Hi all....

To start us off....Ill begin with a little about myself.

I had joined the thread Feb Bandsters...however...Ive been booted to March...as I am being treated for sleep apnea....so I needed to push back surgery date from Feb 8th to March 15th..hoping it stays there!!

Im hoping to connect with others that are on a similar time frame for surgery, for support, advice, education, encouragement and just to shoot the breeze...to share experiences from the first consult if needed to way after being banded...lets get together and share this journey the good, bad and the ugly of it all!!

so.....lets get to know you....by answering some questions that was asked of me before....im passing them on through this group....it was a great beginning. Ill start.

Date of Surgery: March 16th

Where Surgery will be: NY

Doctor/Center: New York Bariatric Group

Dr. Holover/Manhasset

Seminar date: January 2009

1st consult date: Dec 30th, 2009

2nd consult: Feb 3rd, 2010

Consults and tests completed: Cardiologist. Pulmonologist, Endocronologist, Sleep Study, Nutritionist, Endoscopy

Tests still needed: Psych test

How is surgery funded? Insurance

Concerns? How will I ever be able to re-educate my brain to eat differently

Reason for banding? See thread in "Introductions"for NYSparklegirl.

Hi, I was just rebanded on March 22nd. I was first banded in June of 2007. Had many issues with first band. All I did was throw up all the time. I changed surgeons and he redid my band. He said the first one I had was too small. He put in a bigger one. It does feel like I am starting all over again. I did gain some weight back, because with the old band I could eat cookies and chips and other junk food like that.

Hiya Guys...

I am still around, Havent really had the time to stop by, but really have had the desire to stop by either... I thought this process was going to be so much easier.. I thought I could still eat junk but just in smaller amounts and lose weight.. I dont know why i had surgery if only 7weeks later i am back to everything i did before.. I am drinking soda again (doesnt hurt at all!) , back to eating almost normal sized meals (though I do that by drinking alots of fluids to flush it through my pouch). Not to mention i am always hungry!

I havent gained anything back, I have actually lost about 2 more lbs but its because I am working out hard..

I really thought this (getting the band) would help me change my mind set but it hasnt... I am so mad at myself that i do this to myself..

Kelsey -

It is SO hard. No one told me how difficult it was really going to be either. Thank goodness for these boards, otherwise I would have thought that this surgery was not successful. The only reason that I have lost weight is due to the fact that I am scared to do any damage to my band. Otherwise I would be eating up a storm. Trust me - I have made a bunch of mistakes with this band. The next day I just brush myself off and try again. I keep telling myself that it is going to get easier once I achieve restriction. 2 and 1/2 weeks until my second fill. Have you really not had a fill as your posting states at the bottom? Have you asked your MD about it?

Keep us posted and we are all here to support each other.

Cynthia

yes, i have had no Fills, I have my 2nd follow up appt May 18th so I am sure we will discuss fills then..

Kelsey, dont sweat the small things. I am always back and forth with how I feeel about myself and this procedure. I kind of thought that eventually after I had surgery the weight would come right off!!!! Even though I know its not true. I kind of wish that I knew about the surgery earlier and I would have had more time to recover and lose weight before the summertime hit.

Once you get some fills you might feel differently. Like lastnight I was so down on myself but today I am alright. I played hooky last monday and didnt go to therapy, which I think it is essential to talk to someone about the whole proccess. So I think that is what bothered me this week. And to top it off my hubbys bestfriends ex girlfriend, kept referring to me as fat, and that I should shop where her mom shops. The thing is .... SHes bigger then me!!!!! But because I got the lapband done, I guess she thought I was HUGE, like her mom. I am 4'10 and I weigh in the 180's I was 209 at my heaviest, but because I am so short the weigh isnt good for my health at all. I mean it really hurt when she would say things....

Anyways enough ranting thats what my BLOG is for. I go in at 11:45 for my next fill. I wonder how much I will get and such!:thumbup:

Hello All,

Just wanted to share - today I reached 25% weight loss goal. I am SO excited!

Happy Mothers Day to all you moms!

Cynthia

Hello All,

Just wanted to share - today I reached 25% weight loss goal. I am SO excited!

Happy Mothers Day to all you moms!

Cynthia

Congrats, Im am that far too!!!!! I have lost 24 lbs in 2 months, they say they want everyone to reach 40% by one year. At the rate that I am going I will be there before 1 yr. Ive only been doing this 2 months.!!! I got my second fill yesterday 2 more cc's. So I have 6cc's in a 10 cc band. I have restriction. They told me that if I dont reach restriction this fill, then in 4 weeks I will 99% chance reach my sweet spot!

