Christy26

You look wonderful How do you like your body bug?

Its pretty common. I was tender in the port area for a few weeks and still get that way sometimes if i bend the wrong way or something.

Hey Jennifer I know how you feel!!!! I have only lost 7 pounds since SURGERY. That includes the liquid diet!!!! I started back to the gym last week and I swear my body just wants to hold on soooo tightly to this weight on me! I weighed 235 on surgery day and 228 on my fill day. GREAT Hopefully once you get your fill, you will do better. I had mine last Saturday and so far so good on the solids. I get satisfied quickly with food. But get this - Today I actually got MAD at my stomach, I was so hungry and I got so full so quick and I wanted to keep eating! I was mad that I couldn't eat more - how messed up is that?????? lol Just keep going by your guidelines and stop the drinking with meals, i've done it occasionally too but realized it was letting me eat more and thats not the point of the band - so I stopped. I do drink all the way up till the minute of eating though because I usually swallow a vitamin or some other supplement that has to be taken with food right before I start eating. I wait atleast 45 mins after eating to drink anything. Good luck and dont give up - you can do this

So I think some of us are a little confused as to what restriction really is --- I hear them say I only feel restriction if I eat too fast or take too big of bites which of course hurts or gets stuck.... But I didnt think this was restriction, this is not following the guidelines. I don't want to be in pain or throwing up to feel like I am getting restriction for the rest of my life ..... To me, isn't restriction the feeling of being full after a small amount of food becuase its taking longer for that food to go through your opening? And there should be no pain? And if its taking more food to get you full or your hungry too soon after eating, then you know you need another fill? I just keep reading about all of this pain while eating and people saying its the only time they feel restriction and I dont think they truly understand.... Maybe I am wrong, I just had my first fill.... I'm going by what other people have said.

liquids for 48 hours and soft foods on the 3rd day. I have a burise from where the needle went in. lol

Congrats on your fill! I got mine today... I got 2.25cc. It was definitely a weird feeling having the needle in there. I had mine done at Fill Centers USA in Georgia and I was standing up during it! I dont think I have ever had a shot standing before lol How long are you supposed to be on liquids? Its weird I was starving before the fill (1pm) and around an hour after it - it kinda went away like it was right after surgery.

I would follow her advice and have healthy snacks. If you dont you are going to get super hungry and might risk over eating and thats not a good thing. Good luck

Lisa is right, water does wonders for your skin. Just make sure you are cleansing it well at night before you go to bed and in the morning when you get up. Im drinking so much water now that my skin is looking great. use an oil-free wash and moisturizer too. That helps. I love the Clean and Clear brands. Ive used that for years and it works better than Clinique on my skin. Alot cheaper too!

Jennifer, I had my first fill scheduled with a local surgeon here and after I made the appointment, I told them I wanted to double check that they would use Fluoro because I told them I have had no checkups since being banded and I feel they need to look around and make sure everything looks ok and she flat out told me no, they never used xray unless there were problems. I told them I was more than willing to pay for it and she said the surgeon wouldn't do it. she told me I could schedule a $100 consult visit and ask the Dr if he would be willing to use xray but there was a 95% chance he would still say no and I told her I was NOT comfortable with that, that I wanted xray and if they couldn't do that, i would cancel. She told me to do what I felt comfortable with so I canceled and scheduled again with Fill Center USA in Ga and they do charge $150 more on the first visit than the previous Dr, my peace of mind will be worth it. Good luck!!

awesome!

Hey everyone I have my first fill scheduled this week. I am super excited. Just curious -it seems like for the majority the first fill doesn't really do much. Is this really the case? How did everyone's go? THANKS!

Wow Kudos to you! I have watched those informercials! They look extreme and tough! The trainers at my gym are doing the program and love it - i consider myself able to do most exercises and that even intimidates me! lol Really, awesome job! Hard work can do alot Keep it up!!

