xavier

It all comes down to calories (taken in and burned)...I think if you are female you need to be under 1200 a day and get enough fills to make that easy or at least doable for you. You MUST know how many calories you are taking in every day to know why you arent losing weight...part of why we have all had weight problems is we have lied to ourselves a bit about what we eat and how much...do a log and find out exactly how much you are taking in...

Well I 'only' had to lose 70 to get to normal BMI so of course I had to self pay. I consider myself a low BMIer. I can eat anything or drink anything and I dont chew obsessively...BUT...I can only eat about a half a cup of anything at a time. My husband teases me that I eat so little I am a very cheap date! I can order a regular meal in a restaurant (come'on, girls we all know those portions are for an NFL linebacker, but we know we have eaten them!) and take the rest home and live on it for days!
I LOVE my band because at the right fill level it absolutely prevents me from overeating. I have never dieted, counted calories, eaten diet food or low fat food, or exercised since I had the band, Hell, I had done all that many times before and failed or should I say succeeded in getting fatter everytime i lost then regained the weight?!
I definitely eat and am more than happy with tiny portions but people do notice it when I eat with other people and I just had to get over that feeling of being judged. I didnt tell anyone except immediate fam that I am banded so I think my friends who see how little I eat think I am starving myself and maybe they even think I am judging them for eating the whole restaurant meal. I used to feel bad about that and would even overeat to the point of having to yak to try to cover how little I would eat...I dont do that any more I just dont care what people think! Getting to that point was probably the hardest thing about having the band. I went from a size 16 jeans to a size 6...nuff said!
Juicy, good luck...thanks for friending me and dont listen to people who say its about following the rules and living at the gym (if we could do that...) its all about restriction...fight till you get your RIGHT level of restriction!! After that, its a (tiny) piece of cake!

This whole process is very emotional and I think a lot of people dont realize it...I think a fill is very stressful and can leave you exhausted. Not the procedure itself but all the hopes and dreams associated with it and the natural fear of failure...

I went from a D to what I now call a C- or B+...well worth it to be in a size 6 pants or dress!

These words from Jen75 are gold...live by them EVERY time you get stuck!!!
"2. Definitely go back to liquids for 12-48 hours after a vomiting episode. Eating too quickly afterwards can inflame the esophagus and even though you may or may not be too tight. However, inflammation will make you tighter thus repeating the cycle over and over. (I've done this and finally realized what I was doing wrong) Then start all over introducing puréed and Mushie foods increasing to solids... EVERYTIME you vomit!!! "

Well I 'only' had to lose 70 to get to normal BMI so of course I had to self pay. I consider myself a low BMIer. I can eat anything or drink anything and I dont chew obsessively...BUT...I can only eat about a half a cup of anything at a time. My husband teases me that I eat so little I am a very cheap date! I can order a regular meal in a restaurant (come'on, girls we all know those portions are for an NFL linebacker, but we know we have eaten them!) and take the rest home and live on it for days!
I LOVE my band because at the right fill level it absolutely prevents me from overeating. I have never dieted, counted calories, eaten diet food or low fat food, or exercised since I had the band, Hell, I had done all that many times before and failed or should I say succeeded in getting fatter everytime i lost then regained the weight?!
I definitely eat and am more than happy with tiny portions but people do notice it when I eat with other people and I just had to get over that feeling of being judged. I didnt tell anyone except immediate fam that I am banded so I think my friends who see how little I eat think I am starving myself and maybe they even think I am judging them for eating the whole restaurant meal. I used to feel bad about that and would even overeat to the point of having to yak to try to cover how little I would eat...I dont do that any more I just dont care what people think! Getting to that point was probably the hardest thing about having the band. I went from a size 16 jeans to a size 6...nuff said!
Juicy, good luck...thanks for friending me and dont listen to people who say its about following the rules and living at the gym (if we could do that...) its all about restriction...fight till you get your RIGHT level of restriction!! After that, its a (tiny) piece of cake!

