Hi Im Angel 25 year old female from mass. Mother of a 17 month old baby girl. Banded since July 2009 after falling off the "band wagon" im looking to get back on. Any one and everyone is welcomed thank you

Hi Angel i dont know about being a mentor. But i am from Mass. I live in Springfield by Chicopee. Ive been banded since 10/11 an have lost 25 lbs only recent got into restriction. After my 5th fill.

I have stepped up my excersise 3miles a day an arm strengthening morning an night.

I just recently put myself on an eating schedule since i tend to graze this helps keep me mindful of when to eat not only what to eat.

Talk to you soon

I'm curious! how can you eat with the band being so restrictive.

hey, Angel if you have any questions, maye i can help, if not we can figure it out together. i had my surgery on 7/11/11. i currently have 10.1 cc's in a 14cc band, i can eat most thing,(no bread, no white meat chicken) i am still however able to eat 1300 calories a day, friend me if you like. also i'm on my fitness pal as saugonda1 it is a great tool to use

TYM4me im from western mass also north adams to be exact!

@byrd i also can eat anything except for breads, soda, and any types of cakes that are 'fluffy" and dry. They make me REALLY sick so i stay away from them

right now i had a fill april 19th im at 5.5ccs in a 10.cc band. i felt restriction the first 2 weeks and now im slowly loosing that feeling, i dont over eat i portion out my 1/2 c of food and eat my Protein as directed. for the last 2 weeks my daily diet has been basically protein and salad!

i average about 1,000 to 1,200 calories a day sometimes less. Ive lost weight since my newest fill and am currently 10lbs from my lowest point after surgery. I also have a dialated esophogus due to over eating during my pregnancy. LONG story i moved away from ma to nyc and no dr would touch my band because they hadnt done the actual surgery. so i over ate and gained. I moved back to ma and have been seen by my dr hence the fill.

For exercise i admit im not running to the gym everyday for hours on end. I put my daughter in her stroller and i walk the track 4 laps which is equal to a mile a few times a week. hoping for nicer weather so we can get out and do more and step it up.

So i guess one of the few questions i have are:

how many calories am i suppose to be eating a day? how many grams of protein? still only 1/2c portions of can i up to a full cup? what other foods can i enter into my diet for variation? Is eating salads really the way to go?

Thanks so much and i will add you im also on my fitness pal as Dablockzprbabii as well

I am online quite often if you ever need someone to talk to Angel, feel free to send me a PM and I can even set you up with my personal email address. I admit to still struggling myself from time to time and I can relate.

I am from Pennsylvania and had my surgery in September of 2010. My weight loss stats are in my signature below.

As to a few of your questions... I currently eat between 900 to 1200 calories a day, depending how much activity I might be getting in. On days when I know I am hitting the gym, I do allow myself a bit more, at least most of the time.

I currently eat between 80 to 90 grams of Protein a day, some of that in the form of whey Protein shakes, which my surgeon has me use to supplement my daily food intake to keep my protein higher. When I was first banded however, I was to take in 64 grams a day as a target. It was only after about a year out that he had me up that amount to further my weight loss and keep myself satiated.

I eat more than a half cup of food at a meal, I usually will average about 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup of a vegetable and usually a protein the size of a deck of cards such as a chicken breast or piece of fish. I also love canned tuna in Water and I will eat a small can for a meal along with a small serving of vegetables, sometimes something alongside such as 1/8th to 1/4th cup of cooked quinoa or whole wheat couscous or brown rice.

I can eat just about anything everyone else does, just in smaller amounts, I do try avoiding white potatoes, white bread, white flour, white sugar, as much as possible, but have been known to indulge in a half a small baked potato from time to time, not often however.

For Breakfast I usually have steel cut oats or old fashioned oatmeal, sometimes Kashi Go lean Cereal 1/2 or 3/4 cup with Silk soy milk, or whole wheat cream of wheat cooked or sometimes a couple of eggs or a few egg whites and a half of a 100 calorie everything bagel thin and will sometimes add a couple of slices of turkey bacon with it or a couple of turkey sausages.

I do adore salads though too, especially a mixed green salad with grilled chicken breast strips and fat free balsamic vinaigrette dressing.

I had hip replacement surgery in January and my hip was extremely bad and my healing process has been kind of slow compared to some others and have just recently the last month or so really amping up some exercising, I am currently getting in about three times a week at the Gym, going to start up with my Wii Fit again on some of the days when I dont end up there. I still have to be careful with my hip so am currently utllizing the upper body Ergometer (recumbent hand bike), the treadmill, NuStep stepper and I am doing a bit of weight training.

I like scrambled egg whites, fat free refried Beans, all kinds of baked fish, any type of chicken, ground venison, ground turkey burgers or turkey meatloaf, chili, stews, spaghetti squash made with homemade meat sauce, just about any vegetable, eggplant lasagna, wraps using a half of a whole wheat tortilla and protein and fat free cheese, chicken salad, etc.

I will send you a myfitnesspal request too...