juliansmom2003

Sorry to hear your first fill was canceled. Take heart, I am almost 4 months post op and only getting my second fill at the end of this month :-( Hang in there. I know how tough it is waiting to get the help you need for your tool to work.

I was banded on 10/21 in NJ. Where in Jersey are you from? Who did your surgery. Yeah, Todd --rub it in that you were banded after me and just had your third fill while I'm still waiting for #2. Grrrrr LOL

You go, girl!!!! Love it!!

OMG Elfie! I had no idea about that with the insulin resistance! Now it makes sense! I have definitely lost in the face/neck, waist and legs, but my stomach just will not go away! It has started shrinking a tiny bit, but I've been doing crunches on the ab lounge and stuff like that. I was thinking that it was having 2 kids (I'm sure that doesn't help LOL) You learn something new every day. Hoping that I'm not going to need a tummy tuck and will be able to get away with my belly when I get down to goal weight (God willing LOL).

Holy wow, dude! I'd say a parade for you is in order LOL! MEN, pffft LOL! Seriously, way to go! That is some amazing progress! You are proof that it can be done! Keep up the amazing work, Todd!

Wow! I bet you were never so happy to get stuck LOL! I hope the restriction lasts for you!!

Hi Melissa. I actually did the pouch test (Thursday of last week to Monday) and I did notice a bit of a difference. I really wasn't making bad choices, but started to have cravings, so I thought it would be a good detox method to get me back to basics. Not only that, I can definitely tell I'm staying fuller longer for some reason. My portion sizes as I mentioned yesterday were quite small except for lunch which was about 10 ounces, but we'll see how today goes. I will say that it helped to move the scale for me. I was stuck at 184-185 and kept playing the roller coaster game to 182-183. I weighed in this morning at 180 (Monday was 181), so I'm going to hold onto this for dear life LOL!

Melissa thank you SO much! Your post (and illuminationlady's) were just what I needed right now. I'm all beating myself up over here for doing such a great job sticking to the 5 day pouch test then I turn around and have such a big lunch. 2 weeks isn't that long. I can do it, I can do it! THANK YOU for your post!!! I can't tell you how much better it made me feel :thumbup:

LOL illuminationlady! I thought by now all of you want to just tell me to shut the hell up about my having no restriction. Glad I made at least one person feel better :thumbup:

Thanks for the quick response! Honestly, today was the first day in a month that I didn't bring lunch in (usually bring some left over chicken or make chicken salad)--I didn't even think about that! I'm hoping that is what it is!! I was thinking this morning that maybe I shouldn't go for a fill because I want to be able to swallow liquids and stuff, but I know I need one. I stay full for 3-4 hours, but even though I'm eating much smaller portions than I did pre-band, they exceed 6 ounces. Counting down to the 25th!!!!!!!

How many ounces do you usually eat in a meal? Are you measuring your food? Honestly, I wish I could be the same as I am in the morning throughout the day. So, just had lunch and I was able to put away a 9 ounce lean cuisine and a cheese stick. I ate slow, but I was just ravenous! I never get that pain everyone describes, so I obviously just stopped after that.... Just when I was thinking I felt better :-(! Has anyone gone over 8 hours? I can't believe how hungry I was :cursing:

I hear you. We got over 2 feet of snow over this past weekend and are expecting at least another 1 (maybe 2) between tonight and tomorrow. This weekend of all weekends I was doing the freaking pouch test, so I made sure I slept as much as possible LOL! For tonight and tomorrow, I have my skinny cow treats and my banana/chocolate fudge/cream cheese creation that I got from the Super Bowl food thread LOL You can do this, Elfie. Just bake other things :-)!

CONGRATULATIONS on your milestone!! You should be so proud of yourself--what an inspiration you are to those of us who are struggling and need to stay motivated that we can do it!!! Good luck on the last 37!!!

OMG-- this sounded SO good yesterday that I went to the store on the way home from work, picked up the ingredients and made this last night. Can I say this is the most delicious dessert EVER?!? My husband and I are going to be battling over it because he had some last night and wanted to finish the rest of it LOL! Just wanted to say thanks! I've added this to the collection of yummy recipes of things I'm allowed to eat!!! :cursing:

Hi. I actually replied to your post under my thread with a sample menu, but I'll put it here just in case: Breakfast- 1/2 cup Special K Blueberry w/ skim and 1 hard boiled egg OR I'll do a yogurt and low fat cheese stick. (If I'm home, I'll do some egg beaters with melted low fat cheese with some fruit) lunch- Canned chicken breast with lighy mayo, chopped onion & celery w/ tomato slice on arnold wheat thin and a very small salad w/ iceberg, tomato, green pepper w/ Kraft Free Catalina dressing Afternoon Snack (lots of times I don't need this during the day, since I have breakfast so late and I just run out of time LOL)-- Low fast cheese stick OR fat free yogurt OR hard boiled egg Dinner- Crock pot chicken, side of green Beans or steamfresh mixed veggies Evening snack (I will treat myself sometimes)- Skinny Cow mint ice cream sandwich or pumpkin cheesecake (180 cals, 19g of protein!) or other low fat, bad friendly dessert I don't know if you got to check out some of the recipes I posted last week, but I'm attaching them here in case you're looking for different ideas. Sorry there are no fish ones on here though--I'm allergic. Honestly, I log my calories, Water intake and exercise every day on www.thedailyplate.com . It is the only way I can keep myself on track. I figure I need to make the time because it something that I need to do to make this work. Hang in there. You can do it!!!!!! RECIPES.pdf

Thanks, Todd! Can't wait to hear how it goes for you today! Don't forget to post!!!!!

