If you were, I'd love to hear from you and how you are doing. I've lost 40 pounds, have 30 more to go, and I've hit a plateau the size of St. Louis, MO. I've dropped five dress sizes, and all I can see when I look down is my gut. I still crave sweets, I haven't hit my "sweet spot" yet (restriction from fills lasts a week and then POOF!), and I wouldn't trade my band for anything, even world peace. I never see anything on here from people banded when I was, and would love to hear from you.

Thank you! I'm still really excited about this.

Did you have any fills WasaBubbleButt? Or did you do it all on your own?

I have a small fill. I asked him to fill me like he would a "normal" person because I wanted to know just how weird I am and it was 2.8, he quickly unfilled it and gave me a BubbleButt fill and I'm at 1.7. (4cc band)

I seem to do okay if I have restriction on the nerve in my stomach that tells me I'm hungry. If there is pressure on that nerve it kills my hunger and I'm good to go.

I doubt I'll ever tolerate a "normal person" fill. I couldn't tolerate the band at all (even unfilled) without Luvox.

Luvox is band candy for me.

You have done extremely well then to have lost all that weight without "normal person" fills and being unable to tolerate the band. It must have been a disadvantage which makes your quick loss all the more remarkable. Are you going to keep your band and carry on with the medication?

Did you do a much exercise?

Sorry about all the questions, but you have done so well and I just wondered how you have done it.

You have done extremely well then to have lost all that weight without "normal person" fills and being unable to tolerate the band. It must have been a disadvantage which makes your quick loss all the more remarkable. Are you going to keep your band and carry on with the medication?

Did you do a much exercise?

Sorry about all the questions, but you have done so well and I just wondered how you have done it.

I doubt I *could* keep it without Luvox. So yes, I know that as long as I want to keep my band I have to take the drug and I want to keep my band. Life is sooo much easier with it when it comes to food issues.

The first six months was really horrible. My problem hadn't been diagnosed at that time and I was miserable. Everyone here had to hear about it. Daily. I just hated the band and hated everything about it. I just had to be really careful to make good food choices. Instead of milkshakes I drank Protein shakes made with Water (I still do that, I prefer it though). Instead of crunchy things like chips and Cookies I ate veggie chips. Vegetables that are baked until they are dry and crunchy. Here they are:

J&D Fine Foods | Nuts By The Pound | Dried Fruit By The Pound | Candy By The Pound | Gift Baskets | Wholesale Bulk Nuts

I couldn't eat any fresh fruit so instead of Mickey D's yogurt with fruit I ate dried fruit (see above link). But then the problem was diagnosed and finally we tried Luvox and now I'm very close to a normal banded person. I still can't tolerate normal person fills but I've learned to deal with it.

It was easy to get the bad stuff down but the good stuff made me barf non stop. There were times I'd barf 30+ times weekly so I had to learn what I could eat and I made sure it wasn't crap food. I'm still shocked that my band didn't slip. I've told my doc that he had to have used glue, cement, epoxy, sutures, staples, and paper clips to keep it in place.

I decided at the time that I wasn't going through all that to stay fat so I dropped my calories down to 600 and I've pretty much kept it there since I was banded. Not my doc's ideal diet but I wanted this chapter closed for good and I wanted it done quickly. He prefers 800 calories daily and with good restriction, it's totally doable. But I cut out all white carbs so with Protein intake, I honestly wasn't (and am not) hungry much. It's the white carbs that are a killer to us. It messes with your blood sugar and causes blood sugar spikes. That's part of the chain that causes hunger. No blood sugar spikes and you have very little hunger.

Exercise... oh yeah! Tons of exercise. People used to laugh at me because if they called I'd jump on the treadmill and do power walking while chatting. It made the time fly by. If I wasn't on the phone I was watching DVDs with my head phones on and running. I was running about five miles daily. Now I walk and/or run for about a total of five+ miles daily. I'm just now getting the nerve to run outside in front of actual people but I wait until 11:30PM to do it. Of course then there was naked guy the other night but that's another story. For the most part I was doing 60-120 minutes of cardio daily, at least half of it was hard cardio.

I did buy a Bowflex but I still don't quite know what to do with it so I haven't really started using that yet.

