FLORIDAYS

My Dr Post Op diet was as follows: week 1 Clear liquids week 2 reg liquids week 3 puree / baby food consistancy food week 4 mushies... reg food mushed up 1 month solids i followed it to the letter and never had any problems. I would follow your Dr's advice. Best of luck!

i never knew what it was either until it happened.... then i understood. LOL Its pretty gross but if you chew chew chew and eat slowly you shouldnt have problems with sliming too often. But like most of us.... you'll eat something to fast or too big and you will have fiorst hand knowledge.

LOL....I have become a master at the art of safety pinning..... Although this weekend I finally bagged up four bags of stuff that was well past the point of my pinning technique.....thankfully I can be semi casual at work so have finally bought a few things....mostly disposable clothes from old navy and Target etc.... But the week before vacation I will break down and buy some suitable clothing....and bras..am now 38.b.from.44 c..

I am over half way and I have the opposite problem.....my husband is driving.me nuts to buy some clothes that aren't falling off of me... Last December I started out in 2-3x tops and 4x elastic waist bottoms or some 26s.... Now I am in large tops and 16-18 bottoms and I don't want to waist a dime buying stuff that will be too big in a few.months. but I did have to finally buy a few things and I was in pain to have to spend the money.....LOL

The first month is the hardest I promise you......be patient.... It gets easier and after a few months it will be like 2nd nature. To answer your question....For the past 10 months I have spent every day with my band and not once have I regretted it.

I don't miss the 117 extra lbs I was carrying around this time last year..... And next year I wont miss the natcho dip I turned down today because I will be at my goal

I agree with Jess's post... That's what I have been doing for 10 months and the results have been family fabulous! I will add.... I have a calorie counter in my phone and record everything I put in my mouth....even a grape.....LOL. ok I admit it...I am obsessive abou it but I WILL succeed!

It's normal.....I couldn't eat more than 4 oz.of liquid at a time up to 3 weeks post... Best of luck to youp

Just too add.....I didn't cheat either. Not until May....5 mths post op. I was at a Trade show for work and hadn't had any food for 5 hrs... they passed out warm chocolate chip cookies.... I had one....lol. since then I could count on one hand the number of times I ate something I shouldn't...usually it was right.before a fill. I am so committed to be successful it just is foremost on my mind.... I personally decided that nothing tastes as good as thin feels.

I drank socially before I was banded...I could drink now but as others have said its just empty calories. There are times I will have a skinnygirl Margarita or Citron and water w/splash of Cranberry and a lime....but that's it..for me to trade a drink for not losing that day just isn't worth it...I have come too far!

I was on liquid for 3 weeks after surgery... carnation instant breakfasts worked for me as well as herbal tea, broth, v8 juice, and sugar free hot chocolate....I wasn't very creative but I also didn't have much of an appetite... Best of luck to you...mushies come soon!!

You will find if you read enough posts on this site that each surgeon has different views on many issues you will encounter. Its nothing to be concerned with unless his advice is causing you pain or not working for you. Mine was empty on the day of surgery....didnt have a fill until 2 months out. It worked for me but thats not to say a fill wouldnt have been ok too.... best of luck!

I was banded in December so I am approaching my 10 month anniversary and I have lost 116 lbs. I am hoping to be at a loss of 140 lbs by my anniversary... which will leave me with about 50 more pounds to go.

no slip ups for me either ...I started my liquid diet the day before thanksgiving ...I was determined ...or crazy lol

nothing in my band until I was 2 months post op ... my Dr doesn't fill anyone anyone until after the stomach has healed. I had a little restriction from the band itself.... But the first 2 months were a test of all my willpower ....LOL

great post ...just at my last visit my doctor suggested I could skip a month because I was doing so well and losing at a good pace ... I am only 9 months post op....I may have lost 100+ lbs but I am nowhere near foregoing my monthly visits! I said thanks for the vote of confidence but no thanks! I plan on seeing him monthly for at least the first year. In fact it maybe that way until I reach my goal. once I get to goal hopefully by April 2012 I really think once every quarter seems to make sense or of course unless I need a fill. One of the benefits of the band journey is to have the support system your doctor provides ... To ignore that just doesn't make any sense to me

wow lucky you!! According to my doctor its the way it goes...but as we all have learned all doctors have a different school of thought for me it seems to be the working that way but on others I'm sure it could be different

We lose weight from the top down.... which for PEAR shapes like me is unfortunate. SO the odds of you losing that chin are pretty darn good! Good Luck!!!

