Hi guys:

I was banded on august 13. I've been on liquids for the most part but yesterday my friend made me some slamming Soup and it had baby carrots, celery, cilantro, tomatoes for color and some chicken broth and dark meat chicken.

I have to admit I had a piece of that chicken. and today I had a hand full of raisinettes. I am not finding myself hungry but being that the past two days I am picking at stuff (including guacomole, yesterday as well), I am a bit depressed today. My band is not filled. I have not made an appointment but I will on Monday when I go to NYU for my esoph exam.

I sort of feel scared and i sort of feel like I am going to fail at this since I have been picking. No excuses. I just tested the waters and I feel bad about it. I didn't go over board but a hand full of raisins here, some chicken there..... you know what I mean?

How are you guys doing? Anyone experiencing the same thing?

Hey all.....

Does anyone else belong to a gym? If so, how regularly do you go? What type of exercises do you do? And, do you have a personal trainer there or at least someone to tell you what you need to do for the results you want? Thanks so much for any info you can share!

Judi

Judi, I have a friend that is a personal trainer. He recommended a book called Body for Life by Bill Phillips. I did the BFL plan quite a few years ago. It has a great woorkout regimen inside it. You can tailor it to suite you. Back in the diet yo-yodays, I lost 55 lbs in 2 months following his diet/exercise program and have been using it again since being banded. Hope it will work for you too...Dave

i am trying to get a gym membership, my dad was going too put me on his plan but hes being a butthead about it. he stillhates that i had this done. I really dont care anymore thought :-)

So I just got back from the doctor last night and am very sore (12 hours of driving!) They did an unfill, but the nurse had a hard time getting the needle into the port. So she had to move it around a lot. It was done under fluoro, but she just couldn't get the needle in for about 10 minutes. Finally it went in and she pulled out 1.6cc (I originally had 3.6 put in) When I talked to the doctor he said that I irritated my esophogus, but the band looks great. When talking to him on the phone, prior to examination, he said that I would most likely have to be on 2 weeks of liquids followed by 2 weeks of mushies, but today he said I could try mushies after 4 or 5 days and see if it still hurts.

On a good note, the doc was very impressed with my weightloss. He said they consider the band successful if you lose 50 pounds in 1 year. I have lost 50 in 3 months. He said it was rare for someone with my starting BMI to lose that quickly. Guess I must be doing something right!

DO YOU SEE THIS TICKER... IT IS HOLDING ON TO THAT DANG 2 FOR DEAR LIFE.

Val- Thanks for the kind words, I hope being unfilled won't set me back. I am literally at the tipping point into onderland so I think I will be motivated. If I was very far on either side of that weight, it could have presented more problems, but being soooooo close, I think I will manage!

__________________

That's good news Salsa. This is one of those "things aren't always as bad as they appear". I'm glad it wasn't your band and do agree with a 50 lb loss already, you wouldn't have a problem continuing to lose. And you'll be off mushies just in time for Thanksgiving (even though I know you'll do great with portion control)!!! Keep doing what you're doing!!

Wow - glad to hear it wasn't too serious.

Please take care of yourself.

My doc was a little worried that I would be unfilled during Thanksgiving, but I told him that it wouldn't be a problem because we are actually moving Thanksgiving day. It is the only day that both my BF and I have off together so we just decided to skip the meal since I wouldn't be able to eat much any ways. My esophogus is still really sore today so it still hurts to drink, but I am not getting the pains in the stomach. I still can't get in enough calories. I only had about 600 calories today. We ran out of peanut butter so I need to go to the store tomorrow to get some. I can add that to my protein smoothies and that helps bump up the protein. If I don't get around 1000 calories, I stop losing. Keeping my fingers crossed that the darn scale realizes that a 2 at the beginning of the number isn't necessary. A 1 is normal. Been a LOOOOOOOOOONNNNG time since I have been there. 4 years or so. And even then it was for a fleeting moment.

You will make it. The " right " number will happen.

I made it, I made it. For those of you who heard a faint shrieking this morning about 1 hour ago, that would be me screaming when I stepped on the scale. 199.5. Can't get any closer with my scale, but it no longer had a 2 anywhere in the number. Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh Salsa, big congrats! I know that is such a big deal. I am envious!

Congrats Salsa :clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2:! I can't wait for that magical number 1 something :D!

