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I LOVE the WATP DVD's! Some of mine call for hand weights or exercise bands. I feel worked out when I am done and the convenience is priceless. Good Luck, JOan

Sounds like you aren't doing anything wrong. You lost a massive amount in the first two weeks - seriously, then looks like you hit the dreaded 3rd week stall - do a search on here and you'll see just how common that first stall is. Stick with the plan you were given, stop stressing about the scale, and the weight will come off again. Weightloss is definitely not linear. You will not lose every week, some weeks you might even gain a pound or so but the overall trend over time will be downward.

I received my lap band last Fri, Oct 21st. Wow I thought I was dying when I woke up in recovery. My chest hurt so bad, that they kept reassuring me that my ekg was fine. When I finally realized where the monitor was, I kept looking at it to be sure. It was. It was the gas that hurt soooooo bad for the whole day and night. Finally it moved from my chest, but went to my upper shoulder, ear and left side. It was a nightmare (the gas pain). I did do a lot of walking to try to get it to move. Walking does help, but ROCKING also helped me ALOT!!! There was a glider rocker in my room and Sat. morning, I realized rocking was a good thing for me. Just get moving some way, nothing strenuous, though. I am already tired of Jell-O, it's not my favorite anyway. I'm so thankful that I was not sent home the first day, I think that happens a lot in the states, not real sure though, anywho, I'm thankful that I had a hospital bed. I couldn't have laid in bed for anything that first night. At the hospital, they let me have jello, ice chips, tea, which felt really good on my sore throat (from the tube during surgery), and apple juice. Friday night my husband and I were ready to come home. There is not place like home!! So Saturday morning my Dr. released me, with his asst.'s help, We got our plane tickets arranged and we were out of there!! NOBODY told me how difficult the ride back to the airport would be. The roads there are a little rough and with all that gas blowed up in me, every time we would hit rough spots I would kind of grab my belly and say oooohhhhhh!! The taxi driver would look at me through his mirror. One time he did say x-cuz me. I just smiled. I didn't know if he new that I may be in pain or not. I speak hardly any Spanish. On the plane we had a good bit of turbulence for the 1st 15 minutes of take off and a little with the landing. That was a little painful. And Ahhhh, the Atlanta airport!!, we won't go there!! On the plane, I took on a migraine, so by the time I got in our car, I was depressed!! I just started crying. I was hurting from head to the bottom of my stomach. I honestly don't think the band surgery wouldn’t' have hurt so much, if I hadn't had so much gas and then the migraine, which is now gone, Hopefully soon, I'll be feeling a 100%! Saturday night, I slept propped up on about 4 pillows. Did any of you gain after your surgery? I've gained a pound and a 1/2!! Maybe because of the swelling. Who knows? In Atlanta, I got a Steak n Shake, vanilla shake, which was wonderful. I'm not a big fan of jello, so anything was better that that. At home, chicken broth from Chicken noodle soup has been my favorite, and a choc. Frosty from Wendy's. Also, applesauce is good and apple and cranberry juice. Monday, Oct 25 ~ A lot of my gas is gone today and my stomach isn't so tight, so I can bend and get around a lot better today. Anywho, I'm just so thankful to be home. I just took a shower and feel a lot better already. I was up early with kids, gettin lunches ready and kids out the door. After that I laid back down. That is now getting easier also. I can lay flat down now with slow turning. I know everyday will be better and my new life is just ahead of me. I sit here and think of food that I'm going to be sorry for that I and probably no longer eat, but then isn't there little cliché that goes something like this .... Nothing tastes as good as being small feels... :banana :banana :banana That's my experience so far

I don't mean to be gross but one of the side effects from the medication from the general anesthesia is that it slows down your bowels. That, along with the stated water retention, could be playing a part to the weight gain. In any case, don't worry because all of a sudden you will be down like 5 pounds and feel better! Post op, I was on liquid Tylenol and Motrin and I was in little discomfort with that. Good Luck!

Check out this great little book. About a three hour read and very supportive and informative "Beyond the Refrigerator : navigating life after weight-loss surgery". By Linda Ouellette , LPC ISBN # 978-1-4575-0836-3.

