week three of mushies (oh that first "bite" of mashed potatoes....I still remember it 5 years later! They were sooooo good! The next week, was progression to "regular" foods as tolerated. So I'm now a month post op and thought things couldn't be better. I was following what and how much I was supposed to eat...everything felt great! I went in to my surgeon ( and he really IS the best, IMO ) every appointment as scheduled. Forward another month, and I'm starting to notice I'M HUNGRY! Way too often... Starting to become a struggle to control how much I eat. I continue to go to the surgeon for the next 5-6 appointments...we talk, I say I'm hungry, get a BLIND fill ( antiquated, outdated and IMO USELESS way to do a fill ). This continued for about a year postop....and it had really become a struggle, just as you describe. Will I be up or down with my weight? I was trying...but starting to really get frustrated and ready to throw in the towel. Another couple of months goes by and by then I'm really eating too much...NO control ( hey, I'd been dieting for over a year ). I didn't go to my surgeon for over a year....and gained back about 25-30 pounds! I was embarrassed to say the least....I was gonna be a failure at SURGERY!...... I had met a friend who had also had lapband about 5 years prior to me, and she made me go back to my surgeon....boy was I gonna hear it I thought.... When I get there, they had this new device in the office, fluoroscopy machine. They can see your band, the restriction level and other things. My surgeon welcomed me in and was so fantastic....he said lets take a look. MY BAND HAD COME UNDONE/UNBUCKLED...... I had been on a diet all this time. He scheduled surgery asap and fixed it. And I couldn't be happier with the results. I know this is longwinded, but the point to MY story, is you've just been banded a little over a month. PLEASE don't get frustrated already. Continue seeing your surgeon, getting adjustments, and hopefully soon, you'll find your sweet spot with the band. Until then, IT IS a diet...just do your best. Thats all any of us can do. Best wishes!

It's TOTALLY NORMAL for a lot of us to "gain" a couple/few pounds right after surgery....think of all those bags of liquids they pumped into you during surgery. For me, it was a week pre and POST op of Clear Liquids...less than 100 calories per day for two weeks. I didn't go into starvation mode....my body found LOTS of excess fat to live on those weeks. Hang in there for a few more days, following your surgeons recommended "diet".....it'll get better!! Best wishes

I never had post op gas pains to speak of....at least not that I can remember. But I took ALL my pain meds. No pain here!

WTG!!! @@naenaern777 You are REALLY doing great....and increasing distance already. Congrats! I ended up doing 35 miles on the bike today....was planning on 50, but the lady at the blood donation center said take it easy today.......OK! Happy Hump day all! http://connect.garmin.com/activity/528471885

Just a thought...UNTIL you can get in touch with your bariatric surgeon: If someone put you on a "clear liquid" diet, maybe they don't want you taking in Protein for a day or so. Trying to give your stomach/system a rest for a day or so?? As for Liquid Protein, I use New whey Liquid Protein shots at times. Best wishes on a resolution!

Up way to early this morning, so went to the gym at 3:30am....30 minutes weights, 20 minutes on the bike and one mile run on the treadmill.

This pretty sums up what I was going to say....Proper restriction, for me, was the most important thing. Keep going to your Dr. and you'll too, find that sweet spot. It takes time for some of us. But It's so worth it in the end. Best wishes

Thats GREAT news Terry! Here's to many enjoyable, healthy years to come. Happy riding my friend! You and TMF have got me thinking....of getting/trying a MTN bike. After all, you're the one who said its better than sex...... What am I missing??!?!?!