Clearly my way isn't for everyone. Each person has to find what works for them and do that. If you are losing weight and it's not too fast and not too slow, if you are getting your nutrition in, if you are healthy, and if you and your doc are happy then whatever way you choose is the right way.

The one thing that kept me going was that I created my infamous goal. I've talked to death about it here but my goal has always been to get banded, lose weight, and have plastic surgery within a year. My band was 12/6/06, I am at goal, and plastic surgery is scheduled for 12/3/07. All in a year.

I'd try to find a goal that really seriously means something to you. Something that matters a great deal for you and work towards that goal.

I also did things for myself at various milestones. I started out morbidly obese so when I was only "seriously" obese I think I bought a bunch of cool stuff for my computer. Then when I was just "obese" I went to see a banded friend out of state, when I was just "fat" I had my hair completely redone at a fancy salon.

Come up with mini goals for yourself and do something that you honestly enjoy as a reward. Something you will sincerely look forward to and it is worth working a little harder so you can have that "thing" you want. Otherwise you end up feeling like every single day is a chore to lose weight. Instead of focusing on that, you can focus on the cool goal you have in mind. It made a huge difference for me.

Sorry, this turned into a book, I didn't mean for that to happen but to be honest, it happens a lot.

One thread many of us enjoyed was this one, lots of fun ideas for food variety:

http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f9/cheaper-than-bariatriceating-com-33990/?highlight=Cheaper+than+bariatriceating.com

Hope this helps!

green

You have done even better than I originally thought. Losing that much weight in such a short time despite your issues with band tolerance, and only a small fill, is magnificent.Your exercise regime is excellent, I don't do half as much. I did laugh about the Peeping Tom, but I bet it was not so funny for you at the time.

Thank you for all the advice and links. I am mulling over them, looking to see if some of the items are available to people in the UK.

I must say that I have not set any goals for myself yet, mostly because I have done every diet under the sun and they have all failed. Now I know that banding can actually work I will think of some.

What is next for you dietwise? Will you change anything about your eating habits to maintain your weight?

I don't mind you writing a book because you have interesting things to say and things I want to hear. I can get carried away sometimes as well

Thanks again

What is next for you dietwise? Will you change anything about your eating habits to maintain your weight?

I don't actually know. I think I want to lose another 10lbs or so, after that I don't really know what will change or how. I haven't thought much about it.

WasaBubbleButt congratulation for reaching your goal ,this give us a great motivation when we know that one of us reach the GOAL

Thanks for your advices and i hope i can do better in exercise like you:clap2:

good luck everyone

Hey Everyone!

I am checking in after a long time away. Amazing to see everyone's success. I cannot believe I am coming up on my 10 month anniversary for the band. The time has flown! It will be a year before we know it. Anyone already reaching their year goal?

I don't know that I really had one...now I wish I did. I sure would like to be under 200 by my year. I am working on it.

Congrats Wasa on your success. BTW, you TT is scheduled for my birthday. I will be celebrating your success!

Have a nice weekend all.

hey girlfriends and Ibrahem!!! So remember way back when ... like December of 2006 when we were all fat and unhappy? Someone was going to track how much weight we've lost, anyone have that running total? I'm curious to see how far we've come.

I have lost 87 pounds but it is so slow now it drives me nuts, but I think it is because I am in school and have to sit all day and the stress level is really high. But I am happy with what I have lost and I thank the good lord for it!

I've lost 55 lbs. I really don't know how much more I want to lose.

I hate my face now that I have lost weight. I will be 55 next week, and I always enjoyed people saying I don't look my age. Now that I have lost weight, I have this turkey neck going on, and I see a lot more wrinkles in my face. I am afraid I am going to look like an old hag.

I am similar to you Denise. I have lost 60lbs and have Turkey neck and Chest. Come to that I am turkey all over. My wrinkles have come on my face and they are deep ravines. I am 63 so quite a bit older than you, but I still do not like it. LOL

i have lost 72 lb and i have to lose another 150 lb

i was in plateau for about 2 months in the summer but I'm losing again now.

i started exercising one month ago:rolleyes

until now i don't have a problem with my skin but i think if i lose another 50 lb it will started.

I don't think your face will go wrinkly yet Ibrahem so don't worry!