LeighaMason

Bjean, Were you elected to be the resident "right-wing conservative" once Patty left? Or did I miss something? Flip flop maybe?:huh2:

I'm amazed at how much lower my necklaces hang now that the fat is gone from around my neck.

Yes, I was scared to death that this would be another failed diet, a $10,000 one! I knew a lady who was banded, and didn't lose any weight, she warned me not to get a band, but we played cards together and I saw how she ate, 1/2 a sandwich, then an hour later a small bag of chips, then 30 min later a candy bar, etc. I realized that our eating patterns were very different, I only ate 3 times a day but I ate huge quantities. The band helped me eat a small meal and feel satisfied and I lost my weight. After she saw my success she changed her eating and started to get fills and she is now on her way to losing her weight too.

Congratulations! Crystl I'm happy for you. :blushing:

206 is only 7 pounds from onederland, just take it one step at a time, you can do it, 170 will be here in no time.

I think when you eat too fast and get pain the food is not entering the pouch fast enough and the pain is from it sitting in your esophagus. I think the stuck/pain/too full feeling comes from the esophagus instead of the pouch. I can drink while eating but if I am eating something like bread and I take a drink, I risk the bread swelling up and getting into my esophagus and creating the pain. That is why I stick to the no drinking for 20 min after eating rule. Drinking after eating makes no difference in the length of time that the hunger is gone. This is my theory.. no facts to back it up.

In East Texas they call them "Cokes", here is a typical exchange. "Hey, you want a Coke?" "Yeah, bring me a Dr Pepper."

The article is exactly how the band works for me. But I cant stress this enough, you have to find your own way.

I weigh and measure my food and count calories. I log it all on a web site. Here is the plan I used when I was losing. 4 oz of meat (by weight). Depends on density, if its steak, I usually have 2 oz but if its fish I have 4. 1/2 of a measuring cup of veggies 1/4 of a measuring cup of starch Plus I break it down further by these maximum calorie counts Breakfast 250 Snack 150 lunch 250 Snack 150 dinner 250 For a snack to qualify for the list it should have 1g of Protein for every 10 calories, ie. Greek Yogurt 140 calories, 14 g protein.

Its still effin 86 degrees here, my air conditioner is still running non stop, driving my crazy! Plus 48% humidity, hot, sticky, sucky. I'm bitchy dwarf today. :w00t:

Thanks everyone!

Before lap band I had to eat at least 2000 calories a day to keep from being hungry all day. Now I am on maintenance and I eat 1200 calories a day to balance my weight between 132 and 135. So, without lap band, I would need to exercise off an extra 800 calories a day (and that is 800 more than I do now). According to my Body Bugg, when I run for 3k (45 min) it burns about 300 calories so I would need to run an extra 2 hours every single day to maintain my current weight. Doesn't sound very reasonable to me....

On my last fill, I called the nurse cause I thought she poked a hole in my band! I had less restriction and then 10 days later, perfection! Don't pass judgment on this fill too soon, it might just be slow to kick in. :wink2:

Claire, I'm posting from my phone and I don't have much battery, but I wanted to sign on and say happy anniversary. I will post more in the morning when I have a real computer.

I was banded one year ago today. I can only think of 1 other year in my life in which everything changed so much and that was the year I was pregnant with my son, the year my weight yo-yo began. This time last year, I had to hold my breath when I bent over, I was getting too big for all my (big) clothes again, never exercised and I was always physically hungry. Now I am a size 4, I can run 3 miles without stopping, I can do 100 sit ups and 100 push ups in a 30 min period and the best part, I get hungry when its time to eat but once I eat a small amount of food it goes away! Now I am smack in the middle of normal BMI, and the best part is, I have hope that I can sustain this weight loss! In the past I NEVER stayed at the same weight without a struggle. Staying the same weight required the same struggle that dieting did. When I decided to stop losing at 132 I had .2 removed from my band so I could eat more, that was August 19th. Now I have been in the same 132-135 range for 2 solid months with NO EFFORT! (Except one time when I was eating chips and my homemade salsa every night for a week, I gained all the way to 137! GASP! I cut back to eating it 2 times a week and lost the extra weight in 3 days.) It has not been easy, I had to learn to stop when my stomach was no longer hungry even when my mouth was. I found out that I have a compulsion to finish what is on my plate. But its all been worth it, even if I did trade my boobs for being thin, I can always buy new boobs. :thumbup:

