Greetings to all!

Here is a place for us to meet up after our surgeries for more specific post-op discussions. Hope to see everyone here!

Wow - I must say that two days after the fill, I noticed a change today. I wasn't STARVING the minute I woke up (have 5cc's in 10cc band). And you know what? I didn't think about food constantly all day. I was full with a smaller amount. I'm hoping that these feelings last. I'm trying very hard to remember how I feel right now....because THIS IS GREEN...but I know that as the swelling from the fill goes down, I might lose a bit of this feeling, and I'm okay with that. I'm carefully logging when I'm head vs tummy hungry and if my tummy growls at all. That's my sign that it is PAST time to eat. These past few weeks without a fill have been pretty difficult (mentally), but I think I turned a corner. Green, baby, GREEN. I finally feel the feelings of satiety that i felt the first two weeks post op. Trying not to be too excited, but now I know this feeling and I'm going to remember exactly how it feels! Hang in there guys!

Amy

April, that is all awesome news!!! Yay for 25 pounds!!!

Amy

Hello my July friends! I just wanted to drop in since today is my one month bandiversary! Here's what's been going on:

• I've been pretty much eating anything I want (crunchy, mushy, whatev) and haven't had any problems getting or keeping anything down. Still no PB's or stucks-- yay! I take (ridiculously) small bites and chew, chew, chew. Still working on eating slowly, and I think I'm getting a little better. I just get annoyed being the last one at the dinner table, so I usually just throw whatever food I have left in the trash. Whatever works, right?
• I eat no more than 1/2 cup at a time. I usually eat less, but have found that if I eat the full 1/2 cup portion, I stay full longer. So even though I lose interest after a few bites, I'm going to push myself to eat a little more so that I'm not thinking about food after 2 hours.
• Water intake: dismal. Why is it that I can chug down a grande iced mocha like it's going out of style but I'm doing good to get down 20oz of water in a day? Ugh. I hate water.
• I still have some soreness, particularly around the port area, so I haven't started exercising yet. The incisions are healing nicely though, so that's good. Looking forward to feeling 100% and hitting the gym.
• I was walking my dog this morning and a neighbor told me I was looking great. Um, awesome!! I could get used to this.

And, drum roll please....25 lbs lost!

Love. My. Lapband.

April

Amy: My first-fill Green Zone lasted for almost a whole week. It rocked!!! I'm hoping yours will last even longer!

I'm back to fighting my constant head-hunger, but doing it fairly effectively. I've totally panicked myself only once.

I'm looking forward to my next fill on the 29th.

Wow - I must say that two days after the fill, I noticed a change today. I wasn't STARVING the minute I woke up (have 5cc's in 10cc band). And you know what? I didn't think about food constantly all day. I was full with a smaller amount. I'm hoping that these feelings last. I'm trying very hard to remember how I feel right now....because THIS IS GREEN...but I know that as the swelling from the fill goes down, I might lose a bit of this feeling, and I'm okay with that. I'm carefully logging when I'm head vs tummy hungry and if my tummy growls at all. That's my sign that it is PAST time to eat. These past few weeks without a fill have been pretty difficult (mentally), but I think I turned a corner. Green, baby, GREEN. I finally feel the feelings of satiety that i felt the first two weeks post op. Trying not to be too excited, but now I know this feeling and I'm going to remember exactly how it feels! Hang in there guys!

Amy

I just had my second fill on Thursday, a week after my first. That first one did nothing for me but now with a full 2 cc I am in Greenland too. Also, oddly enough, I lost four lbs. In the last four days so I guess plateau is over (for now). A total of 25 so far here too! Loving it!

Yes. I'm with you. My husband loves it though. He's so excited.

Warning for TMI: has anyone else's sex drive gone through the roof? I'm seriously distracted by this! I'm completely consumed by this spike in my libido. My poor DH doesn't know what to do. This is great exercise, though.

Just curious if any of you is having this issue? I remember having the same problem a few years ago when I got really skinny. It didn't go away until I got pregnant and stayed fat. Meanwhile, I feel hormonal changes in regards to my TOM, less acne (yea!) and an out of the blue desire to have a baby. This is insane, but the ride is fun.

I had my first fill on Monday the 8th. I feel tighter, but I was very disappointed. Since my banding on 8/5 I only lost 7 pounds. My nurse said that was still good considering my doctor left my band empty. Something I didn't know. Any tips? I feel like I'm doing something wrong.

So I restarted the Couch to 5K program and have been running it everyday instead of every other. ( only because I was running on and off for the past 5 years). If any of you are looking to start exercising, I highly recommend the program. I never ran a day in my life before starting the program and I went on to run 10-12 miles.

I also started lifting weights again, however, it may have been a bad idea because now i have pain at my old port site, the doc left my old port in.

First fill on Thursday! I hope I can have a bit more restriction....I'm a bit hungry after only 1/2 of a cup of food. I've been averaging about 800 calories a day and doing 3 miles on the treadmill burning around 600 calories at the gym and have only lost 4lbs so far. It sure is so much harder to lose this time. I'm a bit jealous of all of your huge losses! Go girls!

