niecyrenee

Welcome Kelly!! Congrats on the approval and your upcoming surgery! April 20th starts your new life! The band is a fantastic tool. Good luck with your pre-op diet and keep us posted on how you are doing.

:wow2: 10 POUNDS!! :hail: How did I miss that?!? :whoo:That is super Teresita!!!! :woot:You keep rockin it!!

I have been reading reports lately that sit-ups and crunches are not what we make them out to be. They (supposed experts) say they don't work for getting rid of the tummy, so what do I do to get rid of it?!?! I'm talking the upper tummy...at least that's what I call it. The lower tummy isn't really a problem. Anyone have any exercise tips/advice for getting rid of it?

Welcome kkitchens! Your surgery date is fast approaching! It is an exciting and anxious time but it's well worth it. I am no where near my goal but I already feel so much better. The band has given me my life back! Sounds like your sister is doing great. Tell her good job for me! She has so much to be happy about! You will be joining her soon! Best of luck and keep us posted!

Welcome twhite! Glad to have you join us! Your weight loss is great! Congrats!! For some good food ideas, check out the Food Forum. There are some great ideas there.

Welcome to LBT! You have found a fantastic site! Congrats on your weight loss so far; you are doing great! I was banded in November as well. What was your surgery date?

Welcome to LBT mommalee! Congrats on your upcoming surgery! You will do great. The band has given me my life back and I can't praise it enough! I love to see others who are tired of it and are doing something about it! I was lucky that my insurance covered my surgery but I would have had it even if it didn't. You are so right that the sacrifice will be well worth it. Getting the weight off and living a long, healthy life is worth it all! Best of luck to you and keep us updated on how things are going!

Welcome Cindy! As others have said, post your story and pics! It's so inspiring to hear from those that have succeeded! If you are looking for a place to call home, this is it! This is a fantastic site! The people are the best!

Hey Sandi! Welcome to LBT! The waiting game is the hardest. I sure hope you have your approval soon because the banded life is the best!! This is a fantastic site and there is a wealth on info on here. Read up and if you can't find what you are looking for, just ask. Best of luck to you! Keep us updated on how things are going.

Glad to have you finally join us! And you are right, it is the best board around! There are fantastic people here and tons of info! What I really wanted to say was good luck on your surgery! You will do great! You are about to begin a whole new life for yourself. It will be a great ride! Let us know how you are doing.

Boy! I am talkative today!

I have to admit, I laughed when I read your post. I don't like her either! I thought maybe it was just me; I'm sure glad it's not. My dh doesn't like her either but I assumed it was because I couldn't stand her. That's funny! I don't like her attitude. The way she came across to me was that I obviously didn't know how to conduct my life and since I got myself into such a mess, it was up to her to "fix" me. I don't need fixing thank you very much! UGH! She just rubs me the wrong way. She is the only one of the team that I just can't stand! In fact, I cancelled my last appt. that I was supposed to have with her because of bad weather and I have never rescheduled. I don't intend to either! I had been through all her stages and from then on out she was just going to go over my food journals and discuss it with me. I am not paying her a bunch of money to just look at my food journal. Not happening! I can't say for sure that you will have another fill on the 24th but I am guessing you probably will. That's how mine went. How he does me is ask if I am having hunger I couldn't deal with and if I feel like I need a fill. That's why I didn't get one this last time because I feel like I am to the point now that I can deal with the hunger but that may not be true when I go back on June 1st and if I can't, I'll get a fill. I don't know if you are interested in anything like this or not....and I know that the nutritionist would shoot me for it but oh well. Tann, a bandster on here that I am in Spring Bootcamp with told me about her "diet" that her doctor told her to follow. It's like Atkins but it's strict! It's called a meat and egg fast. What you do is eat nothing but lean meat and eggs for a period of time. Some mayo and some sauces are allowed as well as long as they are in moderation. I only do it for 2 or 3 days at a time and then take sometimes up to a week off. It can mess with your bowels too so you gotta watch that. Anyway, you can have nothing fried, nothing breaded and stay away from bacon and sausage. What I do is have hard boiled eggs (with the Miracle Whip and Benefiber ) for Breakfast and then eat a lot of boneless, skinless chicken breast or dear steak grilled (my dh is a big time hunter) or hamburger without bun; stuff like that. It's not an easy eating plan to follow but it does work! I don't do it as often as I did at first because my weightloss is good without it but every once in a while, I like to kick it up a bit. While eating on the m/e, I have been known to drop 5 lbs. in two days. It really takes the weight off. If you want to read some more about it, check out the Getting Ready for Spring Bootcamp Thread on the Lap-Band Support Forum.

