Just checking in to see where everyone is and how they are doing.

I was scheduled for my first fill on 6/7 (banded 4/13) but rescheduled. I decided to fly to visit my family for my nephews graduation party and didn't think it would be a good idea to have my first fill right before everything. Now I have it rescheduled for 6/21. I have to admit I had a few things that I probably shouldn't have had but I did listen to my band - even if I did push it a little bit.

I had a great time and did a few things I don't think I would have done last summer. Jumping in a bouncy house is fun and great exercise...just an FYI!

My BMI is now under 30 and qualifies for Overweight - Yay!

I had originally set my goal for 130 lbs and am now a little under 175. I'm not sure how I feel about having an "ultimate" goal right now. I am starting to feel like a specific weight or size shouldn't be my goal. My fear is that once I reach that goal I will start to put on weight. I have to keep the entire lifestyle change idea as my ultimate goal!

How is everyone else doing?

Who has had fills?

How did they go?

Anyone else eat any graduation cake?

I have had one fill it was last week and i am due to have another fill july 5th. I am down 23 lbs since the band and preop diet. 8 lbs preop and 15 lbs after band. I have eaten a few things that i shouldnt but the way i look at it is we wont live our whole life advoiding all foods its learning to walk away from it for me. So instead of a pack of cookies one or 2 is good. Yea I am still very happy with the band and going to work it till i get where i want to be.

I'm doing pretty good. Wish more people from the Springers group would post but it's nice to have the support from those who are still around. Ya get sorta attached to you closest band buddies

I'm planning my meals, packing my lunches and working on keep my protein up.

One ounce at a time!

j~

You are doing awesome! I appreciate your update. Yay for you on on reaching an "Overweight" BMI! I recently dropped into "Overweight" as well. I'm scared, but hope I never see "Obese" again.

 

I am questioning whether I should have been banded. Life is much different now, and I simply haven't adjusted yet. I am losing weight since surgery but it's only because I am carefully counting every morsel I eat and this week, I started walking 10 miles daily. I can't tell that the band is depressing my hunger yet, except for the first two days after surgery.

 

We are having a cook-out with family and friends tomorrow at our house to celebrate Father's Day, and I have been cooking all afternoon. I love cooking and baking, and while I was cooking this afternoon it really hit me hard that life isn't ever going to be the same. And that should be a good thing, right? Of course, I knew before surgery that I needed to make major lifestyle changes regarding my eating, but today it felt differently. I don't feel depressed; it's more like a true realization concerning how much our family life revolves around eating poorly. Sadly, I've promoted unhealthy eating for those I care about most by preparing high calorie meals, especially for special occasions, all of my adult life.

 

I'm not going to be able to eat a single thing I'm making since I am only on Week 2 of my post-op diet, and I'm a little stressed about how I am going to handle the "eating" part tomorrow since very few of the people who will be attending have any knowledge that I've been banded. I would never lie to anyone, but I still am agonizing about how to handle this. I've thought about saying I have an upset stomach, which is true, and that I am being very careful about what I eat, which is also true. However, I'd love to hear any suggestions you have.

 

Then Sunday, we have a family cook-out to attend, and no one there other than my husband and son will know about my WLS. I think I will just take off walking when it's time to eat and say I have already eaten all of my calories for the day. I haven't seen the majority of them since Christmas and have lost 40+ pounds since then, so they will likely think I am off on yet another diet tangent, which is fairly common for me. Almost everyone who will be there is overweight or obese, but they would never understand WLS as a treatment. If I can maintain a healthy weight with the band, I plan to tell them, but not until then.

 

Thanks for posting this topic. I appreciate your insight as well as Julie's and Deb's.

 

I am hoping to get my first fill when I go for my post-op check on June 29, but I don't know for sure. My surgeon only sees his post-op band patients once a month, so if I don't get it then, I will have to wait another month. On the day of my surgery, my surgeon said it will likely take 6 fills to reach "optimization," so I will likely have to wait 6 months longer. I am hoping I will be able to tell at least a tiny difference with the first fill.

ElizabethAnne I've been trying to think of different ways to explain your not eating to everyone and have a couple of thoughts for you. Since you have lost about 40 lbs since December you can honestly tell people that you are being very careful about what you eat right now - you could even mention being more concerned about your health after having your appendix rupture - talk about the hospital stay and things like that. None of them are lies and I would think should satisfy others curiosity. Keep water or a non calorie drink by you at all times, this may help you if you do want something to eat - since you should be waiting 30 min after you drink to eat (if you surgeon suggests this like mine).

 

I was great to hear from all of you. I feel like the three of you have been here for me since I joined LBT and hope we all keep each other updated.

Thanks for the great idea about what to say, gottobe me! I CAN tell them that I'm being very careful about what I eat. I also appreciate your suggestion about keeping a drink with me at all times. That should definitely help, too.