I found this board a few months before being banded and starting posting because I had some questions and it was basically in the name of research. By nature I am a positive person and have less patience than I probably should with people who are all about doom and gloom. I was 200 lbs overweight and if anyone should be whining it was me. But I chose to enjoy a successful, rich and fullfilling life inspite of my size. And when the struggle was too much for me to do on my own, I researched my options and decided on a lap band. I didnt even once think this wouldnt work. Since being banded I have asked and answered some questions on this board about my personal experiences to readers whom with I share a common bond..... The band and a lifelong battle with my weight. I tend to skip the posts which are poor me because I have little patience for failure. If something isnt working like it should or like you thought it would... then get the tools you need and fix it. If you arent going to try to fix it... please dont whine about it. That said.... it doesnt bother me if people feel the need to use this forum to gripe..... I dont have to read it. No different than in real life ... I don't have to listen to it. I dont mean for this to appear cruel. That isnt my intent. I just think those of us who have been banded have taken a step to controlling our lives. That is a HUGE DEAL! Why let a few people spoil your party when you can ignore it? Shoot... this is even easier than real life.... you can ignore people without them knowing it.

I had a fill on Friday....and all seems back to normal. My Dr said besides the fat in and around the stomach shrinking which of course loosens the band after 6 yrs of hearing stories like mine he is convinced there is some evaporation that happens although there isn't air that gets in the band...

Having been banded 9 months ago I have fallen into a nice pattern of living with my band. My weight loss has been decent (-109 lbs this morning) so I over 1/2 way there but i still have 80-90 more to go. I have had 3-4 fills.... and the last 2 were because I just wasnt getting the restriction. I continued losing but it was because of my own will power until I got to the Dr for a fill.... which brings me to today. Last week I all of a sudden noticed I wasnt satisfied with my normal food intake. Its the weirdest thing... Wednesday I was fully restricted and Thursday I was feeling like I could eat forever. My stomach was growling and I was basically just hungry all the time. That subsided a little but it has been all I could do to live through it until my next Dr appointment which thankfully is tomorrow. Obviously I am in need of a fill. But my question is ... In your experience does the need for a fill just "hit you" all of a sudden? Thanks in advance for your replies. I am thankful for this forum... as unbanded people can be as "understanding" as they like but its no match for people who have been there and done that!

Doing great so far!! Down 110lbs today. Had a fill today...3rd one...Dr said tummy fat is shrinking so band loosens...thus the fill. Still have a long road but am hoping the next 7-8 months are a successful as its been so far. Glad to read everyones progress. Keep up the good work!!

I too chose 150 when my Dr asked me how much I wanted to weigh. Of course I dont believe I have been 150 since I was 15-16 years old but I did get to 170 for a minute in the 90s and I figured I could go past that by 20 lbs. I was 377lbs with a BMI of 55 at my heaviest last October when I picked that random number. I am a big girl. I wear a size 10w shoe and 9-10 ring as I have big hands compared to most woman I know and basically feel like I am always the largest girl in the room. I used to be 5'10". Now I seem to be 5'9". Not sure what happend or maybe my driver's license lied to me for 35 years.... or maybe I am losing fat off my feet. ( and no... I refuse to attribute it to aging... LOL) I have read every chart on the internet and it seems I will be @ a healthy weight for my frame between 140-160. Of course I will still be tall so all thoughts of being a petite little thing just arent happening. But I am hoping to have a CIndy Crawford or Christy Brinkley in their 40s-50s type of shape.... Not small by any means... just healthy looking.

I didnt "see it" until I looked at a picture about 4-5 months post op of myself taken on the morning of the surgery . People were telling me they noticed when I lost 22lbs pre op.... LOL I thought they were nuts. Now I am down over 100 lbs and sometimes I look in the mirror and dont see it. Other times I do. It may be because I still have 89-90 more lbs to go. Hopefully in about 9 more months I will see it!!! Remember we are hardest on ourselves....

I am really glad I 1) Listened to my Dr and followed his advice to the letter 2) Took a picture the morning of surgery so when I am at a plateau and getting discouraged I can look at it and remember all the reasons I started this journey 3) Found this forum 2 months before surgery to help with ALL the unanswered questions and refer back to it even 8 months post op on a regular basis 4) Found Gummy Vitamins 5) Had to do the 2 week liquid diet. While it was the hardest thing I ever tried... it put me in the right mindset to enter into bandland. I realized if I could do that.... I could do ANYTHING! 6) Found the calorie counter ap for my phone.... it has kept me on track with recording EVERYTHING I eat....even on the rare days I indulge. Honestly I cannot think of one thing that I would have done differently...other than getting banded sooner... but timing is everything and I wasnt ready for the commitment sooner than I did it so I suppose it all works out for a reason.