Banded in December? You're doing AWESOME! Those annoying pounds will come off--I promise :cursing:

I actually was quite frustrated over the past 3-4 weeks. I was going from 185 to 182 back and forth. SOOOO maddening! I read about the 5-day pouch test and started it last week (click Surgical Weight Loss 5 Day Pouch Test if you'd like info on it). Yesterday was my last day and I feel so much better. Before it was like this scale isn't moving and I'm busting my a$$ following the rules, what gives? Now I'm not even hungry. For the first time this morning, I felt restriction on the way to work, not eating or drinking anything if that makes sense. That "chest fullness" everyone talks about. I don't know how this will effect my portion sizes yet now that I'm back on my normal routine, but I will post and let everyone know. I think this is what I needed to hold me until my next fill in two weeks! :cursing: Sample menu--hmm, here are some ideas for you: Breakfast- 1/2 cup Special K Blueberry w/ skim and 1 hard boiled egg OR I'll do a yogurt and low fat cheese stick. (If I'm home, I'll do some egg beaters with melted low fat cheese with some fruit) lunch- Canned chicken breast with lighy mayo, chopped onion & celery w/ tomato slice on arnold wheat thin and a very small salad w/ iceberg, tomato, green pepper w/ Kraft Free Catalina dressing Afternoon Snack (lots of times I don't need this during the day, since I have breakfast so late and I just run out of time LOL)-- Low fast cheese stick OR fat free yogurt OR hard boiled egg Dinner- Crock pot chicken, side of green Beans or steamfresh mixed veggies Evening snack (I will treat myself sometimes)- Skinny Cow mint ice cream sandwich or pumpkin cheesecake (180 cals, 19g of protein!) or other low fat, bad friendly dessert I hope this helps you! Hang in there. I know it can be very frustrating, but it's important to stay with it, ride out the rough Patches and our hard work will pay off. Keep me posted!!!

As Elfie mentioned, without proper restriction, your tool isn't working the way it should. How many fills have you had? I would call your surgeon and schedule a fill, since it sounds like you really do not have restriction and that is key to success with the band. I don't have restriction yet and I do eat about 8 ounce meals, but I am staying full for at least 4 hours now, but I find that if I'm taking in enough Protein and Water, I do a little better. I just did the 5 day pouch test, which not only helps to shrink your pouch, it gets you back in tune with eating properly. If you want to check it out, it's at Surgical Weight Loss 5 Day Pouch Test . Honestly, I do feel it helped me because I'm not super starved. It's almost 10 am and I am STILL not hungry for Breakfast (I've only had 1 fill too!) Try eating smaller meals, like 6 to 8 ounces and if you get hungry in between, have a protein-rich snack, like a hard boiled egg or low fat cheese stick. It is also important that you follow the rules with not drinking 15 mins before and 1 hour after your meals. It will push the food right through and you won't stay full. I hope this helps! Good luck to you!

Good luck! Let's hope third time's the charm for you :-)! Let us know how it goes!

Wow, MelsPage, you give me hope! I too have no restriction either. You have a couple more days--try to hang in there! I'm in the same boat right along with you. I went on 1/14 for my first fill and it didn't do anything (wish they would have told me that having my period already makes you swell!). I couldn't get an appointment for fill #2 until 2/25, so I'm praying I feel a little more restriction. I agree it's so frustrating to go through all this to have to wait some more to actually have our tool work the way we need it to! Hopefully you feel something after your next fill! Just remember to keep eating as much Protein as possible and keep up your Water. Elfie is right....this too shall pass :-)!

LOL right? It's crazy how some of us still manage to lose weight and be preoccupied with hunger every day! It was so weird all morning though--I didn't even think of food once--no hunger pains, nothing, then I looked at the clock and was all, "Crud! I should eat something" LOL Here's to hoping our dream of restriction some day comes true !!!

I am a strange bird, I'll tell ya LOL. So I'm on day 5 of the 5-day pouch test. Today is poultry day, so I brought some nice crockpot chicken to munch on all day (and have some waiting for me at home tonight). At 11 am, I realized I hadn't eaten anything yet(!!!) so I started eating my chicken even though I wasn't really hungry--just don't want to play with my metabolism. I ate it, nothing got stuck, but I just felt like stopping (I have no restriction, so I didn't feel full or have chest pains or anything)--had roughly about 4 ounces. Thing is NOW my stomach is starting to growl and I'm starting to get the hunger pains after I decide I'm finished eating! I notice this happens to me quite a bit. I'm thinking I might be waiting too long in between meals? Thoughts? Has this happened to anyone else?

Cream of Wheat, apples n cinnamon oatmeal, fat free yogurt, cheerios and Special K cereals (blueberry is awesome) with skim are some other options I've done. Yummy! Hope this helps!

Wow, I was so caught up in fighting with the same 2-3 lbs for the last 3 weeks, I weighed in this morning at 181---hit 50 lbs lost!!! (17 pre-op, 33 post) I have been stuck in the 180's forever. Fill #2 is in 2 weeks (Feb 25), so praying that is going to give me a nice little push! Just had to share! I hope I don't start fluctuating again because it feels so good to say I've lost 50 lbs!!!!!!