Well ABC (August Band Crew) members we have made it to the end of our banding month. Each and every member has been very supportive during our procedures and the post-op period, but now is when we will REALLY need to lean on each other for support more than ever. Now the real work of working the band begins and I am sure we will all run into a hurdle or two or three (you get the point) along the continued journey. So, here we go!

Please post your short term weight loss goal for October 1st. I think little goals are where we should start for now so we don't get too overwhelmed.

:gluck: and to all.

Yeah, I suppose either way I'm good, No restriction = hey, I can eat a little food before a fill. Restriction = cool, no need for fill.

Trizzy, is that the Best Western? Was somebody saying it was sketchy? Not that I'm a Diva or anything about where I stay.

Well, today was officially my first day on solids (I did eat a couple nibbles the past couple days). I was up at 6:00 a.m. to help my son finish his homework and had 1/2 of a protein shake and gave him the other half. Around 8:30 a.m. I was very hungry again so I had a small bowl of oatmeal with splenda and cinnamon on top. For lunch I tried a 1/2 of turkey sandwich (minus the crust). Went down fine. Fat free pudding in the afternoon. Dinner was a tiny piece of seared ahi tuna, and 1 1/2 small meatballs. Today was my nephew's 1st bday so I had a few bites of frosting from the cake. It actually wasn't that good and made me feel kind of sick. I would've never thought.

Eating dinner with my whole family was the strangest thing ever. It took me longer to eat mine small portion than it did for them to devour their plate, plus have seconds. While I was chewing I had a lot of time to observe. I realized that I would've eaten even more than some of them ate tonight. Wow!

Kirsten that's great! I sort of feel like a little toddler, learning how and what to eat. I'm still on liquids -- like an infant. But you're like eating like grown up! I glad it went well!

Hey there PR--I am not sure where it was--and I just looked all over Ortiz's site and couldn't find it!:cry I'll try at another time--but Best Western sounds like it may be it. Usually Best Western is okay.

Hey there PR--I am not sure where it was--and I just looked all over Ortiz's site and couldn't find it!:cry I'll try at another time--but Best Western sounds like it may be it. Usually Best Western is okay.

It is the Best Western Americana which is located in San Ysidro (right by the border). I checked out the reviews on Trip Advisor and they are mixed, which is usual for anywhere I've ever stayed. I'm going for my fill on Oct. 2nd. The Americana is $66.95 + tax and does include free transportation to the clinics in TJ. It does NOT include any transportation from the airport. I have elected to just stay back at the Lucerna for the night. For less than $10 each way I can hop on the trolley to the border and then cab it to the hotel.

I'm 10 days out from surgery and also am not feeling any restriction. Though at this point, I'm kinda glad about that as I know it is all about healing right now. I've had the HARDEST 7 days post surgery. I was in so much pain from gas and I think I was going into dehydration that my kidneys were actually hurting. It was extremely painful but the moment I started to increase my water consumption, I immediately would feel relief.

With having no restriction yet, this is very tough, but I have to remind myself how much I've invested in making this band work for me. I've been poked and proded and examined more than enough in the past two months, that with or without restriction, I'm going to have to make the decision to eat the right things and work on my own until I am filled. Not to mention the amount of money I've had to put out as a self-pay.

I am still on liquids until Monday when I can start mushies...which includes fish (and that makes me very excited - can you see me grinning).

While we are still healing from the surgery, I know weight loss is not our main focus for the 1st 6 weeks or so, but I do have a question. Has anyone lost any weight during weeks 3 and 4 when in the mushie stage? Just curious.

Finally at 10 days post-surgery, I am not in pain!!!!

Whimsicalclay, My doctor recommended stages were a little shorter than yours, I think. But once I went into mushies, I stalled until I had my fill. Within 2 days of my fill, I dropped 3 pounds. I guess the transition may be a bit of a shock to the system. I had my fill rather early so I didn't get to see whether or not I'd start losing on my own again.

