Lindsay

For me, I like to treat myself with new runners ..

But I do it more as a treat when I'm consistent with my workouts.

When I was in the US last week, I went crazy shopping for smaller clothing, as everything seemed so cheap.

And the vanity sizing in the USA is AWESOME - I'm a size 4! (yeah right!)

I felt no restriction after surgery and NONE after my 1st fill. I am getting my 2nd fill Friday. I am sooo frustrated. But good to see the comments here. I had just about lost hope then I saw the one entry where she did not feel the restriction til her 5th fill. There is hope that I will feel it sometime. Maybe that will be me sooner than later. I will not give up. I can eat anything, bread etc.

I didn't feel anything until about my 3rd fill ... I thought my band was broken!!

So hold tight, and just wait until your first fill. Are you getting it done via flouro?

I've never heard of these!!

I want to know too!

mac & cheese won't be an easy food to eat if you're feeling restriction.

Actually, I don't think I've been able to have pasta since ... so, take it more as a mental note.

NO more mac & cheese.

It's a blessing in disguise - that's not a healthy food choice anyways

Pick high protein food choices, to ensure you're getting enough calories (& keeping your energy high and consistent).

I was wondering what "restriction" feels like. Everyone talks about it but I honestly don't know if I feel it or not? lol I am losing weight and I don't eat as much, but I really don't know if I feel anything I could call restriction. Can anyone provide a description? Thanks!

One word that comes to mind is 'tightness' is your chest. And that 'full feeling' that many of us forget what it feels like!

Why do I keep getting this message when I try to update/modify my signature?

I'm not trying to add external links, either.

Ok, so I have just found out that OCC sends you home with an empty band, so my question is, do you feel any restriction at all? Is it individual based? What were others' experience?

I felt a bit of restriction after I went home. But I still not sure if it was physical, and not psychological!

'They say', when you first get it done, you may/will feel a bit of swelling, which will feel like restriction.

But by the time my 3 months waiting period was up, I was eager to get that restriction feeling back.

One of the members posted that some people said she had lost enough. That led me to think about what happened to me years ago. I went on Nutri System and lost about 65 pounds. I am 5'9" and when I got to about 170 (size 12) the men started to comment that I could stop now, I had lost enough. Strangely though the women agreed with me when I said I wanted to lose another 10 pounds. I have a large frame so if I drop to 150 I look gaunt and sickly. I wonder how much females are influenced by what we see in the magazines that we read. We, the women, seem to take our cues from the fashion and modeling industry whereas men just know what they like women to look like.

I know that being healthy should be #1 in everyone's book yet that doesn't mean we don't also want to look good. It's just an observation I've made and I was wondering if anyone else has noticed anything during their weight loss or if anyone has any opinions about what an influence our society has on us.

Interesting ... I'm 5'9", and at 145lbs, I've had a few 'enough with the weight loss' comments over the past couple of weeks.

The stop losing weight comments came from both males and females.

I don't feel like I'll ever be able to look in the mirror and feel fully content.

are you comparing steel cut to PRECOOKED oats?

aka 'quick cooking' oats.

Raw oats are the best way to go.

I too, remember freaking out at the weight I had to be at prior to surgery.

Just like most of us, we've invested A LOT in getting the band, and the thought of being turned away the day of surgery because of my lack of dedication & will power to lose the weight I was told to ...

But, we've all done it - and been successful.

I thought about the results .. the journey and the outcome.

You can do it!

How many people have sought counselling for the mental part of there weight loss journey. I am finding i am really struggling with being hungry all the time. I just had my second fill and i am eating less and i know its not a physical hunger.

I did.

And it wasn't until after I did, that I started to get a real grasp on my body image & food issues.

And the weight really started to drop off.

That was on thing I noticed during my research - all of the lap band treatment centres in Canada, have a HUGE MASSIVE emphasis on the follow up care -- which includes a very in depth follow up of mental health treatment. (one-on-one & group counseling, etc)

This was something the OCC didn't offer, but I knew I would need.

I tried to do it on my own, but my emotional issues weren't going to be stopped by the band .. and I ended up sourcing my own treatment here.

Is it lamb?

If you don't know, and they can't clearly tell you. ... well ..

Traditional gyro is lamb, but I know in the USA, they use filler meat (ie. left over beef & pork and lots of preservatives) -- the meat itself, is held together with it's natural producing fat.

It's not what you'd call a 'clean' food - it's made up of filler meat.

The sodium content is extremely high, as well.