Shammah-- Your vacation pics are wonderful. I am so jealous of the cruise, hopefully by next summer I will be in a position to hire someone to work at my "dealership" and I can have a vacation. Melody-- Fingers crossed for the "not hungry" to continue.. Bob-- Just say you forgot to weigh and do it tomorrow instead or maybe next week all the fluid will be gone and it will seem like you lost a bunch.. A few weeks ago my Dr's marketing director asked me to be on the monthly newsletter so I wrote a short blurb and sent them some pictures. So yesterday I got a thank you card in the mail and $100 check! My local grocery store had apples on sale so I used the money to buy apples, jars, an apple peeler, and a cookbook holder and canned 40 jars of spiced apples. If y'all will PM me your addresses I will send y'all some. :cursing: PS I used 50/50 sugar/splenda so they aren't too bad for you.

There is a new plus size resale shop in Tyler. Maybe you could bring some of your too big stuff and get some just right stuff.

Wow! According to my calculator that is around 500 calories a day. I'm glad your doing well. I hope it stays the same for you. If you get a chance please update us with how your instructions from the Dr are worded. Anybody else's Dr say 1/2 cup a meal?

Twinkles-- You only eat 1/2 cup a meal 3 times a day? Or 1 1/2 cup of food a day?

Don't worry about calories, your body can make its own energy from reserves, just worry about getting enough water and protein. Congratulations about not being hungry!

You know what? I have always been successful at anything I tried to do except lose weight. So when someone says "Your not losing weight because your lazy", I know they are WRONG! I couldn't lose weight (and keep it off) because I had a big stomach and it took a large amount of food to fill that stomach, now that I am banded, it doesn't. Big stomach= too much food to fill it = fat. Small stomach= little portions of food= thin. Its simple math. (Disclaimer: There are several variables, including but not limited to good placement by your surgeon, fills that are done in an organized way, learning to overcome the habit of overeating, learning to eat the right foods but for me, the band makes it all possible. )

I see posts on a regular basis that say "my Dr says to eat 1/2 cup of food at a time". I think most of the time what the Dr is actually saying is "Eat 4 oz of protein" at a time. Here is what I think happens. The Dr says "Eat 4 oz of protein" at a meal and he means for you to weigh it on the scales but doesn't say that. Then because liquid measuring cups say "4 oz = 1/2 a cup" people think they should be able to be satisfied on 1/2 cup of food, then when they are still hungry after 1/2 cup of food they think, well my band must not be tight enough so they have it tightened over and over again and end up too tight, living on sliders and liquids and then they are constantly hungry because the band it too tight for them to eat. Eventually they lose faith in the band, when the whole problem was the Dr wasn't clear on how much they should actually eat. Does anyone have any written literature from your Dr that says "You should only eat a 1/2 cup of food total, at any meal"? If so please post exactly what it says. Thanks!

When I was at full restriction, I would eat 4 oz of meat (by weight) plus a 1/2 cup of veggies, and 1/4 cup of starch for each meal. Liquids go through the band and are not in any danger of stretching your pouch (which I believe is the main reason to limit your meal sizes) so you can have more at one time. I usually had a cup of liquid (8 fl. oz) at a time during any liquid stage. I could have as many cups as I wanted during the day as long as my calories stayed in line.

I think a slider is: A) Anything that goes quickly through the band and doesn't keep you satisfied for a normal amount of time. :thumbup: Anything that goes through the band so easily that you can eat an unlimited amount. Sliders can also be nutritious, for me, chili and Soup slide right through my band and leave me hungry an hour later. But chips and salsa are the slider that I have to watch out for, I can eat an unlimited amount without becoming full. If I am going to eat them, I need to measure out a portion and not just eat them out of the bag because there is no STOP signal involved.

Dr Kim in Colleyville did my surgery but I get fills under floro at Forest Park Medical Center. My fill nurse there does fills for several Dr's. Plus she is banded so she knows what she is doing!