vlp1968

Back to your stuck episode- I have never been able to tolerate scrambled eggs- but poached, fried, hard boiled are fine. Go figure

I don't think "throwing the scale away" works for everyone, maybe it works for you. For me once a week works. I tried weighing in everyday and the natural flucuations drove me crazy. I am accountable to myself for what I put in my mouth and the exersise I do, I don't need to weigh in everyday to feel accountable. However, I do need to use the scale as a general guideline on my progress. Everyone is different, it's a matter of what works for you.

It's tough at the beginning, hang in there! I would call your surgeons office about moving on to full liquids. Every doc. is different but I think 1 week on clear liquids is pretty typical. I did 1 week full liquids, 1 week mushies then solids. Congrats on your surgery!

It's tough at the beginning, hang in there! I would call your surgeons office about moving on to full liquids. Every doc. is different but I think 1 week on clear liquids is pretty typical. I did 1 week full liquids, 1 week mushies then solids. Congrats on your surgery!

Had Chinese over the weekend, ate stuff I shouldn't have but got a nice fortune. It said "We are what we repeatedly do, excellence then is not an act, but a habit." It reminds me of something Dr. Phil says a lot, the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. When we change our habits, we change our past behavior, and those hopefully better choices, become the predictor of future behavior. It is easy to see how this relates to consistanly making good food and exercise choices. Have a great rest of the weekend!

Had Chinese over the weekend, ate stuff I shouldn't have but got a nice fortune. It said "We are what we repeatedly do, excellence then is not an act, but a habit." It reminds me of something Dr. Phil says a lot, the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. When we change our habits, we change our past behavior, and those hopefully better choices, become the predictor of future behavior. It is easy to see how this relates to consistanly making good food and exercise choices. Have a great rest of the weekend!

Going slow is hard, but not a bad idea at all. I tended to rush things, and ended up overfilled and had to go back. My advice is to not wait if you are too tight. I did that, thinking it may be swelling and the situation would improve on it's own. Well it never did, except after my very first fill. I suffered needlessly. Keep us posted on your journey!

Feel better soon!

Glad it is growing back! I freaked out too, when I started loosing hair. I went to a dermatologist and he said it was the body going into kind of a shock from rapid weight loss. Like you, it started several months after surgery and lasted several months. I was lucky to start out with a thick head of hair. I didn't take bioten.

Fantastic! Keep up the great work!

Sounds like you are doing great! If you are not experiencing hunger I think it was the right thing not to get a fill. However, for the future, don't be afraid to advocate for yourself. Some doctors don't want to give fills when a patient has lost weight, that doesn't make sense to me. I believe the decision to fill or not should be based on what the patient is eating, and hunger levels. You might want to keep notes for a few days before your appt. on your eating and hunger levels. Congrats on your weight loss, it's terrific!

Right now you are still swollen from the surgery and tbat causes the lack of appetite. As the swelling goes down your appetite will return and you might feel like you don't even have a band.
Restriction is a simular feeling. I can go about 4 hours without feeling physically hungry. Keep in mind there is a difference between physical hunger & head hunger. The band will not help with head hunger.
Hope this helps.

Here is my 2 cents worth..... Lapband "way of life", "diet" what ever term you want to put on it or Weight Watchers either one will work or it won't work totally dependent on the person's committment to the plan.
If you commit to getting your Protein, Water, and keep your calories at your doctor/nutritionist limit then you are going to lose weight. If you commit and follow the WW diet plan you will lose weight.
The person just has to find what is going to work best for them from this day forward, not just this month or the next 6 months. WW works for a lot of people, but they often gain the weight back because they stop attending meetings and eating the WW way.
Weight loss is all about the committment and the "want" power to stick to it.

I agree, could be blood sugar. I have diebeties and was on medication when banded. After 4 months or so I started to get dizzy. I thought it was my blood pressure so I poppped by my dr. and asked a nurse to take my bp, it was fine. I hadn't been good about checking my blood sugar. I ended up passing out in the middle of the night while getting drink of Water. My blood sugar was way low. My doc. took me off of the medication and I've been fine since. I would suspect it could be either low bp or low blood sugar. Do the shakes your drinking have carbs, or are they low carb.? If they are low carb you might want to switch and see if that helps. Also, you might want to keep an eye on your bp. Hope you feel better soon!

I tried ww in the past. Wasn't really ready and didn't loose much weight. However, I think their eating plan is very sensible and the meetings motivational. Also, there is something about that weekly weigh in that is motivating. I would give it a try if you think it might help.

That's awsome! I remember that being an NSV of mine. You are shrinking! Keep up the good work!

