christa94

do you feel your daughter would be mature enough to handle the surgery and life there after?

why does being stress make the band tight?

do you love your band or do you wish you would not have gotten it? i was thinking about the band and the journey over the weekend:finding a doctor in Mexico, getting it financed, getting my then fiance/now husband on board with it all, the actual surgery, immediate weeks post op, learning the band, losing weight,pb's, etc. then i saw a couple of church members that have had the gastric bypass and i thanked God for letting me get the band. one person has lost like 200 pounds in a year. one had lost alot of weight from having the surgery some years ago, now she has regained it all then some, then another girl had it 2 years ago and lost, but has stopped and she is still pretty big. i thank God for giving me an alternative that i think is great--for me. unlike with the bypass, i can control my weight loss years from now. if i begin to plateu, i could get a fill and just start my losing again. and i don't have to worry about malnutrition. i didn't think it would be as hard a work as it it. let me explain, portion control has always been an issue for me. i knew with wls your portions HAD to be altered. planning a complete meal in only 3-4 ozs was hard. how do i get in everything in 4 oz meals: Protein and veggies and carbs. i got it down now. handling cravings was easy at first. i didn't want to eat any of the wrong stuff that might hurt the band. bread is still completely out. but now, i realize Cookies and cake can make it through the band. so, that self discipline has got to kick in and I HAVE to make the right choices. the band can't do that for me. then there is exercise. at first, the weight was coming off without exercise. now, i have incorporated it in my journey experience. what a dunce i was for not doing it sooner. but, i find it easier to do 36 pounds lighter than before! pb's. had never heard of this before the band and still didn't really understood it till i had one! if there is anything i can take away from the journey, it would be those and slimes! but, they help remind me to slow it down and chew and enjoy food-something i didn't really do when i was wolfin' it down before

hmm. if you are a compulsive overeater, you should probably get some help for that before you get the band. some people eat around the band and overeat(yes it is possible). overeating can lead to slips, dilated pouches, and other issues. i think, and of course this is my opinion only, you can't go into this thinking that the band is going to save you from yourself. it is a tool. you have to make the right food choices and obey the band rules. it won't stop your desire to overeat or eat the wrong things. you gotta deal with makes you a compulsive overeater. i used to be a really bad bulimic/anorexic, so i know first hand that you must deal with your issues. had i not dealt with mine, it would have been pointless to get the band. i would have slipped from vomitting or worse.

pinky and barb-the tight at night things is a blessing and a curse at the same time if that is possible. the blessing-don't eat alot at night and thus have stopped the nighttime munchies. i used to eat dinner then HAVE to have a midnight snack of ice cream, chips, or SOMETHING before i laid my head down for the night. not so now. the curse-i eat dinner and it feels like a rock sitting there all night long. and if i have a wee too much, i feel like stick a fork in me and i may explode all over the place. and sex is out for the DH if i get to feeling like that cauz all i will want to do after feeling like that is find a comfy spot on my side and stay that way! he has tried to bribe me with "exercising it off" but, that doesn't work. he is a creative one!

hello all. well i had an okay weekend. pb'ed some awlful on saturday. i was super hungry (wasn't doing my small meal thing every 2 hours because i was at a church function). well, when i got in the car, i dove into some fish. i had a big bite and didn't chew chew chew. i figured since it was fish and soft it would go down. well, we can all guess how that played out for the next 15-20 minutes. puking in a bag trying to drive down the road! chewing is one of the main bandster moves/rules that i get slack on from time to time. and i pay the price. never as bad as saturday, but, bad none the less. i am increasing my exercise to 4 or more times a week. seems to keep the scales moving in a downward direction or staying where they are with no upward movement. plus, i am finding it to be a good stress reliever. also finding that my band seems to tighten up at night. anyone else notice that?

marys-will you pursue another wls like the sleeve or mini gastric bypass. others have found success with those when the band failed.

wow. how have you been doing since you got off your meds?

mary and beachgirl-do you all get in your 60g of protein a day? what do your doctors have to say about your weight loss?

my husband suggested that i look at pics as well. we took the before picture of me about 1 hour before surgery. it is still in the camera waiting to be developed. he has been wanting to take after shots of me so that i could see myself side by side, but i keep telling him to wait until i have made noticeable changes. he is like, duh you have!

lildarlin, i live in rochster. i will try to give him a call soon. maybe we should get together sometime and chat since we are both in rochester. i think it would be great to connect with another bandster. i often wished i could sit and talk with someone that really and truly understands the journey and not just my hubbie (great as he is)

i have this post going on another site, but would like to know if any bandsters here want to contribute. question: does anyone have body image issues? i mean, i started out at 188 and a really tight 14 and a tight 16. i was banded on 6/29. i am 5'3. now some may think 188 is not that bad, but it is when nothing you do to lose weight works and you actually gain! so, i was banded. now, i am about 150, my goal weight was 140-145. now i am in an 8/10 very comfortably. tight clothes are gone. the scale is down, other people comment on my weight loss, but when i look in the mirror, i see the same 188 image.my husband says i clearly don't see myself how others see me and that i have issues. he is afraid that when i get to my goal i will be dissatisfied and get on the pursuit to lose more.

lildarlin, what is your doctor's number? does he do fills on folks that were banded in mexico? the docs at highland won't give me after care or fills because i was banded in mx and don't have insurance.

