christa94

good morning to all. well, here is my report. last week i decided i needed to get a handle on things. by that i mean, do a food and exercise log to see how much i really was and wasn't taking in because i have been at a stand still for a while. i thought i was taking in about 1000 calories a day, but in honesty, i really was taking in more. so, last week, i charted everything that went in, and i even got an estimate of how much i burned off with exercise. what i found worked best for me is having my protein shake in the morning (i have 2 scoops of the powder to equal 46g). this is at about 7:20 on my drive in to work.then about 2 hours later(between 9 and 9:30am) i have a morning snack (fruit and cheese stick or something similar) then about 2 hours later (about 11 or 11:30am) i will have another snack. then at about 12:30 or 1 pm i have lunch. a full 4oz. of food. this holds me till about 4:30pm. then i have a light snack on the drive home which is about 30mins.-45 mins. then on the days that i exercise, when i get home i drink some more water then exercise for about 45 mins. then, i have dinner no later than 7pm. i am done eating and drinking for the night at dinner. i usually go to bed around 11 and at that time i might have about 4 oz or so of water to wash down my nighttime meds. i got in 3 days of exercise last week (which to some is not much, but for me it was a challenge as i just started exercising again). i lost 5 pounds last week. the 2 that i had regained the previous week and 3 more! i really think drinking the protein shake and all was really really helpful at jump starting things. we will see if it continues this week.

socalgal3--my lou would love you for that comment. he seems to be down for whatever whenever! marriage certainly takes some getting used to! but i love it!

i just came back from lunch and i feel yucky. i had 2oz of chicken and a small salad. very full. i had the same amount last night at dinner and was done for the rest of the night. maybe i need to reduce my portions down, but i am trying to keep them at 3-4ozs. anything less than that then i am hungry in an hour or so. ugh!!! i was so uncomfortable last night after dinner (which was finished at about 8:05) that i went and layed down in the bed. husband came up at around 10:30 with that look in his eye. honestly, didn't feel much like obliguing, but i did and had to stop because i was just too full and uncomfortable. hope that wasn't too much info!

lucyman, the good part about the holidays for me will be that whoever i am around is aware that i have had the surgery, so they will be a source of support. no, "is that all you are having?" or "eat more" that people tend to do. i will have to really talk to myself and be firm with myself with sweets though. i will not deny myself but, i have to also be moderate and sober minded and remember that i can't overindulge. the best way for me to combat sweets is not to have them in the house. maybe a dessert at someone's house and call it quits. easier said than done, but that is the plan. daily exercise too during the holiday season will also be on the agenda. i also plan to give my best friend and husband the permission to hold me accountable for what i have had and if i exercised. very big thing for me because i don't usually like to be questioned like that and checked up on. you know what i mean?

i agree. if you feel you NEED this, go to mexico. i had a bmi of 35 and 0 comorbidities, but i just couldn't lose weight no matter what i did and was going nuts and having to fight really hard thoughts of going back to ways that have ensured weight loss in the past, like bingeing and purging and starving myself which allowed me to lose 150 in 9 months (and almost be dead). you would think almost dying and having no functional life would be motivation enough not to go back to that old life, but trying plan after plan, eating right, exercise, drinking tons of water, not eating after a certain hour, diet pills, shakes and the like with NO success made me say, i am going to get the band. i have no insurance, but i had to get it done. i felt like i was going to seriously lose it if i didn't do something drastic fast. i hated how my body looked. i didn't want my then fiance/now husband to touch me and i was no longer confident about myself, which is a major no-no because diminished self esteem just leads to a slippery slope that i have traveled once before. so, i convinced my fiance to co-sign on a medical loan with me. we were approved and in mexico 3 weeks later. it could have been sooner except my schedule in june was jammed packed. my scheduled freed up on june 27th and i was on a plan to mexico on the 28th and i was banded later on that night. that was 4 1/2 months ago and 33 pounds ago.

well, i got my exercise in last night. "the firm" workout series. those women are no joke. haven't experienced my scale go down since incorporating exercise into my program. that is a discouraging thought. for the past week i have really tried to put some control factors in place for myself because i can't get a fill for a while. first, the bariatric doctors around here won't touch me because i am a self pay and had the surgery in mexico. and we don't have the extra money now for me to go to ohio to see dr.c (8 hour drive and my husband and i would have to go down on a thurs and have the appt on friday-so that would be 2 days from work) so, i have to try to do this on my own without the help of a fill. sometimes i wonder if i would have just been better off getting the mini gastric bypass, but then i know i couldn't have gotten that anyway. my beginning bmi was 35 and i had no comorbidities. i am just in a mood.

momotrips-i am going to continue to monitor it. see if my timing is right (by that i mean the yucky feeling and increased bathroom trips are increased with sweets). if it continues to be too much of an issue, i will of course see my internist and go from there. thanks to all for sharing their experiences, which is all i was after, certainly no diagnosis.

mindy, i would never come to a chat board looking for a true diagnosis for anything. i am trying to see if anyone else with the band experiences some of the same things i do. i profit nothing from having dumping syndrome except for many trips to the restroom and an overall feeling of blah.

my husband and i tried the colon cleanse a little earlier this year. i received some info/newsletter about the benefits of it in the mail. we were convinced it would be beneficial, especially for him since he is 56 and had never cleansed himself. so for 2 months he did it. he didn't really experience any of the benefits. no parasites releaesd from his instestines, no overall change in mood, no weight loss. just regular bowels. i got sick to my stomach from the cleanse and threw up a couple of times because the herbs or whatever is in them was way to pure for my system. it was the stuff that was supposed to scrub your instestines.

