cbreeden28

You are very early in this journey. You've only had 1 fill and was banded in March. It's normal to possibly gain some after surgery because your body is healing and re-adjusting to everything. Plus, with no restriction yet, you can eat just like you did before. Be patient and wait for more fills before beating yourself up. It doesn't do any good. Just try to stick with healthy foods as much as possible if you are hungry. Also, if you are hungry...eat. Just don't eat the bad foods like cakes, ice cream, chips, etc. Stick with yogurt, cottage cheese, cheese sticks, etc. That's how I got through bandster hell. When I got really hungry, I learned to turn to good foods rather than the junk I use to eat. Good luck to you. P.S. It's very hard to gain 5lbs. in one week. I would be willing to bet it's Water retention from a lot of sodium intake or that time of the month. Try increasing your water intake. That will help with water retention. Weight again in a week. You may be surprised.

Thanks, I'm going to do that. I currently workout 4-5 days a week for 45-60 minutes each day. I just feel my body needs more than I'm giving it and it's fighting me. I'm going to start netting around 1400 cals a day and see what happens.... Thanks and congrats on finding the green zone so fast!!! We are similar in our fills. I have a little over 3cc's and I'm close to the green zone. Probably need one more to curb hunger between meals.

Mis73, so even on days you workout, you eat only 1100-1200 calories? Or do you eat back your exercise calories? I've been netting around 1200 calories a day for the last week and I gained a pound this morning.

This doesn't make sense. My body doesn't know I had WLS and it still requires calories to function. For example, my thigh still requires the same amount of energy to move and function as it did before WLS. The surgery shrunk my stomach, but it didn't change my caloric needs to function normally.... I can say this, as I've been eating 1200 a day, my weight loss has slowed compared to what it was doing when I was eating 1600-1700 a day.....

I have been using MFP since last April when I started my 6 month supervised diet. I lost 46 pounds pre-op following MFP's guidelines. After my surger in October, my doctor told me I should be eating 1000-1200 cals a day for good weight loss. However, MFP and a lot of members tell me that I need to be netting about 1600-1700 cals to be healthy and lose weight. When I tell them I net around 1200, they tell me it's not enough to keep my body functioning. So, who is right? Will I still lose weight if I eat so little? Right now, I'm not in the green zone, I've been going purely on self-control. I usually end up netting around 1200 cals most days, but as of late, I've stalled. I even gained a pound this morning. I calculated my BMR and TDEE. My BMR is 1867 and my TDEE is 2240 for a sedentary lifestyle. I exercise 4-5 days a week for 45-60 minutes. That would put my TDEE at 2887. If I only eat 1200 cals a day, is that really healthy? I would think eating 1000 cals less than my TDEE would be great for weight loss, which would put my cals at 1887 per day!!! That's more food than I can eat... So, which is it?

My surgery was at 8am on a Monday morning. That first day after waking up was horrible. I could barely keep liquids down. It would cause me to dry heave after drinking just 1 oz. of broth. I was kept overnight and had to keep my liquid breakfast down before I was allowed to leave the next day. I was discharged around lunch time the next day. At home, the worst part was trying to sit down and then standing up. Once I was down, I felt fine, but the sitting and standing felt like pulling in my stomach. I used the pain meds they prescribed for the first 2 days at home and then I was okay without them. Soreness completely left by the end of the week.

Same here, I have lost good amounts of weight in the past, but I eventually got tired of the routine before I reached goal and I went back to bad habits. I lost 46 pounds prior to surgery in order to qualify (my BMI was too high for my hospital to perform). It took me only 5 months to do that, but if I had continued on without getting the band, I don't think I would be where I am now. The band is my backup if I ever try to overeat. I physically won't be able to. Sure, sliders can still go down with ease, but that is where my will power comes in. I also find that if I give in to my cravings and treat myself to a small dessert once or twice a month, it helps keep me focused on my journey. I still get to eat my favorite foods, just in smaller qty's and less often than I was pre-band. I started my insurance required diet in April 2011 (1 year ago today actually) and as of today, I've lost 84 pounds. That's an average of 1.6 pounds loss per week. Very healthy weight loss and I couldn't be happier. I'm hoping to lose another 92 pounds to reach my goal weight of 150. I've never been 150 in my adult life. I'm so excited!! That excitement keeps me going.....that and my band.

