3rd fill....

[Allcdngirl]

Hi Everybody.. went to Arlington today and had my 3rd fill. I now have 3.2 in my band. 1.4 then 1 then .8 today. Feels good so far. I just went to drink a protein drink, and realized I had taken too much at once, and then started to slime on it.. ugh.. I'll wait another hour before I try to drink some more. I have been able to drink tea and water since my fill at 2:30 today, but I guess I just tried to drink too fast. I have a question for all of you.... I have lost 10 lbs since my 2nd fill... Aug 22nd. I have found though that my stomach seems to be getting bigger? I am losing weight in my butt, which is great, but I'm getting quite the muffin top. I'm wondering if I've had just too many carbs in my diet if that would cause it? For the first couple of months I hardly put any carbs in my diet and now that things are going well (maybe too well) I've just slacked a bit?? Anybody else finding this?? Anita

[The Redhead]

Hi Anita,

We REALLY need to talk to each other more. We could have car-pooled. I went to Arlington yesterday for my 2nd fill. My appointment was at 10:15 but I was 15 minutes late because of the 2+ hours I waited to get through the border. My boyfriend and I stopped at Applebee's after. I had soup and it really filled me up. I had soup again for dinner and I felt very full after. I'm hoping this works because I have lost NOTHING since being banded. I'm feeling like this was a major waste of money for me.

Denise (

[Kim2BSlim]

I hope this will be the fill to get you to your sweet spot! Fingers crossed!

I also find that I am eating way too many carbs. For some reason, carbs seem to slide down easier for me and I believe that is the reason I have quit losing weight. I am gonna try some "Atkins" type diet for the next month or so and see if that will help.

[mlgpdx]

I notice when I eat to many carbs or even empty carbs I really feel bloated and makes my stomach stick out. cous-cous, brown rice, sesame crackers work well for me in small portions. Also POLENTA... if no one has tried it please do so! You can buy it in a tube at trader joe's and you just slice it and fry it up in a pan. I spray a little cooking oil spray / olive oil on each side.. season them up and just fry them.. then serve them with my soup or sometimes by themselves with a little cheese or salsa on top.. yummy! gives me the carb/bread texture I'm looking for but it's gluten free , 100% corn.

[nothereanymore]

Another thing - since you’re smaller down below it looks bigger. (The stomach fat is the hardest to loose and it takes the longest) And as you start loosing more weight, your skin is getting loser and it starts hanging over more. (Since it’s emptier of fat) I started noticing so many odd things as I was in the major weight loss mode. But it all came together in the end! (Oh yeah, and the butt, that’s another thing, the way you loose weight there – I’d like some back)!!

[julieburns]

Hi Anita,

We REALLY need to talk to each other more. We could have car-pooled. I went to Arlington yesterday for my 2nd fill. My appointment was at 10:15 but I was 15 minutes late because of the 2+ hours I waited to get through the border. My boyfriend and I stopped at Applebee's after. I had soup and it really filled me up. I had soup again for dinner and I felt very full after. I'm hoping this works because I have lost NOTHING since being banded. I'm feeling like this was a major waste of money for me.

Denise (

First of all to Anita, I hope this is the fill that hits your "sweet spot". I too notice my stomach SEEMS bigger. I think though with me anyway I have just lost more inches in my but and leg area and so it appears that my stomach and top are out of proportion with the rest of me. I don't know if this is how it is for you though. I can't imagine when losing weight that one area would actually get bigger, except temporarily with bloating like migpdx mentioned. Take some measurements if you havn't already and then re measure in 1 month and compare. I bet you'll be surprised.

Now dear Denise I hear you're feelings of being more than just disappointed. This has been a topic that has had several posters saying the same thing this week. In one way or another people have not lost the weight they thought they would have lost in the first 3-4 months after banding. Again i will say that we are undereducated about how long it willl actually take to have the band work for many of us. I am now a firm believere that there is a group of folks who must get 2-4 fills to get good restriction and then they start to lose the weight. yes this may take 3-6 months after banding to start really losing weight. I thought I'd get the band and then boom the weight would start coming off at 8-10 pounds a month as long as I followed the rules. Sadly that is so not true for some portion of us. I was banded 6/4 and just now after 2 fills have good restriction. By this I mean that I rarely if ever feel hungry. I can only eat maybe 1/4 cup of hard food at a time and when I do i am full for hours. I must have liquid protein shakes in the AM and early afternoon as I am too tight for hard food.

I know this isn't really what you want to hear but I want to encourage you to realize that you are already well on the way to success. Just having the band and already getting 2 fills means maybe this fill is the one. Book another fill appointment as soon as allowable if you don't feel restriction after a week. Sometimes they take a few days to kick in also which is weird but true. This is a journey with many legs to it. This is a much longer process for some of us than ever was really explained to any of us. Yes I know there are many also who lose weight from the time they are banded and just keep that pace up for the most part. I think these people do such a great job and are so excited about the weight loss we see them posting more than those of us who arn't losing so fast. I think we sort of get a skewed idea of how this really works for some folks because of that. I know I am not going to post week after week "OK i didn't lose another pound this week, or maybe 1/2 pound" because we don't feel like that is enough so we just keep quiet.

You both are well on your way to success. :lb4:

[Kittycat]

Congrats on your 3rd fill Anita!! I hope this is THE ONE!!!

I too see my stomach bigger, because I am losing in my waist the most...I feel the top of my body doesn't match the bottom anymore, but it will all come together in the end.

Carbs are my downfall too...some meals I eat protein only to compensate for potato or rice at dinner.

Good Luck!!!

[nothereanymore]

This isn’t going to be popular, but I think one of the major differences between some people is exercise and how they change their overall lives.