This post-op time where you dont have restriction just sucks and it can go on for a few months especially if your doc is cheap with fills. My doc says if your band is half full or less (5ccs in a 10cc band) you just dont really have the band helping you and until you get there you just suffer!
I am an old bander cruising along easily in maintenance but I remember those days well. These days I have great restriction and I am happily plateaued in the normal BMI range.
Here is good restriction for me: Before noon I usually have a Protein Drink or maybe some cheese because solid food just wont really go down. At lunch I can eat probably a half a sandwich on regular bread that you have at home. I might rip the crusts off because they are a bit dry. I could probably eat a third of a Subway sandwich and not even all the bread from that..I pick some of it away, I have a snack whenever I am hungry (around 3pm) of whatever I want or can find and its about a half cup.If I ate 4 oreo Cookies (bad, I know) I will be stuffed like on Thanksgiving! Same at dinner around 6pm or so I have a half or 3/4 cup of whatever we are having and I feel stuffed. My band is loosest in that evil after dinner time when I am usually watching TV and I do have to exert some discipline not to snack. A glass or two of wine keeps me off the snacking and also I will wake up with bad heartburn (which I guess I deserve!) if I eat anything after about 7:30...
I hope this helps!!
PS I also eat lots of things that are not so healthy and yes, of course I do eat when I am just not hungry! But my band gives me a bitchslap if I try to eat too much at any one time!

I always have cheese and little ziplocs of nuts in my purse. Good Protein and keeps you full along time.

There is a very thin (like deli sliced ham) muscle called your diaphragm that divides your body in half across the bottom part of your chest. It helps you breathe by moving up and down. Heart, lungs, and esophagus are above it and the liver, spleen, stomach, intestines are below it.
There can be a hole in it (well there is a hole for your esophagus but it can stretch out)and it lets a little of your stomach sneak up into your chest which can give you heartburn or even shortness of breath, I had one and they stapled it up during my lap band surgery.
Other hernias are holes in other places like a bump by your belly button can be a hole in the muscle wall that holds your intestines in.

Poor thing....this emotional time is very normal as you are on the edge of something so diiferent and both hopeful and scary. I am guessing exfiance didnt treat you like the goddess you are...yur band and weight loss will cahnge that...not because you become skinny and gorgeous but because you will learn to love yourself and not associate with people who dont value you!
The other thing is, as I think you know, food is anesthesia...when you can no longer use it to hide your feelings from yourself you will have to deal with them...hang in there...scream and cry -there is nothing wrong with either...it really does get better as you move toward your goals, and learn to love yourself!

Poor thing....this emotional time is very normal as you are on the edge of something so diiferent and both hopeful and scary. I am guessing exfiance didnt treat you like the goddess you are...yur band and weight loss will cahnge that...not because you become skinny and gorgeous but because you will learn to love yourself and not associate with people who dont value you!
The other thing is, as I think you know, food is anesthesia...when you can no longer use it to hide your feelings from yourself you will have to deal with them...hang in there...scream and cry -there is nothing wrong with either...it really does get better as you move toward your goals, and learn to love yourself!

Its just a matter of time! It sounds like you are doing everything just right and you just have to wait it out. Patience is the hardest part about the banded life I think!

I would never advance my diet in front of other people...this band requires concentration at first to focus on chewing and slowing down...at a party you are at high risk for getting distracted and getting stuck and possibly having to yak in front of other people...
just my opinion...plus you will have a lifetime of parties where you will have to have new behaviors different from the pre-band obesity days....this thing is for life!

For me green zone is as simple as very full an any food of about 1/2 to 3/4 cup. A couple more bites and I am too full.In the green zone I lost 5-6 pounds a month consistently and I never exercised or ate any diet foods or dieted or counted calories.
Here's my little trick for head hunger. Ok, so you are hungry and someone offers you an apple or to have all your bills paid. (the apple has to be a food that is ok but not a favorite) If you refuse the money for the apple you are actually physically hungry and the body will not deny true hunger in exchange for money...if you would rather have the money, you are having head hunger meaning you want food but you are not physically hungry.
Now once you know its head hunger saying no to it is a lifelong struggle!