It was my first surgery as well. I was told I could go to the hotel that night but I didnt want to, if you stay, they give you sleeping meds that keep you asleep all night and i wanted to make sure I slept, I am so glad I stayed!!! i couldnt sleep or lay on my left side for 2-3 weeks without any pain. Now I can lay on my side or stomach without any issues. I remember being wheeled into the OR, and actually getting up on the operating table myself ( i felt weird doing that lol) and then one of the Drs (I dont even remember which) asked me if I was going to do some shopping and I dont think I ever answered. The next thing I remember was the Dr saying my name asking me if I could get up and I just closed my eyes again because I was thinking "I am NOT getting up off this table myself) lol They picked me up and put me back in my bed and wheeled me back in my room. They kept bothering me to get up and walk and I wanted to sleeeeeep! that was the best sleep ever! lol Being put to sleep was the scariest thing for me. It was no big deal after it happened though. You will be fine! ~~ Christy

Jazzy- Cool! Let me know how it goes. It will probably be 30 days before you notice a difference but its worth it if it works right?

Hey everyone I know the band helps with appetite and hunger control but has anyone taken any fat burners to help? When I was all about working out years ago, I took tons of supplements (fish oil, CLA, Vitamins, Lipo 6, etc) and I know it does help. I called the OCC and asked if I could take them now, and they said yes as long as the pills were small, if not to crush them. I looked at some tonight and the only thing that worries me and I have no idea why - is that most are time-released now. Are we ok to take time released stuff? Most of these you take before you eat so it should be washed through your pouch anyway with water... Just curious if anyone took any, I was looking at Lipo-6 for HER tonight. I know CLA (which is natural) works well, but it takes forever to see a difference, you have to take it everyday for like 6-9 months and you usually lose about an additional 3% of fat than you would have without it so its not drastic but it helps. Thanks! Christy

Thanks for all the advice, I am post poning my training for awhile until i get more used to exercise. My friend wants me to start spin class with her - I have only done one in my life - and my butt was so sore from that seat that I swore I would never do it again lol I might try that next week with her. thanks again:)

Thanks! thats what I did last night - as soon as i started hurting I moved on to something else.

Isn't there an issue of crossing the border with drugs?

Hey everyone So I went to the gym tonight, jumped on the elliptical machine, cranked the incline all the way up and put the resistance on 5 and I was going at it.... after about 10 mins, my side (where my port is) starts hurting. So I got off and waited a few mins and got on the treadmill. I was walking at 4.0mph and an incline of 4 and my left shoulder started hurting - i tried to do some shoulder rolls and ease it up - it didnt work so I decreased the speed to 3.8 and the pain eased a little bit but the pain in my side was there again - it was not a bad pain just uncomfortable - I think it had to do with my breathing hard... Anyone know whats going on? I am scheduled to resume training with my trainer next week and he is going to kick my butt 100x harder than the little cardio i was doing tonight - i dont want to waste sessions with him if its going to be a while before I can really do hard exercises... Dr. Miranda told me at 21 days post op I was free to exercise as hard as I wanted as long as I didnt do major core exercises - she even allowed crunches. I am over a month post op now... Did this happen to anyone else? before surgery, when I was winded during working out, my side always hurt - usually during running because I am NOT a runner... so I dont know if I am being paranoid or not.

Congrats on your NSV ckiki!!!!! thats always a great feeling when you can fit into clothes that used to be too small!

congrats and welcome to bandland I hope your recovery goes well and good luck

Same here... very frustrated because I can eat alot now - and I am trying to stick to the no snacking and only 3 meals but I am finding myself getting hungrier every day.... I am back in the gym now so I am hoping that helps. Good luck... when is your fill scheduled? I am feb 21 but I am not going back to OCC... Im going to a fill centers usa

If you go under 1200 a day, and I know this from a past experience, the body generally loses at a much slower rate. Your body thinks its starving so it holds on to the fat it has.... 1200-1400 is very reasonable to lose weight. Here is a formula my trainer gave me years ago to help with my food intake 3500 Calories = 1 pound Females: your weight x 11 = the amount of calories your body needs to maintain your weight . This means if you were laying in bed all day sleeping - your body still needs this many calories. If you eat this amount you will not lose weight, and you will not gain weight. You will stay exactly the same. To lose weight, cut that number of calories by 500 everyday and you will lose 1 pound a week. Add exercise in to it and burn 500 a day as well, you will lose 2 pounds a week. Do not cut your calorie intake below 1200. It sure sounds easy enough - I did it for 5 months and lost 65 pounds. I calculated my weight by 10 though. It really all does come down to calories in and calories out. You have to burn more than you eat. I highly recommend you getting a small notebook to keep in your purse to write down everything you eat to keep track of your calories. I hope that helps!

Congrats!!! You are doing awesome Thanks for sharing:)

Its good to know I am not alone - I already cant wait for my fill on Feb 21.....