Have a great weekend

D

Don't feel bad. I lost 7 pounds in a month since my surgery. I'm not happy with the weight loss, but it could be worse. I've only been walking. Two of my incisions are healing slow so I haven't been released to do anything else. My next fill is on 9/7/11. I',m hoping to lose 10 pounds. Since my journey started, I've lost 20 pounds.

Sorry guys I've not been around, been kind of depressed about my lack of weight loss. At one point my home scale was saying I was down 8 lbs a week after surgery...now it saying only 2 lbs. It's my fault because I've not been sticking with a strict diet....I just don't have the willpower right now and the band has no restriction so it's just like it was before. I'm really hoping for some better results after my fill on the 18th.

Shauna

NSV today! I went to a wedding tonight. I had decided what to wear and had a back-up outfit picked out just in case. Then I tried to get dressed.

The original outfit was too big.

The backup outfit was too big.

The next three things I tried on were too big.

I finally found a black dress from about five years ago that was only slightly too big.

I work from home, so I've been living in capri pants and t-shirts since the surgery; I knew they'd gotten baggy, but DANG!!!! Looks like I need to go shopping soon.

I started working out this week after getting my stitches out at my 2 week post op appt. The shrink said we will have the greatest WL the first 6 months after surgery so I decided not to waste another day and to try to take advantage of that. IDK something clicked in my brain.... I worked out on my treadmill all week and today my family and I joined a local gym. Each committing to a 5 day a week workout. We ALL need the exercise and I am looking forward to time spent with them in a healthy environment NOT centered around food. I never thought I would enjoy working out... but I think I finally understand how people can become addicted to it. I feel SO great afterwards. In fact I have to make myself slow down afraid to over do it or burn out too quickly. I sure hope the desire continues... it SURE makes it a lot easier.

I am going to check out the Couch to 5k program... Our local Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure is coming up and I would LOVE to run that bad boy! Last year I walked it as a newly diagnosed patient, (I hadn't even begun my chemo treatments yet) this year... I want to run across that finish line... as a SURVIVOR BAYBEEE!!!! :Banane40:

BTW... I'm convinced the Elliptical Machine is a product of the devil. lol

make sure you are eating enough. I was doing 800 cals a day with no exercise and NUT recommended increasing to 1000 cals a day and it did make a difference - my body stopped holding onto everything (even with no exercise). Also, if you're burning 600 cals a day, you should surely be eating more - because in the end, that's only 200 leftover, right? I'm just guessing here, but I think you need some more cals in ya!

Amy

So I restarted the Couch to 5K program and have been running it everyday instead of every other. ( only because I was running on and off for the past 5 years). If any of you are looking to start exercising, I highly recommend the program. I never ran a day in my life before starting the program and I went on to run 10-12 miles.

I also started lifting weights again, however, it may have been a bad idea because now i have pain at my old port site, the doc left my old port in.

First fill on Thursday! I hope I can have a bit more restriction....I'm a bit hungry after only 1/2 of a cup of food. I've been averaging about 800 calories a day and doing 3 miles on the treadmill burning around 600 calories at the gym and have only lost 4lbs so far. It sure is so much harder to lose this time. I'm a bit jealous of all of your huge losses! Go girls!

Have a great weekend

D

Wow, that's great news!!!!

Amy

NSV today! I went to a wedding tonight. I had decided what to wear and had a back-up outfit picked out just in case. Then I tried to get dressed.

The original outfit was too big.

The backup outfit was too big.

The next three things I tried on were too big.

I finally found a black dress from about five years ago that was only slightly too big.

I work from home, so I've been living in capri pants and t-shirts since the surgery; I knew they'd gotten baggy, but DANG!!!! Looks like I need to go shopping soon.

make sure you are eating enough. I was doing 800 cals a day with no exercise and NUT recommended increasing to 1000 cals a day and it did make a difference - my body stopped holding onto everything (even with no exercise). Also, if you're burning 600 cals a day, you should surely be eating more - because in the end, that's only 200 leftover, right? I'm just guessing here, but I think you need some more cals in ya!

Amy

For some reason my surgeon recommends 800 calories, I did question it because, I do have a little bit of education in nutrition and I have always learned that a woman needs to eat at least 1200 calories a day for optimal metabolism. So, I decided that this time around I am following the docs orders to a T and at my first till I will def. speak to the nutritionist and get some things straight. I plan on showing her my food logs and see where to make some improvements. I would guess protein, I'm not getting more than 40 grams a day or so.

I'm pretty sure my metabolism is a bit screwed up due to 5 years of calorie restriction, the minute the band was unfilled and I started eating 1500-1800 calories a day, I put on 40 lbs super fast, just a matter of a few months. So frustrating. I wish I could just be like a regular thin person. Eat till I'm full, exercise daily and maintain a healthy weight. But noooooo....I must obsess over protein, calories, portions, it's like torture! I sometimes wonder what I did wrong in life to have this as my lot.

Had my one month bandiversary on Friday! No fills yet, but maybe on the 26th. I have noticed the hungry feeling more than before, not a fan!

I haven't had anything really bother me, so I was wondering does it bother you after you have a fill, or is it safe for me to assume that these foods are ok for me?

I've been very careful to make good high protein choices.

I have to ask, does anyone have lingering issues with constipation? I'm actually in pain today because things aren't working like they should.

Hope you are all doing well!!

Deb