Lower BMI Bandsters!

[Oregondaisy 2,021]

Audree, How do you know you are at your sweet spot now? How much can you eat? I had good restriction about a month ago, but I think I must have

lost some of the fat inside because things seem to be changing.

Are you eating differently now since this last fill? I have 2.5 in mine right now.

[BabyGotBack 0]

Audree, How do you know you are at your sweet spot now? How much can you eat? I had good restriction about a month ago, but I think I must have

lost some of the fat inside because things seem to be changing.

Are you eating differently now since this last fill? I have 2.5 in mine right now.

Well, I was at 2.4 cc's and went to 3 cc's. The eating and hunger are much different. I am eating totally different. I was eating 3 meals a day plus snacking inbetween each and after dinner. I was hungry a lot and could accomodate what ever I wanted as much as I wanted without getting stuck at all.

I now have to be very careful about my chewing and eating in the morning. I can not drink cold drinks before I eat or will get stuck on bite number 1. I normally kinda get stuck on my first bite with any meal and just have to slow down and chew really well. I now only have 3 small meals. Breakfast is now later and is about 1/2 cup of food as wells as 1/2 cup of food for lunch. Dinner I can eat about 1 cup of food. If I am not careful I get stuck and it is very uncomfortable. I have not pb'd since this fill, but do get stuck and it hurts.

So eating for me since this third fill is what I expected the sweet spot to feel like. Any more restriction and I would not be able to eat. I am getting about 1000 calories in a day. I am also sticking to Protein based meals. Today I had Beans and cheese for lunch and was having to eat slowly since I was getting stuck on it.

I make sure I get at least 60-80 ounces of Water or crystal light in between meals since I stick to the "no eating for 1 hour after my meal" rule. I also have bought sugar free fudgesicles and popsicles and those really hit the spot when I have a little craving.

I also got tighter 2 weeks after the last fills so I am hoping I don't get too much tighter.

I will keep all posted!

[Oregondaisy 2,021]

I hope you don't get tighter either. It sounds like you are tight enough.

As for me, I never got tighter than the 2nd day after a fill. I guess it's the swelling. The 2nd day, I have a lot of trouble eating, then it loosens a little.This past week, it has loosened a little too much.

I have always had problems with drinks if they are cold. It's strange that it took so much of a fill for you to get stuck. I have had problems with being stuck right after the first fill. That's when I learned to chew until it's liquid or face the pain.

[aimees27 0]

Thanks for the feedback gals! :clap2: I'm still trying to decide if this big step is for me. I honestly feel like I will only continue to gain, even if at a slow rate, for the rest of my life. I have serious food addictions and I can't tell you how many times I have dieted in my 35 (almost 36) years. I'm sure you all know exactly what I'm going through. Many times I just feel like a failure. I don't understand why I don't have the will power to just stick with the diets, but I always seem to go back to old habits and end up bigger than before the diet started.

I just worry about after surgery complications and what I would do if I had an emergency!! I often wonder if I am being selfish in wanting to go this route for weight loss. Will it bring me more problems? You know... I just have so many different feelings going on right now.:confused:

One thing I know for sure is that if I was 20lbs heavier, I know I wouldn't be questioning the decision for lap band... I would get it done!! I just think it is hard for me because I am not "morbidly" obese...just slightly obese. That all seems so silly, doesn't it? Why wait until I get that large?

I have decided to get a passport...just incase. I have never needed one since I have never been out of the country before!! At least I'll have everything I need if I decide to get banded.

Thanks for listening everyone! You guys are a HUGE help and I thank you all so much!!!

[BabyGotBack 0]

I hope you don't get tighter either. It sounds like you are tight enough.

As for me, I never got tighter than the 2nd day after a fill. I guess it's the swelling. The 2nd day, I have a lot of trouble eating, then it loosens a little.This past week, it has loosened a little too much.

I have always had problems with drinks if they are cold. It's strange that it took so much of a fill for you to get stuck. I have had problems with being stuck right after the first fill. That's when I learned to chew until it's liquid or face the pain.

I think the reason why things were different for me in not gettng tight until I was filled so much, is because 3 years ago I had a full Tummy Tuck with full abdominal liposuction. Even if I gained weight after the surgury, I never gained it back in my stomach area. I gained it in other weird places though!!:faint:

So, I have not abdominal fat around my stomach. When you get a fill and as you lose weight the fat around the stomach goes down. That is why people need to keep on getting fills, most of the time anyway, as they lose weight. I have never had real restriction until now.

I am happy where I am and the quantity of food I can eat is enough to be satisfied mentally.

A lot of it is mental. I used to eat just because I was at home and bored. I am not an emotional eater, but I like to eat when I am happy. I don't really like sweets much either, but indulge on sugar free fudgsiclses.

[MFRANKS 0]

this is very discouraging to me, because i am waiting on my banding date.i hope in a certain time frame i would lose the wgt.my bmi is 35 .i am glad you made this point. about lower bmi

[MFRANKS 0]

i am now worried ,you spoke of a small band. please advise. iam going thru the process and awaiting a day for the lapband,i would be must upset if they place a small band ,that does not fill me .please help me to under this process

[BabyGotBack 0]

Thanks for the feedback gals! :clap2: I'm still trying to decide if this big step is for me. I honestly feel like I will only continue to gain, even if at a slow rate, for the rest of my life. I have serious food addictions and I can't tell you how many times I have dieted in my 35 (almost 36) years. I'm sure you all know exactly what I'm going through. Many times I just feel like a failure. I don't understand why I don't have the will power to just stick with the diets, but I always seem to go back to old habits and end up bigger than before the diet started.