I’ll be honest, I normally take the ones that I think are going to succeed – watch and wait for them to figure it out. Michelle is a prime example; I knew she was going to get it, and when she disappeared for a while and slowed down on her computer access – In my heart I knew the next time we heard from her that there were going to be major changes and I was absolutely waiting for it – she didn’t’ disappoint me. You see that happen time after time, I did it myself.

You’ll also notice the differences in people’s bodies and shapes, the one who add in exercise, they figure out that they can change the shape of their bodies and start really working on them, and they look thinner at a higher weight than others.

Its all up to us, we know there’s no magic pill, if you want to move faster you’ll most likely have to put something extra into it. The old timers aren’t gone because of any changes on the board, the truth is it pretty much stays the same, you get to busy living life and many of us are still here – we don’t have time to spend a lot of time. I’ve been on this board since 2006 and have 529 posts. I haven’t spent a lot of time online – I’d rather get on the treadmill or do something good for me. But I’ll check on everyone when I’m reading the news and if I have something to say I will. That’s why it seems like I’m here, but it doesn’t take the place of my exercise, or commitment to changing who I am into a healthier person. You want to loose more weight, don't watch as much TV, limit your access to your computer and start exercising along with limiting your caloric intake.

Just my thoughts on it.

Lisa

[Kittycat]

This isn’t going to be popular, but I think one of the major differences between some people is exercise and how they change their overall lives.

I’ll be honest, I normally take the ones that I think are going to succeed – watch and wait for them to figure it out. Michelle is a prime example; I knew she was going to get it, and when she disappeared for a while and slowed down on her computer access – In my heart I knew the next time we heard from her that there were going to be major changes and I was absolutely waiting for it – she didn’t’ disappoint me. You see that happen time after time, I did it myself.

You’ll also notice the differences in people’s bodies and shapes, the one who add in exercise, they figure out that they can change the shape of their bodies and start really working on them, and they look thinner at a higher weight than others.

Its all up to us, we know there’s no magic pill, if you want to move faster you’ll most likely have to put something extra into it. The old timers aren’t gone because of any changes on the board, the truth is it pretty much stays the same, you get to busy living life and many of us are still here – we don’t have time to spend a lot of time. I’ve been on this board since 2006 and have 529 posts. I haven’t spent a lot of time online – I’d rather get on the treadmill or do something good for me. But I’ll check on everyone when I’m reading the news and if I have something to say I will. That’s why it seems like I’m here, but it doesn’t take the place of my exercise, or commitment to changing who I am into a healthier person. You want to loose more weight, don't watch as much TV, limit your access to your computer and start exercising along with limiting your caloric intake.

Just my thoughts on it.

Lisa

Thanks Lisa, you are so wise!!

You are absolutely right, I spend way too much time here chatting it up and should be downstairs on my WiiFit and other exercise equipment. I give you my word, starting tommorrow, I will exercise for at least 30 minutes per day..and on Nov 10th, we'll see what difference it makes!

Take care babe!

[iamworthit]

This isn’t going to be popular, but I think one of the major differences between some people is exercise and how they change their overall lives.

I’ll be honest, I normally take the ones that I think are going to succeed – watch and wait for them to figure it out. Michelle is a prime example; I knew she was going to get it, and when she disappeared for a while and slowed down on her computer access – In my heart I knew the next time we heard from her that there were going to be major changes and I was absolutely waiting for it – she didn’t’ disappoint me. You see that happen time after time, I did it myself.

You’ll also notice the differences in people’s bodies and shapes, the one who add in exercise, they figure out that they can change the shape of their bodies and start really working on them, and they look thinner at a higher weight than others.

Its all up to us, we know there’s no magic pill, if you want to move faster you’ll most likely have to put something extra into it. The old timers aren’t gone because of any changes on the board, the truth is it pretty much stays the same, you get to busy living life and many of us are still here – we don’t have time to spend a lot of time. I’ve been on this board since 2006 and have 529 posts. I haven’t spent a lot of time online – I’d rather get on the treadmill or do something good for me. But I’ll check on everyone when I’m reading the news and if I have something to say I will. That’s why it seems like I’m here, but it doesn’t take the place of my exercise, or commitment to changing who I am into a healthier person. You want to loose more weight, don't watch as much TV, limit your access to your computer and start exercising along with limiting your caloric intake.

Just my thoughts on it.

Lisa

I think you make a great point, Lisa; however, I am a person who exercises every day for an hour to an hour and half and can say I have only lost 17 lbs since surgery (majority the first 2 weeks) (surgery 07/01/08). I have been dieting and exercising for almost a year, so perhaps I was at a natural plateau, but it is frustrating when you first get banded and the weight doesn't come off in the 1-2 lbs per week like thought. With that said, I definitely agree with you that people who are finding success trend towards not posting. I find myself coming to the board when I am struggling as opposed to when I am losing. Losing weight is hard and it is a personal challenge. For any of us to try and compare ourselves or think that something that worked for one will work for me too is the way to failure. Finally, I can say the exercise is paying off in that I am stronger and my muscles are more toned and I just feel better. Now, getting up at 6:00 a.m. to do it every day is a real drag, but it pays off in the long run. When I made this committment I was in it for the marathon, not the sprint.

Thanks for your posts! It is great hearing from someone who has had such phenomenal success as you. You are a huge inspiration!

[Allcdngirl]

So true on both the exercise comments and the people on the board. Remember.. muscle does weigh more than fat, and if you're exercising that much, I'm sure you must see the benefits in the drop of inches that you're having. I don't come on here as much as I used to, but do try to come on at the very least once a week. And like Lisa.. comment only on certain topics. I appreciate all your comments.... and I hope this is my sweet spot as well... and I never thought of looking at it, like from the waist down, I am definitely shrinking faster than the upper, so that would make my upper look bigger. Makes total sense!