i have my gallbladder. unless they took it and sold it on the black market! never had any of these issue pre-band, and like i said, only seem to have them when i eat sweets and/or candy. the logical response would be to not eat these items.

carlene, no testing of any sort at all lately.pregnant? hmm. my husband and i would like, but i don't think so. i took 3 tests last month and they were all negative

socalgal13- no, i don't measure inches. perhaps i should. i will post the exercise whenever i do it. i'll look for your posts as well!

well, i have many of those dumping syndrome symptoms besides the toilet. and it is not just with sugar free foods. i know they are loaded with sugar alchols that are known for causing issues. but i am talking about regular sweets with good ole fashion sugar

does the stomach re-stretch with this gastric sleeve? like over time?

thanks for everyone's feedback. i know i am not lactose intolerant, and i know what sugar alchols like sorbitol and others can do to you, but that isn't what i am talking about. i just can't seem to handle the sweets without major problems later. perhaps it is a good thing. or perhaps i will just know i have a toilet adventure coming ahead if i endulge myself. i am trying to get these last 15 pounds off and should stay away from sweets anyway.

pinkylee, the posting daily about the exercise thing was just a suggestion. i am open to whatever. i just know that i seem to do better when i am accountible to others in regards to exercise. according to barbara465's info, we should be exercising daily. i am certainly not there yet. i noticed that i exercised yesterday/last night, had about 1300 calories total for the day; exercised off about 280 of them and had gained 2 pounds when i got on the scale this morning! talk about pissed. i have stopped eating past 8pm, so i was not at all pleased about the increase. i didn't gain 2 pounds when i was on my honeymoon and i did way more damage then than i did yesterday when i was supposedly doing the right things!!!!!

michele, there is a doctor in rochester at highland hospital's bariatric unit that does gastric bypasses and lapbands. look in the frontier yellow pages under physicans and bariatric surgeons. i tried to go to them for a fill but they won't see me because i don't have any insurance and would be a self pay. i also think they don't want to touch me because i got my band placed in Mexico.

maybe we should go on an exercise challenge? we did/do a water challenge, why not an exercise challenge to get ourselves motivated. i have no clue what the parameters could or should be since everyone has their own issues, etc. but, maybe challenge ourselves to work out for 30 minutes a day for 3 or 4 times a week and then do some sort of daily posting whenever you do the exercise for 30 minutes? i don't know just a suggestion. i know my goal was 3 times last week for 30 minutes. i did 2 times last week for 30 minutes. i pulled something and wasn't able to do it the 3rd time for last week but am going to do it tonight. what does everyone think?

well hello everyone! i haven't been here in a long while. but, i am back. still getting adjusted to married life. actually just came back from the 7 day honeymoon. disney cruise. can i say food! food! food! escargot 2 nights in a row, breakfasts, snacks, dinner, and snacks! i thank God for the band, without it, i know i would have been way out of control. gained only a pound and i am thankful for that. i made alot of bad food choices and i am trying to get myself back on the right track now that i am back home. i ate desserts everyday even a couple of times a day and now i am trying to get myself back to normal. so, i have started exercising. thus far twice this week. i have also taken myself back down to trying to have 3 no more than 4 oz of food at a time and not drinking at all with meals. it is so easy to get off of the beaten path. i am not the kind of person that you can give an inch because i would take a couple of miles!

thanks for the well wishes! i have a couple of nsv-- 1. put on a pair of jeans a couple of weeks ago on the off chance that i would be able to squeeze into them. and they fit. loosely. had room. didn't "cut" in my vaginal area when i sit down. i almost fell out. 2.on the honeymoon getaway we went shopping (something i hate to do because, well you all know how it is) went to old navy and bought a skirt that was a size 8. again, almost fell out. me in an 8? i never dreamed it. 3.the wedding dress... had to be taken up about 2 inches in the back from when i originally ordered it before the band was placed. a strange thing happened the other day. i had a golf ball off of some matzo that i was eating. it shocked me because i haven't had that since week 3 (the golf ball that is). i eat matzo all the time. and i find that i can eat just about anything provided that i chew it up well.

hello everyone! well, i am married!! the ceremony was on saturday and it was beautiful! the mini- honeymoon was too. question. where is everyone getting the little award ribbon with the june banded thing? i want one! things have been going pretty good with me and the band. the scale has been constantly moving in the right direction and it is finally noticeable to me. i didn't have to get the fill after all so that was good. hope things look up for everyone. this band can be trying at times

i am from rochester! and having big trouble finding a fill doctor that will take me since i am a self pay and had the surgery in mexico

regina and others, you are all looking great!!!! my scale has been moving, 5 pounds in one week! amazing. i was beginning to wonder if the thing even worked! i did make some behavior modifications though. i went back to measuring my foods and making sure that i only eat 3 ozs at a time. even just drinking no more than 4 ozs at a time in 30 minutes. i think perhaps i was getting a little laxed with all of that and eyeballing the food and having too much. or having enough to maintain, but not lose. the wedding is next week and i am stressed out completely! so, the weight loss been a great thing!

the scale hasn't moved in about 4 weeks. should i jump start it by going back on liquids?

i hate when folks get on a thread talking about how they can get wendy's and burger king and a host of other foods that we certainly should not be eating and then witch and complain about not losing. and i hate it when folks attack people that are just venting their issues and folks that attack other folks. it is all nonsense and craziness and takes away from the effectiveness of the board and i hate when folks start a thread with a specific question or concern and people respond with something that has absolutely NOTHING to do with that particular thread