You have gotten a lot of good advice. The 2 things I would emphasize is to continue with the Protein Shakes, maybe even 2 a day. I do think you need to up your calories a bit, I understand it's hard for you, but I think shakes will help. Another idea I liked is adding some fat- olive oil would be a better choice than butter- since it doesn't contain near as much saturated fat. I have come to love roasted veggies. Asperagus, broccoli brussel sprouts, squash ( zuchinni and yellow) are delicious. Just cut, add olive oil and salt and pepper. Bake in the oven at 400. They take different times, You'll know they are done when they shrink and turn a little brown. Full fat cheese is also a great idea. You want to get in at least 2 servings of Calcium per day. That is what my nut says anyway. I stick to that carefully since there is ostioperosis in my family. Hope this helps.

I was thrilled when I was able to go off my meds. Not only for diebeties but also, blood pressure and high cholesterol. Yes, I had it all. It was the best dr. appt. ever! Congrats to you, and so soon into your journey. Keep up the good work!

I was thrilled when I was able to go off my meds. Not only for diebeties but also, blood pressure and high cholesterol. Yes, I had it all. It was the best dr. appt. ever! Congrats to you, and so soon into your journey. Keep up the good work!

A Protein Bar could work well for lunch. One high in protein- I get Atkins meal bars, I have found all are good. Of course you probably don't want to do that everyday- but to have them on hand when you don't have time to pack a lunch might be good. Keep up the good work.

You have gotten a lot of good advice. The 2 things I would emphasize is to continue with the Protein Shakes, maybe even 2 a day. I do think you need to up your calories a bit, I understand it's hard for you, but I think shakes will help. Another idea I liked is adding some fat- olive oil would be a better choice than butter- since it doesn't contain near as much saturated fat. I have come to love roasted veggies. Asperagus, broccoli brussel sprouts, squash ( zuchinni and yellow) are delicious. Just cut, add olive oil and salt and pepper. Bake in the oven at 400. They take different times, You'll know they are done when they shrink and turn a little brown. Full fat cheese is also a great idea. You want to get in at least 2 servings of Calcium per day. That is what my nut says anyway. I stick to that carefully since there is ostioperosis in my family. Hope this helps.

Walking for now is great! I know it's hard, but try to be patient. I didn't loose that much the first couple weeks either, at least not what I expected. They put saline in your IV at the hospital so that could be part of it. Keep up the good work!

Thanks Jean, your posts are always so well written. My dad and I have had issues regarding my weight and food choices. It's been an issue all my life. Unfortunately he has never been helpfull in this regard, as much as I know he wants to be. He just comes off as judgemental/critical and embarresses me. We've talked recently and it's been a lot better. I think he understands I need him to be neutral on the subject. Anyway, he has battled weight, drinking, gambling and it's true, people that quit a bad habit can be difficult to deal with. I know his comments are out of love and concern but that doesn't change the way they come accross and make me feel. It's funny, my mom talks with me about it and it's so different. I think maybe she talked to my dad. Thanks for the post!

Finally time, I know you want this weight to just fall off, i wish I could tell you that you will lose 2 plus pounds a week because you are doing everything right, But................... I can't. To help you from becoming discouraged maybe you need to do a few things that will help you have some none scale victories. Have you take your measurements? If not I encourage you to do this. It took me 2 years to reach my goal. I had multiple months of not losing and sometimes losing inches and never seeing the scale move. As long as you are following the plan and making healthy choices the weight will slowly start to come off. As for exercise, in order for exercise to really have meaning you need to be exercising 30 minutes a day and you must be in your target heart zone in order for the exercise to really help you burn fat. In the beginning exercise is the hardest for all of us, we have joint pain, shortness of breath and honestly it is just plain down hard to motivate ourselves to get off the couch. Exercise was the hardest for me, I had very band knees and kept injuring myself and yes it was frustrating as heck to do everything right and not get the instant gratification of seeing that little number change. I used to weigh myself on a Wii, I used to pull it out morning and night to the point I was driving my family crazy and I would cry because the scale would not move. I was convinced that I would never lose the weight. At the end of one year I was still obese, not morbidly obese but obese. It was very frustrating.
Do not become a slave to your scale, the numbers will start to move, you are young in your journey and this process takes time, unlike gastric bypass patients we do not lose as fast. I wish I could say I lost an average of 2 lbs a week but honestly the average is more like less than a pound of week. Some months I lost big and some I stayed the same but I never gave up. Stay positive, and know many of us have been where you are.

Thanks Jean, your posts are always so well written. My dad and I have had issues regarding my weight and food choices. It's been an issue all my life. Unfortunately he has never been helpfull in this regard, as much as I know he wants to be. He just comes off as judgemental/critical and embarresses me. We've talked recently and it's been a lot better. I think he understands I need him to be neutral on the subject. Anyway, he has battled weight, drinking, gambling and it's true, people that quit a bad habit can be difficult to deal with. I know his comments are out of love and concern but that doesn't change the way they come accross and make me feel. It's funny, my mom talks with me about it and it's so different. I think maybe she talked to my dad. Thanks for the post!