bashful1269

Congrats on the compliments...doesn't it just make it all worth it. I'm proud of you!

I've had four fills and I am still able to eat pasta. Bread is a little rough if it's not toasted or if I don't take little bitty bitty bites.

The first fill is pretty easy, for me I just laid there and the doctor felt around a minute for my port and then numbed me and then the fill needle, a total of about 30 seconds if that. I felt a little restriction but not a lot.

Sage advice...Don't stress over it.

Good luck!

Great job!

Nothing to be scared about, it's really easy just lay on the table, feel a little prick of the needle that numbs you and then the fill needle ...all done. My last fill I told her to skip the numbing and just do it...much better.

You might not feel too much restriction with the first fill, I have had four and just now feel like I have restriction.

Good luck, you're doing amazing...keep up the hard work

Babs44...Get up and get going. It really isn't bad once you start.

My biggest piece of advice to you, is to find something that you enjoy doing so that it's not like you're working out. I for one enjoy going to the gym, can you say EYE CANDY! I get bored with the gym on occasion so I throw in yoga and zumba when I get the chance. It's fun and relaxing.

If you don't set up a routine then at least start making a few changes such as parking as far away as possible, taking a 10 minute break to just walk or do some chair exercises while watching tv.

You can do it! We're all here kicking your butt!

Awesome! Good luck, hope you do well.

Bills...the worst thing about life!

Hope things go well for you

:thumbup::tongue::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

THE SCALE MOVED!! My scale has been stuck for the last four weeks, mainly because I've been eating out a lot with work functions. This last fill has finally given me what it takes to break the plateau, I've lost three pounds since Thursday.

HAPPY DANCE HAPPY DANCE HAPPY DANCE!

Thanks!

I think that this last fill is where I need to be to really start seeing even more of a change. I have been stuck at the 234 mark for the last month. Since my fill I have dropped to 232!! I definitely don't have the urge to over eat like I did before and I'm just not that hungry. Yesterday it was after 2 pm before I ate breakfast and that ended up being just one chicken nugget! AMAZING! I LOVE MY BAND!

I just posted some pictures...WOW, I never realized until now the difference! I'm excited!

Update on HG, I finally told him that we should go out. He's gone out with me and my friend Dalena a couple of times and it was fun. Not sure anything is going to progress. I'm just going to kick back and let what happens happen. I'm going to invite him to Jeff Dunham on Sunday.

I will be spending the next three weeks in Columbia training all the new people we hired last week. It should be fun. I was so excited; our Area VP requested me personally. Pretty cool!

Not much else today...

I had my fourth band adjustment yesterday and I now know what restriction feels like. I'm SO EXCITED and a little nervous.

It took me almost 30 minutes to eat about 2 oz of a grilled hamburger and 3 tablespoons of refried beans today for lunch and I was FULL!! I'm excited about that, portion size has always been my down fall and now I finally feel like I have that under control.

I'm nervous because as I was eating, I could really tell it if I didn't chew well enough and had to wait several minutes before taking the next bite. I'm really nervous about eating around other people now, everyone eats so darned fast...what's up with that???? Do people actually taste what they are eating?

As a bandster that is one thing that I have learned...taste your food.

You can do it! Keep up the good work.

You are right about the fact everyone is different. I was able to eat after my first fill, I got my fourth today and there is no way that I feel like eating anything too solid today.

Good luck on your goals! You can do it!

Today is a much better day. I went to my PT appointment and then went to see Tina and got another adjustment. I just felt like I needed a little more restriction to keep me from over eating.

I had lunch with my sister which consisted of five bites of soup and three bites of salad and was full. She just bought a new car from my old boss and he told her the next time I was in town that she had better look him up so that he could see me. So, we stopped by the dealership that he works at and he was AMAZED at what I looked like. He hadn't seen me since I weighed about 325 pounds...There's a little difference now...I'm 230 now. He made me feel really good. It was hilarious he kept hugging me and hugging me.

Other than that my day was uneventful.

I'm in this funk of a bad mood today. I'm just cranky and I've made terrible food choices all day and have paid for it all day by being stuck most of the day. My tummy hurts because I'm stupid!!!

I know better than to try and eat pasta and bread but that of course is the comfort food that I crave when I'm in this mood. I need something to get me out of this funk...These days don't happen often but man when they do...YUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Don't be too hard on yourself. You're in what they call bandster HELL. It's that point before you get restriction and you can eat anything you want but know you shouldn't. It's tough just make sure to follow your surgeons regulations so as not to cause your band to slip.

So very true...It's amazing how many men now are "taking notice" of me. I figure it this way if they weren't interested before, I don't have time for them now. I have some great guy friends that hung with me fat or skinny, they are worth my time now...not that I'm skinny, but I'm working on it.

Well the three intense days of interviewing are over. It was an amazing experience and I'm excited to say that I have been invited to participate in the next store opening that we will be hiring for in January. I had a lot of fun with our corporate officers.

Over the last three days we managed to hire and schedule training for over 325 people. Crazy!

Unfortunately, I got stuck tonight at dinner. We were eating at Chevy's mexican and I wasn't paying attention and took a bite and all of a sudden PAIN!!! Stupid stupid Stacy

I had told Karee and she just looked at me with big sympathetic eyes when I came back to the table but didn't say a word. I was thankful for that.

