IAmJacksLapBand

I will be leaving my CF Box in a few weeks for monetary reasons. I just had $2000 in dental work done and need to pay off the credit card. But... I have some equipment at home so I can keep up my WODs. CF has been the most amazing thing for me. Myself and a gastric sleeve patient are the two largest people in the box in terms of extra fat/skin. In the 10 months I have been there I have improved alot. I can do things I never thought possible. I ran a 5k a few weeks ago and kept up with others in the box. I snowboard and mountain bike. Both things made possible by the gains in aerobic exercise and coordination that I developed with CF. I have never had a problem after my last post in terms of hurting my port. Just had a fill in April and the doc said everything was great. When I am commited and do CF workouts combined with a good paleo-zone diet, balanced with about 3 blocks per meal and 1-2 blocks per snack I lose weight quickly. My blocks are adjusted for a carbophile so I eat half the carbs of most other people. Most surgeons will reccomend staying away from CF for several months after surgery. Let your surgeon know exactly what CF is and show him a video of how hard you push yourself. Doing this while your band and port are healing can cause some major problems. The movements we do are natural but rarely done with such intensity. You do not want to rip anything. Your box should be able to give you some less intense and modified programming during the healing process. Maybe some shorter runs, rings dips, ring rows, jump ropes, and basic low-weight lifting. I would refrain from any situps and heavy lifts during your recovery. Remember that even though you feel you can handle it, by increasing your heart rate you increase your blood flow and could rupture something you don't want to rupture. Welcome to the band family! Its really nice on the other side.

Just under 200 lbs to lose when I started. 412 lbs in April 2010. I arrived in Twoderville last week at 299. Now at 298. The final goal doesn't seem so far away. i did have a few months at 306 lbs. Then I changed my diet and began a new exercise routine and it just started falling away again. I bought an XL men's shirt at Kohls and it fits. Now I just have to face this coach airplane seat in 2 weeks and I am very scared.

I had been at the same weight, 306 for almost 3.5 months. Started CrossFit and immediately started dropping. I hit twoderville this week at 299.6. I am now concerned about the threads I saw on abdominal exercises and port injuries. My port is right on my front side in a crease in my fat. My core workouts frequently give me a dull achy pain around the port. It could just be the pinch that's causing the irritation.

At the suggestion of a friend who heard my rant about crappy gyms full of mirrors where you go and zone out on treadmills and move a few weights, he recommended I look into CrossFit. This week I joined and really enjoyed the workouts, the varied activities, and the people. No mirrors... just people at different levels of experience working on the same goal... to be the most fit they can be in every area possible. I ran and didn't run out of breath. I did pullups and pushups for the first time EVER. I learned how to jumprope at the age of 27. I am very excited for this journey and the friends I will make here. Its not for everyone but is great for those who want a place to exercise with no judgement and that demands alot of effort. The trainer and I came to an agreement. I will not obsess over the scale anymore. I will focus on the body fat percentage as a measure of my progress. Any other bandsters who are Crossfitters as well?

I prefer the ready to drink drinks. EAS Myoplex Advantage have about 17g of Protein per 8 oz shake with only 110 calories and about 3g of fat. I also like MuscleMilk light. I tried Isopure for a fruit flavor instead of the regular chocolate, strawberry, or vanilla. IsoPure tasted like candy chalk and I went back to my old two. The others in the MuscleMilk and Myoplex line are good, but my goal was to get the most protein with least number of calories. 18 months later and i have 1 Myoplex a day. Still love them after all this time.

I went from round to a pear. I am holding the majority of the excess in the lower abdomen. Shoulders, face, and upper chest look great. Its the middle that really looks haunting. I am on my way to wide cylinder... meaning still a bigger guy, just all symetrical.

My insurance did not pay for the band. I got a great deal in the US and paid only $10,700 for my band...TOTAL. Not to mention the care has been more than I ever expected in terms of service. I have about $12k saved for what I thought would be a tummy tuck, arm lift, and back lift. Looks like I might need to keep on saving!

I know we have thrown around the topic of what men thought of plastic surgery after weight loss. I want to know if you have had or thought of having a precedure: What did you have done and how much were the expenses? I am about to schedule a consultation to find a surgeon and hope to have it completed by the end of the year.

Who are you working with in San Diego? I was thinking about getting the arms done now. It would really help with my shirts fitting better.

I started at 412 on 4/12 of last year. I am almost at 312 and happy thus far. Have hit about 4 plateaus thus far based on my fill level and exercise routine. Doctor said my ideal is 189. My goal was 265 but we agreed on 220. He said the last 40 will be the most difficult but still doable.

I think this is what happened to me. Feb 15 I had an aggressive fill that significantly reduced my intake. I was vomiting regularly and started tapering off my meal size. Then all of a sudden there was no vomiting at all. I want to eat allthe time. I thought my band slipped from the vomiting. What I realized is that I am not hungry. I just want to eat. A small meal is great but I am still accustomed to eating more. Still I having am endoscopy and other tests just to make sure I didn't hurt something in there. Here's to 94 lbs. Goal is 100 lbs by my banderversary on April 27.

I let my band be over-filled on purpose so I could get better adjusted to eating right. Every few days I would have a problem and vomit and other signs of eating too much. Suddenly on Friday, I realized that everything went down without a problem. Usually I would have had a reached fulfillment quickly. I am now hungry all the time. I fear that I either put too much pressure and the band slipped or I caused it to leak. I have moved and my surgeon is 2500 miles away. Can I go to a hospital and ask for a fluro to see? I do not have the resources and money to have my band removed and replaced. I am so worried that my attempt to be agressive with my fill has led to a $10000 mistake and possbile regain of my 100 lb loss so far.

I have had 4 fills since being banded last April. The first 3 gave me good restriction for a few days, until the swelling came down. I could eat less but not nearly as little as I thought I was going to be able to eat. I had my 4th fill the week of Feb 21st because I was going on a cruise. The surgeon asked if I wanted to be aggressive to which my reply was, "fill me up!" Now I get full after a few bites if I do not drink the during the meal. If I drink I can eat larger portions but still nowhere near what I ate before being banded. Any type of bread sends me to the toilet or into a panic attack. I LOVE THIS! I've lost 10 lbs this month with this fill and now it is finally started to let up. If I eat something small for Breakfast I can eat significantly more during the remainder of the day. I want another fill now before my next vacation. I too get hungry after only a few hours but I realize for me it is head hunger. Say yesterday I had a lean cuisine for lunch and kept it down. 2 hours later I went for some potato chips because I was hungry. Ate a few chips and threw them up because I was not really hungry. I was bored and getting tired so my head wanted something to do. Since this last adjustment I am frequently tired because I am not getting as many calories. But slowly my body perks up when it starts using stored fat I guess.

I loved my nutrisystem. I got it for a great price using a discount program with my employer. And the frozen food selection, although more expensive, was exceptional. Alot of tomato and alot of soy. And enough sodium to last a lifetime. There were some horrible choices but most were good and few were exceptional. I wad on it for 3 months. I did it to help learn new portion sizes. They were even kind enough to let me return some items because my band said it was still too much food. I started it may of 2010 and just now finished my last snack items from my last shipment.

A self-pay bandster really does not need to have any real additional qualifications. It is up to you and your surgeon to decide if you are a candidate physically and psychologically. Your BMI is in the right range. Do you have any other weight-related health problems?