RandomRan

YaY!!! As of today, I am officially at goal. I do hope my weight goes a ottle lower, but if it stays right here, I'll be thrilled! I was banded on Oct 23, 2011 and have lost 66 lbs and have gone from a size 20 to a size 8! YaY!!! For those of you old timers who have shared great information and motivation, THANK YOU! For those of you just beginning your journey, it's well worth it! For those of you somewhere in the middle, keep on truckin' and reach your goal! I love you all. Randi

I was beginning to wonder if I even HAD a sweet spot! But 3 days ago was the magic fill!!! YaY restriction! Happy dancing (((_l_)))!!!! Will I actually keep the weight off this time? Really nervous about that. I am too afraid to give up a lot of my clothes and still have up to my size 20's in my closet. Guess I will at least move them to the garage. Is it just me or does anyone else have a fear their band will erode or slip and they will be back to square one?

We just got a Wii for Christmas ... I have to try Just Dance 2. I do 7 days a week of cardio these days. Used to HATE to work out, but I am loving Zumba and Kick Boxing.

169 today!!! Yippie!!! ((( _ l _ ))) <- That's me shaking my groove thang!!!

I have been doing Adkins since April when I found out I was pre-diabetic. I never cheat a single bite because it makes me not crave sugar/carbs at all. One cheat, and it takes time for the cravings to go away again. The old days of excessive hunger and eating in the middle of the night just disappeared about 2 months after giving up carbs. So many people struggle with being starving between surgery day and the first fill or two (or 3 or 4) ... My second fill was 2 days ago and I'm already 19 lbs from my goal weight. 800 calories a day is SOOOO much easier with no carbs. Lap Band will help you control portions, but it is up to you to control what you put in your mouth. By not eating carbs, I can't blow it on sliders ... no ice cream, no Cookies, etc. As far as health goes, I was pre-diabetic and did not want to go on meds in April '10. Since eating Adkins style, my cholesterol, my blood sugars, EVERYTHING is 100% in the normal range. For the beginning months, I limited my veggies too, but these days, I eat 7 servings of veggies every day. Makes it super easy to stay at 800 calories and not be hungry. The only veggies I avoid are peas, corn, carrots, tomatoes, and I limit onions. Also, I now choose low fat and non fat cheeses and Protein even though they sometimes add a gram or two of carbs.

Mine wasn't messed with either. Merry Christmas to me! I plateaued for 2.5 weeks. I journal EVERYTHING I eat and went just over 900 calories once, but all other days stayed under 800! I was getting frustrated to say the least. Got on the scale today for the first time in 3 days (I was out of town) and I dropped 3 lbs! YaY! I am still one pound away from my goal ... 2 days to go so hopefully I will lose one more ... but after a frustrating 2.5 weeks, I'll take this weight with a smile!

That is a great weight loss. If you are losing at that calorie count, I'd stick with it. Then if your weight loss stalls, you can drop lower and get it moving again. I am at 750 - 800/ day. I eat a ton of veggies. The Fiber keeps me full and I don't eat fruit so I try to eat a ton of veggies. Breakfast: (125 calories) 1 scoop of Protein powder (105 cal, 25g protein, 1 carb) 1/2 cucumber, 1 cup of romaine lettuce (I blend the cucumber and lettuce then add the vanilla protein powder and add ice and a little sweetener) (20 calories) lunch (200 calories) 2 eggs, 1/2 Bell Pepper, cup of spinach, 1 oz fresh basil (I blend the veggie/basil and then add the raw egg and scramble the mixture. Makes a florescent green, funny looking plate of scrambled eggs, but it looks like a lot more. Snack: (210 calories) 1 Weight Watchers string cheese (50 calories) 2 pieces of Weight Watchers provolone (80 calories) 1 cup green Beans (80 calories) Dinner: (230 calories) 5 oz turkey burger (200 calories) 1 cup Broccoli (30 calories) Total Calories: 765 Sometimes I eat a night time snack ... my favorite is this... 4 oz of canned pumpkin (1/3 can) (not pumpkin pie filling) Add Pumpkin Pie Spice (It has nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger ...) Add a little sweetener (it tastes JUST like pumpkin pie without the crust) (45 calories)

I eat the sugar free Kirkland brand chocolate chews from Costco. I look forward to each chew I get to eat all day. LOVE them. I buy my kids the children's gummy bear ones that are at Costco too. They taste just like candy and are like swirly colored and look good.

If you are going to eat at night anyway, add another cup of veggies with your nighttime snack. When you make your dinner veggies, make two cups instead of one and save one so it will be easy to munch on them with whatever you eat as your nighttime snack. Cottage cheese alone is just not going to fill your tummy. All it will do is raise your blood sugar so you are more hungry later when it drops. I used to be a nighttime eater. Even got out of bed a couple times a night legitimately hungry and ate. I cut out all carbs completely this year when I found out I was pre-diabetic. The only carbs I eat now are from veggies (no corn or peas). It is a mind blow and almost creepy how rarely I feel hunger. When I need calories, I feel it, but no more night eating at all and it's really easy. I eat dinner about 6:30pm and am not hungry the rest of the night. SOOOO not how I have EVER been. It's a hard transition, but you may want to give it a try if you want to.

{{{{{ Hugs }}}}} Best of luck to you. You have had years to change your relationship with food. You can do this!

No, that is not normal. Sounds like your band is too tight. The other thing you may want to try if you don't want to unfill a bit is that if you throw up, go to liquids for 24 hours, let the swelling go down, then try eating again.

