AZA

I live in Qubec and I am considering the surgery. What was the costs for Montreal and Dummondville, if I can ask?

I paid around $5,000 in Drummondville. There is about a year-long waiting list.

I'm not sure if I'm at my sweet spot. I'm satisfied with 800-1000 calories a day but I'm also still able to eat quite a bit at night (though I now have much better control over this).

I've only used Sparkpeople and I'm happy with it. Haven't had a reason to check out fitday yet.

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I have dropped from a 5X to a 3X and a 30/32 to a 24/26 I was like so happy to spend all my money on clothes and it is great... Btw, I will be there this Saturday ... See you there...... Btw, anyone know how to get there???

Wow! Congrats on reducing your dress size! I can't wait to fit into a 3x again - I find it so much easier to find pretty clothes in the 1x-3x range.

The Denny's is at 1378 CLYDE AVE, NEPEAN, ON K2G 3H9

If you're coming from the Queensway, take the Maitland (south) exit. Maitland turns into Clyde and Denny's is just past the Baseline intersection.

If you're coming from the Champlain Bridge, continue straight to Merivale, past Baseline, and turn right on Clyde (the CJOH building is at this corner).

The next Ottawa group meeting is this Saturday, January 5th, 10:30 am at Denny's on Merivale.

I know a few new people are also interested in joining us. Is everyone still planning to be there? Can we make a reservation at Denny's?

Looking forward to seeing everyone again.

Woohoo! :whoo: I'm FINALLY under 300 pounds!!! It took a long time to start losing weight but the scale started going down in December.

So I've lost around 30 pounds but it doesn't show at all yet. My clothes are a bit looser - I'm looking forward to dropping sizes too.

So what are your weight-loss goals for the New Year? I'm going down south in March and would really like to be under 275 by then.

I'm at around 7cc's and I'm still not as tight as I think I should be. I can certainly eat a lot less than before but I think it's still too much, especially at night when I'm a lot looser.

I did get up to 8cc's and that was too tight (couldn't swallow my own saliva). My next fill should be around .3 or .5cc.

I find that whenever I start losing weight, my period is really heavy and lasts a couple weeks. My doctor told me it's because of hormones and fat cells. When I started losing weight after surgery, my period stayed around for 4 weeks. Some days were so heavy, a super-plus tampon would only last 20 minutes. Thank goodness it stopped on its own because I was about to start taking the pill to get it to stop.

I gained weight after my surgery until about my 3rd fill. The good news is that once you have proper restriction, the weight will come off!

Try following weight watchers or other similar program until you obtain restriction.

I also have a 10cc band and wished I had been filled more aggressively. It took nearly 4 months after surgery to start losing weight.

It sounds like you're close to obtaining good restriction. Another small fill or two and you'll be at your "sweet spot".

I felt those same symptoms after my fill last week but I'm definitely coming down with a cold. I've felt miserable all weekend.

My doctor feels that if you can eat a solid breakfast, then you're not properly restricted. He said it's completely normal to loosen up over the day.

I'm either still swollen from the overfill or am just filled a little too tight. I can only keep down liquids right now. I can live with this for now as long as I can still get Water and Protein Shakes in.

I don't think you lose weight faster with the 10cc band. It seems to take a lot longer to reach good restriction with this band - though I think that's in large part to fills that aren't aggressive enough.

I'm free again! Gosh, that was a yucky past 24 hours. When the doctor pulled out some saline, I heard a big gulp, gulp, gulp, and felt liquid move into my stomach. Sweet relief!!!

This time we refilled while I drank Water (and kept my eyes away from the needle sticking out of my port!). I feel a little irritated from all the PBing but hopefully I didn't harm my band.

Lesson learned: Always drink your Water BEFORE leaving the doctor's office.

One thing I noticed was that none of the contestants looked like they would need plastic surgery to deal with loose skin. Why is that? Is exercise that powerful?

What I've discovered so far: sleeping sideways, on your stomach, on your back and sitting up DOESN'T help! Drinking hot tea doesn't help. A very hot shower did feel good but not sure if it's helping yet.

I can't wait until my doctor's office opens up!

So I just had another fill about 7 hours ago and right now I'm PBing spit because it's not going down. Not only is it gross, I can't fall asleep because I keep having to get up and PB. I was in a hurry to get home and didn't drink my Water before leaving the doctor's office (lesson learned!).