I have had 6 fills since surgery in October and I think I'm getting close to the green zone, but sometimes I don't know. Here is how I feel: Satisfied with about 1 cup of food per meal, but could eat more if I wanted. Getting hungry within 3 hours of eating a meal. Need Snacks in between bfast, lunch, and dinner because my stomach is growling so bad. Eating about 1300-1500 cals a day; any less and I would be miserable trying to sleep (I've tried it) However, with that being said, I get stuck often even when eating slow and chewing excessively. For example, on Saturday, I had 1/2 cup of cottage cheese with sugar free blueberry jelly. I got stuck. How do we get stuck on cottage cheese. I stopped when I felt it and it eventually passed without having to vomit, but my stomach was still growling and I was still hungry. What is the balance between having a band tight enough for good restriction, but not too tight to cause stuck episodes with each meal? My foods are always hit and miss. What I get stuck on this week, may go down fine next week. I don't do bread, crackers, or rice anymore because I can't tolerate them. But, it makes me mad when I choose good healthy food, chew well, and still get stuck. Makes me want to schedule an appointment to get the damn thing taken out. When you are in the green zone and have good restriction, how do you feel when you've eaten enough? Does the band stop you or do you measure your food and eat only what you put on your plate? If the band stops you, what do you feel?

I've always loved my Pasta dishes. With the band, I have cut back drastically on my portions and how often I fix it, but I can't eliminate it all together. I did away with bread, rice, and potatoes, but I just couldn't let go of the pasta. Spaghetti is my favorite meal at home. I just eat a smaller portion and take my time. It hasn't affected my weight loss at all. I think pasta is only bad when you add lots of creamy/fatty sauces (for example: alfredo sauces). As long as I can fit it into my calories, I will eat it. My total carbs for the day are usually around 70-100g. Again, I have lost 80 some pounds doing this everyday. Not all carbs are evil.

I know certain foods are supposed to be off limits to bandsters, but yesterday after a cookout, my family went out for ice cream and I had some. It was the first ice cream I had since before my surgery 6 months ago. It was fantastic and I savored every bite. Plus, I loved the fact that I didn't have to worry about getting stuck while eating it. I'm back on track this morning and feeling great, plus I got on the scales this morning and I'm down 2 pounds!! It definitely won't be an every day or every week thing, but it really felt great to treat myself since I have restriced my food so much in the last year (strated supervised diet last April to prepare for surgery). Does anyone else do this occasionally?

^^SAME HERE!! I'm so tired of eating cold food because by the time I'm about done, my dinner is cold and everyone has left the table. Our dining room is right beside the living room and I can see the TV from the table so I use that as a distraction to eat slowly. I also put the fork down between every bite. While I'm feeding my son, this works great because in between my bites I will feed him, but when he's done, I find myself wanting to hurry to get done. I've gotten much better with this though. The worst for me is when I'm really hungry and I try to eat too fast because I'm so hungry. I'm still eating over a cup of food and getting hungry in about 2-3 hours so I know I'm not in the green zone yet. I can't wait for it though!!

This has been happening to me also, but only after a fill. Today is the first day I'm back to a regular diet after my fill on Monday and I fixed some egg beaters with cheese this morning for breakfast and the first 2 bites caused a stuck feeling that took forever to pass. I didn't regurgitate, but it was uncomfortable for a good 30 minutes after those bites. I then drank some hot coffee and tried to resume my meal, got stuck again so I stopped. Just now, I tried eating a wedge of cheese (mini Babybel), took 2 small bites and felt that feeling again. It's very frustrating. I'm eating the right foods and I'm starving, but I can't get the food to go down. I only have a little of 3cc's in my band so I can't be too tight. And it only does this on certain days. Other days, I eat just fine all day without any stuck episode.

My diet consists of mostly Protein (like everyone here), but I also need some variety. I eat veggies, fruits, and carbs. One of my fave Snacks is eating Triscuit thin crisps with a wedge of laughing cow cheese. I can't eat any bread, so I figured this was a good way to get my whole grains in. At my appt yesterday, my PA actually got on me about eating them. I didn't understand it. Don't we need whole grains in our diet?? I understand low carb and all, but you still need the good carbs don't you? I don't eat a lot of other carbs either (rice, potatoes). My one carb choice that I can't stay away from is Pasta, but I fix it myself in healthy ways and watch portions. I just didn't understand the problem with eating Triscuit crackers. It's much better than my old snack of Townhouse crackers, BBQ chips, or Little Debbie snacks.....

