Hello Junbies ......

I haven't seen a June Band Crew thread yet so thought I would start it .

I'll be banded on June 9th in Texas. I'm getting very excited about it. I know that the band is just a "tool" to aid in my weight loss journey and it will take a lot of hard work on my part to make it successful. I've been overweight my whole life with the earliest memories being around age 4. Although no one else in my family is overweight, I am extremely fortunate to have full family support in my decision. I know that there are many people who's family doesn't offer the support they need. I would love to meet other pre-bandsters being banded in June to walk with me to the banded side of life and offer each other support.

I wish you all the best.

Melissa Lea :hippie:

Pre-bandster 240 lbs

June 9, 2006

Spivak

self-pay

Had my first fill today. For those of you still waiting on a fill, it doesn't hurt at all! A tiny little sting going in, but so much less painful than a shot, or an IV or having blood drawn. Though the needle is sure spooky looking! My Dr. has placed the port very deep so he couldn't find it by feeling it, even after he put a pillow under my waist to arch my back. However, he says when he went in with the needle it was exactly where it should be, where it was placed, it's dead center under a little round scar I have next to my largest incision, the little round scar is from where a stitch was anchored through from the port placement. I have the largest band size, the VG, and so the first fill he usually does is 4cc's, because I've felt so totally wide open, he tried 4.5cc's first, then gave me some water to drink, I was burping a lot and it felt a tiny bit sore, so he went back in and took that extra .5 out, and left the 4cc's in that he usually places for a 1st fill. I drank more water, this time with no problem at all. I'm on soft foods today, and regular food tommorow. I had some very soft refried low fat black beans with low fat sour cream and a little grated cheddar on it for dinner, about 1/2 cups worth in total, and it went down fine. I'm about to eat a snack of about a cup of scrambled eggs, I'm going to eat it very slow, and stop if I start to feel full. So that's it for me, hoping I have restriction and that it sticks! So far so good...

XO

Leila

People, can we begin the water challenge tomorrow?

Rules:

1. Keep a personal log of the amount of water you drink each day. It must be written or logged into computer journal (your own personal preference) to count. (Calorie, points, carbs logs kept in the head end up on the hips!)
   
2. Consume at least 64 ounces of fluids each day.
   
3. 32 ounces of daily fluids must be pure water.
   
4. Each day you complete rules 1 - 3, add the blue grin smiley face to your signature line. :biggrin1: By the end of the day next Wednesday, we'll hopefully have seven blue grins next to our signature.
   
5. We'll erase last week's grins and begin again each Thursday morning.

It will be interesting to see if this helps with weight loss.

I'm not sure how to handle the "winners" for the week. Depends on if it's mostly Junebies. I was thinking of starting a new thread-- "We're Water Logged" for posting stats and weekly winners. I'll try and get input from one of our wonderful and helpful moderators.

Your input on the rules, etc. are appreciated. Let's start tomorrow and use this week as a "tweaker".

Thanks for joining in. As Rick Warren says: "We're Better Together"

Sandra

I guess I've had a delayed reaction on the fill. It was a tense day. If my Dad were a cat, he'd be on life #5. All morning at VA Hsp awaiting test results. Great news. We celebrate at Chili's for lunch. Got a quick "full" signal, but thought it was the excitement. Dinner with DH tonight, got a major golf ball that really wanted to PB. Been a bit tired most of the afternoon and went to bed after golf ball. Grateful I'm not hungry, but this fill stuff is not an easy adjustment. :faint:

Warning to everyone--read Barbara's posts for this week. Barb, If you hadn't shared your story, I'm sure I wouldn't have recognized the potential problem. Thanks!

EAT REALLY SLOW AFTER YOUR FIRST FILL FOR AT LEAST A WEEK. DELAYED RESTRICTION IS NOT UNCOMMON.

I'll do a water challenge. I drink 20 ounce bottles, so should be easy to count...

NO restriction today. I have eaten way too much. Craving time for me... PMS on the way...

Ooohhhh I want to be water logged!!!! I'm in for sure!!! Good thing I wake up at 4am so I can catch this at the start!! YAY! Good idea!

Barb... I'm so happy you feel better

Guess I am getting discouraged. I thought I had good restriction after my fill last Thursday and now I find I am back to eating anything I want. I'm not sure I ever had restriction ............ think it was just fear.

Hummmmmmm. Guess I'll wait until next week and call for a re-fill.

Drink, drink, drink. I have also started exercising seriously this week. Hopefully things will be ok until I get another fill.

Yummmm... I have one bottle of water down already girls!!! Better drink up!!!!

:update:

Poodles--great idea--just count your empties to get the water count.

