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What if you increase by 1 minute every few days? Or even every week? That's what I did and it worked for me. Everyone has to find what works for them. You are doing great!

Greg... If you can just do 10 minutes of treadmill daily, then increase by one minute to 20 minutes daily it would actually make a huge difference. Studies are showing that it is not only okay to do 10-20 minutes at a time, it is preferred. You actually burn more fat doing multiple short stints. I can find the study if you are interested. I've read too many studies, I know that there are biological reasons we eat the way we do. But exercise, that's just self determination. I hate it, absolutely hate it. But I do 1-2 hours daily of hard cardio. Just bought a bowflex and I'm still at the stage of looking at it wondering what the heck to do with it, but I will start using it eventually. Even 20 minutes of cardio makes a huge difference. I had to work up to it, I believe I started with 10 minutes of slow walking. I'm can do up to 2 hours of non stop running now. I still hate it but I can do it.

I find it curious that in this day and age anyone would assume weight loss is that easy. The band does not do most of the work for you, it isn't advertised as such, and it isn't how it works. The band merely enables you to do the work yourself. Quite frankly, it is that very type of thinking that got us fat to begin with. The fat still needs to be burned one way or another. I think you might find that once you do get closer to goal it will take a LOT of work to burn those final few pounds. I mean LOADS of work. As for the big issue of the money, why in the world would you go to Mexico for surgery if you have all this extra cash laying around the house when you could have just gone down the street? Not sure I understand the reasoning for the diatribe on money issues. 252/164/150 Banded 12/06

Don't lose your enthusiasm, it will come back. When things are working well and you see that scale move, all the sudden you have all kinds of excitement and motivation. Try the water trick during your next fill. Bring water with you, room temp water so cold water doesn't cause a false sense of restriction. 252/168/150 Banded 12/06

I understand your frustration. We've been fat for soooo long. We have tried everything and nothing works. Finally we fork over big bucks and a willingness to bust our fat butts to get this moving and that scale just doesn't move fast enough for a variety of reasons. Just know, it will happen. We didn't get fat overnight, it isn't going to go away overnight. While I realize that doesn't help the frustration, it's true. My friend has a comment on his sig (different forum) that says he's never met anyone that was satisfied with their rate of weight loss. It's really true, we all want it NOW. 252/168/150 Banded 12/06

You get there by being on top of fills at all times. Get them every 2-4 weeks if you have to until you reach your sweet spot. The average person typically requires 3-5 fills before they get restriction they are happy with. I'm guessing you got a newbie fill for your first fill, most good docs do that. You have to take restriction in stages at first. Since you've already had a fill you are likely to get a much more aggressive fill the next time. Studies show chances of success... yes, but they were not referring to the weird things that go on with the human body. You can't always apply scientific studies to the human body because the body simply won't cooperate. It does what it wants and it does what it wants in its own good time. Fills especially. I'd go back for another if I were you. No sooner than 2 weeks after your last fill. You have a 10cc band as I recall, true? I'll bet it will take 4-5 fills before you are completely happy. When you get a fill WATCH the fluoro for yourself, see the difference in how fast the barium travels before the fill vs. after the fill, note the size of the barium stream as it drains into your big stomach. Guzzle some water before he removes the needle and see if you feel it. If you don't, talk to him, voice your experiences. When it comes to guzzling water you want to feel a difference but you don't want to feel pain or discomfort. If you feel discomfort with water it will be x10 worse with food or even soft foods. You want to feel some restriction but again, not pain or discomfort. You are looking for a difference in how it feels to quickly drink water before the fill and after the fill. I can't stress enough that you are absolutely normal, you are going through bandster hell. But I swear to you, this is better than an overfill. I lived with stoma swelling and stomach spasms for the first 6 months of banding. There were days I couldn't keep water down let alone spit. It was miserable and horrible. I lost 70lbs in 5 months and I swear to you, that is NOT the way you want to do it. And I had NO fill. I would barf 30+ times weekly. It was beyond horrible and I wouldn't wish it upon anyone. I got IV fluids so many times that I now keep IV Saline, and IV start kit, and an IV pump at home. A friend is also an RN so she can start the IV for me. It's because swelling and stomach spasms are the same as an overfill. It's sheer misery. I'm on meds now and it is a difference between night and day. I was sooo ready to have my band removed, then the problem was diagnosed and treated. Now I'm fine. But an overfill.. you don't want it. It's just awful. Bandster hell is part of the game, it's a necessary element of banding. It gets better, when you finally do reach your sweet spot you'll realize it was ALL worth it! In the meantime just keep practicing the bandster way of eating. Chewing your food into a paste, small bites, eating slowly, not drinking fluids with your food, protein first, then veggies, then carbs. Everything will fall into place but I fully understand how you feel. It's frustrating and beyond annoying for the time being. Give it time, it will happen. Then when you are skinny you'll look back on this time and laugh at your frustration. You'll be saying these same words to someone else someday. You mark my words, it will happen. 252/169/150 Banded 12/06

