lea32

I haven't been on here for a while..life keeps getting in the way LOL! Well, I'm 9 months out since surgery and I'm FINALLY at the halfway point. Geez, it's taking forever! I’m trying to find that balance of the right restriction and exercise. This band is definitely a tool but you truly have to do your part. I started a running group to kick up my weight loss, jogging/running 45 min/3 times per week. I will be running my first 5K on March 21st =) Yay for me Every time I go back for my fill, Mr. Cutie Fill Doctor @the OCC likes to remind me how much smaller I am than so many of the other patients and how I'm going to lose a lot slower but man, is it ever soooo slow! It's just kind of discouraging because it’s almost been a year and I thought I would have lost at least 30 at this point but I guess I’m almost there. I’m hoping/working on reaching 30 lbs. by my 1 year bandiversary in June. My last fill a month ago was a little tight but I loosened up. I guess because I didn’t have the greatest of restriction in my prior fills, it was kind of new to me and the chew, chew, chew action didn’t kick in until this last one. I was a little down because I thought I’ve stayed the same weight as I was for my best friend’s bachelorette party back in August of last year and when I checked, I’ve lost 10 lbs since then! This little thing is so tricky because sometimes, I am so tight that I can have a few morsels of food and sometimes, I feel I can eat practically anything. I’m still really getting used to this thing. The other Saturday night, I knew I ate too much because it was the first time since I had the surgery that I experienced the feeling of so disgustingly full that I thought my stomach was gonna blow and how I sooooo do not miss those times I ate myself into an oblivion. I realized at this moment how grateful I am to have the band! I hope all of you are doing well. Miss you all!

Lisa, you are so right that we all need each other. We all feel at one point of this journey, be it at the beginning, or the middle, or at goal and beyond, that we are experiencing something we swear no one else has and it can get so discouraging and then lo and behold, you get on this forum and find the utmost relief that someone else knows exactly what you're going through. What seems to be the greatest about it though is that 99.9% of us on here have never even had conversation face-to-face but always seem to be there for another through the battles and challenges of this band. I feel so fortunate to have found you all =)

OMG SHELBY!!! I'VE BEEN TO 3 NKOTB CONCERTS IN THE LAST YEAR AND HALF AS WELL OH, THE MEMORIES...I CAN'T BELIEVE MY JONATHAN KNIGHT IS 40 YEARS OLD....WHEN DID THAT HAPPEN? OH YEAH, PROBABLY WHEN MY THEN 10 YEAR OLD BUTT TURNED 31 A FEW MONTHS AGO

OH MY GOSH LAURA! The craziest thing was I was thinking about you this morning because I was banded a month after you and you told me one time that you're weight loss had been sllloowwwww like mine and I was wondering if it had kicked up bcuz mine is still super duper slow. I started to feel bad last night after I ate half of an empenada and a serving of chips a few hours after I ate a couple of dollar tacos for dinner! Geez, I kept thinking, "Did I really get the band bcuz I really can't feel it right now!". I've been really trying hard but I have only lost 7lbs since my liquid stage ended the frst week of July...uggghhh. I had my 3rd fill the beginning of this month and I was really restricted for a few days but have loosened up. I did lose 2lbs the first week and I can't understand why I haven't lost more because since that last fill, I have been working out 1-2 hours 3 times a week. What the heck?! At least my clothes feel looser and this last week, several people at work asked me if I had lost weight. The fill doctor at the OCC (I keep forgetting his name but he's a cutie and such a sweetheart =) always reminds me that I'm a lot smaller than the majority of the patients and my weight is going to come off a lot slower but I don't accept that. I'm at 157 lbs. now and I know it is harder for me but dang, I'm working my butt off with the little restriction that I have! Man, I need to stop stepping on that damn scale cuz it's drying me insane! I'm just so grateful for all you guys on this forum because otherwise, I would drive myself nuts

We're not supposed to drink any liquids until 45-1 hour after we eat but if you get stuck, like SUPER STUCK, is it okay to take a sip of water to help the food go down. If not, do you just have to wait til it goes down by itself?

Okay, I have never been a sweet food kind of person but I have noticed that since my last fill a few weeks ago, I super crave sweets! It's so dang odd! I usually prefer salt vs. sweet stuff but man, I ate a chocolate chip cookie and I don't even like chocolate chip cookies! Especially at night, boy, do I want a piece of candy or something so what I try to do is just drink water and add my sugar free hawaiian punch powder mix to it. I think maybe because a piece of candy or a quick bite of something like that goes down easier than a bite or morsel of something else? Does anyone have anything else they seem to crave like this?

Hi Tadpoles, The OCC that Disaster Walking7 is referring to is the Obesity Control Center in Tijuana Mexico and almost all of us on this forum have had our surgery done at the OCC with Dr. Ortiz and Dr. Miranda. This forum is directly linked to the OCC website if you notice the top left hand corner of this page, there's the logo! Dr. Ortiz and his staff have been the best thing that has happened to all of us, and I can almost 99.9% positively say that everyone would agree to this. Check out the website where you will find all the basics about their facility. Off hand, you should know that the roughly $ for the total cost of the surgery will be all out of pocket since U.S. insurance will not cover in Mexico but that price includes a lot (pick up and drop off from the airport or the U.S. border, surgery and overnight stay at hospital, 2 nights stay at either the Marriot hotel or Lucerne for you and your companion). You can try to finance the cost of the surgery through several U.S. finance companies off the OCC website. Your follow up fills, if you choose to have them done at the OCC cost $100 cash. Just a little preview. Hope this helps.

Hi Cin! Well, you can tell them either: A. You're on N.O.Y.B.'s (None of Your Business) or B. You're on H.O.L. (High on Life) or C. You're on G.S.Y.'s (Go Screw Yourself) Hope that makes you laugh =) Seriously though, it's a victory for you and obviously, they are so unhappy with themselves that they have to try to bring you down. In any case, their misery isn't your problem because you are doing FANTASTIC!

So, I had eaten dinner already that I had leftover from lunch (1/2 cup rice and 3/4 chicken) when my daughter and fiance wanted to get something to eat. So, we went to Macaroni Grill and I swore I wouldn't get anything to eat but a little dessert. I was good and didn't eat any of the bread with balsamic vinegar and olive oil, but boy when my daughter was served her entree (penne pasta w/shrimp and chicken in parmesa sauce), I just had to have a "taste". Well, needless to say,that little taste turned into like 1/3 cup it seemed like and then I had a couple bites of lemon cake after and I tell you guys, I FELT LIKE I WAS GOING TO BURST! I felt my band protruding and had never experienced that before. I am so happy that I have more restriction at this point, none of that Pb'ing stuff or sliming yet but I can feel I guess what's called the "soft stop". I can feel tightness is my chest and like a feeling of food being stuck when I have had enough food. I have lost 2lbs. since my fill last saturday by listening to my body and yay, I am at 159! It seemed like the scale didn't move for weeks! Also, I don't know if it's because I have to chew like a 100 times before I swallow my food and wait 45 min. intervals to drink anything, but food just seems to so much less appealing now. Does anyone else feel like this?

=D> SUPER YAY FOR YOU SABRINA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THAT'S AWESOME!

THANKS SO MUCH EVERYONE FOR THE PRAISES. YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST AND I AM SO THANKFUL TO HAVE A SUPPORTIVE GROUP TO SHARE MY JOURNEY WITH. HERE'S TO ALL OF US!!

HEY CARRIE! Thank you so much! I"m sure that you can rock that little black dress that's hanging in your closet right now, you just gotta wear the confidence with it! That's what I am loving about this band is along with the weight I am losing, is the confidence that I have a tool that's my fighting power. Before it, I felt losing weight was a losing battle. Even with the weight slowly coming off, I feel so much better about myself. So put that little dress on and let's see it