honk

My Nut suggests 1200 cal a day. I think being at 800 or so is too low. I did this silly 500 cal liquid diet for 5 days and lost NOTHING (doctor ordered). I do an hour of cardio a day. A 300 pounds person should loose weight with that kind of exercise and eating 500 calories. So my opinion is doing cal. that low is counter productive.

Yes, it is very normal for fills to either be effective for the first week or so and then disappear; or for you not to notice anyting and then suddenly the fill "takes". My doctors office says it's because the the fill moves within the band. Also as you reach restriction the band will tighten and loosen depending on the time of day (tighter in the morning, looser at night) and your stress level (the stomach is made of muscle)and water retention (esp if you are female).

Does your doctor have to do the fills? I only ever have a nurse. They are so fast she has even told me that she is willing to take me in during her lunch because it only takes 3 minutes. I would demand a sooner appointment. If they refuse I would call daily to see if they have a cancelation.

Another thing to consider is some people are slow losers. I measure out all my food, count calories, exercise daily and still only lose on average one pound a week. I think alot of people get the idea that they will lose3 3-4 pounds a week for weeks on end. The truth is those people are the exception to the rule.

My doctor keeps everyone one overnight. He just makes sure you are only there 23 hours. For the ride home I do recommend bringing a small couch pillow to put between your stomach and the seat belt.

Can you not post with Caps? It's rude.

I would google them and see what doctor's are saying about them. Most of what I've heard is that they really don't do anything and are not good for people who have balance issues.

When you have trouble eating is it in the morning? Most people at restriction have trouble in the morning. I am definatly tighter in the morning then in the afternoon. My other question is what are you eating and exactly how much? When you have things you "should'nt" is it one oreo a day or is it 2-3 oreos 2-3 times a day? Have you gone from exercising hours every day to never, or one hour 2-3 times a week?

Me too!

I would continue the exercising. At one point my doctor even had me on a 500 cal diet (yes that's right 500!); and I kept on working out. I do an hour of lap swiming daily. FYI I use a water proof MP3 play (look on Amazon) makes swimming so much nicer).

There are two kinds of people with any new "purchase": those who are blindly happy and those who have buyers remorse. I often see both kinds on this board. I'm not trying to discourage you but want to make sure you are a balanced view on how the band can work. There are those that after 1-2 fills have restriction and start losing at a faster pace. It has taken me 6 months to get restriction. I have to chose healthy food, the band does'nt prevent me from eating anything. Knock on wood I don't have any pain issues.

I agree with Reverie you should not do ab exercises for at least 6 weeks. You can't spot reduce fat. You can only add muscle. Instead I would start a gradual cardio program.

My concern would be that it let's your stomach muscles get lazy. The more you are holding yourself in the stronger your muscles will be. If you are wearing shapeware it's doing all the work.

Be very open about this with your doctors office. At my last fill where I think I've reach restriction the nurse gave all this technical reasoning why you are tighter in the morning. Most of which I don't remember. But, yes you will feel tighter first thing in the morning. Also the more stressed you are the tighter the band will feel. Personally I would not get a fill if you are unable to eat solids. At restriction the nurse said I may not be able to eat solids in the morning and may need to wait a couple hours to eat yoghurt. If you get fill when you are too tight it could cause you major problems (vomiting, frothing). If could be that when they placed the band there was fat around your stomach. Until you loose that fat the band may not need to be tightened/filled.

peprmentpati, I guess the only advice I have is to tell youself you can hav "treats" as long as you don't buy them. By that I mean if you're at a party and there are Cookies or crackers AFTER you've had your Protein you can use some of your veggie pouch space to have a cookie instead. Also, on the occational weekend I go to costco and cruise the samples. It gives me the chance to have one cracker or half a mini queche (they don't give a very big sample so it's built in portioning). I had long given up my triger food and after banding I had some slip ups. I no longer buy or eat Cereal by the bowl. Well after banding I read some people add 1/8 cup of cereal to their cereal. I bought Bare Naked Granola (thinking it was healthy). Well it is if you don't eat it by the hand full, which I was doing. So I had to move to Kashi which I don't find as appetizing.