Teresita! How are you girl? I have missed you!

Some may be deleted but I know something else must be happening on my end because people will post comments on how nice they look or whatever and I see nothing. I am listing several pics in case some of them have been deleted. Here are some of them that I don't see pics on: Before and After Pictures Thread: Page 43 Post 632 & 638 Page 45 Post 666 Picture Page Thread: Page 39 Post 571, 572, 575 & 581 Page 40 Post 590

If your bowels aren't moving I would venture to say that's a lot of it. I know when mine aren't, it makes a BIG difference in the scale. I use Benefiber. It works good for me. You can have 2 tsp 3 times a day but I have never needed it that much in one day. Sometimes it may take a day to have any effect but it always ends up working for me. They say it's tasteless but when I mix it with just straight Water, I can tell. I don't like it that way. But I have mixed it with my Protein Shake, sf pudding, orange juice, orange flavored water and even eggs. I will boil an egg and mash it up and put the benefiber on it and a little Miracle Whip and mix it all together. It's really good. Like a deviled egg. Those guidelines on how much you can and should eat are crazy. I know that I can eat more than they really want me to but that's life. The thing that Sylvia told me to do and use as a guide is to eat really slow. Take small bites and chew it until it's mush. Then only allow yourself to eat for 30 mins. Our nutritionist told us to only eat 3 times a day but somedays it just doesn't work. I'm hungry more than that and I know that if I wait till meal time, I will go overboard. I don't see anything wrong with having a small snack in between meals if needed. I try to keep it to something that's not bad for me and then I don't feel as quilty. Some band doctors tell their patients to eat 5-6 small meals a day. I think we all have to find what works for us and do it. What works for one won't work for another. I know our nutritionist knows her stuff. BUT, she's like what, 100 lbs. soaking wet! She can't TRULY understand what it's like for us. So I take her advice but I have to adapt it to fit my life. It's been working just fine. Do you only weigh once a week? I know they say to not get on the scale too much but for me, it actually helps me. I weigh every single day! It's motivation for me. If it's up, I want to work double time to get it back down and if it's down, it makes me want to work hard to see it down the next morning as well. In fact, mine was up one today so I know that I have to work my butt off today and watch my food intake really close to make sure tomorrow it's back down.

Rhubarb is wonderful! Yum!

Can anyone explain to me why some pictures show and others don't? When I go to the Before and Afters thread and the Picture Page, only some of the pics show. They will say: Before surgery pic Current pic however there are no pictures. No attachement, no link, nothing. Others show up just fine. Do I have a setting that needs to be changed? And why does it just happen on some pics and not all of them? Any suggestions?

I know for me, I can still be hungry but if I try to eat too fast or don't chew my food well enough, I experience pain. It's not because you are full but because you are trying to get too much or too large of a piece of food through the band at once. It's a horrible feeling! What I do if I get to eating too fast and have the pain is stop, get up and walk around and then wait a while before I try to eat again. For me if I wait, it will eventually go away and if I'm still hungry, I will eat but you can bet I'm real careful then. Walking really helps me when I'm in pain. I don't know why exactly but it helps. The worst thing for me to do is sit still. I have heard some bandsters say that they never get hungry or that they don't get hungry between meals but that certainly isn't me. I get hungry, I'm just able to control it now. I have something I have never had and that's willpower. Good restriction is when you don't get real hungry between meals and you are able to eat your small amount and be content. You never want to get full! I have sometimes and I always regret it. Not that it is really painful put I feel full and I always worry about my band and pouch. When you are well restricted, you won't need as much food, a good bandster meal will do you just fine. That could be between 1/2 - 1 1/2 cups. Everyone is different. I have a built in warning system. When I am to the point that I am content and need to quit eating, my nose runs. I can't explain why but it happens. I know several other bandsters that are the same way. I have been banded long enough to just know how much is enough. I can't say that the old me doesn't rear up and say that the amount I am taking isn't enough but I know that's just my head talking, not my stomach. It will take you a while to get the hang of it and that's completely normal. None of us are perfect btw! As far as the weight loss, I really don't know. It is probably safe to assume that you haven't found your sweet spot (good restriction) so until then you may fight the hunger issue more. If you don't log your meals, I would recommend doing that. It's amazing sometimes to look over it when I think I have been good and see calories I didn't even account for. Watch your calorie intake. So many foods have a lot of calories that I would have classified as healthy. It is normal for our weight to fluctuate some but I don't know about 8 lbs. It could be Water weight. I know this is personal, but have you had a normal bowel movement lately? That can certainly make the scale high! Also, are you confident that your scale is accurate? Just some things to think about......