Your Doctor said "carbs = pounds" ? That sounds like the Atkins diet approach to me....been there and done that. Lost 80 pounds and gained 100 after I quit doing it years back. For me, it was CALORIES to excess, that equalled pounds. I am almost 5 years postop and eat almost every type of food I want. Lots of fish and chicken and lots of steamed or grilled veggies. I eat very little red meat, and almost no bread, mostly by choice. Other than that, there's only a couple of foods I CAN'T eat at my restriction level. pineapple and brussel spouts do not work for me. But I can live without either of those. I don't drink soda's...and haven't since banding. But I now drink beer when I want. I DID NOT for the first year or so. Here's a quote and link from a very often mentioned WLS surgeon on here...Your surgeon and staff may disagree. "The problem is not "carbs" the problem is the kind of carbs that you eat. If you eat highly processed foods, it will cause you to increase your appetite - wanting more food. So learn about the glycemic index, and how it will help you curb your appetite." http://drsimpson.net/weight-loss/weight-loss-glycemic-index/weight-loss-glycemic-index/weight-loss-glycemic-index.htm Best wishes on whatever you decide! As others have said, you only live once...make it the best you can.

Congrats on your success and it's refreshing to hear from HAPPY people!!!! Yea for you!

Are you using a PC or mobile app?

I am healthy....my main goal....but I'd still like to lose some more fat. I'll just keep on doing what I'm doing and see what happens. I've given up on stressing over some magic scale number ( at least most of the time ). I just enjoy my new life now. Sounds like you have done VERY good as well! Congrats to us longterm banders!!

I'm a bandster.... Low carb and an endurance events longer than about 90 minutes don't work for me either. I just hit a wall at about 90 minutes if I don't take in any carbs. I've only done half distance's and probably won't do a full marathon....just not sure I want to dedicate myself to that....YET. For me, a half takes about 2 hours at a reasonable pace, as I'm not a fast runner. I did my last one eating some carb heavy meals the day before and had half cup of oatmeal a couple of hours pre run. During my last half, I had some electrolyte drink mixed in with Water, and took a GU gel every half hour. And a pack of energy beans at the one hour time. At the end I felt great...that worked for me. YMMV. I really like Fiddleman's pre workout plan if I'm going on a longer bike ride...say more than 2 hours. I usually have some oatmeal before starting, then I personally find Clif Bars to be what works best for me during the ride. I will eat a half one at one hour, then another half about every 30- 45 minutes. I don't think I could do bars during a run....although I've never tried.

30 minutes at the gym, then a 5k run this morning after work. Happy Friday all!

Good Post Mikee57 ! And TMF....WOW! This pretty much sums it ALL up. "Success with the band is an integration of just the right restriction for each of us, knowledge of what constitutes healthy foods that stimulate satiety, Great aftercare, satiety signal awareness, eating and chewing etiquette, nutrition knowledge(carbs, calories, slider foods, liquids), and as someone said yesterday, the willingness to be a different person(foodwise) than before surgery."

Congrats on your success! You've certainly earned all the compliments. You look great!

Congrats and much continued success! Nice story, too.

Effects of smoking to me = causes my clothes/hair/truck, basically everything to STINK. Eyes to burn. I don't smoke...YUCK, but when I am at places they do, those are some of the ways it affects me. Similar to pre banding. Alcohol, I haven't noticed any difference pre or post banding.

Congrats!!! Happy days ahead

It'd be irresponsible of me to suggest how many calories/protein/carbs/fats/etc YOU need....as I'm not qualified to do such. I keep re-reading your previous posts.....from many years. Such as this http://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/81709-please-help-what-am-i-supposed-to-eat/ That was from 5 years ago. Have you not had any follow up with a WLS surgeon or clinic in 6 years? I suggest this hoping it comes across as the way its intended ( helpful ) , but if you've been doing the same things for the last 5+ years and not losing weight, maybe you should have something (adjustment) changed with the band.

@@ljones4521 After looking over your previous posts from prior years, I see you were banded in Mexico. Have you had any recent followups with a surgeon/fill center in your area? You've mentioned several previous times about needing to get back on track and one thing that may really help, is to know how your band is adjusted.?? For me, it's the most important part of this whole process. Otherwise, I'd just find myself trying to diet......and that doesn't work for me.

Congrats and continued success!

Congrats on 5+ years of banded life! I'm closing in on my 5 year bandiversary myself.