SoCalKid

Lea - Are you working out? If so, how long and hard are you going? On the average it takes roughly 2200 calories a day to live!!!! Soooooooo, if you can cut this by roughly 500 calories a day for one week, you will lose about 1-2 pounds a week. I may be off on my numbers a bit, but I lost a lot of weight staying around 1700-1900, but I was working out pretty hard. Socal Kid http://explore.twitter.com/Tkennedy

Man, what a great day today! Five mile walk/run and feeling great - Now dinner of fish, veggies, some wine and many-many sugar-free popsicles. If you are in a funk, it's OK. Do that funk right by lying around, eat crappy food, watch a ton of TV, grab a big bowl of ice cream then sleep really-really well. THEN…… Wake up tomorrow and turn it around! Have some coffee, a SMALL, high protein meal and read the paper. Pay particular attention to all the negative news in the world and begin to appreciate your situation, your abilities and how good you really have it. Then get out there and walk for 30 min. No big deal my friend, it’s simply 15 min out and 15 min back. EVEN if you don’t want to do it (like me most of the time), make it happen. Saturday will be a good day SoCal Kid http://explore.twitter.com/Tkennedy

After almost two years of living the "banded" life, the only certain fact is that NOTHING is certain! It’s almost as if my band has a mind of its own and what I couldn't eat for lunch slides right through for dinner. What felt right for breakfast causes pain for lunch. I do know this though; over the past 2 years, I have lost a good amount of weight and am much healthier than before. And so it goes - Be patient and don't take it to seriously... Great father's day - I ate & drank all I wanted, when I wanted it. I reward myself with a couple of FREE days a week. Time to knuckle back down for a strong next 3-5 days. WILL exercise today! Socal Kid http://explore.twitter.com/Tkennedy

For lunch, try this - 1/2 cup refried beans, 1/2 cup garbanzo beans, big chunk of chicken, - If you fight the sweet-tooth like I do, chase all this down with a small piece of dark chocolate. If that's not enough, have another piece. If that's not enough, to bad - make it enough. Get a 30 min walk/run - Feel full and energetic Socal Kid (Feeling good finally) http://explore.twitter.com/Tkennedy

...And you have done the same for me Amber!.....

OK, go 60-80 grams of protien today, limit the fat and eat mostly clean carbs (salads, outmeal), almost as much as you want. Get out and walk/run today for 30 min. It's gonna be a good day, I can feel it... SoCal Kid http://explore.twitter.com/Tkennedy

Pick your poison - Eat 1 pint of Haagen-Dazs Ice Cream at 1400 calories (roughly) OR Eat 94 sugar free Popsicles (four 24 pack boxes) at 1410 Calories (roughly) WOW...... SoCal Kid

I'm collecting some interesting data so please feel free to participate. For those of you who have been “banded” for the past 3 months or more… QUESTIONS: 1. Do you feel your doctor or advisor told you everything they knew about the pros and cons of your Lap-Band experience? 2. Would you do it again? 3. Did you pay out of your pocket or did insurance cover? Socal Kid – Twitter - http://explore.twitter.com/Tkennedy

Amanda - You will throw up and it's OK. But it's not like having the stomach flu type of heaving. It feels more like a “release” where the food you ate simply moves back up and out. I have an occasional "heave" but not many at all. Then you will figure out why, you will see a trend, a behavior and you will begin mitigating these behaviors. You will be OK... SoCal Kid - Twitter page - http://explore.twitter.com/Tkennedy

Folks - I have some opinions that I will begin expressing on my Twitter Page. Might not help, could be beneficial for others but they are true-blue from a normal guy who has been there. Feel free to read. No advertising, no selling, just my humble opinions regarding my experience. Hope it helps... Click on the following http://explore.twitter.com/Tkennedy SoCal Kid

Bean - I am not a runner either. I got into it becuase I needed something that was quick and I could do anytime. And so I began to walk...and then I was power walking....then I was lightly jogging. This was about 4 years ago. I have now completed 8 marathons if you can handle that! I really can't believe it. I'm still not a runner and I love it. Be careful, you might get hooked. I hope you do. SoCal Kid

Angela - Identical story for me. Let your body heal, and eat some food if you can. Let's face it, as long as your band allows you to chow down, then you will. That's how we got here in the first place right? You will not become successful until you eat less. This will not happen until your doctor cranks that thing down. After this, when you eat, you will get full quickly and if you push it, you will throw it all up. It's pretty simple. After some of this action, you will learn to not eat as much, and your body will natrually go into ketosis. At this point, you will no longer fight hunger and you will lose weight. But be patient and let it all happen... SoCal Kid

BINGO! Very well said.... Socal Kid

Thanks Crazy - I think we both need a class in "compassion"! I may take my band and move it north (around my mouth). Congrats on your success - This is not an easy deal. Wow - See, I'm already getting better!!!! Really though - Well done... Socalkid - Feelin it