I also started out in a size 26. I was 326 the day I started my physician's supervised diet last April. I have lost 79 pounds since then and am in a size 20 right now. It's great to dig out old clothes that I had gotten too fat for and have them fit now. The smallest size in my closet is an 18, so it won't be long until I have to start going shopping for some 16's. It's so exciting!! Congrats to you and enjoy your Easter looking and feeling fabulous!!

Do you see changes more clearly doing it this way. Like steady downward progress instead of up and down?

I'm not in the green zone yet, but I started dieting and exercise 6 months prior to surgery and in 11 months, I've lost 80 pounds. 33 of those pounds were lost post-surgery (Oct 2011) and the rest was between April and October of last year. At the beginning when I first drastically reduced my caloires and began exercising, I lost around 10 pounds per month. After the first 6 months, it slowed a bit and I know loose about 6-7 pounds a month. My doctor is happy with anything between 1 and 2 pounds weight loss per week. My goals are set up to lose 6 pounds a month just to be conservative. Once I hit the green zone, I hope to lose closer to 8 pounds a month. Good luck to you!!

My weight bobs around a lot for several days. Right now, I'm going back and forth between 247, 249, and 250. One day, I'm 250, the next, I'm 249, then I'm 250 again, then 247. Anyone else do this a lot. I weight every morning and it does this all week. It's very aggravating. It does eventually go down. But, I will continue to bounce back and forth like that for a week or so and then it will drop again. Someday's, when I show a 3 pound gain the next morning, I feel like I did something wrong, I try not to let it discourage me, but it's still annoying. I have tried to switch to weighing once a week, but it's so tempting each morning to see what I accomplished the previous day.

I'm proud to announce that I am wearing the same pair of jeans that I wore when I met my husband 7 years ago. I haven't worn them in at least 6 years. They are a size 20, which is still huge, but considering I was in a snug 26, it feels fabulous. The NSV's are so much more rewarding than that number on the scales. My next goal is to get in a size that I don't have stuffed away in a drawer or closet somewhere. Because that means I get to go shopping!!! Not sure what my goal size will be. At 5'4" and a goal weight of 150, I would hope to be in a 8 or 10. I won't know how to act to go hunting sizes like that at the store and actually be able to find them. I'm super excited!!!!!

My fills are covered by insurance, but I have a $500 annual deductible. I got my surgery in October and the first few fills (Nov and Dec), I paid $23 because with the surgery, I had reached my deductible easily and then I paid 10% of whatever else I had done. Then, when insurance reset in January, my first fill cost me $229!! My insurance statement shows they billed them over $300 and after the discount for being a network provider, it brought it down to $229, but I have to pay it all towards by $500 deductible. The good thing is, 2 visits this year will satisfy my deductible for the whole year, but it's still a lot to pay out at once. I can't believe some of the prices people are paying for fills. All my fills have been blind (no xray) and they take about 10 minutes tops. That includes her talking to me and going over my eating plan and exercising.

What is the appeal of running? I'm still very much overweight and am just doing the walking thing for now, but I have friends who run also. Whenever I try to run, I get out of breath, my side cramps, and my legs hurt. Is it something that feels better after loosing a lot of weight. Right now, when I try to run, the impact on my knees and feet hurts so bad that I can't go very far. Just wondering what it is about running that causes people to do marathons and such. Right now, that is not one of my goals after weight loss, but a lot of people have it listed as one. What's the draw???

My go to snacks are as follows: Cottage cheese--i love it plain!! Fage 0% greek yogurt--I add a packet of splenda or fresh fruit Laughing Cow babybel cheese circles Laughing Cow cheese wedges Protein bars (Atkins, Pure Protein, Nature Valley*) Protein shakes (UnJury, Atkins) Tuna salad with light mayo String Cheese Sugar free Jello pudding w/ unflavored protein powder Pistachios Peanuts Peanut Butter Sliced lunch meat rolled up with a slice of cheese Pickled eggs *-Nature Valley makes a new Protein bar (10g) and they are crazy good. I tried the peanut butter dark chocolate and they taste like a candy bar to me. It's like cheating, but it's healthy for me.

My problem with this is that I have never been one to eat all of one food on my plate. I like variety and change it up (a bite of this, a bite of that). I can't just sit and eat all my protein, then all my veggies, and then carbs. It's too boring. I mix it up and it works for me. As long as you get all your protein in by the end of the meal, that's all that matters. And I have been successful with this method.