i was 188lbs when i had the surgery on 6/29. i am 5'3. i have lost about 37.5 pounds since the surgery. others with higher bmi and weight that had it in june have lost the same amount. some more, some less. by now i would have liked to have lost about 45lbs. i am a little behind my schedule. and by christmas i want to be at a total of 140. when was your surgery? do you exercise to and get in your protein?

yep. i knew both could be perform laproscopically. but, i liked the idea of the band being reversible and that pregnancy should be no issue since if you need to you could get any fill unfilled until after the pregnancy. plus the bypass is permanent and alot of people that get that done, restretch their new stomach over time and are right back where they started. with the band you get fills that help continue to give you restriction over time. and there was no way with a lower bmi and no co-morbidities would someone do the bypass on me!

barbara465-you are right. be gentle with yourself. i know it is easy to get caught in the "push yourself" trap and wanting to lose the weight as fast as possible. but, that within itself may add stress to the journey that is counter productive. all we can do is the right thing and our part and let the band do its part. it is a blessing indeed to not be a cup spitter, or hacking up food all the time and being overfull and other issues. now, losing hair is not the "lose" i was going for, but i love wigs and weave anyway, so.... i am realizing that i have real body image issues. i have lost 37.5 pounds, i had a lower bmi, i have gone from like a 14-16 to a size 8-10, others can see the weight loss, but i can't. i mean i know (with my intellilect) that i have lost weight. the scales say it, my clothes say it, yet when i look in the mirror, i see the same person. anyone else struggle with this?

getting it down is tough, no doubt. i used to try to get the Protein in by eating, but i just could never get in more than about 35g. so i went back to the shakes. we aren't supposed to have coffee? why not? my husband and i are trying to conceive so i switched to decaf, but i still sneak in regular coffee about 4 times a week? is it bad for the band? i haven't had a fill yet. i am scared to. i have not had any problems and i have this terrible fear that it will be the beginning of the end. don't get me wrong, i should probably get one because i have to work hard without it.

do you feel hungry when you only have 1000 calories a day? here is what a typical day for me looks like: *wake up at :615am *protein drink on the ride to work at 7:15am *morning snack at 9:30am (usually a fruit mix of strawberries, pineapples and peaches, or ham and cheese stick wrap or something that totals 125-180 calories.) *another am snack usually around 11am (rice cakes, low carb/low sugar yogurt, fruit, baby carrot sticks--something light) *lunch around 12:30 or 1:00PM. i try to make this substantial. maybe leftovers from dinner or a salad with tuna or some Protein * mid afternoon snack between 4-5:30pm. (something light. not too heavy since dinner is approaching *dinner around 7 no later than 8pm (lately i have really been aiming for dinner no later than 7pm) i try for 250-300 calories per meal (brkf., lunch, and dinner) then i have the 3 Snacks. sometimes it happens like that, sometimes it doesn't. i try not to be too anal about it. and i have been trying to get that exercise in too. question-why do you have Soups? they go right through the band right, then you are hungry again. could you have something more solid that would stick around for a while?

barbara465-is 1500 too much for you? what is your goal as far as calorie intake is concerned? do you eat snacks and meals(5 or 6 a day)

my question is this. what happens if after you reach your goal weight with the band and then it has to be removed? if you have already had wls and been successful, does that automatically make you a candidate for another wls. or will you have to gain tons of weight and have a high bmi again?

the quality of care an individual will receive on medicaid does not compare to the quality of care someone will receive individually paying. don't they want their mom to have the best? why save money for your elderly years if you are just going to get on medicaid and let the government pay for you in the end. and again, what they have to offer is certainly not the greatest.

barbara465, if your leg is bothering you,perhaps you should have for yourself a goal to exercise every other day. pushing it when there is already an injury may set you back even more for longer. i know the protein drink thing is a drag, but it really helps me alot. i tried getting my protein in with solids only and found i was constantly coming up short. so with the protein drink that totals 46g i am easier to meet that 60g goal. also, do you like tuna and canned pink salmon? it makes a nice filling lunch if you add it to salad/lettuce. another thing i do for breakfast sometimes is take a string cheese stick (about 80 or 100 calories) and wrap 2 pieces of turkey lunch meat or ham lunch meat around it (meat is about 60 calories total) and it that. it is filling and you get about 8g of protein from the cheese and about 5 from the meat. also tuna has about 13g of protein per serving as does that salmon. and that is for about 2 ozs of meat.

barbara465, i totally agree with you that it is frustrating to read posts where people are doing things that are totally against the band rules and trying to get around the band and in my opinion, not working their band. but, those same folks are setting themselves up for complications and set backs and weight loss plateus or failures. i shake my head when i read them and say to myself, "why spend near $10K if you are going to behave like this?" it reminds me of how i don't want to be. i got the band for success, nothing less. and when i find i am not succeeding, i reevaluate myself and take inventory and see if i have inadvertantly slipped into old way that are counterproductive. stay motivated. i enjoy reading your posts. they are enlightening and motivating. your long post last week about protein and some of the general band rules were especially helpful. doing the right thing always pays off in the end. there is a passage of scripture in the Bible that states, "the race is not given to the swift nor to the strong, but to the one that endureth" i kinda feel this bandster journey is like that.

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!