Positive people unite! This thread is being created for the sole use of positive people to give positive reinforcement to others in the group that we care about. We know that we may disagree on some issues but we will offer constructive criticism, objective suggestions, we will always give kind support even when delivering the occasional (but necessary) kick in the pants.

Aww Christie...feel better! Yes, the band is hardier than many believe. I spent two days puking my guts out last May (when I was overfilled) and called the clinic thinking they'd probably take the fill out. Nope...she said as long as I'm able to throw up, it meant the band was allowing the food out. I asked about slippage and she said it would take *a lot* over a long period of time for a band to slip once you're healed, but then they also fold a piece of the stomach over the band to hold it in place.

Melody

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Happy Friday, folks! I love Friday because it's the start of my usual 3 day weekend.

It is now officially 4+ weeks since I started seriously watching what I eat and exercising and I am now at the same weight I was when I started this month long journey. What a PITA.

So...more revisions to the diet for this last week. I went back to Atkins. I lost 70 pounds successfully, so guess I'll have to do it that way again. I think Hilda is helping though because in the past when I went on Atkins, I'd eat nonstop that first week while I went through carb withdrawal. In September when I did it for a week (never intended to stay on it) and this past week, I found that I have been very content to eat just a normal meal...about 4-5 oz protein and 1 cup of low carb vegies...and it takes me to my next meal without a protein shake! A pretty major test of Hilda's working powers which, I'm glad to say, she passed.

Going back on Atkins this week is the only reason I can say I'm sitting at the same weight as a month ago because I lost 7 pounds this week. Now I'm ready to keep moving that scale downwards.

On an even better note, my blood sugar has been out of control for months but in one week on Atkins, my numbers are almost down to normal and <knock on wood> hopefully I'll be able to get off all my meds again within the month.

You know, none of this is new to me. I know carbs are my enemy, not only for my weight but my diabetes but I always try to go back and eat like a 'normal' person and end up gaining weight and needing my diabetes meds. I swear, I should staple a yellow stickie to my head that says "Hey dumbass" and put a mirror on the fridge so I can see it when I reach for something I know will screw with my body.

I'm feeling good today and pretty motivated...a good way to start the weekend.

Melody

Hope everyone is doing well.

Shammah my condolences on your loss.

My parents have a lot to answer for with that last bite. As a child i was a very fussy eater (not good I know) then my Mum got remarried. My Dad used to make me sit at the table until I had finished everything. Somedays I would be there for hours and I was told if I didn't finish I would get it for breakfast. The line about those starving Ethiopians was brought out regularly! I'm sure a couple of times I offered to put the food into an envelope and send it to them. I don't know how me eating all my food including stuff I didn't like was supposed to help them.

I have to admit that I do now eat a very wide variety of foods but I also have issues with leaving stuff.One food I still cannot stand though is peas, as a child I would cover them in tomato sauce(ketchup) and swallow them whole!

The last few days my band seems to have tightened up for no apparent reason.(Last fill was months ago) I am not stressed and it's not that TOM! Maybe it is due to being menopausal or perimenopausal. I was fine until dinner time and then 2 nights in a row couldn't get food down that I normally eat fine - major sliming episodes. Today I had to have a liquid breakfast which for me is very unusual.

I'm hoping it improves as we are going out for dinner tonight to celebrate my son's 16th Birthday which is tomorrow.I can't believe that my baby is so old already. My daughter who is 21 has come home from uni for the occassion. It's great to have her around. Yesterday we went to see "Eat, Pray,Love". It was OK but a bit boring.

Hope you all have a very happy Hallowwen and don't eat too much candy.

Ack! Where'd everybody go???????

Hi-Ho Hi-Ho, it's off to work I go.

I'm here. Just too depressed over this lack of weight loss to post anything. Once again my scales are up. I don't get it and to be honest I'm getting to the point where I don't give a damn anymore. How can I not only *not* be losing, but have actually gained weight when I'm eating 1200 calories a day and walking 3 miles (in an hour) per day??? I use fitday.com to log *everything* (right down to breath mints) so I know there aren't any hidden calories.

The band is working in that I eat my portion and I'm content to my next meal so that's not an issue. I just don't understand the lack of weight loss.

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I'm here...I just hate to be a Debbie Downer. I keep getting (not bad) heartburn, so I have kind of given up hope that my band is fixing itself while it is unfilled. On the + side I lost almost all I initially gained. Only up 0.5lbs now. I was reading my health insurance policy over and if I am reading it correctly...they won't cover revision because I have lost more than 50% of my excess body weight. :crying::hi::crying::sad: I'm just really depressed and stressing right now and don't want my negativity to rub off on anyone

Stacie,

Post anyway, sweetie! I mean, really, isn't this forum a support group? How can we give encouragement if we don't know you're in need of it!?

You're getting heartburn even with an unfilled band? What does your doc say about that? Have they done an upper GI (forgive me if you've already posted something on this awhile back) to find out what the problem is?

I feel your pain...really I do. {{Stacie}}

Melody

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I am here! I've been so flippin' busy at work, my head is spinning!

Stacie, will your insurance pay for the removal of your band since you are having problems? Then see if your surgeon will revise at the same time and you pay a revision fee? I saw on the Thinner Times forum where someone did this and the surgeon charged about $1100.00 to go from band to RNY while using the insurance paid for OR services.

Melody, have you had blood work done recently? Maybe get your metablosim checked out. Take your food journal with you.

So here's my work woes..if you dare to read

In order for the government to let a contract for a service our logisitics department has to enter a Procurement Request into a specialized program. From there, another logistics person awards the contract and creates a Purchase Order. Seems pretty straight forward, right?