I'd stay away from it, and keep it to a treat meal (ie. once a week, max)

FYI - my magic bullet lasted a whopping 5 months before catching fire.

I highly recommend counseling.

This is a psychological problem for the majority of us, NOT physical.

I'm in Toronto, and got my lapband done at the OCC.

It was beyond incredible, and it's completely changed my life.

I'm well beyond my goal weight (it was 155lbs) but I'm not caring anymore in terms of the scale.

My weight (specifically, my bodyfat) is still dropping, which is a slight concern for me, so I may end up getting a bit of an unfill .. but other than that, just go with the flow.

If you feel like you're getting enough calories in a day, just keep things as is.

PS I'm so jealous you still have your boobs! I have nothing!

i had NO restriction until my 3rd fill.

At the OCC they send you home with empty band, so that's why you don't feel anything.

They want you to heal, and start working on your eating habits .. THEN, go back for your first fill approx 3 months later.

I've never heard of that .. but it would make sitting very uncomfortable once you lose the weight & bodyfat.

You'd have to sit up very very straight, if not kind of arch your back to make sure it's not rubbing against anything internally.

also, as a note, now that I've dropped a lot of weight, and my port does stick out and is noticeable, it just looks like one of my ab muscles.

My boyfriend actually thought that's what it was.

So i wouldn't worry about it!!

Geez! Thought I was going to die tonight! My son made barbequed ribs and I love them. He made them nice and crispy, just the way I like them. Well, I was in pain for over an hour. I did all the wrong things; I did not chew well enough and I ate too quickly. Oh well...tough lesson learned (once again!!)

Ribs are a poor food choice anyways

I've found the band reminds me that the foods that hurt going down (& and up coming back up) are typically crap food choices anyways.

Hard reminder for us!

I'm just curious as to why you feel a 2 year check up is needed?

I had never thought of this.

Are you getting fills done elsewhere?

soooooooo happy for you, and love the update.

I was wondering where you had gone!

For the majority of us, we don't feel the port until we've lost a significant amount of weight.

For me, it shows, but I could care less. I also know now not to move my body, so it doesn't rub against my ribs. And I sleep with a pillow under my side where my port is.

With that being said, i've lost a lot of weight & fat to get to this point.

I wouldn't feel silly returning!

I think you walking away, is a good judgment call - i can see where you're coming from!

It's also very proactive of you, to come to a place to get other people's opinions and feedback.

If you're still not confident with that specific place, just keep looking around for another fill place -

I haven't good vibes off of a few different fill centres in the USA .. which is why I opted to do them here in Toronto, and pay a fortune for each fill.

Yes, this could be right.

If they're doing blind fills, you'll be returning every 6-8 weeks, as they have no way of determining how much to put in.

Even under flouro, I could understand why they'd want to do it in small baby steps - which is the responsible way to go.

They don't know anything about you, your band placement, or your eating habits. All of these things can effect the way a fill goes ..

I'm actually really surprised they said yes to touching your 'Mexican band' - i know this is a big issues for a lot of fill facilities, as they don't want to touch us. The liability is very very touchy.

Did you think you'd just need one fill? and you'd be done? ..just want to make sure I understand your scenario.

You should be happy they didn't just stuff your band full, and then send you on your way. It sounds like follow-up care is a priority (& not just a money-grab), esp when you're not there patient!

Just be careful to not go over 2/day as too much protein turns to belly fat!

If it's true, how do you explain the excellent muscular definition and the very chiselled abdominal wall of bodybuilders, athletes and fitness enthusiasts whose diets are very similar - even though there are some differences - with most of them using the high protein and low carbohydrate regimen for achieving muscular definition?

Furthermore, how so you explain the high muscular quality induced by a high protein diet, independently from caloric intake?

Here it's obvious that arithmetic is not clear at all, because the evidence of the facts don't support the theory of the over-simplified mathematic count as the determinant factor that influence body composition (Body composition is the result of Fat Free Mass to Fat Mass ratio).

This is explained by the fact that our organism is much more sensible to an "hormonal and biochemical mathematic" rather then the merely algebraic mathematic.

Here is important to assert, and it's even evident, that the single individual cannot be considered like a calorimetric bomb (for which 1 gram of carbohydrate is not different from a gram of protein since they do have the same caloric output: 4kcal per gram) since it -the calorimetric bomb- goes far beyond from any endocrine and biochemical consideration.

So, in other words, without getting into more specific details of the biochemistry of fatty acids, this is not a true statement.