So far we have trying the H20 Challenge this week:

Janelle - ChakoLady

Cindy - CindyCam

Poodles

Heather - HKimber

Sandra - Pinkylee

Did I miss anyone?

My water intake certainly increased yesterday. Hope this helps us lose and be healthy!

I'm joining the water challenge. I think I can do it today since I feel so much better. I've had my activia today and now working on my Boost. What a difference a unfill does.

One thing I heard at the surgicenter is why we are open one day and closed the next. It seems the stomach can stretch some days and lets us eat, but then it will snap back and we get restriction. Don't know if that is true, but if it is, it gives us some ideas. On days that you can eat everything you should be extra careful not to because the next day you won't get much of anything down. Food for thought.

The band really is fickled and works differently for everyone. I just can tell you that too much restriction is NOT fun and should be avoided. I am concentrating today to get my proteins in and to drink my water!!!!!

Let's get it going!

Hi everyone, I've been discouraged too about weight loss because I lost 10 lbs almost immediately, then would gain 3, lose 2, etc. Well I hired a Personal Trainer (got a good deal at my gym) and now the weight loss is moving again. I also drink a ton of water everyday. I've lost another 3 lbs so with the weight loss and gain's I think I'm about 12 lbs down. My doctor fit me in for an early fill so I am off to see the wizard today. I understand he is very conservative with fills so I will keep y'all posted. Congratulations to ALL of you. From what I hear, this is a very frustrating time for a lot of bandsters, so hang in there. I know in a few month's we will ALL be closer to our goals.

guys is it something wrong with me? i read about the water challenge and i am amazed that you all are getting that much water in! i can only drink about 4 oz of water at any given time! then it takes about 30 minutes or so for that to pass through. the thought of having 32 or 64 oz in a day is blowing my mind! my weight has been pretty stable this week. i am on the mushies. i eat three times a day. breakfast. lunch. dinner. i am still having a 1/3 cup of food at each meal. i find it hard to get in all the stuff they say you are supposed to have in a day. take yesterday. as soon as i got up, i had about 4 oz of water. then by the time i got to work, i forgot about breakfast because i was still full on the water. then for lunch i had 3 oz. of pink salmon in a bag. it was good. that lasted me for about 4 hours. then i had more water. then a couple of hours later, i had dinner, 1/3 of cauliflower and cheese. then a couple of hours later, some water. this is pretty typical for me. rarely do i feel hungry. i want to get more water and stuff in, but it just doesn't seem too possible for me. i do have the 3ccs in the 4cc band. but i don't feel too tight--like experiencing vomitting and burping and reflux. i have been real careful to watch for the signs. i don't know. i read about how others can eat more and drink more and i wonder what is my problem. my fiance says it is probably good that i have the 3ccs and have restriction but if i have such great restriction, why has my weight been stable all this week? i am probably rambling so i will just stop now.

Christa,

It sounds like you have good restriction, but you should be able to drink some more. I know I am having problems also, but I think I was mostly scared. I am now concentrating on drinking the liquids. I might not make it, but at least I'm going to try. Try taking small sips, but very, very often. Carry a small bottle with you wherever you go. I started buying the 8 fl oz bottles for the office because I can carry them easily to meetings, etc. They don't overwhelm me with volume as well. IMO it is important for you to get the protein in so if you have to choose, choose a protein drink over the water. That way you can get it in for breakfast.

My doc says I can drink up to 5 minutes before eating, but then have to wait 90 minutes after eating. That gives me a little more time to get some liquids in.

Hope that helps.

barbara465,

after i drink i don't have any room to eat until that water goes down, and it seems like that takes a little while. you know what i mean. i did have this one protein drink by isopure, but it was so nasty. the guy at gnc didn't recommend me get any of the other protein drinks because he said the other would make my body work too hard to process it. whatever that means!

I June Bandsters. I went in for my first fill on Monday and let me tell you....sigh of relief. It is so nice not to be hungry again and to feel full. I'm down 14.5 lbs since June 6th. Not as much as I had hoped for but I am happy with myself. Its the first time in a long time I have yo-yo dieted. I'm down to a weight I haven't seen in a really long time. It is so nice to have support and to be able to lose without dieting. I love this.

Ok, my second fill has disappeared. I am all of a sudden hungry all the time again.....this sucks....i love when i have restriction. I have an appt. with doc august 3rd but i dont know if i will be able to hold off that long...may have to go in before that.....restriction has just went away in the last two days. I need to focus because i am doing so good but last night i screwed up and ate some cookies...100 calorie packs.....I ate 3 of them...i wanted to cry after i ate them....but i couldnt help it...i am craving.....It is time for Aunt Menstrual to visit..I hate this. I feel like i have blown it..:phanvan

ENCOURAGEMENT NEEDED!!!

I am ready for the water challenge!!