Yea, its that time of the year again.. blah! I don't know why, even as far as I have come with my weight loss I still think about chocolates! It really aggravates me and bothers me that I can go on for days talking bout it, thinking about, craving it, and wanting to eat it. I know this is all mental games that plays in my mind. I just hate that I 'still' want it. I love chocolates, especially dark rich truffles. My husband every year on Valentines Day would buy me a box of the finest chocolates to endulge in, with a bottle of my favorite wine. I dread when I have to go to the super markets and look at all the Valentine Day displays (those people should be punished), LOL I have not caved in, and I only hope that my strong will power will prevent me from buying a bag of Lindt chocolate truffles that I love so much! This Valentine's Day I will share some wine and fresh strawberries with my love, yes I may drizzle some dark chocolate over them, but it will be way better than those killer Lindt balls,

Whoo Hoo Onderland!! That is so awesome! I was sleeved the same day as you, but my weight was a little higher! Hope to join you there soon! Keep on being a great loser!!

Please study all my threads - please. Infected ports can and do lead to erosion. An infected port won't give you a fever (well, it might but I never had one.) I had 2 port removals due to infection, and I was diagnosed with erosion this week. I started a thread the other day about the importance of an endoscopy. Is your port inflamed, hot, red? If so, it's most likely infected and needs to be removed. But please don't get all worried because maybe the port just shifted after losing weight. If there's no infection and it bothers you a lot, they can do a port revision. But if it's infected, that means you should keep an extra special watch on your band. You're very smart to have paid attention to loss of restriction, which could be a sign of erosion, but again it just might be a sign of "time for a fill." PM me if you want to talk and I'll give you my number. Don't let all this worry you. I've been accused of trying to scare people with my infection and erosion stories but that's not what I want. I just want everyone to have the greatest band experience possible. Good luck and PLEASE keep in touch with me, k?

First off you don't want to push the issue of "feasting" . The idea of this surgery is to help him loose weight and not make him eat. After his surgery, it is really important to follow the doctors rules and regulations. I don't think you want to be the reason if he has a leak or other type of problem because you felt he should "enjoy" thanksgiving. It's not about the food, it's about family (new way of thinking now). As long as he is with his family that should be all that matters. If he is just starting on mushies that week, then mushies is what he'll have (the doctor will give him a plan to follow). But follow the doctors advise. . .that is most important for his health. However, again, the choice is yours. . . Good luck

As I read your post I was wondering if in my sleep I had typed this and forgot. Most of what you said sounds just like me. I had my band on 08/05/08 and 4 weeks before surgery if it wasn't chicken and tuna and water I didn't eat it, I hit the scales 1 week after surgery and had lost 25 pounds. I know that was from the preop diet. I have lost a total of 39 now but i have only had one fill in and that was in Oct too and since then I just have not had the money to go get another one. I had my band done in Mexico and the nearest fill center is 6 hours away, the one that was 2 hrs away closed down. I'm depressed, I hate chicken now, I can't bare to touch tuna anymore, I'm now addicted to sweet tea when I barely touched it before, I have started drinking cokes again, with no pain, I eat whatever I want. I need something, I just found out that my medical insurance will pay for the surgery if I would have waited 6 months the $300 dollars a month I have to pay the bank for surgery loan is more than I can just about handle with everything else. On top of it all my stomach is always sore, I can't lean up against a desk anymore or reach over the desk to get anything because its too painful, I can't sleep on my stomach unless I get in a certain spot, and now just this week i feel like i have eaten way too much and its stuck in my throat. I get hungry I eat it goes down ok but the after feeling is like it hasn't gone down and it feels that way even after sleeping all night and just drinking water. I now know why some people dont tell when they have it done, because i'm so sick of everyone asking, how much have you lost? or gosh you dont look like your loosing? Truth is I haven't been on the scales since Jan and that's just because I'm too scared to, I'm afraid I have gained weight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I would say - first of all - that its great that you've recognized area of weakness AND that you're willing to make changes and address them so you can utilize the band AND your head to get the weight off. It does take both I've found (and am still working on it 2+ years out!). I actually recently joined WW because my portions are out of control - more grazing than "I need a fill" portions, and I needed some structure. You say that you've broken every rule - so I would suggest going back to basics and reteach yourself to eat like a bandster. Are you drinking with meals? Stop. Are you eating Protein first then veggies? If not, start. AND - most important - just because you CAN eat more than a cup, does not mean you should. When I was having the most success I would eat what I could slowly eat over the course of 20 minutes and then I would walk away. If I was hungry within an hour later, I needed a fill, if I could hold off eating for a few hours, I was good. It sounds like maybe you are getting sick because you are eating too fast OR because you are pouch packing - overstuffing your pouch. That can lead to pouch stretching so you need to be careful. When you say you can eat more than a cup of food - what kind of food do you mean? All diced chicken breast? Ice cream? LOL Think honestly about what you're eating and how often. And I would suggest going back to your dr & being honest with him/her about this year and your plan to recommit - he/she can best gauge whether or not you need a fill. Good luck with your recommitment! Sometimes a recommitment is harder than having the initial surgery - I'm there, too. So our journey might be longer - as long as we get where we planned to go we're OK though, right? Sorry this is so long!! Kristin

