I've been reading the posts on these forums for about a week, since I found this place. I am hopeful the veterans will be able to help us newbies figure out some things.

What is bandster hell?

What does NSV stand for?

Where is the green zone and do I need to buy a membership to get in there?

What do you mean my appetite/cravings will come back?!

What's the truth about the first month? Two months?

Do any of you attend local support group meetings? If so, has it helped?

9 days to bandyland, myself, and wondering about all this stuff.....

. What is bandster hell? This is after uoye banded nut What does NSV stand for? Where is the green zone and do I need to buy a membership to get in there? What do you mean my appetite/cravings will come back?! What's the truth about the first month? Two months? Do any of you attend local support group meetings? If so, has it helped? 9 days to bandyland, myself, and wondering about all this stuff.....

Last post in error. What is bandster hell? Before you start to feel satisfied with just a cup of food and its 4 hours between meals

What does NSV stand for? Non scale victory

Where is the green zone and do I need to buy a membership to get in there? No membership just attend all your appointments and follow your surgeons guidelines and it will happen you will feel satisfied after a cup of food

What do you mean my appetite/cravings will come back?! This is head hunger over actual hunger

What's the truth about the first month?

I was very hungry and felt like I was on the strictest diet ever

Two months? By the second month getting my Protein in helped I walking too

Do any of you attend local support group meetings? Non in scotland uk

If so, has it helped? 9 days to bandyland, myself, and wondering about all this stuff..... In 5 days I will Celebrate my first year and Iam delighted with my progress

I lost 60lb on pre op diet and have lost 112 lb from band date my bmi had dropped from 48.5 to 30.5 from band date

Good luck with your journey

Bandster Hell is the time between your surgery and the fill that gives you enough restriction that you don't feel like you're starving between meals. This period can seem very intense and has been a time of frustration and is discouraging since we all want to get started on our journey. It can also be a time where we lose no weight or very little weight before the fill that launches satiety.

Green Zone is where your band is helping you to feel satisfied with a cup of food and aren't hungry for 4-5 hours.

The band doesn't prevent cravings. "When a craving doesn't come from hunger, eating will never satisfy it"...Dr. Michelle May

The first month can and will be different for everyone.

I attended a support group and it did nothing for me.

1 year 3 months and I've lost 50 lbs and I'm very happy I did this.

tmf

I agree with the above the beginning is hard but it is so worth it. In 6 mos I am down 60 lbs and every day bless the band for being invented. I had 90 lbs to loss and cant beleive how close to goal I am now. Good choice you made to get the band and I look forward to hearing how you do...

FYI, everyone has a different story to tell. I was banded on January 14th of this year and have not experienced bandster hell. I've not yet had a fill but I still find that I can eat my 1,000 calories daily and not be hungry between meals for the most part. Sometimes I have cravings...but I find something to take my mind off of them. I've dropped 34 lbs. since the pre-op diet started....it's not a huge weight loss as others have had, but it's been steady and I'm happy with that.

Much of this journey is about changing the head along with the stomach. Feeling full is gone...don't expect it, don't look for it. Learn to feel satisfied, or 'not hungry'. Make the choices each and every day to avoid those foods that are not going to help you. I've still got some Cookies and ice cream in the house but have not touched either...I'm working too hard to slide back into bad habits. No chips or other junk food either. Again...it's choices you make every day....the same choices thin people make too. We have to start thinking like people who do not have weight issues. Stop eating once you are satisfied, make food part of your life, not the focus of your life, and remember that we are like any other people with addictions. Know your triggers and look for other ways to cope with the bumps and bruises life has in store for all of us.

I know it's silly but I've stopped watching food related TV shows. What's the point? Would you watch a story about how cocktails are made if you are an alcoholic? I think not. I avoid the food related articles in the magazine's I read as well.

For me, the band gives me the restriction to not overeat. That helps me to control myself. It reminds me of when I stopped smoking. I used Welbutrin to stop the cravings. I was a smoker for more than 35 years and I loved to smoke. Once the cravings were gone though, I was able to walk away from the cigarettes. I'm hoping the band sort of works the same way. If I'm not craving food, I can walk away from the table. So far, it's working for me and I'm grateful for it. OK, done with my speech...sorry about that but I did want to say congrats to you for starting the journey towards better health and better quality of life.

Very good information guys thank you My surgeon is going to love all the new information I've learned!!

All of the above. To more explain NSV- it is when you accomplish something that was impossible before loss of weight through banding!IE: fitting into smaller size, not having to have extension on seatbelts, being able to tie your own shoes, painting your own toe nails, get the idea! Best wishes to you and all newbees! Karen, 3 1/2 years!

Bandstee Hell....that time between surgery and the when your bad finally starts doing what it was designed to do....in between it is business as usual with dieting, etc, as though you never had the surgery at all... a very frustrating period for those seeking moire than a diet.....

Green Zone: is where you're at when your band is finanlly adjusted properly,m and working at peak performance - pure HEAVEN......NO HUNGER (not sure where between meals comes from since the band is there 24/7) PORTION CONTROL....with hunger and cravings under control, the pouch size determines amount of food able to eat at one sitting, impossible to over eat!! And STEADY WEIGHT LOSS..effortless lifestyle....and when you have those three, how can you not have PATIENT SATISFACTION.....NO COMPLAINTS or WHINING!!!

I have been in the Green Zone since 4 months after my surgery...the bandster hell time....and have not gained or lost any weight in over a year.....and still living day to day without a care about weight issues anymore....

Of course the band is adjustable so everyone has the choice to choose where on the chart they would like to be......some in green, some just below or at the borderline.....

Three years out nothing to add cause it's been said. Yes i went to support groups and it helped.

Good luck and welcome!!

Wendy

Love that chart...I've been wondering the same thing. I love the term NSV too!

I never experienced banister hell. Everyone is different. I never have regretted my decision from day one. It will not take away impulsive emotional eating.

I do however like being on the tight side like b-52. It helps with what I can and "shouldn't eat".

I have never experienced this so called bandster hell either...I'm changing the way I eat and the way I think and it's not hell at all. I don't do the support group thing..I'm too private of a person to do that and I'm a week away from the 3 month mark of my banding and have lost 49 lbs since the day of my surgery. Best Wishes

flrosie~~You are making me laugh, and thanks, I need it. I'm personally in migraine hell. But that's another story...

I have loved this site since finding it. I have learned so much from "Bandsters" as I wait to cross the line myself. I feel like I'm in hell as I wait to have my first consult for goodness sakes. I'm so anxious to get this thing started. Even all the negative stuff it seems I will have to encounter along the way. Or shall we say, along our journey. As you have been so fun to read, I shall learn from the answers that other members provide as I follow your thread. Glad to meet you. kkua in So Georgia.

If we can't find humor in everyday life, we might as well hang it up. I have shared so much of what I've learned on this forum with my husband and supportive friends. My husband had only one comment so far: "You mean you're going to fart better than me?" Gotta love 'em!