GuyMontag

A word of caution on the eliptical machine. I used it very successfully at rehabilitating my injured knees many years ago but I've read that the calorie indicators on the machines are flawed. It seems that once you build up a resistance to the specific exercise the eliptical trainer uses you don't burn as many calories as a comparable workout like jogging. Many people think they are getting a great workout on it because they are sweating but fail to pay attention to their target heart rate which is the best indicator of your fat burning level. I'm not knocking them but just offering a word of warning. Make sure you're hitting your target heart rate for maximum fat burning power!

I'm sorry to hear about your loss. For me there was no 'doing it on my own'. That just wasn't an option. Every time I lost weight I gained more back and there was no end in sight. Plus, you get up to a certain weight and it starts adding on exponentially. I'm soooooo glad I finally got WLS. My only regret is not doing it sooner. Good luck on your journey!

Keep up the good work!

Try living by this rule, if you're hungry enough to eat then eat a full meal. If you're not eating a meal then don't eat at all.

I will freely admit the band is not for everyone. It is not a set-it-and-forget-it surgery that many people think it is or actually need. It's worked for me and I've been happy for almost 5 years. But I've literally worked my ass off to make it where I am today. Will I always be happy with it? Who knows. So far it was a good decision for me and I have to work continuously to make it successful. The lap band does take more work, in my opinion, than other surgeries and I have seen many clinics/hospitals do a poor job of educating their patients on the lap band and the lifestyle choices that make it successful which is a shame.

The band definitely has its ups and downs, that's for sure! Usually more ups than downs though.

That's too bad you got one of the older models before they had made the advances they have today. Hope everything works out for you and you get the weight back off.

I jog outside only because it's so dang easy for me to get off the treadmill. If I've jogged a couple of miles away I have no choice but to jog back home. Lol. I think walking/jogging is probably one of the best cardio workouts you can do for weight loss. Swimming and biking are also excellent.

Alcohol usually loosens the band initially (some may try and correct me...I know it doesn't physically loosen the band...it's just a common term for it which actually means it relaxes the stomach allowing more food through than normal) and then tightens you up the next day as your body dehydrates some. You may have slightly dilated your pouch. You could call your doc and ask to get some fluid out and that might be the best course of action. If it was me, I'd take some liquid motrin to help bring the swelling down, go on liquids only for a few days, and hydrate hydrate hydrate.

Consistency. Whatever you do, do it consistently. Make it a part of your everyday lifestyle.

I don't generally gurgle any more 4 1/2 years out.

I was able to diet before but I always gained it back. It wasn't until I lost weight using a tool like the lap band that I truly understood how much better life could be without yo-yo dieting. Even if I go through bad periods of weight loss it's only 5lbs as opposed to 50 like it used to be. People that are not significantly overweight cannot understand the burden and challenge it is to lose weight or even stop from gaining. It's really beyond us and that's where a tool like the lap band comes in. It may not do 100% of the work for us but even 50% or more makes it worth it and effective. Good luck!

I told them. I've heard horror stories of bulimia intervention days that people were surprised with because they didn't tell their coworkers!

I doubt you can feel your band. Unless you got your surgery in a back alley of New Delhi. Just take deep breaths and any pain meds they gave you and you'll be fine. It's very scary at first but each day gets better.

I was suffering from sleep apnea and had just bought a CPAP when I found out I was getting surgery in a couple of weeks. I literally used the CPAP for a week, started losing weight, and never needed it again. You might want to get rechecked.

Can you describe your symptoms some more? That sounds awfully unusual to be that sick from the band without problems.

You get used to the confused look on waiter/waitresses' faces after the 1000th time you eat less than half your meal yet still ask for a box to take it with you. They assume you didn't like it and yet you want to take it with you? Confusion!!!

Absolutely. Once you start getting good restriction that's when the real weight loss begins.

It is at first until you get more comfortable with your band. I tend to eat a lot of appetizers because meals are just so large. I've also learned to go ahead and order a water and just let it sit there as opposed to going through the whole, I don't drink with meals ordeal. I don't drink it...but letting it just sit there assures others that I am okay. Lol. I also do a lot of take home boxes because most meals are big enough for two people. Early on I would order stuff that I knew I could eat fine in front of others likes soups. I rarely if eve order anything with a bun or in sandwich form and I never get pizza. If I do get stuck with pizza then I either just scrape the toppings off and eat them and explain that I'm doing an Atkins like diet or if it's someone I know I just tell them it's easier for me to eat like that with the lapband.

You go girl!

I'd hit my sweet spot, lose weight and loosen the band, sweet spot, lose weight, loosen band. I did this for the first 9 months. After that it was just tweaking it to the right place which took a total of about a year.

I wonder if sleeve patients have issues with dumping or perhaps something similar. It seems like each surgery has it's own little annoyances, lap banders get stuck, bypass patients dump...

That's BS that they charge cash customers one rate and insurance companies another. Again, policies like that are what drive up insurance rates and yet all people do is b***h about how greedy the insurance companies are. Sigh.

Did you see they recently did a study that found a difference in the body chemistry of 'rich' people and 'poor' people? The currently theory is that poor people eat more from a can and less 'real' food which leaves more chemicals in their system. Yuck!

It's crap like that that drives our insurance rates up