It was my promise to myself that I would make it a habit to work out after I got banded and I do. Treadmill on an incline three miles a day and weight training to try and tone my sagging. I will try to increase as time goes on and my resisitence increases.

I'm having a hard time with head hungry. I struggle with all my bad habits. I have lost45 lbs. gained 5 lost that now I gained 2. I feel that my band is tight enough, because It hurts when I eat. . I know I don'tI feel like a lost cause. I was baned Feb 11th. Please HELP!

I heard today that Dr. Spivak of Houston offers the 2nd year of fills free if you reach a certain percentage of your weight by your first lapband surgery anniversary. The lady was not sure if it was 50% or 80%. Anyone hear of this and can confirm the correct percentage?

Maybe the OP question is about burning fat instead of muscle because people are at higher risk for burning muscle during high intensity aerobic activity versus low aerobic activity, like walking, during weight loss. The WL endocrinologist who works with my surgeon pounds this into my head because I'm a high aerobic kinda person and I've always burn more muscle than fat every time I see him. So in terms of optimal weight loss, he would say low aerobic 30 minutes every day and resistance training ever other day never going more than 48 hours without resistance training. I'm in the camp of do what you love so I I do what I love at high aerobic activity and weight train and eat my protein with in 20 minutes of recovery. Just to be clear, this is about weight loss and not about maintaining.

I haven't told any of my family. This has been a very difficult decision for me. the reason I haven't is because my family is very critical of my weight. I know that I couldn't tell my parents without them bringing it up at every family function and sadly I couldn't trust them to keep it to themselves. I really didn't want to have to go to family weddings, etc and have people talking about how I had to get surgery to lose weight. Did anyone else struggle with this?

This is such a personal decision for people. Obviously everyone needs to do what makes sense in their life. Only a few people know - My husband knows, a couple of new friends I met via surgeon's office and 1 colleague from another state who I see 1 time a year at a conference. I told her because at the conference in June she told me she had bypass (which was obvious by dramatic weight loss). I am not telling anyone else. My weightloss is slow and it is just now about 25-30 lbs that people are actually commenting. I work out 5-6 times a week and keep calories low. I can honestly tell people who ask about my work out and change in eating and not feeling like I am lying. The band does not do the work, I do. Good Luck with your decision!