For the two people your husband has found, I can give him 4 I have met recently who are having less success. Hang in there. It's not good for you to be too tight that long. Where in MX do you need to go? If San Yesidro is your border crossing, I'll make arrangements to drive down there this month and go across with you if you need me to. My email is randomran@aol.com. Let me know if you need help. PS. 23 lbs in 3 mo is awesome.

On days you guys don't plan right and at the end of the day you find you are well under 800 calories but not hungry, do you eat again later in the night anyway to try to get to your 800 calories, or do you stay at 600-700 and just plan better the next day? Has anyone asked their Doc how to handle this?

Water weight or not, it's weight! I am down 40 lbs since Sept. Sure, a lot of it is water weight, but HELLO ... I'm noticeably smaller! And I assure you, it's not all water weight that you lost and if it stays gone, then who cares what kind of weight it is? Congrats on the fast drop.

My first fill was 10 days ago and it was 6.4 cc's. I feel some restriction, like if I drink water to fast, I can feel it for a sec or if I don't chew well enough, I feel it pass, but as long as I chew, no restriction on how much I can eat yet.

Hahahaha! Yea, I keep being afraid I'll be hungry at night and hoarding all my calories all day for the eve. Then eve comes, and I eat the right portion I'm supposed to for dinner, and I'm low on calories. Old habits are hard to break. The last couple days, I have been making sure I'm at at least 500 calories for the day before dinner time. It just scares me when it's 2:30pm, and I only have 300 calories left for the day. But, much to my disbelief, I have not had to go to bed hungry. 300 calories is more than enough.

I feel your pain on the wine thing. I am a home brewer (beer). My friends, my social life, everything has been brewing and beer. Beer club meetings where we all share our latest creations, brew fests, micro breweries, this was what I did when I took a night off from being a mom. The day I found out I was approved was a Friday. We got a sitter, and all my friends and I went to a beer bar where I said goodbye to all my favorites ... I explained to my Maharajah IPA(my favorite beer) it was not him, it was me ... and had one last glass. And I have not had a beer since. HARD to do. Unfortunately, I have had to separate from spending time with most of my beer buddies as that is just what we did together. Now I work out at least 1/2 an hour every day ... usually more, but that is my minimum. It keeps me motivated to stay away from the no no foods when I just burned off calories. I do not enjoy working out. I do not enjoy giving up beer. I miss laughing with my friends while tasting an awesome new release beer. On the flip side ... I have lost 40 lbs in less than 3 months!!! My first fill was 10 days ago, I had no restriction before, and almost none now. I eat three times a day. 4 oz of Protein, 1/2 - 3/4 cups of veggies with every meal. I even puree spinach, bell pepper, and fresh basil into my eggs before I scramble them in the morning so it will make a bigger portion until my fill. For me, this was a life changing decision and I am in 100%. The thing that helps me stay on track with not drinking alcohol or eating the wrong foods is journaling. I journal on line, enter every bite of food i eat. I have been at 800 calories a day since two weeks prior to surgery. 800 is ot a lot of food (tons of veggies help). I'll be damned if I'm going to have a couple of drinks and blow a third of my calories for the day doing so. Butter, yea friggen right! I would NEVER waste those calories on a full fat condiment either. Start journaling, every bite. It is totally what keeps me on track. If it's truly what you want, to lose the weight, make the decision. Best of luck!

Hello. I read some of your posts and love your dedication. I am just like you ... sticking exactly to what the Doc tells me and not veering even the slightest bit off course. I live by Lake Arrowhead, but I work all over S. Cal and my Doc is in Norwalk. I am usually free by about 1pm when I'm in the field. What is your schedule like in the daytime?

To the best of my knowledge, the anti-gas meds only work to remove gas from your intestines. The only was I know of to remove gas from your body it exercise. Does not have to be hard exercise, even leisure walking around.

I have a pain that comes and goes in my left side. For a few days, it was in my right side too, then it was back to just the left. It feels like gas or a cramp that won't go away sometimes. My Doc said maybe scar tissue. I have not tried codeine for it to know if it would help, but I do know that the two types of pains that the opiates (morphine, codeine, etc.) will not help with are gas and blood restriction (like a bandage too tight). Maybe it's gas if the codeine won't help?

Some great advise. Thanks!

I am super impressed that with a lack of energy, adjusting your meds, and dealing with depression, you are still getting your butt to the gym. Kuddos! Hang in there. Your body is going through a lot getting used to the band, recovering from surgery, and coming off meds. The weight will come off. Cut yourself some slack. I personally think you are impressive and a great motivation for me to not make excuses for myself and follow your example when I'm not feeling up to it.

Best of luck and let us know how it turns out.

Hello my fellow Octoberers ... I was banded 10/23/10. Since my Dr. appointment on Sept 9th, I am down 40 lbs! YaY! I have been at 800 calories a day since two weeks before surgery. I was plateauing/ losing really slowly for a bit. I started exercising at least 30 min a day, 6 days a week and the weight started falling off. Most days I work out longer, but on the "I don't want to" days, at least 30 min. I bought the Reebok Step and it comes with workout DVDs. The beginner workout is 30 min and pretty fun, so that is how I get it in when I don't have time to exercise or just plain old don't want to.

Take the vitamins!!! I also supplement with a liquid B Complex and Vitamin D (I found vitamin D in the yummy sugar free calcium chews from Costco. I get to eat 'em 3 times a day and they are like candy!) . Low levels of the B's and of vitamin D will cause depression and lack of energy.