MamaMichelle

Some people like the Gas X strips but others seem to prefer the small pill Phazyme which I assume is what you are thinking of

Did you manage to get your pictures uploaded on to photobucket? once they are there and you are looking at the image, copy (Ctrl C) the code from the box called IMG CODE (the code will start with ) You can just paste that directly into a post box here then click preview post to make sure the image shows up!

How interesting that 2 of the bigger celebrities that have had success with the band chose to have it removed... Of course there are probably others that have it but won't admit it!!

I did some research for you and found this, but it was so good I posted it on the main board: http://www.lapbandforum.com/index.php?showtopic=5572 It is an amazing article!!

Why The Scale Lies by Renee Cloe, ACE Certified Personal Trainer We’ve been told over an over again that daily weighing is unnecessary, yet many of us can’t resist peeking at that number every morning. If you just can’t bring yourself to toss the scale in the trash, you should definitely familiarize yourself with the factors that influence it’s readings. From water retention to glycogen storage and changes in lean body mass, daily weight fluctuations are normal. They are not indicators of your success or failure. Once you understand how these mechanisms work, you can free yourself from the daily battle with the bathroom scale. Water makes up about 60% of total body mass. Normal fluctuations in the body’s water content can send scale-watchers into a tailspin if they don’t understand what’s happening. Two factors influencing water retention are water consumption and salt intake. Strange as it sounds, the less water you drink, the more of it your body retains. If you are even slightly dehydrated your body will hang onto it’s water supplies with a vengeance, possibly causing the number on the scale to inch upward. The solution is to drink plenty of water. Excess salt (sodium) can also play a big role in water retention. A single teaspoon of salt contains over 2,000 mg of sodium. Generally, we should only eat between 1,000 and 3,000 mg of sodium a day, so it’s easy to go overboard. Sodium is a sneaky substance. You would expect it to be most highly concentrated in salty chips, nuts, and crackers. However, a food doesn’t have to taste salty to be loaded with sodium. A half cup of instant pudding actually contains nearly four times as much sodium as an ounce of salted nuts, 460 mg in the pudding versus 123 mg in the nuts. The more highly processed a food is, the more likely it is to have a high sodium content. That’s why, when it comes to eating, it’s wise to stick mainly to the basics: fruits, vegetables, lean meat, beans, and whole grains. Be sure to read the labels on canned foods, boxed mixes, and frozen dinners. Women may also retain several pounds of water prior to menstruation. This is very common and the weight will likely disappear as quickly as it arrives. Pre-menstrual water-weight gain can be minimized by drinking plenty of water, maintaining an exercise program, and keeping high-sodium processed foods to a minimum. Another factor that can influence the scale is glycogen. Think of glycogen as a fuel tank full of stored carbohydrate. Some glycogen is stored in the liver and some is stored the muscles themselves. This energy reserve weighs more than a pound and it’s packaged with 3-4 pounds of water when it’s stored. Your glycogen supply will shrink during the day if you fail to take in enough carbohydrates. As the glycogen supply shrinks you will experience a small imperceptible increase in appetite and your body will restore this fuel reserve along with it’s associated water. It’s normal to experience glycogen and water weight shifts of up to 2 pounds per day even with no changes in your calorie intake or activity level. These fluctuations have nothing to do with fat loss, although they can make for some unnecessarily dramatic weigh-ins if you’re prone to obsessing over the number on the scale. Otherwise rational people also tend to forget about the actual weight of the food they eat. For this reason, it’s wise to weigh yourself first thing in the morning before you’ve had anything to eat or drink. Swallowing a bunch of food before you step on the scale is no different than putting a bunch of rocks in your pocket. The 5 pounds that you gain right after a huge dinner is not fat. It’s the actual weight of everything you’ve had to eat and drink. The added weight of the meal will be gone several hours later when you’ve finished digesting it. Exercise physiologists tell us that in order to store one pound of fat, you need to eat 3,500 calories more than your body is able to burn. In other words, to actually store the above dinner as 5 pounds of fat, it would have to contain a whopping 17,500 calories. This is not likely, in fact it’s not humanly possible. So when the scale goes up 3 or 4 pounds overnight, rest easy, it’s likely to be water, glycogen, and the weight of your dinner. Keep in mind that the 3,500 calorie rule works in reverse also. In order to lose one pound of fat you need to burn 3,500 calories more than you take in. Generally, it’s only possible to lose 1-2 pounds of fat per week. When you follow a very low calorie diet that causes your weight to drop 10 pounds in 7 days, it’s physically impossible for all of that to be fat. What you’re really losing is water, glycogen, and muscle. This brings us to the scale’s sneakiest attribute. It doesn’t just weigh fat. It weighs muscle, bone, water, internal organs and all. When you lose "weight," that doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ve lost fat. In fact, the scale has no way of telling you what you’ve lost (or gained). Losing muscle is nothing to celebrate. Muscle is a metabolically active tissue. The more muscle you have the more calories your body burns, even when you’re just sitting around. That’s one reason why a fit, active person is able to eat considerably more food than the dieter who is unwittingly destroying muscle tissue. Robin Landis, author of "Body Fueling," compares fat and muscles to feathers and gold. One pound of fat is like a big fluffy, lumpy bunch of feathers, and one pound of muscle is small and valuable like a piece of gold. Obviously, you want to lose the dumpy, bulky feathers and keep the sleek beautiful gold. The problem with the scale is that it doesn’t differentiate between the two. It can’t tell you how much of your total body weight is lean tissue and how much is fat. There are several other measuring techniques that can accomplish this, although they vary in convenience, accuracy, and cost. Skin-fold calipers pinch and measure fat folds at various locations on the body, hydrostatic (or underwater) weighing involves exhaling all of the air from your lungs before being lowered into a tank of water, and bioelectrical impedance measures the degree to which your body fat impedes a mild electrical current. If the thought of being pinched, dunked, or gently zapped just doesn’t appeal to you, don’t worry. The best measurement tool of all turns out to be your very own eyes. How do you look? How do you feel? How do your clothes fit? Are your rings looser? Do your muscles feel firmer? These are the true measurements of success. If you are exercising and eating right, don’t be discouraged by a small gain on the scale. Fluctuations are perfectly normal. Expect them to happen and take them in stride. It’s a matter of mind over scale.