For me green zone is as simple as very full an any food of about 1/2 to 3/4 cup. A couple more bites and I am too full.In the green zone I lost 5-6 pounds a month consistently and I never exercised or ate any diet foods or dieted or counted calories.
Here's my little trick for head hunger. Ok, so you are hungry and someone offers you an apple or to have all your bills paid. (the apple has to be a food that is ok but not a favorite) If you refuse the money for the apple you are actually physically hungry and the body will not deny true hunger in exchange for money...if you would rather have the money, you are having head hunger meaning you want food but you are not physically hungry.
Now once you know its head hunger saying no to it is a lifelong struggle!

Well this is going to be some tough love...
you may think your life was 'full' with eating with friends and family but in reality if the food was the most important thing it actually was kind of empty. and with your friend the value there should be her and of course you and your connection, again if it was food it wasnt the friendship you thought it was. This is a time to enjoy your life and the people in it without the anesthesia of food.
If you reread your post and change all the food reference to cocaine you can see it just wasnt healthy. This is a scary and exciting time to see who you are and what you value without food at the center of it...I can tell you I was just like you and now I just feel so free...I enjoy food but it just isnt that important to me now...I am living my life! Best of luck...you will get plenty of hugs and love here and you deserve it but I am the harsh voice of reality that I think you also need because i needed it too and I think we all do!

Well this is going to be some tough love...
you may think your life was 'full' with eating with friends and family but in reality if the food was the most important thing it actually was kind of empty. and with your friend the value there should be her and of course you and your connection, again if it was food it wasnt the friendship you thought it was. This is a time to enjoy your life and the people in it without the anesthesia of food.
If you reread your post and change all the food reference to cocaine you can see it just wasnt healthy. This is a scary and exciting time to see who you are and what you value without food at the center of it...I can tell you I was just like you and now I just feel so free...I enjoy food but it just isnt that important to me now...I am living my life! Best of luck...you will get plenty of hugs and love here and you deserve it but I am the harsh voice of reality that I think you also need because i needed it too and I think we all do!

Well this is going to be some tough love...
you may think your life was 'full' with eating with friends and family but in reality if the food was the most important thing it actually was kind of empty. and with your friend the value there should be her and of course you and your connection, again if it was food it wasnt the friendship you thought it was. This is a time to enjoy your life and the people in it without the anesthesia of food.
If you reread your post and change all the food reference to cocaine you can see it just wasnt healthy. This is a scary and exciting time to see who you are and what you value without food at the center of it...I can tell you I was just like you and now I just feel so free...I enjoy food but it just isnt that important to me now...I am living my life! Best of luck...you will get plenty of hugs and love here and you deserve it but I am the harsh voice of reality that I think you also need because i needed it too and I think we all do!

I went to Dr Oliak in Orange and I think he and his office are great. I know its not San Diego but I live in Pismo Beach and the drive was worth it for me...

My story is I eat less and exercise more...its the truth! The rest is seriously no ones business.

I eat everything...just not too much of anything! seriously there is nothing I cant eat but I eat very small meals...

Lost and regained plus some for 20 years. I seriously believe dieting ruined my chances of ever being fit and healthy.If I could do it again I would in a snap and much sooner...even the self pay! Best of luck!

Well good luck with all your tests but please dont hate on the cheaters...we all got to the point of needing weight loss surgery for the same reason...we cheat on diets! Also wait to pass judgement until you have walked a mile (a year?!) in our (banded) moccasins!

I lost weight plenty of times before the band but always gained it back with extra. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results...I finally had to do something different and I did get different results.

I lost weight plenty of times before the band but always gained it back with extra. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results...I finally had to do something different and I did get different results.