♥LovetheNewMe♥

You look awesome Julie, congratulations on your success!

Pepto, Tagamet, Zantac, Tums, Gas-X for the tummy, Phenergan for the nausea or what ever your doctor gave you and be thankful for the diarrhea it will relieve some pressure. Early on in this process I used to suffer from a lot of indigestion and many things upset my stomach and I had nausea. Hope your feeling better.

Soda is not a good choice. Plain water is the best and adding flavoring if you need to.

Unjury is good, also Jay Robb makes an unflavored protein powder. I used to order from this site, Bariatriceating.com, their powders dissolve well and do not change the flavor or texture of food.

Yes this is what I used to do before being banded and how I got obese. Yes being overweight is depressing and does affect your mental and physicial health.

Prayers sent your way for a fast and speedy recovery. Let us know how we can support you in the process.

The plication can give you added assurance or help in losing your weight. Some people who have the plication never need a fill or need very few fills to be successful with there weight loss. This procudure miminics the gastric sleeve like Grammy stated but without actually having to have half your stomach removed. People who have this proceure generally lose all there weight, with lap band alone the statistics only state about 50/60% total weight loss. Losing to a healthy BMI and normal body weight with lap band alone is not typical without a lot of hard work.

You both look amazing Dee!

Yes, it does get better. There will always be days when the tummy growls but nothing like in the beginning. Good luck to you,.

Call your doc, you are two soon after surgery to start taking laxatives. Your physician should always be first choice for medical advice not the forum.

Love your list, awesome goals! Wishing you much success in your journey! I always used to hate pictures now I seem to be the only one smiling!

Your welcome,

Getting hungry may mean you need a fill or you may need to increase your protein to sustain you longer. How much protein are you eating with each meal. If your meals are not 20 plus grms or more you are likely to be hungry sooner. My meals are usually around 25 grms and I supplement with protein between meals twice a day. I know, we are only suppose to eat 3 meals a day, not realistic to me, it is rare that anyone can sustain on 3 meals a day. If they can than they are better than me. I eat about every 3-4 hours when awake and consume about 1500 calories aday now, when losing I consumed 1000-1200 calories a day. I take in 90 plus grms of protein.

Ok, I went to the Lapband site and could not find it, these are the majority of the questions on the form: 1. What I ate the past 24 hours. 2. How often do I exercise. 3. There are 3 lists of foods and I have to circle the ones that I am able to eat and eat most often. 4. What did I eat in the past 24 hours. 5. How soon after I eat am I hungry again. 6. Do I drink with meals. 7. Am I satisfied after eating and how long does it take me to eat. 8. What size plate of food do I eat. May answers to these questions help me and my surgeon decide if I need a fill. I have only had 3 fills in two years and lost 122lbs. I still do my regular six months follow up appointments. I have an appointment on Dec 3rd and will get a form, if anyone is interested PM me and I will send you the form. also below if from the orginal Lapband site, if you have never watched the video's or read some of the articles I highly recommend them. I am very OCD and when i was first banded read everything I could about the band, I wanted to be well informed and understand how this band was suppose to work so I could be successful. This is a blurb from the Lapband site: The most common reason for adjustments are: You are not able to eat much of anything without experiencing discomfort, reflux (heartburn), or vomiting. Your band may be too tight (you may be in the Red Zone). You are able to eat without restriction. Your band may be too loose (you may be in the Yellow Zone). You are not losing weight. Your band may be too loose (Yellow Zone) or too tight (Red Zone) — meaning you may be able to eat too much or can only tolerate a liquid diet. It’s important you listen to your LAP-BAND® and work with your bariatric team to achieve your desired weight loss. Learn more about the Green Zone

I weighed around 252 lbs, I had been over weight for years and had been on every diet or program that is known. I am also a life time member of WW. #:-). I made my decision after multiple health problems, hypertension, joint pain and asthma. I did a low carb diet 2 weeks before surgery. I weighed 238 on surgery day. I am two years post op and weigh 130 lbs now. Good luck with youdecisionon, I do strongly advocate with for good physiological follow up before surgery and after. My personal opinion is that the emotional side of this journey is difficult to say the least and for long term success we need to get our heads on straight and be able to learn new coping skills and not continue to use food aa a crutch. Behavior modification is key to our success! Again, good luck and know we are her to support you in your journey! I know probaly more info than your requested, I am sometimes wordy, hope it helps.

Ok here goes........... Before......... 252+++ After 2 years, 2 lbs below goal weight. 130 lbs.