I did succeed in my fight with the scale the other day....even if I did fail on m/e. :kiss I am down 2 lbs. from the start of the week!! :biggrin1: Sometimes I am a slow learner but I have finally discovered that if I just do a protein shake for breakfast, I am MUCH better off. I don't do this when I do m/e of course but while I am off it, I do and I really do like them. I also eat lunch as my "big" meal of the day and then don't eat much of anything for supper and it is working. I had a meeting all day yesterday and on the tables they had spread candy. All kinds of candy. Bad candy. Chocolate, my downfall. Anyway, I told myself that I would resist but the flesh is weak. I did end up having a few pieces but I am very pleased to admit that 3/4 of my pile remained on the table!! I didn't even take it with me which is what the old me would have done. :clap2: Avilla - Darn that scale! That pound will come off soon just keep up the good work! I had to get mean with my scale this week and give it a piece of my mind and it obliged. Maybe it was scared of me. I mean, I do put a lot of pressure on it. :heh: Tann - My band has funny fits like that once in a while as well. It's so odd. I will be tight for a day or two and then back to normal as if nothing ever happened. Weird! How's it feeling today? Cdgmom - That creamy tomato soup with the added goodies sounds fantastic! I am going to have to go get some now and try it! :hungry: YUM! You are doing so good, keep it up!! Congrats on all the weight loss this week everyone! You are shrinking before my very eyes! :omg:

Yep, that is a common side effect of eating too much and too fast. It is a horrible feeling but it serves as a reminder for the next time you are tempted. I hope everything is better now. I went through a long period like that when my band got too tight and it is miserable! I hope to never have that again. Next time I will get to the doctor faster.

Tann you have done so well! Don't get down if you don't lose those 7 lbs. by Easter. Keep your head up! Work as hard as you can and I'm sure you will succeed (even if it's not 7 lbs.). :gluck: Well my first day of m/e didn't go as expected. I wasn't as strong as I should have been. I had an internal fight with myself and the evil me won. :decision:Not good. Oh well, today is a new day and I have been doing really well! I am sure to see a smaller number tomorrow morning. :huytsao I am stubborn and I will make that scale bow to my weightloss request!

I go back on June 1st. I figured I would be going during May but he will be on vacation most of the month. That is perfectly fine with me. Gives me a little longer to get weight off.

Good afternoon everyone! I started m/e today and hoping to pull some big numbers. I went to the doc Friday and he and the nurse were very happy with my progress! I don't go back to see him until June 1st so by then, I should be at my mini goal. Actually if my trend continues, I will reach it far before then. :biggrin1: Avilla I am so excited to see your ticker!! That is fantastic! Keep it up and you will be at 70 lbs. lost in no time! :clap2: I'm sorry to hear that some are struggling but like Tann said, it's a new month so let's commit to succeed this month. Convincing yourself that you can do it is half the battle (at least for me it is).

Well, I had my appt. with Dr. Pitt on Friday and he did not give me a fill. I left it up to him whether or not he thought I needed one and he said he didn't think I did right now. He and Louann were both shocked that in 6 weeks I lost 20 lbs. I sure hope this trend continues!

:welcome2:Tammy we would love to have you join us in bootcamp! Basically what we do is post our stats to begin with. Weight and measurements if you are comfortable with that. Also a goal that you would like to achieve by the end of bootcamp. Some post their daily menus as well as what they did as far as exercise and Water drinking for the day. Our main objective is to support one another but also push each other along. We are a family here! You can always gain strength from a fellow bootcamper when you don't have enough to get you by. If you need a shoulder to cry on or a friendly push in the right direction, we will be there for you whether it's weight related, family, job...whatever. Welcome aboard!! :biggrin1: