Life after my second fill

Well, the scales are moving again. That's very exciting. You can see from my ticker and the Weekly Weight Loss log on the right side of the page what my progress is. I've passed the significant only 100lbs left to lose mark, I've passed the 50 pounds lost mark. It should be interesting to see the progress pictures I'll take in about a week. I wonder how long I should continue to use the same pair of pants and shirt. After a while, they'll just be baggy and my body won't be very visible in them for comparison.

I thought I'd describe for you what it's like now that I've had this second fill and now that my restriction is very good. I must take much smaller bites and chew, chew, chew. I need to eat slower, too. I found this out the hard way when I have been eating and then this pain in my chest stops me cold in my tracks. It's a similar feeling when I'm full, too. Suddenly there's pain in my chest and I just have to stop. When I try to burp for relief, I can't because instead of air, there is food right there, almost in my mouth. It's like I've gotten filled right up and there's no place else for the food to go. This is happening after eating a significantly smaller portion of food.

I imagine as I get better at understanding the band, I'll be able to stop just shy of that painful full feeling, and just know that I've gotten full without the band shouting it at me. I've heard it described as "hard full" and "soft full." I've definitely been experiencing hard full, now I need to understand my body and listen when I have a soft full.

I went to a seminar last night and we were fed appetizer type foods. I had two small plates of food and it took me so long to eat it. I was chewing like crazy and taking my time. I was satisfied when I was finished, though I didn't get that painfully full feeling.

Ground beef is working fine, chicken is a little tougher. Fish seems to be okay. I haven't tried eggs yet. People tend to get stuck on eggs frequently. (Stuck is how people describe that sudden pain in the chest, and you know what you just ate isn't working well with your band.)

So right now, it's working, doing what it's supposed to do and I'm learning and trying to do my best to follow the band rules.

Second Fill

I had my second fill yesterday. It wasn't as bad as the first one because I knew to have him numb me up from the start. It took a little while, it wasn't as easy as I imagine it will get to be as he gets more experience. I now have 7 ccs of saline in my 10 cc band. I had two put in at surgery, three last time and two again yesterday.
I've only had liquids since the fill, but it seems that there's some restriction even just with the liquid, so that's a good thing.
My weight has finally moved this week, after a couple weeks of plateau and I'm down a few more pounds. I also went clothes shopping in Denver last weekend and finally purchased some new clothes. I feel so much better in things that fit.
Brad has dropped a few pounds and Dr. Melniczek said that's a sign that he's being supportive. He said they start to worry when someone's spouse starts to gain weight. That shows unsupportiveness. Interesting. I'd never heard anything about that before.
I am itching to get started on an exercise program. I've had a few walks here and there, but I never seem to be able to fit it into my day. I'd like to start doing T-tapp again. I always feel good physically when I do that workout. I think I'll set a goal to start doing a workout every day, starting in May. Now, I'm holding myself accountable. :)

Wonder of Wonder

I was surprised over the last couple of days to see that my weight dropped 5 pounds. I honestly don't understand my body and how the whole plateau/weight drop thing works. My eating hasn't been great the last few days, I've eaten more sweets than I should, yet the scale went down. Maybe it has to do with water retention and monthly cycles or something. Whatever the case, I'm happy about it. I'm now officially 1/3 of the way to my goal weight. Amazing. Man, if the weight continued to come off as fast as it began then I'll be at goal in 9 months! LOL Wouldn't that be amazing? I'm not holding my breath, though.

I have that fill tomorrow morning. I'm nervous because of all the needle sticks last time, but hopefully Dr. Mel will have better luck getting the fluid in. I'm hoping to have some better restriction after this adjustment.

I've talked a bit about my hunger being gone. Well, it's definitely back. That same lack of satiety right along with it. I can be full from a meal, but still feel unsatisfied. I hope to get back that lack of hunger with this next fill. That is the way I've been successful taking the weight off thus far. (And the liquid diet didn't hurt the weight loss any.)

Waiting for my adjustment

Well, things have slowed down a lot. I actually show a one-pound gain for this week. I've been stuck at the same weight for the last ten days or so. Thankfully, next week I'm getting my second band adjustment. I have started being very hungry again, so I'm hoping the adjustment will help with that. I hope the adjustment goes better than the last one.

Progress Pictures for April

I'm amazed when I look at these pictures. I've always said that I have a mirror, I know what I look like. Well, not exactly. I was surprised how much different I look in this set of pictures. I'm down 43 pounds. I'm working on getting the pictures spliced side by side with the before pictures so the comparison will be easier to see. I'll post those at that time. Thanks for looking!