Congrats Cynthia!

Hi everyone!!

So I got my 1st fill on Friday. My surgeon does her fills under fluoro. So she put in 2ccs and had me drink some barium and after the fill nothing was moving so she took out a half of a cc and then all was good. She said she didnt want to take out any less than that because she was going on vacation for 2 weeks and in case I was too tight she didnt want me to have to see another surgeon. I seem to have pretty good restriction right now. She told me to see how I feel in 2 weeks. If Im still losing two pounds a week, or more then she didn't need to see me for 2 months. If I'm feeling less restriction she said for me to call and make an appointment for a month from Friday so I'm glad she seems to be, I wouldn't say agressive when it comes to fills, but she's not passive about them, either. When I was there Friday I and got weighed I had lost 9lbs since the last time I was there which was 3 weeks prior. So that's 3lbs a week! :confused:

I really do love my band!

Hi everyone! Glad to have been invited to this thread (Thanks Cynthia)! I have had 1 fill, and while I have a teensy bit of restriction, I know it isn't enough, and the weight loss is so very slow. Bandster hell is right, although my experience thus far has been a pleasant one over all. Still learning to make the right choices, and learning to make excersize important. Whew! Lot's of work, but worth it!

hello. all

Hope all you moms had a great mothers day.

Welcome to the new bandsters.

yes, this is a journey. The band is a tool but is not the answer to end all.

We alone have to change the way we think about food and eating. If we dont we will go right back to eating exactly the way we were before. Weve lost initial weight during the healing process. After a month or two we now see that yes, we can eat most foods without a problem. Perhaps we can eat the same foods but less. Thats nice and yes that will help but thats not what is going to help us get healthy!

We have to eat different and think different. Exercise and eating healthy with the portion control which the band does help with and all the above is what is going to help and nothing less.

so lets start talking recipes..and discussing daily foods and what we are eating.

I think its important to share our experiences daily on this journey. Getting fills and how much weight we loose isnt the only thing I would like to hear.

I need to hear what other people are eating, doing, learning, each day about changing our thoughts and actions.

We are at that stage where we go back to eating the way we used to or we change it...

Lets support each other in those changes and give reinforcements.

We also need to question those who are choosing not great choices and help them make better choices for the future, discuss tips and tools that have helped them in this process and encourage to go on.

I think we need to adress issues that we are dealing with that either hinders or helps us along the way each day.

This week was particularly difficult for me.

Last Sunday was my birthday and I had this extra dog as a responsibility.

Starting with last Sunday it was a to dinner every night. First...my brother on Sunday. To a steak house. Monday with my dad to a fussion restaurant. Tuesday with my Mom for chinese. and Wednesday with my step mom at her house for pizza and fish.

Friday night was fast food on the way to bringing the dog to his new home. Sat night was dinner and show in the city.

Sunday mothers day was an Italian family restaurant.

Please tell me how????? How was I to eat right????

but, I tried.

How?? well, I have this little guide that is put out by E-diets. Eating out healthy and low fat, low cal.

This saved me. Of course it drove everyone nuts but who the f--ck cared?? My birthday?? My party so to say.

So...I chose those foods that were listed as good choices for each restaurant type. Studied each guide before ordering. I had the waiter...bring out only about 4 oz of the meal and pack up and hold the rest for take home. I tried to stick with grilled fish and vegetables. I ate only a bit of the veggies and about 2-3 oz of fish. At the steak house, I ate baby chicken grilled and mushrooms.

Fast food....well I ate KFC one piece thigh grilled that was it.

During the days wasnt bad.

but of course the whole week through me off...and didnt have anything prepared. so ate lunch out. Mostly soups, vegetables, pea and lentil. Had my protein shakes for breakfast. In between it was water and well....some yoghurt, cottage cheese and low cal crackers and salsa/

Biggest problem...Italian Family restaurant. There was no fish...just seafood. I dont eat seafood. All the other dishes were all those yummy saucy dishes with creams and heavy noodles. Each dish feeds about 4 people. What was I to do? no half portion or appetizer sizes.

hmm. I wait to see what everyone wants.,.,nothing that I can have. SO I order my own dish for 4 of plain brocoli side dish with olive oil and garlic. That was so yummy!!! lol Watched everyone eat fetticini alfredo, linguini with clam sauce, penne a la vodka. etc etc etc.