Now I'm going to concentrate on getting back into a routine. I did manage to workout this week even though I didn't really feel like it. I knew that if I gave into the "oh, I'm busy" excuse that I would continue to use it and slip out of my routine I've been working so hard to establish.

I'm brain fried ....g'night everyone.

I made it through the day without having to really deal with the food issue too much, lunch was the only time I had to figure out what to do. We had sub sandwiches, I tore mine apart and only ate a piece of the cheese and a piece of the ham off of it. I didn't feel much like eating. I guess I was really tight this morning because yogurt made me feel like I was stuck...HOW CAN THAT BE?? Grrrr

I interviewed for eleven solid hours with less than a minute between interviews and only a 15 minute break for lunch. My brain is mush! Between six of us we hired 130 people and still have about 200 more to hire in the next two days. Can you say FUN???

I was able to get out of dinner by just saying that I had a long drive home and wanted to get a workout in. They were ok with that excuse.

Now, I'm going to go find my whirlpool bath and my book and decompress.

Tonight was the first of four nights of eating out with a group of people that I don't know very well.

I'm helping set up a new store in Columbia and that requires hiring almost 500 people of the course of the next three days. Can you say STRESS!!

There are a bunch of people from our corporate office along with the entire upper level of management from the new store and a couple of HR's from around the area, doing the interviewing. We will be working eleven hour days ending with dinner out every night at some really nice restaurants...of course corporates picking up the tab:thumbup:

The problem is no one knows about my surgery and I really don't want to tell them, not that I'm ashamed of it or anything, just that it's my personal business and would prefer to keep it that way. I'm afraid that I'm not going to take the proper amount of time to eat and will end up eating too fast because I let myself get too hungry. I've had a couple of stuck episodes since my last fill, and I really don't want have it happen in front of a bunch of people that I don't know well.

Oh well, I guess it's something that I'm going to have to get used to eventually anyway.

Wish me luck

This is great information, I really like the idea of setting ten pound goals. I'm going to use your idea, and see if it will help. The best thing about this post is it made me realize that I'm ok...I've been frustrated that the weight isn't coming off as fast as I would like it to and looking at what you posted, gives me a little better insight on what to look for as far as the contributing factors. I think I'll go back and take a look at my calendar and my blog.

Thanks so much for this info, I'm so glad you shared!

I will be completely honest with you. I was banded on 7/22/09 and it's a LOT harder than I expected it to be. I have always had problems with food, I'm addicted. The first four weeks after being banded is called banster HELL for a reason...it truly is HELL. The reason you feel like it is hell, is the fact that you really can eat like you did prior to the band for the most part. There typically is no restriction and most food goes right down. The problem with that is, if you eat things that are not on the plan as given to you by your doctor you could risk pulling the stitches out of your stomach because the stomach has to work to digest what you have put into it and that's why they have you on soft foods. You HAVE to have will power and be able to resist temptation in order to get through this time. It's really tough, I'm still in bandster hell haven't found my sweet spot yet and I have had three fills.

My best advice on the band is:

1. becareful getting the new lapband ap...it comes with a fill and everyone that I know who has had it done ended up going and getting unfilled right after surgery.

2. Go into it knowing that this is not the easy way out, it's not a magic pill. It is a TOOL that's all it is.

3. Get creative and have fun with exercise.

Sorry to have been so long winded there...hope this information is helpful.

I had my third fill today and had to go to the nut as well. I stepped on the scale and about fell off of it. I am losing at the rate of 2.6 pounds a week! I've lost a total of 33.5 pounds since starting this journey. Currently I'm at 231 and hoped to get to 215 by my birthday, October 18th, I told Tina (fill nurse) that today and she told me that she would prefer that I did not lose it that fast...POUT POUT. So, I'm shooting for 220 I think that's doable. She told me that I had to remember that I didn't get heavy overnight and it's not going to come off overnight either. She reminded me that it is better to lose slowly and steady so that my body has time to adjust to the changes it's going through. I think this is good advice for everyone on this journey. She did give me a half cc so I am now at 4.5cc's in my 9cc band. I'm hoping that it takes away that hungry all the time feeling, we'll see.

Hope everyone in band land is doing well.

Thanks guys, It was tough, and I'm really glad that I did it because it motivates me knowing that I can do it when I don't wanna.

I worked late today and I really just did not feel like working out. I skipped yesterday because I had a late orientation and was TOAST when I finished, so I knew I couldn't skip tonight.

So off I went to the gym. I just did it...didn't want to do it, but I did it. I feel better for having done it, not necessarily the exercise but the fact that I didn't talk myself out of it.

:thumbup:

AWESOME JOB!!! Keep it up and I'm sure you'll be in underland by halloween!

Sorry to hear about your unfortunate time. Teisha, don't let it scare you. I could have gone back in four days easy, I took ten off because I get paid 100% of my salary while I'm off so why not take time and rest up.

I took pain med the first night and was off of them by the next day. I slept in a recliner the first three nights, laying down HURT!! Other than that my experience was a breeze!

Everyone has a unique experience, I hope yours is as good as mine was and not as terrible as Rosy's.

Good luck

Rosy, I hope that things get better for you soon and that the weight continues to fall off. 28 pounds is wonderful!