Is there anything I can do to prevent a defill? Should I try hot liquids? Will it loosen up in a few days (though I'm not sure I can wait that long). Either way, I'll be calling my doctor first thing in the morning.

Yes I do drink lots of Water - I love Lemon-Lime Crystal Light and drink at least 4-5 bottles of Water a day.

I had another fill today so I'm sticking to liquids tomorrow but after that I'm going to try eating low-carb. My fill doctor also suggested I follow a modified Atkins plan.

I'll be sure to follow-up next week and let you all know if it's working.

Oh geez - Does this mean no mashed potatoes on Christmas??? I love mashed potatoes and gravy, and stuffing, and pie, sigh....

I saw a new Crystal Light green tea flavor at Loblaws.

Also Walmart carries their own brand which might have different flavors.

I'm a big fan of Lemon Lime - I half-freeze my Water bottles and drink it like a slushie.

Thanks for the continued feedback!

I'm willing to try anything at this point so I'll cut down drastically on carbs for a week and see what my results are. I'll have to plan all my meals because I have no clue what I'll eat.

I agree I need another fill and have one scheduled this week.

I appreciate all the advice. I've always avoided a low-carb diet because I thought it was next to impossible if you weren't a big meat-eater.

I still don't understand why it makes such a difference. Why aren't 1200 calories of chocolate, or 1200 calories of apples, or 1200 calories of Pasta the same 1200 calories?

About the exercise, I only started about 2 weeks ago and it hasn't made a difference yet on the scale. I do feel that my clothes are fitting a bit better since starting to exercise.

What are the resources for learning more about low-carb diets? Is it mainly Atkins and South Beach?

I just finished shoveling 2 feet of snow! I'm sore ALL over but my port doesn't bother me.

In terms of exercise, I went from doing nothing (except for working full-time and taking care of my kids) to walking 30 minutes on the treadmill (4x a week) and doing about 45 minutes of Dance, Dance Revolution (4x a week).

Here are some sample menus from the past week (from low cal to high cal). I rarely eat exactly 1200 calories per day. I might do 800 calories one day and 1400 the next. But my weekly average is consistently 1200 per day. I rarely eat Breakfast, I never did prior to being banded and I’m just not hungry in the morning. I’m mostly vegetarian (I do eat fish, dairy and eggs). I might eat chicken breast or ground beef once a month.

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838 calories, 93 carbs, 34 fat, 25 Protein

Breakfast:

Small coffee, one cream, one sugar 113 calories

Lunch:

President’s Choice Indian vegetable biryani rice (0.8 serving), 200 calories

Dinner:

President’s Choice cheesy macaroni (1.25 cups) 425 calories

Snack:<o></o>Orville Redenbacher's Smart popcorn Mini-bags 100 calories<o></o>

<o></o>1213 calories, 161 carbs, 39 fat, 68 protein<o></o>

Breakfast:<o></o>

Small coffee, one cream, one sugar 113 calories<o></o>

Lunch:

Slice of cheese pizza 345 calories

Dinner:

2 cups of spaghetti with parmesan cheese (no meat) 595 calories

Snack:

Atkins Advantage Bar chocolate Mocha Crunch (0.9 serving) 198 calories<o></o><o>

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1620 calories, 141 carbs, 85 fat, 60 Protein

Breakfast: coffee with cream 90 calories

Lunch: tuna wrap 500 calories (purchased at my work cafeteria)

Dinner: President’s choice cheesy macaroni (2 cups) 600 calories

Snack: cranberry muffin 350 calories

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I live in <st1><st1:country-region w:st="on">Canada</st1:country-region></st1> so some of the brand names are different. I don’t have any problems health-wise except that I’m chronically anemic.

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Looking at my menus I do see that I still eat a lot of Pasta, breads, and cheese, all of which I used to binge on prior to being banded. I used to be able to eat a WHOLE cheese pizza - now I can only eat 1 slice. I now eat much smaller quantities of these foods.

I do recognize that my diet is short on fruits and vegetables (I really don’t like many – I know that’s ironic coming from a vegetarian). I usually have a cup of fresh strawberries 3 times a week and a salad about once a week.

I'm still struggling to get to a good fill - I know I probably shouldn't even be able to even eat pizza and rice.