Developing clots afte Lapband is not any more common than with any other major surgery. Focus more on how you can prevent complications instead of worrying about getting them. Suggestions, by walking, not crossing your legs, not sitting on your feet, doing coughing and deep breathing exercises immediately post op you decrease chances of complications like blood clots and pneumonia. I do understand your anxiety but worrying about complications will not help you heal or be productive with your band, during this surgery and being on this forum you are going to read a lot about different people having complications for one reason or another. As to how long after surgery, days, weeks or months. Again just a suggestion, maybe discuss your anxiety with your doctor. Good luck and hope you do well.

I will say for me the more I lost the more I seemed to have to eat. I know this may not make sense but I was stuck at 172-175 for months eating 900-1000 calories. I increased my calorie intake to 1200, started doing cardio 5 days a week and strength training 3 days a week and started losing again. Maybe increase your calories to between 1000 -1200, add a snack in the afternoon. I do Peanut Butter, natural from Earth Fare 1 tablespoon and half a small banana. It is amazing how adding a little can make a difference. Good luck and congratulations on your success to date.

I don't know how the rest of your physicians do follow up but for the first year I saw my WLS regularly every 3 months. At my check up I did the lap band questioner and from that we determined if I needed a fill. After one year I see him every 8 months weighter I need a fill or not. What does everyone else do? I guess I just thought this was normal process. If it were me I would talk to my doctor, if you are losing weight, you probably don't need a fill. Some days I can eat more than a cup of food and some days I can barely eat a cup of food but of course I am on maintenance. Personally I hate fills, I hate the process of not know if it is going to be to tight or just right. I struggled with my last fill and it took me 3 weeks before I was finally able to eat again and I hope and pray I can maintain without one. So in answer to your question, do the questioner on Lapband site and go from there.

I maintained as of this morning! I am happy with that. Great job on the lose, that is awesome!

I totally understand your doctors comments, but it takes more than a few months for us to hard wire our new behaviors for our life style change. I still track at 2 yeats post op and at goal weight. I do it so I know how much I eat and so I can plan for my meals or special occasions. Now on be stalled with weight loss, I can speak to this, it happened to me at about 6 months, 1 year and 18 months. It is very frustrating especially when you feel like you are doing the right stuff. So here is a few suggestions, go back to tracking what you eat, start looking at your mix of protein, carbs, and fats. You may need to increase your protein and decrease your carbs and fats, I realize this is not a diet but to lose weight sometimes you have to shake your bodies metabolism up a little and not always eat the same consistent amount of calories everyday. The body can get comfortable with a certain weight and a certain mix of foods and needs a little adjustment to get you moving again. My longest stall was from June 2011 til Jan 2012. The scales moved very little during this time and I was still about 40 lbs from my goal, I had went from a 24 to a 12 but was still an unhealthy BMI. I ramped up my exercise, increased my protein to >100gms and decreased my carbs and I increased my calories to 1250 per day. Yes you heard me right I had to eat more to start losing, my nutritionist told me I was eating too little so my body was holding on to the fat and I was losing lean muscle mass so I was basically stalled. I do not promote fad diets or pills but even with the band you have to find out what makes your body lose and high protein, low carb does work but don't forget the veggies, fruits and fats. You can make the scale start moving again,and reach the success you are striving for. Good luck!

Great Post Alex!

No I have not done this since being banded 2 years ago, that was the old me. I have a suggestion, try the 5 day pouch test, it may help you to refocus and get your band back to helping you curb your hunger. Good Job with the exercise and trainer. I hate to see you go back to old behaviors, they didn't work for us in the past and are just temporay fixes. Take care and good luck http://www.5daypouchtest.com/

Everyone has an occasional indulgence, the difference is now you just plan for them and don't make them the focus. Do not allow one day to destroy your self confidence and success. This is a life style not a diet so you didn't cheat! Holidays are hard, not only because of the many delicious foods but also because of all the added stress and expectations we place on ourselves. Tomorrow is a new beginning, forgive your self and move toward your goal. I had a piece of pumpkin Praline Cheesecake and I loved every delicious bite of it. Will I gain weight, no I doubt it but I won't have it again for a very long time and I will not get on the scales for a few days. Good luck to you and much success!

TattoMommy, Only an opinion but if I were you I would discuss my hesitation with my WLS or with the psychologist who did my prescreening for WLS. I know you realize this is a big step and you want to be well prepared mentally and physically. Banded living comes with its own set of challenges, and it is a life style change that you must embrace full heartedly. Good luck with your decision and I wish you continued success.