My unit has about 60 of these contracts. The people putting them into the system keep making mistakes on them, so they have been re-done about 4 times each, sometimes more. I keep checking them over and sending them back. They come back through with the same errors, or something different. It's been very frustrating. I have killed so many trees this week :hi:

Such a joy it has been.

Denise-well I guess on the bright side...they have you to find all the mistakes instead of just passing through all willy nilly! I can definitly see how frustrating that can be though. As for the whole insurance thing, I am not 100% on any of it and have decided to try to not even think about it until I need to know. As it stands right now there is still that small sliver of hope that I will go on the 18th and everything will be fine...plus like I said it is worded so goofy who knows. If needed I will let the surgeon and the insurance company work that out (they are really great at working with the insurance without me having to get involved).

Melody-thanks. I am trying really hard to stay positive because like I said...I don't know anything yet. Yes I am still getting very slight heartburn even with my band unfilled. It is not constant and not bad, but then again I am taking 2 prilosecs a day per the dr's orders. I am scheduled for another UGI on the 18th to see if the unfill helped with the slip or dilation (they aren't sure which one because my pouch was so big they couldn't see the band to know if it was in place last time). I just keep thinking how could I have slipped??? I don't throw up (I did 2 times and it was looonnng before I had problems)! I rarely even slimed or PB'D!!! I'm just frustrated. I have worked so hard to get here and to think of losing my band scares the hell out of me. Plus it makes me mad to think I may have lost too much weight for the insurance to cover a fix. Sure punish me for doing good.

Ok Sorry for the rant...breathe in breathe out...it will all be ok...you will go in 2 weeks and things will be fine...the power of positive thinking????

Ok...up another freakin' pound this morning *but* I am not giving up damn it! A number of people I know...who used to be successful on Atkins in the past, but are finding that as they age, and as they have become more insulin resistant...have had great success on the Optimal Health diet created by J. Kwiasniewski (sp?) which has been around for 40+ years. It's still a low carb diet, but promotes the idea that excess protein will also cause blood sugar spikes (won't go into their explanation of the chemistry). Makes sense to me since I've noticed that, despite no carbs in a meal, my blood sugar increases drastically after the meal...something it did not do in the past when I was on Atkins.

So this diet is higher in fat, lower in protein but still low carb (around 30-40 for my body). Based on how many calories in a gram of protein, fat and carb, looks like my daily calorie requirements will be around 1300. Pretty controversial due to the higher fat, but the medical establishment finds most things 'controversial' that are outside their myopic view.

Lower calorie diets have *never* worked for me in the past...which is not to say they might not now, but I'm going to give the Optimal Health diet a try for a month and see what happens. Onward and upward...oops...I mean downward.

Melody

Sorry that you are struggling so much. I hope you work it out soon and start seeing results again. It is so hard to know which diet is the best.

Stacie I think of you every day and hope, hope, hope that all is well and you won't even have to worry about another surgery and insurance won't be an issue! Please, feel free to always rant when needed. You're going through what is essentially my deepest darkest fear...that I'll succeed but in the end fail because of a slip or dilatation, etc. I think you're tougher than me though and definitely handling this better than I would so yay for you! Please keep us updated and just know that I think of you often.

My shipmate and I have decided to take a zipline/snorkle tour while we're in Cozumel. I cannot wait to hit the zip line. I have every intention of screaming like a girl the entire time and loving every second of it! Can't wait, can't wait, can't wait!

My shipmate and I have decided to take a zipline/snorkle tour while we're in Cozumel. I cannot wait to hit the zip line. I have every intention of screaming like a girl the entire time and loving every second of it! Can't wait, can't wait, can't wait!

Thanks Christie for all the kind words...and ZIPLINE!!! :eek::eek: I want to do that soooo bad! That and SNUBA...kinda like snorkle and scuba together. The air tank stays on the boat so you don't need to be certified, but the breathing hose thingy is really long so you can stay underwater the whole time and not have to surface enough to put the snorkle out of the water.

Hi eveyone ~!~ Remember me? Cute, funny, goofy chick who's a little outspoken at times???? :eek::tt2:

How is everyone doing? I haven't been on for several reasons. 1 is i'm currently working 2 jobs and I'm echausted by the end of the day. The other is I had 1.5 removed from my band 2 weeks ago, and gained 15 pounds!! WTF!!! I've been staying within the same 5 pounds for the past year, and have been throwing up constantly since April or so. Yes, i was a bit tight, but thought it would help me lose weight. You know, if I couldnt eat that much. Well, nope. It doesnt work that way - DUH!! Yes , I know better, but figured I'd tell myslef it would since I don't have any Insurance. So I was off my meds, and had band issues, and feeling low and like a loser ( and not the good kind )

At my new full time job - eHarmony - my bennies just kicked in this week!!! Yahoo! So after a very long struggle w/ meds, band, etc,,, I feel like i can finally breathe.

So, 2 weeks ago , I had to get in to see my PA about my band. The throwing up was getting to be WAAAAAY too much. So i went in, got yelled at, glared at, and she took 1.5 out, and now I'm up 15! But, my own fault. I havent been able to really eat much in the past several months, so I went a bit overboard. Getting it back in control now, tho.

I have some tests scheduled for the 15th - upper GI, Floro, bloodwork, etc... to see if there is any slippage, damage, or if my Hiatal Hernia has gotten any bigger.

I hope you all are doing better than me, and each of you is making goal !! :-)

I really missed you guys.....