I have to take off about 3 hours from work for my pre-surgical check in and work-up. I had gotten in late from meeting with the surgeon and my boss knew I had a "doctor's appointment" so I just told him that I had to have further testing done (the pre-surgical appointment, I'm sure there will be tests) and that the doctor thinks I may need surgery. He didn't ask a single question, he said, that's totally fine, don't worry about work. And that was it. I think he's so scarred that it's "Female issues" he would rather die than know anything more. Also our firm just merged with another and apparently one of the new partners has recently lost a significant amount of weight and he eats so supper healthy and strict, not even cake on his birthday, that everyone is talking about eating healthier. So I'm just going to start talking about eating healthier too. And i'm buying the Nike ipod Nano and I'm going to sign up for a 5K. Since everyone in my office loves ipods that will be fun to talk about and then everyone will think that it's just the exercise. So there is no lying (well flat out lying) and I was surprised at how easy it was to get time off, even though I have taken up all my vacation time this year. Here's to no more beach pictures with a beached whale hiding under the worlds biggest beach towel and a t-shirt!:whoo:

Just to add my story to this thread... I started taking thyroid meds about 6 months after banding(back in 2000) when I was in the middle of doing in vitro cycle. I was also seeing an acupuncturist at the time and going by some symptoms I had (cold hands and feet, sluggish in the morning, dry skin and hair) she suspect low thryoid. She knew my reproductive endocrinologist, so called her and suggested she run a TSH on me..the RE kinda balked at it but then agreed. It came back at 4.75..and at that time..the lab values known for normal range were .05-5.03 so I was considered high normal. Well..the acupuncturist still felt I needed some thryoid adjustment and wanted the RE to prescribe a low dose. In the meantime as they disussed it, I found an article at that time that said the Association of Cliinical Endos had just LOWERED the ranges of what is considered normal to .3 to 3.0..so I was really now in the "abnormal" range. Unfortunately..even though they changed this back in early 2003..many labs and docs still use the old higher values..so many people are really abnormal who could usehelp. So..I presented the article to the RE and then she started really thinking about it and that there are links between low thryoid and miscarriage and since Iwas undergoing an IVF, it was really recommended my TSH be between 1 and 2..so she finally agreed I shoul dbe on thyroid! She first prescribed Synthroid, but I had an immediate bad reaction..broke out in a rash on my stomach, headaches, dizzy..so she switched me to Levoxyl and I have been fine. SO..this was around April 2003. In June 2003 when the IVF failed and we decided not to move with more attempts..I needed to find a regular endo to care for me. The one I had seen in another county who treated me for my PCOS I hated. SO I found another endo and had him take over my "maintenance" I initiall saw him October of last year..he checked my TSH..he asked about my symptoms..and we agreed we would work towards keeping my thyroid in the 2 range..basically that kept me from not having cold extremities and not being sluggish in the morning and everything on even keel..so we tweaked with the dose..upping it, lowering it. I saw him again 3 months later..I seemed to be stable on the dose..and then he had me wait 9 months to see him again..I always go to the lab a week before my appt to get the TSH checked..we both get the results faxed to us (I always cc myself on labs so I can keep a copy of my own records!). I carry my results in just in case he didn't get his(he usually has it) and then we look at the results..any other tests he may have run for other issues..and then decide if the dose is still good. I see him again after a year unless I am feeling out of whack..and think I need a check. So..it is important to get checked on a regular basis..and weight loss can effect the dose..AND if you have been tested and are in the new "abnormal" range..talk to you doctor..here is the link to the article about the new ranges: http://thyroid.about.com/cs/testsforthyroid/a/newrange.htm Patty 8/13/02 Dr Kuri

You ARE my story exactly! I've worked out since 1983 and didn't have a lot of co-morbities associated, i.e. diabetes, sleep apnea. Did have acid reflux and my knees have arthritis (but look at my age, for heaven's sake!)... And yes, my scale kept climbing, climbing, climbing! In the six months I went to the nutritionist, I lost a TOTAL of six pounds (and I really think my high weight was just on a bad day, luckily... ). I honestly thought this Band would never work for me, NEVER! But here I am--I still work out four days a week (two at the YMCA and two at Curves)--I'm not sure I like your doctor's recommendation that you quit working out :confused2: what's up with that???? Have faith, cakegal, it DOES work--as long as we maintain the discipline to let it help us. But it also means we have to totally submit to a life change. That's the key...:wub:

