Mary Ash

Hello fellow night shift worker! Wow I completely sympathize there. It's really hard to fit complete meals around my odd working hours. It is way to easy to simply snack through the night, especially sugary items to stay awake which is not great!

I was also banded 3 1/2 years ago. I've been up and down and all around with the weight. I gained over 40 lbs 2011-2012 and like you felt discouraged/frustrated/embarrassed to go back to my surgeon. BUT I went back, got a fill, met with the nutritionist and am back on track! I'm now at a new all time low. Definitely bite the billet and get the help and support you need to get back on track.

I'd also like to join in!!

Banded: January 5, 2010

Starting weight: 348 pounds

Current weight: 256 ! ( woohoo lowest since middle school!!)

August 31 goal: 247 lbs or less for a total of 100 lbs lost!!!

January 5 2014 goal: 225 lbs

Long term goal: 180 lbs

It's been a long four years and I've been up and down (gained 40 lbs even with the band at one point :/ ) but I'm still working towards my goals!

They look good but I can not eat tortillas! After 13 months I still can not eat bread' date=' tortillas etc..[/quote']

After 4 years I still cannot do tortillas!! Honestly it's the soft breads that kill me as I can enjoy (way to often!!) tortilla chips.

I was too tight in late September and got an unfill. I finally went and got it all back except for .1 cc......and I feel good....down 9 pounds in a week.......all weight lifting and eating a solid 1500 calories a day....

Gotta maintain your band for it to work...........or its no good.....

Awesome!! Yep consistency is the key! I've been banded 4 years and I always so beat when I have appointments scheduled with my surgeon, even if its just for a weight check. This keeps me accountable!

Hey all - I've had the band for about 5 years now. Does anyone have trouble when they travel? I've been traveling a lot for work lately and everytime I get SO tight where I can't eat at all. Anyone else have this problem? Normally I can eat just fine' date=' barely ever PB.[/quote']

Hi!!

I've been banded 4 years and I experience this as well. Something else to consider is are the places you are traveling hotter than what you are used to ? liquids expand with heat and make your bad essentially tighter! I actually go to my surgeon and he takes some Fluid out before I go on trips to Florida for instance.

My body is clearly stubborn (always has been in weightless w PCOS) and it seems to have adjusted to the band and this is it!! Pleeeease if someone can share if they've had a similar issue and eventually had a breakthrough I would appreciate some ideas and stories of hope!!

Hi!!!

I also have PCOS and one thing that you should especially monitor is your sugar intake !! The PCOS messes with our hormone levels and makes our insulin levels spike. Definitely try to keep the daily sugar intake to under 25 g a day.

Some foods that I always associated with diets and being good were recently pointed out to me by my surgeon as being bad because of very high sugar content. Namely BANANAS AND YOGURT and frequent fruit. Even Greek yogurt (besides plain) has between 12-24 of sugar In a serving!! Just wanted to let you know as I was regularly eating both of these things! When I cut them back I immediately lost 13 lbs on 2 weeks, which is very rare for me as I am almost 4 years post op!!

Had my 6 month check up today with primary doctor. I lost 40 lbs since my visit in January. Total of 82 lbs. My BMI is 23. I am not obese anymore. I'm almost 60 but she said age is not a factor anymore! Love my doctor and my lap band with plication! No fills!

AWESOME!!! What an amazing achievement!!I dream of the day that I am at a BMI that is not considered obese and I've already lost 91 pounds!!!

It's been a while since I've posted. I wish I didn't come here to post whenever I'm feeling discouraged. But if anyone out there is still reading I'm in a bit of trouble again.

My weight started going down. I dropped a few more pounds down to 342 and I was ecstatic! Then my birthday weekend came and since I'm a college girl that meant celebrating it multiple times with multiple groups of people which meant a LOT of good food. I gained a few pounds after that and went back to 344 but what's awful is that now it's been 3-4 days since then and my eating habits are 100% back to normal. I drink less Water with a meal now but other than that I'm eating 4-5 meals a day and I don't feel full at all. I'm eating half healthier foods half awful foods but more than anything I'm eating a LOT of everything.