I got several emails from forum members thinking "SoCalKid" was a little too blunt. What he wrote was from his perspective and most of it is true. The only parts I think I could disagree on, is he writes that the band won't be effective the first 6 months. A lot of patients will have good restriction from the beginning or right after their first fills. I admit, at the beginning there is a eating learning curve, many will experience what "Babe" went through. Also, the part of eating all you want and the band will dictate what you can do. Eating till you PB is a dangerous game, this is where patients will get into trouble with slippage and other complications. The band is only a tool, you need to learn to come to a soft stop when eating, not the hard stops with PBing. I have also noticed from this forum is that the patients that have success from the beginning, we hardly ever hear from. The quote that's posted the most is" Remember, everyone is different". The "SoCalKid" has a good quote in his post, "Remember, don't panic and be patient" I would agree with Dolittle - To blunt perhaps. Here is what I was trying to say. I noticed that when I stopped analyzing the entire weight program I was on (which was very difficult to do) and allowed for my body to tell me when I had eaten too much (PBing, food coming back up, etc), I had a much better experience. When I concentrated on life, family, work, friends and all we do, the band began to work and it took me about 6 months to become who I was pre-band but with a different approach to caloric intake. It was frustrating at first but now it's great. I have been banded now for a year and have lost my weight. I feel good, strong, energetic, excited, thin (in my eyes) and most of all, healthy. Now I enter the next stage and this will be to maintain my healthy ways. My new weight will be a bi-product of my new habits, all most automatically. No scale needed hopefully. My advice (for whatever it may be worth frankly) – Try and transition from the daily grind of the constant evaluation of the weight program and allow the band to do its job. Live your life with your added new habits (exercise, eating well, etc.) If it isn’t working, tighten it down until it does. This is when I began to see great results and I wasn’t on the scale four times a day. Life is good – Challenging but good – and yes, I can be to blunt. Socal Kid

Hey Newbee - Here is my take. Eat all you want and your band will dictate what you can do. If it's too much, your body will tell you. Also, don't plan on your band be effective for 6 months. Like most of us, you will lose initially, and then put it back on and yoyo from there. After a time of frustration, the Doc will tighten the hell out of that thing and you will start getting wonderful results. Others may color-code it, but this is what I see and read most often. Remember, don't panic and be patient.

Simply said....Good, get rid of them!

I got one word for ya....F I L L L L L L L.... I had the same problem and ask my doc to stop foolin'around and crank this bad boy down until it's shut! Not really, but you know what I mean. Now I'm forced to eat right or it's coming back up for sure. Socal

Hey All - Cranked this baby down on 1/6/09 and have had incredible weight loss. It's obviously way too tight, but gonna ride this horse for a while. I knew that eventually I would experience some complications based on basic nutrient deficiencies. I run/walk daily and have had to cut back on this because I have no energy, and I’m very cold all the time. Like I said, I know it to tight and will loosen soon. This being said, the strangest thing so far is foot pain in both feet. More specifically, I have small boils on every other toe almost like big, premature zits and how they would feel on your face before they go full speed. They hurt and look like red, round spots. It's gotta be a reaction to the change of caloric intake and vitamin reduction. Anybody else experience this? Minus 35 lbs since 1/6 – good but not healthy – but interesting to watch SoCal

Excellent Amber - Thank you.

Lisa - Are you saying that you cannot get stomach flu? I waonder what happens if you/me do?

Wow lisal and all - Thank you so much for the valuable feedback! I wonder if I have done damage to the pouch? Can they "stretch" back to the original size? What about the stomach flu? If you get the stomach flu, can you still get sick? Seems like it would not be able to exit, ya know? What is "under flouro"? I hope my pouch is OK... SoCal...

Hey All – I have followed most of you but this will be my first post. I was banded in March of 08. At the time, I weighed 273 lbs and am 6’5 feet tall. I decided to go for the band as a proactive move against a potential obesity problem as I aged. I have always loved eating tons of food, but I am very active as well. I run/walk, swim, surf and weights occasionally too. Cholesterol and BP are in check via meds. By June, I had lost roughly 30lbs but have managed to put back on 15lbs. The net of the operation is this; I am a leaner, healthier guy than I was and this makes me feel the procedure was a success. This being said, I’m a little disappointed at how the band has worked. Granted, I also feel that I eat poorly and drink to much wine (I love cabs) hence the return of some of the weight. I want to share some thoughts and questions and feel free to comment. Sometimes I feel a restriction and sometimes not which leads to me being able to eat a large amount of food. I think I feel the restriction if I eat the right foods first (high protein first followed with clean carbs like a salad) but not as much as I was expecting. Should I tighten the band? Only sometimes do a feel food get stuck which can lead to a dry heave. Remembering this is a tool to simply “help” is important to remember. At time after I eat, I feel tightness in my upper chest. Is this the band? I run often so I drink lots of water. I also drink water with meals sometimes. I love carbonated waters also like Arrowhead. I try not to snack but I get very hungry The bottom-line is that I’m very active but still eat like crap. If I address the poor eating habits (much easier said then done) and get a fill, you think this will make a difference? SoCalKid