Stuffed mushrooms and calarmari for appetizer.

Well, this is how my week went. I still stayed within a good healthy limit...and the choices were okay...but without that guide with me...I could not have made those choices. What does everyone else do??? What is your guide?? do you use one??

I also carry around my daily journal. I stapled in two pages of cal of most foods I am writing down everything eat and wrting the cal, fat cal and pt. I add them up at the end of the day to see how many cal I am eating per day. etc/.

what is everyone else doing?? tips??? ways to keep track of eating etc etc?? counting cal? etc etc

Lets start this discussion

Have a great week

Jodi

hello everyone..my name is Michelle.. and I was banded in March.. just thought I'd come on here and introduce myself and say hi... so .. HI!:biggrin:

I thinking i am back on the wagon.. I have had a great day And I am very excited to say I am down 1lb :biggrin: atleast i havent gained..

I ate all my meals today with nothing to drink during it, Smaller amounts and NO Soda! I feel good.. One meal at a time and one day at a time..

Hello all,

The time is really flying by. It is softball season so that means that almost every day after I finish work at 6pm - I am first going to watch a softball game until 8. I eat lunch at 12:00, so that by 8:00 I am STARVING ( band or no band). So - I am now packing a greek yogurt to eat just before leaving work to tide me over. I have been grilling right when I get home so that I can make it to the track by 9 to walk with my walking buddy.

As far as what foods I eat - I have taken a different path than some others that I have seen posting on the boards. I was never a sweets or desert eater, but rather a huge volume eater. Whenever I was on a diet in the past, I always failed because I was denying my self foods that I found comforting to me. I have spoken with the nutritionist about this and we decided that what was best for me was not to "diet" but to really watch my portions and to slowly make better choices. I don not have restriction as of yet, so that the weight that I am loosing at this point is by sheer willpower and changing of my mindset rather than due to the band.

I try to keep my calorie count around 1200 cals. In the morning I typically eat a 100 cal type of bread ( light english muffin, deli flat etc) with 2 oz of tuna salad. Lunch I usually eat out at work (today I had 4 steamed shrimp dumplings sometimes it is half a wrap, other times a lean cuisine meal), dinner is usually a lean protein and a veggie. Tonight I had some sushi. Not the typical lapband diet, but it is working for me, I am satisfied and therefore happy. I record everything I eat at lapband.com. It is a simple website that tracks my calories and exercise.

Jodi - I agree with you - it is much harder with family functions and going out for meals. This weekend I had a Bat Mitzvah, dinner plans with my brother and Mothers day. At the Bat Mitzvah I decided to eat only the cocktail hour and forgo the sit down meal. I ate some sushi, lox, and veggies - I really try to watch my volume and keep the food to one cup. I decided to not even have them put the plate in front of me during the meal, otherwise I would have induldged. Dinner that night out, I did grilled shrimp and salad. Mothers day - a beef rib at the barbecue and grilled mushrooms.

I have been walking 5 nights a week - 45 minutes each night - it is making me feel SO much better.

What is everyone else eating?

I hope you all are having a good week.

Cynthia

Glad to hear everyone is doing well. I havent checked in a few days. Ive been doing really well. Although I would like to see more progress and not just feel it!

I am at 20% to goal the Dr. said, and they usually like to see 40% in a year and I am half way to that in 2 months. I am down 24-25 lbs since surgery which is great. I started at 209 and I am down to 184. I am really trying its hard though. I know what I cant eat and I dont eat it. Sometimes I want too.

Lately I am really big on fruits mainly pineapple. I LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!!!!! I have that pretty much everyday. I keep my calories at abou 800 to 1000 a day. I dont really watch and count. I just eat pretty much the same foods over and mix it up everyday.

I have uped my workout routine too. My hubby bought me Leslie Sansone's bootcamp dvd, which has brisk jogging intervals and strength training incorporated into the walk 3 miles. My muscles are killing me though!!!!!

So far I have had 2 fills, my first one was 4cc's and my second one was 2cc's and I am scheduled for another one on the 3rd of june.I have restriction on and off throughout the day, I think the next fill will top it off and hopefully be my sweetspot! Since my 2nd fill I have trouble eating some foods, like chicken it gets suck easily. And I find that I eat to fast sometimes and I get stuck I need to cut that out!

Well ladies keep up the great work:thumbup: