To All my fellow Sept 2010 Bandsters -Welcome !

Since we had a pretty big Post in the Pre-Op section with over 23,000 views I thought since it is now October we should switchover here and continue our journey here.

WELCOME ! I hope to see all my fellow Sept. 2010 Bandsters like Cathy, Joanny, Cece, Debbie, Lyla, etc etc all here.

-Brian :smile2:

oh ebeeze, i'm sorry you feel that way, have you started an exercise plan. maybe changing that up a bit, or the time of day or what not might help,

ebeeze I was wondering how many cc's do you have? if the band isn't helping to dim the hunger between meals and snacks, like if you eat 3 solid meals and 2 less then 150 cal snacks with more then 6 g of protein and if you are still starving in between those things, maybe you could use more of a fill, or if you are exercising a lot maybe you aren't getting enough protein. if you are 300 lbs you should be getting like at leas 75 g of protein a day, and if you are active even more. i snack on lunch meat, jerky, cheese stick, etc. for hunger. some yogurt, especially the carbmaster kind.

or you could make a protein shake fudgesicle with pritein shake and sugar free pudding in a little cup, frozen.

plus if my huunger is really bad I'll also do fiber pills mid way between meal and snack. one in the morning and one in the afternoon with a bunch of water tool it helps curb the appetite.

Lisa,

I need to exercise more and eat less. I do need a fill desperately. I've been slacking off and I need to get myself back on track. I spent my entire summer running around the world with my daughters travel basketball team so I was really unable to situate a meal the correct way. Now that fall is here and I'm a bit more stable and home more often I plan to kick it up a 100% and do whats necessary to get down to at least 200lbs. I need to get on this site more often as well cause there is a lot of motivational things on here. I don't have any support system out here because quite frankly everyone I know is content with the way the look.

ebeeze I was wondering how many cc's do you have? if the band isn't helping to dim the hunger between meals and snacks, like if you eat 3 solid meals and 2 less then 150 cal snacks with more then 6 g of protein and if you are still starving in between those things, maybe you could use more of a fill, or if you are exercising a lot maybe you aren't getting enough protein. if you are 300 lbs you should be getting like at leas 75 g of protein a day, and if you are active even more. i snack on lunch meat, jerky, cheese stick, etc. for hunger. some yogurt, especially the carbmaster kind.

or you could make a protein shake fudgesicle with pritein shake and sugar free pudding in a little cup, frozen.

plus if my huunger is really bad I'll also do fiber pills mid way between meal and snack. one in the morning and one in the afternoon with a bunch of water tool it helps curb the appetite.

my doc was in mezico so I didn't have and groups locally- but some lap band surgeons also have support groups. some folks I've talked to get a lot of support also from over eaters anonymous. and also, I get some inspiration by watching a lot of the blogs on youtube. banded wendy and proof wls works were ones I liked.

maybe get a fill and do an period of liquids, like a little longer then regular, my doc for a fill is 1 day before, and one day after clear liquids, then 1 day after full liquids. if you lost on liquid before maybe do like 3 days after full liquids, then 1 day soft, fish and cottage cheese- and then up to chicken and eggs.. then harder meat- and track it all. once you are on solids, do 3 weeks of tracking everythiing you eat, like on fit day.con or something. orr you could do the 2 lean cuisine meals and 1 liquid for a few weeks. munch on protein, keep the carbs down to less then 50. the more you pay a ttention the more it will come off, and water water water

I'm going to go in for a fill this week and rework my grocery list and get back to my workout schedule.

I am glad everyone is doing well. I have found out the band does work. You just have to follow the rules. My band anniversary date is 9/22/10 and I have lost 100 lbs. I still have another 30 lbs. to go. I have not been perfect, I slip and go off a lot. I don't exercise at all. So that is my next mission is to get up and exercise. I had a wonderful summer doing a lot of things I don't normally do. The band is not easy at all. I know when I am not chewing enough, my band will tighten up. But all in all I love it and I feel so much better. I have stopped taking so much medication. I still have to take my high blood pressure medication, but at a much lower dose. So congratulations to us all that have had this surgery.

I am glad everyone is doing well. I have found out the band does work. You just have to follow the rules. My band anniversary date is 9/22/10 and I have lost 100 lbs. I still have another 30 lbs. to go. I have not been perfect, I slip and go off a lot. I don't exercise at all. So that is my next mission is to get up and exercise. I had a wonderful summer doing a lot of things I don't normally do. The band is not easy at all. I know when I am not chewing enough, my band will tighten up. But all in all I love it and I feel so much better. I have stopped taking so much medication. I still have to take my high blood pressure medication, but at a much lower dose. So congratulations to us all that have had this surgery.

I think about this a lot - if this was the right surgery or not. I too get frustrated, and want more weight loss then I've had. But I do know 2 peple who had bipasses, and they are both extremely over weight now, 6-8 years later. and there is no surgery to fix that. it's done and can't be altered. I do admit that the fill process is a drag, and makes it difficult, and plication is interesting for someone like me who had surgery in Mexico very far from my home. But this thing that is a pain is also the thing that is appealing to me, it is adjustable! therefore it can be changed as my body changes, and even removed.

the other thing I always say is that if I am following the rules, and my calories are down, which often happens, my calories are below 1100, and my carbs are fairly low, less then 60 all the time, sometimes less then 40. And I still plateau for months even, and I work out 30 minutes a day 4-5 days a week.

but surgery is not going to help that. my body is working against me, which it always has. It is a lot of work. and bypass still doesn't stop make me exercise or to adopt healthy eating habits, which in the end, that part that is missing from that surgery, is why the people I know, who lost a lot of weight, have now gained it all back.

I just need to change what I'm doing when I plateau, or sometimes even accept for periods that the body does just naturally plateau. and changing isn't always eating less, or even exercising more. but other ways of trying to figure it out, periods of less calories and periods of more, exercising differently and more. drinking water. Keeping track so I know what to change or where exactly I'm not doing what I need.

it's focusing, and commitment, and not just coasting. that's what I need and because I'm not in an area with good support groups I need these online groups to keep me on, keep me motivated, keep me positive and keep me focused. Hopefully those of you that are frustrated can find help to keep you or bring you to that place. I know when the weight is coming off, even with the band, is constant work, and being very focused- committed. I know my relationship to food has changed forever. I do exercise more, I know a lot more about what I eat. and when I plateau I don't gain it all back, it's a long haul thing, and we all are here to support each other, so thanks everyone for being here.

Ok so my bandaversary is 8 days away, I don't think I will make my mini goal, so far not even the water. ugg- I think I will be at 230 (70 lbs lost) by then. going in the right direction, but like a snail. I'm picking up a new zumba class this week. I need to follow my advice LOL. I'm back on the fit day journal this week.

One thing I will say, is my hair was falling out, faster and faster, and I felt my skin was not as nice. so I bought some of this hair, nails, skin bioten supplements, and almost over night it's made a difference. I thought since my multivitamin had 100% bioten that I didn't need it and it was probably not enough protein. but honestly I keep my protein up around 70 a day,

Also, I've been very tight this week, strange, no fill, just tighter then usual. That seems normal however.

Lisa

Today it is official for me. It is real. I can not believe I have lost 100 lbs. CONGRATULATIONS to me. I must say some days it was not easy. I have a very finicky band. Some days I am so tight I can not eat anything and i throw up. Now the last couple of weeks I don't feel tight. I feel like I am eating more. So I made an appt. with my doctor to see if I need a fill. But the good thing is i am down to a size 14 in pants and large tops. Never thought I would fit into a 14 size pants. I have a 30/40 more to go and can't wait until I get into a size 12. Now I have to really get my head into exercising. I walk more but I need to actually get into the gym and tone up all this flabbiness.