I just worry about after surgery complications and what I would do if I had an emergency!! I often wonder if I am being selfish in wanting to go this route for weight loss. Will it bring me more problems? You know... I just have so many different feelings going on right now.:confused:

One thing I know for sure is that if I was 20lbs heavier, I know I wouldn't be questioning the decision for lap band... I would get it done!! I just think it is hard for me because I am not "morbidly" obese...just slightly obese. That all seems so silly, doesn't it? Why wait until I get that large?

I have decided to get a passport...just incase. I have never needed one since I have never been out of the country before!! At least I'll have everything I need if I decide to get banded.

Thanks for listening everyone! You guys are a HUGE help and I thank you all so much!!!

Everything you say is exactly how I felt too. Especially being a lower bmi'er of 31 bmi.

But I don't regret if for a second!!

[BabyGotBack 0]

i am now worried ,you spoke of a small band. please advise. iam going thru the process and awaiting a day for the lapband,i would be must upset if they place a small band ,that does not fill me .please help me to under this process

They have two band sized that they can't tell you which one they need to use until they open you up. It varies on the abdominal fat you have. Most need the 4 cc band.

Hope that helps!

[SimplyMe 0]

They have two band sized that they can't tell you which one they need to use until they open you up. It varies on the abdominal fat you have. Most need the 4 cc band.

Hope that helps!

When you say 4cc band....that's the small one?

Because I had heard all about the "new" band and thought I needed it but the doctor said it was too big so he put the small one in. And I've had some restriction the entire time!

[kland 0]

I'm not sure how the band sizes are determined, but I do know that I have the AP small band. I got a fill today that put me at 4 cc's and I asked the doctor how much the band would hold. He said it would take about 10 cc's.

Right after surgery, my doctor told me that the band fit too loose, so he put in 2 cc's of saline to make it fit. Today, he drew that out and put in a total of 4 cc's.

I'm thinking the small versus large has to do with the size of the ring rather than the amount of saline the pouches will hold.

[MFRANKS 0]

<p>so this looks like a surgery 1 year ago you only lost 14lbs . or was the surg june of this year. for the amount of money i need to loose more wgt than 14lb or go all the way with the bypass surg.please advise</p>

[kland 0]

LOL.....sorry MFranks, I had my surgery done June 15, 2007 after starting the process ten days before!!! I'm going to change my siggie right now. I can't believe that it's been a year off this whole time!

I'm self-pay too and would be totally ticked if I had only lost 14 pounds in a year! Whew!

[heath1215 0]

Thanks for the feedback gals! :clap2: I'm still trying to decide if this big step is for me. I honestly feel like I will only continue to gain, even if at a slow rate, for the rest of my life. I have serious food addictions and I can't tell you how many times I have dieted in my 35 (almost 36) years. I'm sure you all know exactly what I'm going through. Many times I just feel like a failure. I don't understand why I don't have the will power to just stick with the diets, but I always seem to go back to old habits and end up bigger than before the diet started.

I just worry about after surgery complications and what I would do if I had an emergency!! I often wonder if I am being selfish in wanting to go this route for weight loss. Will it bring me more problems? You know... I just have so many different feelings going on right now.

One thing I know for sure is that if I was 20lbs heavier, I know I wouldn't be questioning the decision for lap band... I would get it done!! I just think it is hard for me because I am not "morbidly" obese...just slightly obese. That all seems so silly, doesn't it? Why wait until I get that large?

I have decided to get a passport...just incase. I have never needed one since I have never been out of the country before!! At least I'll have everything I need if I decide to get banded.

Thanks for listening everyone! You guys are a HUGE help and I thank you all so much!!!

I am now considering WLS only because I gained 10 pounds due to stress and am considered "morbidly" obese (BMI 40.2 or something). I totally understand how you feel, but it's amazing what hearing those words and having them written into my medical chart did to me. So, it doesn't seem silly to me. I always said I'd never have a bypass, but a day after my fateful doc appt, I saw a LapBand commercial and started doing research. I do agree, if you feel like you'll just keep getting bigger, do something now, it'll only get harder! Good luck!!

[BabyGotBack 0]

Hey guys!

I just wanted to check in with all of you.

I am going to be checking in at least once daily again, like I used to when I started this thread. We had a really good group here for support.

Then my oldest step daughter got married in March and I got a job, long story short, I stopped posting here since. I just started up again a few weeks ago.

Well, I came back, as I have seen a lot of others have also who had not been in lately, for support.

I had tried to get by on my own, without support, not following the bandster rules and not losing weight, even gaining a few back!!:faint:

I am hoping to really resurrect this thread to be an active one like it was. I for one, definitely need the support on a daily basis. I can't forget that I am banded and need special support from others like me, who understand me and what I am going through. Things another person who is just dieting can't relate to.

For one, I could hardly eat today at all. I got a couple bites of oatmeal for breakfast, lunch was a few bites of egg and turkey sausage, but got really stuck. dinner was a struggle to get food in. I know I needed to get some calories in since I had only had about 150 calories for the day and it was dinner time. The cool thing was I felt good and didn't feel hungry, but knew I needed more calories.

It was a struggle to get in a few bites of ponsit (a filipino noodle dish) and some chicken. I chocked on every bite, but managed to eat it without pbing.

I am on liquids for the rest of the evening. I am a few days till my period. It is so weird how one day I feel open and one day like today I could barely eat. I am also 2 weeks from my fill and have heard the real restiction can take 2 weeks to kick in.

Take care and hope to hear from you all!!! Audree