My saga

[stockprincess]

Hey all!

I have been gone for a while from the forum because I had given up. I have had quite a roller coaster of a ride in the last year, but I am back and determined for this to work. I am posting mainly so that others can see what I have been through and learn from my mistakes. I have NEVER blamed any of this on the band itself...and I am now where I understand that it was all me.

I was banded in January of 2007. I weighed 252, which was the highest weight of my life and can be partially attributed to the holiday season. I made it (barely) through the post-op diet phase and went back to the OCC in March of 07 for my first fill. Dr. Romero gave me 2.0 ccs which is the most they will give a first time fill recipient. I felt no restriction in how much I ate...only in how fast I ate. I have two jobs and I am a full time student. I am also one of those people that talk fast, live fast, eat fast. Fast food in the car is a way of life - not necessarily BAD fast food - you can find some good options, but eating in your car with a band is really not an option.

So, I was frustrated and went to see a fill nurse here in Phoenix. She is a very nice lady and only charges $100 for a fill. She does not, however, use floro. She does it by how you feel while drinking water. I have a cousin that saw her once, got his "sweet spot" fill and lost 100 lbs. That did not happen with me. I went from 2.0 to 3.0 ccs and everything in between. I was either PBing every meal or eating as much as I wanted. And, being a student, $100 a pop was killing me. I got so frustrated after 3 months of back and forth and really no weight loss that I had her remove everything. With no fill, I had virtually no restriction. The only time I even remembered I had a band was if I ate bread too fast...and even then it wasn't too bad.

Fast forward 8 months to the Oprah show. Everyone who had the band had been successful. Why hadn't I? It made me really examine where I was in my life and what had gone wrong. I realized at that point that it had been all me - I ate too fast, I ate too many carbs, I drank with meals...I basically did everything the OCC told me not to do. Somehow, I thought (even though I had been told differently) that the band was a fix-all. I thought I had to lose weight with the band - it didn't need my help. Man, was I wrong!

So, I made an appointment for a fill at the OCC to give it another shot. I figured if it was done right and I was determined to make the right choices, it has to work! Dr. Romero gave me 2.3 ccs. Watching the screen to see the barium go down opened my eyes to how important floro is and how the band SHOULD work. Thank goodness I hadn't done any damage to my body with my poor choices.

So, here we are. A few days after the fill - already down 5 lbs. Of course, a liquid diet never hurts weight loss. I am determined for this to work. I am determined to let the band work how it was designed to work. It takes WAY more work than I was ready for last year, but I am ready now.

Do any of you "successful" bandsters have any tips for me? Diet, exercise, etc? I would love any help I can get...

[jetdeck]

Thank you for sharing your experience, I hope that you have great success!

SJ

[MamaMichelle]

Thanks for your bravery in sharing your tribulations with the band, I have never seen any exact statics about the over all success rate of the band but logic tells me that while most people are successful there must be some percentage that struggles.

Just the other day I read a similar post by bev4life (found here: http://www.lapbandforum.com/index.php?showtopic=5245) and she shares your story and the common problem was waiting too long to get that fill that makes the difference between being able to eat anything and PB'ing on water. I think that both stories will help us newer bandsters follow the rules and listen to our bodies when in doubt!! I bet you can contact her for some additional support!!

As for any tips I can offer, I would have to say my obsessive calorie counting using http://www.fitday.com it tells me how many calories my body burns daily (doing things like breathing etc) and how many calories my lifestyle/job burns (not that many since I sit on the computer all day) then it adds in calories from the foods I have eaten that day and subtracts any calories burned through exercise to give me a daily calorie deficit. Since there are 3,500 calories in a pound if I burn 500 calories more than I consume per day I would lose 1 lb per week, if I burn an extra 1,000 calories per day then I would lose 2 lbs a week. I know it might be a little to much for most people but the only way I can keep myself accountable is to enter in everything that I put in my mouth, and it only takes maybe 10 min a day to do!

[sparetire]

Hey all!

So, here we are. A few days after the fill - already down 5 lbs. Of course, a liquid diet never hurts weight loss. I am determined for this to work. I am determined to let the band work how it was designed to work. It takes WAY more work than I was ready for last year, but I am ready now.