I am glad everyone is doing well. I have found out the band does work. You just have to follow the rules. My band anniversary date is 9/22/10 and I have lost 100 lbs. I still have another 30 lbs. to go. I have not been perfect, I slip and go off a lot. I don't exercise at all. So that is my next mission is to get up and exercise. I had a wonderful summer doing a lot of things I don't normally do. The band is not easy at all. I know when I am not chewing enough, my band will tighten up. But all in all I love it and I feel so much better. I have stopped taking so much medication. I still have to take my high blood pressure medication, but at a much lower dose. So congratulations to us all that have had this surgery.

you rock papoose, can not wait till I am in a size 14. I'm still wearing size 20s, but I think I'm actually a size 18 now, they are big on me. I try to wait till they are falling off of my to change. LOL. Congrats, you have done excellent.

Hi All,

I just celebrated my 1 year two days ago and have lost 88 pounds so far... I'm between a 10 and 12 pants (from a 22-24) and a l - xl shirt (from a 3x) so the difference is there... I still have 20 til my original goal... anything more is a bonus in my book. Let's keep going and work WITH our band... take care, Moni

Hi folks-- I was at one year on Saturday and have lost 103 lbs since surgery day, 132 overall. I go in for my "one-year check up" this afternoon.

It's been a good year. I'm in size M tops and size 10 pants (a few 8's too). I feel pretty great. There are definitely things I need to work on: DRINKING WATER. I also need to exercise. My body needs some work in terms of tone, lol. Let's just say that even with exercise, there is plastic surgery in my future.

I'd like to lose 15-20 more lbs. I'm at 161, which is still "overweight" and mentally I really want to be in the "normal" BMI range. However, I haven't lost in a month because I'm eating more than usual. I don't think it's a fill thing-- I think it's a mental thing. I realize now what it must be like to keep up motivation when you aren't losing. When I was losing so consistently, I had a weekly motivation to keep going. It's harder when the scale isn't cooperating.

SO i HAVE A RANT!

I have started really tracking all things that go into my mouth, In an attempt to really get more weight off faster then 7 lbs since July 10 LOL.

My rant is that I've been doing some meal replacement with protein shake, I was always trying to do solid foods, anyway at first as usually my carbs seemed so high, but then I found out I was using 1 scoop and the nutrition info was for 2 scoops. so that helped me out.

but still. my calories are always below 1200, but the carbs, holy crap, averaging between 60-70, it's such a struggle.

also, did I already say I was having a lot of hair falling out and an unusual amount of black heads, but now that I've started taking the hair skin and nails supplement it seems to have slowed down and gotten much better.

Well really I just want to say the above carb rant cause honestly without tracking I would never see this, So for those that are really struggling and haven't lost much weight, the key is religious tracking, even for a few weeks, of everything you take in, and really paying attention to it all, not just calories, not just protein, and if something isn't working maybe alter things within that.

Okay... So today is my One-Year Bandiversary, just so happens that my follow up appointment with my surgeon was today, too.. I made it!! I lost 13 pounds since my last visit.. puts me at a total of 103 pOuNdS!!! (whoop whoop!) He told me if a year ago, I weighted 2 pounds less that I do now, I would no longer be a candidate for surgery.. I have gone from a BMI of 50.5 to 35.2. From a TIGHT size 26 to a LOOSE 16 - I need to get a pair of 14's but just dont have the cash for all these clothes.. But let me tell you - he showed me a picture that they took of me before surgery (and WHY they spent a full cartridge of colored ink to print a full page picture to put in my medical file...) regardless... It was shocking for me to see that...

If you asked me - even though my clothes are smaller - I dont "see" a difference in the way my body looks.. Obviously its there - because the body I drag around now looks nothing like what that picture showed me.. {{{shudder}}}

I am very proud, not just of myself - but to us all!! Look forward to setting new goals (like exercise?) and getting on here more frequently to stay on track and hold myself more accountable.

Way to go, friends!!