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?

Wish I had found this board (and topic) three months ago. I was banded on Aug. 22nd and the first two moths were a breeze. I had absolutely no hunger and was losing about 4 pounds a week. I'm down 63, which includes 20 I lost pre-op. The last 5 weeks have been tougher. I had no restrictions and found my appetite creeping back slowly but surely, so I knew it was time for a fill which I got yesterday. Had a slim fast for lunch, a protein shake for dinner and lots of water and I was satisfied. Today, I had a protein shake for breakfast, coffee (decaf) when I got into work and a slim fast for lunch. I'm sipping on a diet peach snapple as I type this. I'll try food tonight for dinner.

I think my biggest problem now is exercise. Before the weather got cold, I had no problems. The walk to the train was a good 10 minutes each way, which I tried to do briskly and I would walk for 20 - 30 minutes at lunchtime. Now that the weather is getting colder and nastier, it's a bit harder. I'm looking at gyms, but I'm out of the house at 7:20 in the morning and don't get home until 7:30 at night, so it's hard to get motivated to go to a gym that late, leaving Friday afternoons and weekends for working out. I guess it's better than nothing. We're also looking at a tread mill for the house and now that I'm under 300 pounds, our choices have increased, so that's a good thing.

Candle, that means you're only 1 lb from being IN the 220's. I have a feeling you'll beat us there!

Gometros, looks like you and I had surgery the same day, but you've got about 10 lbs on me for loss. Nice work! That's a really impressive loss.

I'm stickin' hard at 196. I know I need to up my walking now that it is too cold to swim. However, right now, I have a horrible cough and have been lucky to get in 15 minutes. =(

I don't know if I will meet my 185 goal by xmas. I guess I could protein shake it for a week or so to move it down quicker too. How are you guys doing with goals? I am a slow loser so far!

Gometros - I'm currently shopping for a treadmill. It's an overwhelming task!

I also just ordered the Biggest Loser DVD's on ebay.

I agree that it's overwhelming. You want to make sure that for the money you are spending you will get something you will use and won't break down. There are so many choices out there. When I was over 300, the choices were more limited, because a lot of the treadmills are tested to a maximum capacity of 300 lbs.

Aaaaaaaagh! I need some major motivation. All I want to do is eat. It is seriously consuming all of my thoughts. I can't concentrate at work and it is just head hunger. I am not actually hungry. FRUSTRATING!!!!!! I have not given in so far and I don't plan on it, but I just can't get the thought of eating out of my head. I think it is because of the stress at work. We are at the end of the trimester so I have all these kids turning in work from September and trying to calculate all the grades, but I have not had this much problem with wanting to eat since before surgery. I would think that it would have something to do with being unfilled, except that I AM NOT ACTUALLY HUNGRY!. So besides venting, I am asking what you guys do to battle MAJOR head hunger.

I like that term, 'head hunger'. I find it usually means a desire for comfort food. Since chocolate is my comfort food (isn't it everybody's? ) I find that this time of year, a cup of hot chocolate (I use Nestle's fat free) satisfies the chocolate craving and serves to fill me up at the same time. I also keep protein bars, like Snicker's Marathon bars in work for midday munchies attacks.

My weight loss has slowed tremendously even though I am counting calories and watching what I eat...I've tried doing about 800-1000 for 2 weeks, then up it to 1200-1500 per my husband's (diabetic) dietician for 2 weeks. I am still walking 2 miles 5-6 days a week and resistance band training every other day. I'm still averaging about a 2 lbs weight loss this past month. I will say just this week I've had more people actually notice I've lost weight.........some even say it looks like I've lost 50 lbs. My OB/GYN was so thrilled and impressed I'd had this procedure. That really does so much for my psyche!!! It is so reassuring that yes I did do the right thing and seeing results. I'm not going to get discouraged about it and am waiting for my next fill to see if I will have more restriction. Even if I don't, I am still going to press on with this dramatic lifestyle change. Eventually (despite it being a bit slow) I will reach my goal. Everyone, just stay focused and be thankful we are finally winning this battle of food!! I am praying for everyone's success!!! God bless!

Hi

I have a new problem in the last two months. I was banded in August and have lost 45 lbs and things are going pretty well.

HOWEVER... At first I noticed that I had skin flaking from my stomack skin...now I noticed that my boobs are also having flaking skin. To be clear, there is no itchiness or red skin.. just the flakey skin. It disappears when I rub moisturerizer on the area. I always moisurize after showers and baths and have never had this problem before. No other part of my body is affected; I don't have dander problems either. Anyone have any ideas or have had this problem before. I think I am drinking enough fluids...maybe not? I'd really appreciate some help.

How much water are you drinking? I have been TERRIBLE doing this lately, and I need to do more than most because I have had 10 bouts with kidney stones.:faint:Have you cut a DRASTIC amount of fat out of your diet too. I remember that when my mom was put on an ultra-low fat diet for her heart disease study she started getting very dry skin. Don't know that one has to do with the other, but it is just a thought.

I was going to ask about fat too. You might not be eating enough. First sign is dry skin.

rumar - very inspirational post. The band has changed my life drastically already.

I had been very dry also. I increased my Water intake and that has helped. My dietician says by the time you feel thirsty you are already beginning to dehydrate. So don't wait until you feel thirsty to get the water in.

Also, my scale has slowed considerably, so I took my measurments and there has been a loss! When I was losing on the scales people didn't notice as much but since the scales have slowed I get comments about my loss. Muscle weighs more than fat and toning changes how you look sometimes without much change on the scale. When the scales aren't moving, sometimes inches you're still losing!

Either way, we are doing well. Most of us are on target or ahead of the game. I am learning to not be so hard on myself through this process. The scales and the measuring tape will eventually catch up with the eating, exercise and mind set changes I've made.

Val

Thank you for your replies. I will increase my water intake and cut out less fat. You people are great!

Trish

Just making my Monday checkin. I'm down another 2 this week for a grand total of 54 lbs. I'm 3 lbs from my Xmas goal of the 220's, so hopefully I can nail it this week!

My loss has been slower lately, but I know it's all about my food choices and a few snacks sneaking in, so I'm trying to get my head back in the right place and get back to sticking with the eating plan. My tummy's been a little sore the last couple of days so I know I need to get back on track.

If I get back to 3 lbs a week, I could make the 60 lb mark by the end of the year!

How's everyone else holding out this week?