I understand you completely. When I started this journey in June 2010, I was told my surgeon wouldn't do the surgery on anyone with a BMI over 50. I was 53. I was told I had to lose 36 pounds in order to qualify for surgery. My thoughts were, "If I could that, I wouldn't NEED the surgery". I did try for about 3 or 4 months, but only lost about 5 pounds. I wasn't really dedicated though. I went through all the other testing (wellness, psych, nutritionist), but I just couldn't get the weight down. So, I gave up. I didn't think about it anymore and moved on. Then, in April of 2011, I got a call from the doctor's assistant. She asked me to come in for a consult again. I had gained 14 pounds since my original meeting a year before. I was devastated. When would it end?? I, like you, got pregnant in 2009, and after having my baby, I wasn't paying any attention to what I ate and wasn't active. I was 318 the day I gave birth in Dec 2009. A year and a half later in April 2011, I was 326. I made a decision that day to do something. I joined myfitnesspal.com and started to log all my food. Anything that went into my mouth, I logged. I set it up to lose 2lbs a week. I logged my food and exercise and I started loosing 5 pounds a month like clockwork. I wasn't loosing the planned 2/week, but I WAS loosing. I had to do the 3 months of supervised dieting for my insurance again, so I went in at the end of April and weighed 318. In May, I was 313. June was 308. And July was 302. While paperwork got submitted for approval, I continued my routine of eating right (under 1500 cals a day) and exercising at least 3 days a week. When insurance got approved at the end of August, I was 298. They went ahead and scheduled my surgery and gave me a start date for my pre-op diet. I lost 15 pounds on the pre-op diet. The day of surgery I was 280. I was so proud of myself for committing to it and getting it done. I too am now 30 years old and have been banded for about 5 months. I've only lost 30 pounds in those 5 months, but I've always been a slow loser. As long as the numbers keep going down though, I don't care if it takes me 5 years. I will get it all off. My advice to you is make small changes here and there. Take out all sugary drinks and caloric beverages. Then, remove all unhealthy Snacks (chips, candy, cookies). Replace them with Protein (cottage cheese, greek yogurt, string cheese, protein bars). Keep track of your calories and make sure you are in a deficit each month for what your body burns. Any exercise you can add is great also for muscle tone. The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn. Also, don't stress about the surgery itself. It was not nearly as bad as I imagined. The first day is the worst. I was sore and couldn't even get liquids down, but I got through it and so will you. The more you can walk that first day, the better you will heal. I had no gas pains that others talk about, but I walked from the moment they let me up. I can't stand laying in hospital beds. Good luck to you and I hope you can get through it. I know it seems like a lot, but with a few changes to your diet and lifestyle, it will come off.

I have BCBSIL and I started the process back in mid 2010. However, my BMI was too high for surgery and I couldn't get down to where I needed to be, so I just dropped it. The surgeon's office then contacted me in April 2011 and asked for another consult. I decided to go for it full force. I started my diet that month and she submitted the paperwork based on my previous appointments from 2010. At that time, they required 3 months supervised dieting and documentation of attempted weight loss with a program (WW, Jenny, LA Weight Loss). Then, in April, we found out their policy had changed to 6 months. My surgeon's office fought it since I had started the process in 2010. They then required me to do only 3, but it had to be 3 in the current year. So, I started in May and finished at the end of July. Paperwork was submitted in August and I was approved in about 2 weeks. My surgery was October 10th, but that was due to hospital scheduling, not insurance. Overall, BCBSIL hasn't been too bad, but I did get denied my first go around for failing to provide required documentation (because they changed their policy). The second submission was approved. It does take their approval process longer. Most hear back in a week or less, but they are very slow.

I'm 30 years old and have been overweight for about 15 years. My weight got really bad around my early 20's. I started this journey at 326 (my highest) and currently weight 255. I have not noticed any excess skin yet, but I have about 100 more pounds to reach goal. Are my chances of having a lot of excess skin likely? I do exercise and am loosing slowly (1.25 pounds/week), but I'm sure, since I was overweight for so long, that I will have excess skin in my stomach, butt, and thigh area. For those of you who have had surgery to remove excess skin, how much weight did you lose and how long had you been overweight. I will definitely have the surgery one way or another once I reach goal. For me, it will be a reward for all my hard work. If I reach goal, I want to look and feel good on the outside also.