Yep... I totally agree. The day after my surgery I wanted to go shopping. I didn't, but it wasn't because I couldn't. The more you walk right after surgery the better you feel.

NoWorry... You are still quite a newbie in every way! What you are thinking and feeling is absolutely normal. The time frame between getting the band and reaching your sweet spot is called "Bandster Hell" for a reason. You have this great tool but it isn't working and it is harder than it should be. Give it time, you'll get there.

No, not necessarily. A slight overfill that results in rapid weight loss and a looser band means that you are banking on the fact that your body will lose weight around the band. We don't get to choose where our body decides to lose weight, it might be the band or it might be your left toe. An overfill is NEVER EVER a good idea. It is a great way to lose a band though. Erosion... for a long time they didn't know how erosion happened. They thought it was due to smoking but lots of people lost their band to erosion and they didn't smoke. Same with NSAIDs. Now the current thinking is that erosion happens when the band is too tight. That can happen from placing a band that is too small for that patient or a fill that is too tight. That can be potentially life threatening. So to bank on an overfill being fixed by weight loss is absolutely dead wrong, it's a gamble and you are banking on physiology that is out of your control to prove you right. That's quite a risk. As for a scientific method of measuring barium traveling through a stoma.. it won't work. There are too many variables. First of all, ask any experienced bandster (someone a year or more out) about fills. Many times they don't kick in for two weeks after the fill. It makes no sense, I know. But it's true. Fill someone and have them drink barium and there is no guarantee it will look the same with the same fill in two weeks. Personally, my fills kick in every single time on day #3. There are other issues to consider, where the person loses weight (their stomach fat pad, their butt, their legs, everywhere, etc.). One must consider how compliant the patient is. Will they follow the post-fill diet? You might be surprised at how many simply can't do it. Natural swelling on the part of the patient. A fill causes swelling in most people that lasts a day or three. There are more variables but the point is that this isn't a science and can't be one. It's an art. I completely and totally without a doubt, 100%, disagree with you about overfills and weight loss fixing it. It's too dangerous and I don't know about you but I paid far too much for this band. I'm not risking my band or my health for losing a couple of pounds a little faster. It's just not bright. We didn't get fat overnight, we won't get skinny overnight either.

Whoaaa there, there is NOTHING preferable about being slightly overfilled. It is pretty dangerous. Overfills are responsible for slips and erosion. Drinking water causes one to slime and barf with even a slight overfill. But I do agree, fills are an art and not a science.

Who are you responding to?

No Worry... Any updates? How are you doing? We are all waiting, wanting to know DETAILS!

You can try www.lapbandtalk.com.

And you need some manners. Your point? NoWorry... thanks for posting this. There are lots of newbies that not only want to know what to expect step by step but they are also looking for the kind of honesty you write. Ignore those without manners and keep on writing exactly the way you do.

Don't you think Mexico's version of 5***** is a little different from the US version of 5*****? I have never been to the TJ Lucerna but I have another Lucerna. From what I can see the *service* is five star, the facilities are not. But they are quite good.