LIBRA....I know you had your fill pretty early, How have you been with it? Besides the GREAT 3lb. loss!!(wow) How has your restriction been? Have you had any difficulty eating any foods? Did you do liquids right after? etc.,etc.,etc, You know I need to know EVERYTHING!! THANKS.

I for one have stalled on mushies. I thought I had lost another 1.5 lbs but somewhere along the way I gained it back - that sucks! I'll be pleased if I can maintain this until my first fill on 10-2 and I'm hoping that the doctor I'm going to uses fluoro and isn't too cautious!

Also, in the grand scheme of things think about everything our bodies have been through! Compared to our old eating habits, we've been in a virtual starvation mode and that's bound to whack out anyone's metabolism not to mention the fact that we had surgery.

I personally think that the longer we can maintain or lose weight without a fill the better for our bodies but I obviously can't do that so I'm going to be right in the office when my 6 weeks are up waiting for my fill! I was really hoping that the amount of restriction I had last week would be how I would feel all the time but alas that is nothing but a fond memory....

We'll get there girls - let's hang together and keep trying to make the best choices for ourselves!

Andy Liz

Thanks for the replies, Libra, Chrissie and Andy Liz. I was just wondering. Like I said, I know this period is for healing. I am still on all liquids and have been for more than 3 and a half weeks (2 weeks pre-band) and my weight loss has pretty much stalled as well. And like you all have said, IF I can maintain at this weight or even lose a few until I get my fill, that is FAR more than I've ever been able to do on my own.

I've pretty much been at this weight for the past 7 days...of course, I'm up and down a 1/2 lb but without this band in place and the healing going on, I could easily be up 4 lbs this week, without blinking an eye.

I go in on the 20th for my 3 week post-op (no-fill). I don't really have any expectations of a weight loss for this visit but it would be nice to be down a couple pounds. Honestly, I'm not even sure what my Drs. policy is on fills. I do hear his patients says that they only put a tiny amount in the bands at a time...his office is very conservative. My problem is not hunger...it's greed.

Let's continue to work together and try and encourage each other. I really need it at times!!!

Hey everyone,

I am getting discouraged...my scale has been stuck for about a week and a half!!!! I keep gaining and losing the same 3 lbs over and over and over.....What can I do? I'm not eating hardly anything. I still have quite a bit of restriction and have been tracking my food as if I were on Weight Watchers. I am sticking right around 15 points a day. Do you think maybe I'm not eating enough? How have all of you gotten over the plateau????? Please help!

Kate don't be too hard on yourself! It's only been a few weeks and I agree with AndyLiz. Our metabolisms have been ALL over the place! Liquids, clears, anethesia, that's a huge shift for our bodies.

Also, about a year ago I worked with a personal trainer. Right away she had me start eating way more food. I went from 1200 to 1600 calories. I was like "Are you crazy?!" But she insisted I had to fuel my metabolism, not starve myself. When you are overweight, you need way more calories than a woman who weights 120lbs. Just your resting metabolic needs can be 1400 calories. That's just to sleep and breathe and blink - not counting any activity.

So while we are on these wacky eating regimes with liquids or mushies and so few calories -- or a bunch of smooth carb calories, just rest assured that the weight loss WILL come for all of us! We are so new at this still and it will take awhile for the metabolism to 'catch up'.

I am totally impatient too! I have decided I will only weigh myself every 2 weeks. Really what difference does 3 or 4 lbs make? When we know that after we get the right restriction and physically heal we can lose weight and start getting more exercise.

Hang in there Kate. We will all be losing steadily in time!

Thanks so much for that.....I definitly needed a little "pick me up". You're right....it hasn't really been that long since surgery....Hopefully the stallout session ends soon!!

Kate--when I was on Weight Watchers they said to never go below 20 points per day--then you still have your 35 "freebie" points for the week. I think you may try eating a little more and see if that jump starts your weight loss. Good Luck!

I'm bouncing between about 3 pounds to for about 2 weeks now. I think I'm gonna start walking more. I really need a fill. I have NO restriction.