Newbie here started my journey on March 2013 with a angiogram doct thought I had a clogged artery. Said I was just BIG,"FAT"So referred me to weight loss program. I started June 4, 2013. 12 week of classes dr appts & test. Finally finished Aug 20,21013.. I was finally approved to see the surgeon on Oct 17,2013 that day came & I got excited & anxious. seen the surgeon & we set a date Nov 5,2013 2 wk Preop was hard for me I was only losing inches." Now mind u my highest weight was in 2007 256, by 2009 I was down to 170. Happy me. Gained it back crushed my heart cause everytime I would work out I was at urgent care, & back up to 210 I cried, depressed." Being the one that does all the cooking I failed I cheated not once but twice during my preop diet so I realized I had to focus nov 4 hit & my last day of work for awhile so I went & weighed in 187. I started getting nervous as I waited to make my call for check in time Tuesday. November 5,2013 came & My nephew drove me to the hospital with my 15yr 2 hr prep @7 am, seemed for ever, I had even thought & told my son I know I'm doing the right thing god knows I am, but I also know I can get up and walk away, I'm glad I stayed, finally surgeon came in @9 were ready tears just rolled down my face "by 12ish I was hurting from pain the gas I have read about was lingering in my shoulders, finally came home by Thursday at noon codeine knocked me out but walking has helped I still have gas I'm still working on.. but from Tuesday 11/5 to 11/11/13 I'm down 9 lbs yet bloated. I am thankful I was approved for this procedure. I'll always have my five holes to look at & remind of my second chance at living life again 11/05/13 I started My New Life & New Journey. Getting Healthy.. Good luck everyone u won't regret it... Jb

Tell her to stop twisting your arm and making you eat Seriously Babs only you have the will power to eat or not eat. You know you can do this..look how far you have come. It is so easy for us who have struggled with our weight to fall back into the same old patterns but it is only us who can break those patterns too. NO MORE JUNK FOOD!!! I have been struggling this week too so I know how you are feeling , all the halloween candy in this damn house ..but I have made a commitment to myself Thursday.. NO MORE chocolate and so far so good. Be strong Just say NO! WILLPOWER WILLPOWER WILLPOWER

Ok, listen... I know I know I know... it makes your liver shrink, easier surgery, blah blah! I guess right now it is the fact that my stomach is still the normal size, afterward I would expect not to be as hungry as now, and the surgery will force behavior modification. It would still be a good thing for some sort of "class" on the new behaviors that are going to be needed. Like what about spending 30 minutes eating a meal instead of gobbbling it down. Showing what a portion of food is, these are the things that I am doing for myself so that it will not be such a shock. Anyway, I appreciate the support, we all need it! But at the moment I am starving, I just jogged a half mile, did a circuit of weight training, then cardio for 20 minutes. Let me go get my shake!:blushing: I am kinda excited about it though... I am doing EAS AdvantEDGE and all I had at first was choc (which is not bad)... but I finally found the strawberry... so it will be a treat - I HOPE! ~Real

Thanks girl, well I have been slacking but I am under a lot of emotional drama and stress right now - I'll tell all of you about it in another post, or at the next meeting. As far as exercising, I am just trying to do little things - stairs instead of elevator, parking far away - eating is good as far as no carbonation, and I am trying to eat better, I am doing ok, I just need to step it up. I still am taking my blood pressure medicine, I'm going to the doctor in a couple months for a check, meanwhile I check it regularly, and it's ok on meds...if I lose more weight maybe he'll take me off for a trial period. Brething is definitely better, along with back pain. It's just hard right now because I've always been an emotional eater, and noe I have turned into an emotional shopper. Good for the stores, bad for my bank account Anyway, thanks for letting me know someone's thinking about me and checkin up on me - I will try to do better!

Firstly congratulations on 13lbs weightloss...it really is a great start. Now then, it is hard work until you get to your sweet spot but it can be done...just watch what you eat and exercise more and the weight will move...protein first, then veggies then carbs (if there is room) and never drink with or for 2 hours after meals. Make sure you get in 2lts fluids a day and diet....you can't pack in the high calorie foods...the band will only help reduce the quantities you can eat. Good luck and keep your chin up