Hi Everyone,

I'm Marsha. I was banded on August 22, 2007. I've had 4 fills already (2cc, .5cc, 1cc and 2.5cc) and I don't feel much restriction. If I eat too fast the food does get stuck and that's painful. However, I'm relying on self control and it's not working too well. I do o.k. during the day but at night I can't stop eating. Also the doctor said my band was an 8. I'm not sure what that means. I've lost 23 lbs. so far but 10 of those pounds were lost the first week, so 13 lbs. in 4 months doesn't seem like a lot. I'm getting discouraged. What does it feel like to have enough fill?

Marsha - When I saw my doc 2 days ago, he said that he considers it a success if you lose 50 pounds in 1 year. So if you take that into consideration you should have lost a total of 16.7 pounds in 4 months. You are ahead of the game. Some of us lose faster than others and we all get discouraged when the scale doesn't read what we want.

The band does require a lot of self control and will power. The band has helped me enormously, but it requires that I choose good foods most of the time, that I only eat at specific times, and that I exercise. If I am hungry at times other than meal time, I really make myself determine if it is head hunger or real hunger. 99 times out of 100 it is head hunger. If it is real hunger, I try to stave it off by drinking crystal light or diet (not light) cranberry juice. By doing that I make myself not eat for at least a half hour and by then the hunger usually passes. For the head hunger I just look at the voided 17000$ :omg:checks that I have hanging on my fridge and the cabinet where the snackish food is. That usually stops me.

My suggestions are to look at the amount of Protein you are eating, the amount of times you are eating, and the number of calories. You have to make sure that you are eating enough. I know that sometimes we lower the amount of calories that we eat to try to lose those few extra pounds and it backfires on us. While I was on liquids the last few days because I ate to fast and food got lodged (PAINFUL!) I didn't get enough calories and didn't lose a thing. Yesterday I got to 1100 calories and today was into onederland. Calories in and calories out works most of the time, but there is a limit.

As for what restriction feels like, I can't tell you. I didn't think that I was that restricted prior to my incident and now I am completely unfilled. Soooo...it looks like maybe the two of us are really going to have to rely on our self will. You have made the first step however. Coming here to get support will certainly help. The people here are great and keep you honest!

Good luck and stay in touch.

<p>With all do respect, it's only been 3 months!</p>

So, that is success in my eyes!

I made it, I made it. For those of you who heard a faint shrieking this morning about 1 hour ago, that would be me screaming when I stepped on the scale. 199.5. Can't get any closer with my scale, but it no longer had a 2 anywhere in the number. Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hurray for you! You will most likely see me on CNN the day I break the 200 barrier!! Don't know yet what I'll do, but it'll be crazy enough to garner national attention, I'll wager!! LOL

I'm SO aggravated about how my scales keep hanging -- drop a pound or two then SIT THERE for a month, drop another....

Well -- I got REALLY pissed and went and joined LA Fitness today!! I have a 7 AM appt. to meet with a trainer tomorrow. I went ahead and prepaid for three years -- OUCH! I know, but about what I'd pay for a decent machine at home and I don't have to figure out where to put it!

And it's convenient to home, plus I drive past it multiple times a week, so it'll "NAG" me if I"m not going.

But I've decided that when they say, "You can't DO IT on diet alone", they must've been talking about me. Even my walking a mile a day wasn't pulling it off either.

I'm mad as a guinea wasp now -- -- so hopefully we'll get some results!

Got a membership to Bally's over the weekend....tonight I have my first appt with MY personal trainer! I feel so diva saying that! So, I am hoping this is the beginning of a successful relationship! Like you Nana, I am prepaid for 3 years (DH insisted that I "commit"....LOL!). To be honest, I never had anyone show me how to exercise, what to do and what to focus on. So, I do not know what to expect. A friend at the office said today "why would you want to start this right BEFORE the holidays begin?" I looked at her square in the eye and said "that was exactly what I would have said to myself a year ago". For some reason, that exchange has really fueled my desire to succeed!

Oh, BTW....has anyone ever seen the show "Inside the Brookhaven Obesity Clinic" (it's on Discovery Health)? While I was folding laundry last night, I landed on that station and found myself unable to stop watching.....4 episodes. Oh my......it has really an eye opener! I know that I could have been there if I wouldn't have made this decision to have a Lap Band. I know it's true.

Off to meet my personal trainer....I sure hope he is a hot, hard bodied cutie!!!!