Do any of you "successful" bandsters have any tips for me? Diet, exercise, etc? I would love any help I can get...

Thank you Stock Princess for sharing your tribulations with us. It has reminded me once again that we need to work with the TOOL and not against it. I wish you much success as you have a go the second time around with us. Be sure to post lots, and read here too, Everyone is so inspirational and really keeps me on my toes.

take care,

[MamaMichelle]

I found a great quote that was someone's signature line on another board:

This is my band. There are many like it, but this one is mine. My band is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life. My band, without me, is useless. Without my band I am useless.

I don't LOVE the last statement because I don't think anyone should ever say they are useless, band or no band. But just having a personal motto that you get up and say to yourself every morning or when you are standing in front of the fridge wanting to graze is really helpful.

[WAgal]

Hey all!

I have been gone for a while from the forum because I had given up. I have had quite a roller coaster of a ride in the last year, but I am back and determined for this to work. I am posting mainly so that others can see what I have been through and learn from my mistakes. I have NEVER blamed any of this on the band itself...and I am now where I understand that it was all me.

I was banded in January of 2007. I weighed 252, which was the highest weight of my life and can be partially attributed to the holiday season. I made it (barely) through the post-op diet phase and went back to the OCC in March of 07 for my first fill. Dr. Romero gave me 2.0 ccs which is the most they will give a first time fill recipient. I felt no restriction in how much I ate...only in how fast I ate. I have two jobs and I am a full time student. I am also one of those people that talk fast, live fast, eat fast. Fast food in the car is a way of life - not necessarily BAD fast food - you can find some good options, but eating in your car with a band is really not an option.

So, I was frustrated and went to see a fill nurse here in Phoenix. She is a very nice lady and only charges $100 for a fill. She does not, however, use floro. She does it by how you feel while drinking water. I have a cousin that saw her once, got his "sweet spot" fill and lost 100 lbs. That did not happen with me. I went from 2.0 to 3.0 ccs and everything in between. I was either PBing every meal or eating as much as I wanted. And, being a student, $100 a pop was killing me. I got so frustrated after 3 months of back and forth and really no weight loss that I had her remove everything. With no fill, I had virtually no restriction. The only time I even remembered I had a band was if I ate bread too fast...and even then it wasn't too bad.

Fast forward 8 months to the Oprah show. Everyone who had the band had been successful. Why hadn't I? It made me really examine where I was in my life and what had gone wrong. I realized at that point that it had been all me - I ate too fast, I ate too many carbs, I drank with meals...I basically did everything the OCC told me not to do. Somehow, I thought (even though I had been told differently) that the band was a fix-all. I thought I had to lose weight with the band - it didn't need my help. Man, was I wrong!

So, I made an appointment for a fill at the OCC to give it another shot. I figured if it was done right and I was determined to make the right choices, it has to work! Dr. Romero gave me 2.3 ccs. Watching the screen to see the barium go down opened my eyes to how important floro is and how the band SHOULD work. Thank goodness I hadn't done any damage to my body with my poor choices.

So, here we are. A few days after the fill - already down 5 lbs. Of course, a liquid diet never hurts weight loss. I am determined for this to work. I am determined to let the band work how it was designed to work. It takes WAY more work than I was ready for last year, but I am ready now.

Do any of you "successful" bandsters have any tips for me? Diet, exercise, etc? I would love any help I can get...

I'll be rooting for you stockprincess! I can't add anymore to what's been said here... but moral support you will get here! =D>

Blessings,

Hanna

[Paula Bee]

Best wishes to you.. I will be rooting for you!

Paula

[stockprincess]

Thanks everyone for everything! I have been on fitday.com for two days now and we will see what happens! I appreciate all of you!

[kym828]

Stock Princess,

thats the best part about the band, its ready when you are ready!! the fitday.com website is an excellent idea. if you hate exercise like i do then try to find something fun to do, whether it is swimming, a dance class, hiking or just walking around the neighborhood. any execise is better than none. i have no doubt you will be successful with your band.

kim