I have my first fill on Monday but I'm terrified about going in and showing her that I gained weight. Any tips to lower my appetite?

Hi!!!

I felt the urge to respond to your post because the college stuff was catching my eye. I hate to say this, but I got my band nearly four years ago while away at college and I found it EXTREMELY EXTREMELY difficult. I was living on campus and the food choices on the MANDATORY meal plan were atrocious and the vendors did little to work with me even after scheduling and meeting with managers and their nutritionists many times.

Psychologically it was also hard to deal with because its hard to decide who you want to tell and who you need to tell.

What I'm trying to say is you are going to face a ton of challenges being in the college setting that not everyone with a band is going to understand or foresee ( my surgeon sure didn't as I was the youngest person he has ever banded)

Once you get a fill I think you will have a better handle on the over eating but there is way more to it then that, it's a mind game as well. Please feel free to message or ask me any questions about anything that comes up! I wish I had know someone else in my situation when I was newly banded!!

.....ððððð

I think that it is a very different feeling. Feeling full with the band happens much more quickly and can be painful if you eat too much. If you eat too much too quickly it can be very uncomfortable and you may experience PBing (productive burping) in which you may "throw up" what you just ate.

This being said, these feelings are NOT NORMAL or ideal. You have toward to eat more slowly and pay attention to when you have eaten enough so that you don't get to the painful point!!

Mmm the mocha and crystal light ideas sound great.

My surgeon told me to absolutely avoid bananas and yogurt, even Greek. I was really surprised because I had been eating this almost every day. He said to really avoid the yogurt because Of high amount of sugar and carbs.

I wasn't sold but it's been 3 wks since he told me and I've avoided both and lost 13 pounds since that day without changing much else than that. Guess he was right !

Hey all, feel free to add me! Maryashmore

Congrats!!! A half marathon is one of my big way future goals. Thanks for sharing your accomplishment!

Love my nutribullet and can't wait to try some of these creative recipes! Thanks!

Love my nutribullet and can't wait to try out some of these creative recipes! Thanks

Love my nutribullet and can't wait to try out some of these creative recipes! Thanks

Honestly since I have been banded I have found that the caffeine in coffee affects me much more quickly and intensely than before surgery. I still drank it through the end of college but I rarely drink it any more because of the jittery way it makes me feel.

Trying to stay on track and motivated!! Feel free to add me !! username= maryashmore

Alcohol definitely affects me more quickly than before but not to the point where I can't drink. I'm in college and enjoy drinking with my friends and do not see myself abstaining from drinking in the near future. My advice would be mix your own drinks and just don't put as much alcohol in them.

A bunch of my friends have questioned why I all of sudden didn't/ couldn't drink beer anymore and that was an awkward one.

Since carbonation is really bad for the band I've been experimenting with many different liquor options. As was mentioned above vodka with just about any crystal light is awesome! Almost no calories at all.

I was banded when I was 19! Finally decided I didn't want to waste my youth away I guess.

I was banded at the age of 19 and I am so glad that I did it. I have been extremely overweight my whole life and this tool has helped me to start moving towards a healthy life.

I was just looking back at this post and thinking about the past year I don't think that it was necessary to tell as many people as a chose to tell. It made it easier in some aspects but I also know that people will and do always judge. It really did just get hard to keep it a secret from some of my friends who I spend a ton of time with.

Wow so lucky. I'm a college student and had to be moved back at school and was regularly attending classes within a week of surgery. That was a killer.

Why not just do it. It can only make the surgery easier for your surgeon to shrink your liver a bit. Plus you will already be on the right path and start losing weight. Another plus is that you will know what to expect with the post op liquids diet.

I definitely went through doubts both before and after surgery. Now that it has been a year and I have lost a substantial amount of weight I am 100 % sure this was the right decision for me. I still need to work hard and lose a good deal more weight but I know that getting banded was one of the tools that I needed.

Its hard. And that is the biggest understatement every!

I've been banded about a month and have cheated a few times especially with the drinking while eating thing. Sometimes I just cannot help myself. It really seems like your doing fine. You at least know what you did wrong but everyone has rough times. Try to think about how much you have gone through to get to this point.

Also think ahead to how happy you will be as you start seeing the weight come off!