I was also banded mid August. I am averaging 1 lb per week. However it has taken me a loonnnngggg time to hit restriction. Which I think I am at now. So perhaps this will speed me up. I also have been frustrated reading this board where people say they got restriction at their 2nd fill when it has taken me like 10! Yes, I have been very conservative in my food choices, measure my portions and exercise daily.

It is real but will slow down. Personally I am averaging 1 lb per week but that includes plateaus. I also def. notice loss of inches vs pounds. I have gone down a pants size with only 4 pounds lost.

I think you are taking to big a bite and not chewing enough. Even six months out I find myself chewing only a few times before reaching for the next forkfull. I have tell myself "Have you enjoyed this bite yet?" My biggest issue is not tasting/savoring each bite.

At my fill this week that I think has given me restriction the nurse said "If you can't eat 3 oz solid protein you are too tight. If you get GERD you are too tight. If you cough when you lay down you are too tight." Given this speech I would say you are too tight. It will be much better for you to get a slight until. Even say .2-.3. There have been many people who post that they were to tight for months which led to damaging of the stomach and REMOVAL of the band.

If you have access to Costco; Premier Ready to Drink is very good (avail. in choc and vanilla) 160 cal, 30 g protein.

Feel free to vent! Many of us have days we feel frustrated. And, yes I did not feel any restriction for almost 6 months. I know it's not what you want to here but I am not alone in this experience. If it makes you feel any better I have been on this "diet" since January 2010. Due to other health issues I had to postpone my surgery until 8/2010. I know it's trite, but it does help me to see this as a new way of life. While I try to live the 90/10 rule (eat correctly 90% of the time have some fun the other 10%); I've come to the decision that naturally thin people live a lot looser with that rule. I have thin friends who can eat crap for weeks and then say "What am I doing?" and go back to eating sensibly. My problem is if I ate that way for weeks on end it would become a habit and I would not go back. I have an mentally unhealthy relationship with food. For me to call it diet means it's something I will stop and I don't really know if that's true (yes I understand somethings could change when/if I reach goal. After this week's fill I think I am at restriction (though I was getting close with my last 2). What I've noticed is that if there is a food trigger (last night walked by samples at the food court) I ask my self "Am I hungry enough to eat that?"; my stomach said "Not really" and I kept walking. Would I have done that preband probably not.

I did'nt do a Barium swallow and had the same issue. Even woke me up my first night home; was in the bathroom every half hour.

If you are married could you look at your husbands health insurance? Each isurance is different. Also some employers offer multiple health insurnance policies. Though you can only change policies at open enrolement in Dec.

You mentioned being newly banded. How new? Are you on solids yet? I would remain on liquids if that is what your doctor has ordered. I don't really have a bar recommendation for you. I can say however that Premier brand Read To Drink protein shakes are convenient when you are on the go (available at Costco)

One things that I don't think gets enough discussion is when you will get restricion. I remember going in for my first fill and when they said they were going to put 4CCs I was very nervous. I had read on here where people got sick from 1-2 CC's. There are some who get restriction with minimal fills some of us however are at the other end of the spectrum. I now have 10.6cc's in a 11 CC band and think I am in the green zone. Six months of fills before I really got much help at all from the band. I'm not complaining, I just think people should be prepared for that possibility. Also you will probably not continue to lose at the rate of the preop diet once you are on solids. It is very discouraging to read that others are losing lots of weight with minimal fill. You feel very much like a failure. I weigh my food every meal (well lunch and dinner, Breakfast is yoghurt), I exercise an hour daily, I am VERY conservative about food choices. Why am I only avereraging 1 lb a week? Personally I think my slow loss is because I was on a very strict diet for 7.5 months and exercising daily preband. My body was already used to this diet business. I am not a medical professional but I think if someone goes from eating 3,000 a day to 900 yes they are going to loose much faster than someone who was only eating 1200.