Ok so I asked a friend and here's what she said: Anne was the reason I am banded. I saw her story and started researching this thing called a lap band. She lost a lot of weight with it. Her pictures where on her website along with her story about being banded. Then she went quiet about it and I havent been able to find out any more either. I heard she got tired of not being able to eat whatever she wanted and had the band removed, but I have no idea whether thats fact or fiction. Sharon Osbourne was also banded and had her band removed after long time success with her wieght loss. I heard that she too was tired of not being able to eat whatever she wanted. But who knows? Anyway, the thing is that with both women we certainly saw success with their bands - while they had them. Why they had them removed remains a mystery.

Glad you are feeling so well, welcome to the bandster family!!

Your body will shut down and hold on to calories if you eat less that 1000 calories for a week or longer, I hit a plateau and stopped losing after about 8 days then I bumped my calories up to 1000-1200 and the weight loss started up again. As for the 2.5 gain overnight I would say either you are retaining water from all of the sodium coming from the soup diet or if you will be starting your period in the next week then I would attribute it to water retention. Like Clynn said the post-op/pre-fill time frame is meant for healing any weight loss is just a bonus!!

First off, love the avatar you sure look like a sassy lady!! Here's a link to a post describing how to enter a picture into a post (lol you weren't the only one wondering) http://www.lapbandforum.com/index.php?showtopic=5443

Step 1 Choose a Color: http://www.phenforum.com/glitters/style4/24.gif http://www.phenforum.com/glitters/style5/24.gif http://www.phenforum.com/glitters/style6/24.gif Step 2 Copy Link You will need to copy the link to the right of the style you want, either use Ctrl C or highlight the text and right click and select Copy. Step 3 Visit Your Signature Page Click this link to go to your edit signature page: http://www.lapbandforum.com/index.php?act=UserCP&CODE=22 Step 4 Paste Link Place your mouse at the end of your signature (so not to mess up any other codes) then click on the picture and paste the text into the box that pops up- either use Ctrl V or highlight and right click then select Paste. Then click OK. Step 5 Enter in Your Weight Loss If you notice in all of the links above there is a number 24 at the end of the link... This number determines what number shows up on the star, you can enter in your weight loss by changing this number... So a link that reads: http://www.phenforum.com/glitters/style6/8.gif will show an 8lb loss a link that reads http://www.phenforum.com/glitters/style6/42.gif will show a 42lb loss.

I read this article about her when I was researching the band and it sounded like she had a good understanding of the band, realistic goals, and a plan for success. Here's a link to the article: http://www.usatoday.com/community/chat/2002-12-17-wilson.htm let me do some research and see what I can find out about her failures. Interestingly enough, Ann Wilson's surgery was performed by Dr. Brian Quebbmann who learned the Lap-Band procedure and was proctored by Dr. Ortiz..

I have heard from a few people that Dr. Miranda's scales are a little more forgiving than their home scales, where people went in thinking they only lost a few pounds but that when they were weighed at OCC they lost more than expected!

Thanks for the tip about the Safe Boxes, I didn't even think of that!! What a great Non Scale Victory for you when you can slide those rings on and off easily!!

I think after reading the bold sections of that article below I think there is no way Dr. Ortiz would suggest that someone with a lap-band ever attempt something like that!! Though with those results I can see why someone would be tempted!!!

Don't forget Clynn's #1 rule- As much as you want to don't try to re-enact that scene from Alien with your port/incision sites!! lol

I totally recommend you girls that were banded together reconnect and try to plan a reunion if possible!! A week from today over half of us girls banded on 2/28 are meeting back at the OCC for our first fill and like you said I feel like we are all friends for life!! Hopefully you guys can find a date that works for all of you to get your first fill together back in TJ!

Dr. M says no exercise till after 3 weeks post op, personally I was feeling wonderful and energetic by the end of week 2 so I got on my treadmill at about 2 1/2 weeks post op and didn't have any pain or issues. As for the sex there are no set guidelines from Dr. M on that; as Cathy said it is a personal thing! For my husband and I we waited about 36hrs after surgery and again I had no problems or pain!!

Here's a link to Dr. M's exact post op guidelines, it should help with your post-op shopping list! http://www.lapbandforum.com/index.php?showtopic=5220

Hello Mac- I was thinking about you this morning and I was going to send you a PM but I has to volunteer today so I am just now getting home... I am so glad everthing went well with your fill!! Keep up updated on how you're feeling and how you're eating!!

Here is a visual image of what the difference in a 10cc VG Band and the 4cc Standard band: How I understand it is that depending on how much fat you have around the stomach determines what size band the doctor puts in place. You can see why some with the VG band need more fills, since most doctors won't put more than 2ccs in at a time you would need 2 or 3 fills to get the same level as a 4cc band.

Kimmie, Sorry to hear about your issues, I totally agree with Clynn your vomiting issues from week 1 has left your stomach more swollen than your friends... Everyone experiences the initial swelling after your band is installed which gives you those first few weeks of tightness/restriction. As your body heals the swelling goes down so since the others didn't have any issues their swelling has reduced so they can cheat with no problems, (except maybe the guilt, lol). If you really feel like you have to chew and spit or lick some chips then do it, but you're going to have a lot more success both with the health of your band and your future weight loss endeavors if you stick to Dr. M's diet!! YOU CAN DO IT!!

That makes sense you may be over-correcting your posture because your port area is sore, and that new posture is making your back muscles hurt.

No water and other liquids won't stretch you pouch but if you think of the band being like the middle of an hour glass where it will just flow through more slowly... by taking small sips you allow the liquid that's above to band to flow through the band so it's ready to accept more liquids!

I have never heard of a surgeon suggesting diet pills so soon before surgery, that is med school 101... I guess I would understand it if you were 2-3 months pre-op and had time to wean your body off of them. I had a girlfriend who had lipo and I went with her to the consult they said no diet pills for 1 month prior to surgery! Again the set backs suck but think of how grateful you will be when you've finally gotten your band, you just might appreciate it that much more.

How important is it to have your first fill at the clinic? What kinds of things can happen if I go somewhere else. With any procedure in any city there are risks, whether it is at OCC or a Fill Center or at your local Dr. I don't think going anywhere else is really that much of an issue, but many Drs. won't treat patients banded in Mexico so be sure to check!! Does anyone know why they can't do a fill when its done. They install the band inside of you unfilled because the swelling from the surgery will give you plenty of restriction for 2-3 weeks (for some people it's longer) once the swelling is gone most people lose all restriction and some can eat as much as they did before surgery. The fill is what really kicks you into weigh loss mode because that's where you get all the restriction!! Do you still get really full even if you don't have it filled? I guess I'm just a little confused on the purpose of the fill. See above about fills, fullness with no fill is rare but some people may never need a fill, others may need 3-5 fills in their first year. I believe I read somewhere the average was 2-4 a year?