 

I hope we all continue to keep each other updated as well; I feel like we have become friends through sharing our weight loss struggles and experiences, and I miss hearing from some of the others in our group.

down another .6 oz. I'll take it. I want to get below 190 by next week. That's only 1.6 lbs. Wish me luck!

Good job Julz, slow and steddy

I go in for my 2nd fill on Wendsday, the Dr wanted me to have lost 5, would loke to have lost more but oh well. I think that i have done that, it is hard to tell my scales seem to fluctuate up and down 2 pounds, one time i am down below 190 and the next time i step on i am back up over 190 (frusteratting) i assumming it is probaly fluid retintion, lol

anyboddy had any episodeds with food getting stuck? I have about 3 times now and it is so painful i dont want to repeet it, but i know it is a learnning process of what we can and cant eat, Now i know that chicken tenders from Charles is off my list of foods i will never try again.

Have a good day, talk to you all again soon :wub:

Yes I've been stuck a few times. NO BUENO!

anyboddy had any episodeds with food getting stuck? I have about 3 times now and it is so painful i dont want to repeet it, but i know it is a learnning process of what we can and cant eat, Now i know that chicken tenders from Charles is off my list of foods i will never try again.

 

I don't know if I have been stuck or not. Last week, I was super hungry before bed, and I ate a few bites of great northern beans. Shortly after that, I had some sharp pains on my left side. I drank some sips of water, which seemed to help eliminate the sharp pains, but I experienced discomfort for about an hour. Is that what it's like to be stuck?

 

Good luck with your fill tomorrow! I go for my post-op check-up on the 29th and am hopeful I will get a fill that day.

I've had some experiences with having to "urp" up when I ate too much. It's painful and I felt much better after I got rid of the unwanted food. It feels like the food is stuck in my esophagus and won't go down. My eyes start to water, burping starts, and I literally want to get rid of it. I definitely know when I've eaten too much or not chewed my food properly. I've learned that I can't really eat any type of pasta, which sorta sucks. HOWEVER, eating too much pasta is probably one of the reasons I ended up as heavy as I was.

Another thing I've noticed is when I eat too fast, I get a bad case of the hiccups. I take this as a sign to slow down or stop eating. The signs are there, I just need to learn what they are and listen to my body.

I'm thinking I may not need a fill when I go in tomorrow, actually I'm hoping not to have one. I am losing weight, satisfied with smaller portions and not getting hungry for about 4 hours after I eat. I'm not sure if my portion size should be smaller but since I am losing weight my feeling is why mess with it? I'm afraid I may start having "stuck" episodes if I go tighter at this time.

 

I'll let you all know what happens after my appointment.

 

Teri

Had my Dr's appt. yesterday thought i would get my second fill but the Dr said i didnt need one . said that since i an loosing weight, that i am not really hungry between meals, and my snaking is under control, that we would give it another 4 weeks and see how it goes. Said in 6 months i should be at goal. Thay seems like forever to me but i guess i didnt put this weight on overnight i can't exspect for it to disapear overnight.

My eposodes of food getting stuck for me have been very unplesent, i get these pains under my left shoulder blade that feels like i have a knife stiking in me, it hurts bad enough that i have to urp and get it out, but i dont like to urp so i try to let it pass and it just got more painful. finally i got rid of it and was much better, Not somethink i want to repeat anytime soon.

Thanks for describing what "stuck" feels like, Julie and momab50. I didn't vomit, so maybe it wasn't stuck. However, after that episode I haven't eaten any more beans for protein, and I am very careful to chew my shaved turkey and baked potatoes well. I can hardly wait to progress to Week 4 foods so I can try adding bread. I'm a little afraid but plan to toast it well. Do bread work for any of you?

 

I am hungry much of the time, except for about an hour after I eat. I am losing weight only because I'm walking 10 miles daily and limiting my calories just as I did before surgery. I desperately want to lose weight, but don't know how much longer I am going to be able to control my food cravings. And I definitely am not going to be able to continue devoting nearly 3 hours daily to exercise. I am so hopeful I will get a fill next Friday.

 

Thanks so much for describing your experiences. It really helps me (and probably some lurkers as well) to read about them.

I haven't eaten hardly any bread. Maybe a bite or two at most. Looking at bread just scares me.

 

Let's talk about fills. I know I keep thinking the more restriction I have the faster the weight will drop. HOWEVER, what happens when your band is "full" and you need to lose? What do they do then? What if there is no room left in your band to play with? My goal is to lose the weight and maintain it for a life time. Too many fills could be a bad thing.

I have eaten bread. I have found almost nothing that i can not eat. I have not tried steak though.. that scares me. For the first time this week i did not lose weight Seems to have stalled. I hope its not a long stall. As for the fills. My understanding is you get fills till you get into that zone then you should not need fills.