Jim1967

Today is a new day. Strive to make it different than yesterday. Do not dwell on yesterday or that could lead to an unproductive new day!

Find a nice thick Protein shake that you like. I use the chocolate body fortress whey powder from Walmart. 8oz of unsweetened almond breeze milk, 1 scoop of the whey powder with a little bit of ice and blend into a nice thick smoothy. It will give you 27grams of protein. Healthy and filling.

That Dr Simpson article is great. I made it part of my signature long ago andI read it often. Even veterans need a refresher once in awhile.

Actually I can take this one a bit further. 'If you can't love yourself then how can you possibly expect someone else to love you'. I was in a bad place for a very long time....I'm no longer in that place anymore but when I do look in the mirror and all I see is that 500lb person. Mentally I am there but visually I have not caught up yet. Still a long road to go but healing takes time just like weight loss does.

I was a terrible Diet Pepsi addict. I drank it day and night. I would go through two 24 packs alone per week not including the cans I would get from my office vending machine. April 14th will mark one year since I last had a drop of soda and Guinness. Missed my Guinness last weekend a little bit but I am OK without the soda. Surprised how easy it was to give it up. I guess you prepare and get your head straight leading up to Surgery that you just don't miss it or at least I didn't.

As someone who has severe sleep apnea I am curious how it monitors your sleep.

Wow lots of sensitivity on this site lately...but I still don't see it.

My first was 6 weeks but it was a big fill at 5cc's.

I m actually waiting for the fitbit flex to come out.http://www.fitbit.com/flex

elcee let me know if you figure it out because I don't see it either.

I find if I don't dwell on the amount it makes it that much easier. I tend to drink way to much decaf coffee but at least it has water in it. LOL

Hi Jack and welcome to LBT, Terry and Kime-lou offer great advice but I would like to reiterate this part I quoted above. A lot of people have the surgery and shortly thereafter they expect the weight to fall off. It does not work that way. Regardless how much weight you have to lose it will still be a long road. I am not saying this to discourage you. It's just that many have the surgery and in a month they're all upset because they have lost no weight and some even put on a little. This is quite normal. First month post surgery is for healing so expect no real weight loss. They say on average you can expect 1-2 pounds a week but that may not happen until you have proper amount of fill in your band. Some people require no fill and feel the difference right away and others like myself it took 5 fills with a total of 9.5cc. Like Terry said everyone is different and you really cannot compare your journey to someone else. Patience is an absolute key to success along with education on how the band works and following Doctors orders. If you can do those things then you should be fine. Just need to keep in mind it requires you to full embrace a lifestyle change. Learn everything you can about the band and what life is like with one. Good luck, Jim

I guess it goes without saying that there are plenty of fat people out there along with the skinny ones who still don't believe that obesity is a disease. I guess we should shut down all the drug and alcohol rehab facilities as well. After all they just need to stop drinking and sticking needles in their arms. Right?

Education I think is the most important key to success with the band. If you are not willing to take a real interest and spend the time to learn how to use the band then you're wasting time and money and you're just becoming another number in a fail statistics column. And for that reason I do not like hearing about surveys and research studies because in the end you never really know what kind of effort the person put in. I do believe in legitimate failures but I also believe a lot of blame falls on patients and surgeons alike. I do believe there are surgeons out there who will do the surgery and not provide the proper education program to the patients.

I figure it's only a matter of time before company provided health insurance base the cost per participant/ health criteria. My company offers Virgin Healthmiles as an incentive.

So before I climb onto my soapbox let me start by saying this is in no way directed at anyone in particular. It seems lately there has been an onslaught of folks either pissed off or discouraged and some even wish they didn't have the surgery because of lack of scale movement. I cannot recall how many posts I've read over the course of the week from someone 5 days to 20 days post op who are just downright frazzled over the fact that the scale has not moved. Again, this is not directed at anyone in particular and as I think back when I was first banded I kind of had that moment of frustration where the scale didn't move and I questioned whether or not I chose the right surgery. I was in the same place a lot of you might be now. I did a lot of research on this surgery for about year before finally going through with it. Out of all things I wish I was more prepared for was the actual weight loss. See I had this assumption that because I had the surgery I was going to begin pulling big numbers immediately. Because I had surgery I was going to see large drop in weight very fast. It never happened...and 11 months post op I can tell you it never has happened...or maybe it has. You see I am obsessed with the scale and have been since my preop days. So I will step on the scale far to often to be able to see big numbers. I finally made peace that this is the way its going to be and I am OK with that now. Everyone loses weight differently and what may work for me may not work for you. Our bodies are so different. So comparing yourself to someone else is not very realistic. If you are due to have surgery or just had surgery I suggest you do yourself a favor and avoid the scale. You will only torture yourself with it. First month post op is all about healing. Even though this may have been the easiest surgery you ever had there was still a substantial amount of trauma to your stomach and digestive system and it needs time to heal and for the swelling to reduce. Swelling alone with play havoc with scale enough to drive someone bonkers. Just do yourself a favor and leave it be. As for the pre and post op "diets" your Doctor prescribed. I really don't believe he provided those guidelines as a sense of torture. Liquids and mushies is all about letting your stomach heal for a few weeks before trying to eat solids. Remember you have a new version of your stomach now and it has to be treated like a newborns. Milk, baby food and then on to solids. I wish you all well and much success. Try not to be hard on yourself and do keep your expectations in check. Remember Rome was not built in a day. Band one day and skinny the next is for dreams only. It takes hard work and determination. Like my friend Carolinagirl always says, You have "want power" and you just have to used it. Being 488lbs I had a tough time deciding if the band was the right me. I was so worried because I had so much weight to lose. I spoke with my Surgeon and said he thought I would do well with the band but he was more than willing to do gastric if that's what I wanted. He was right about the band. I am not at goal yet but it is very reachable now and all doubt is out the window. Work with your band and become one with it and possibly good things will come. Cheers!!

Read my story in my profile. You're not alone by any means. I had a lot of anger and depression issues for a long time. I feel this time it is definitely different. What we are doing here is not a diet at all. It is a full lifestyle change and one that you can live with forever and not feel deprived as long as you embrace it.

Nice NSV!!

Yep they come in all sorts of flavors. Clothes fitting different, compliments, sitting in a booth at a restaurant for the first time in years. Being able to go to a concert or show and not worry about fitting into a seat. Wedding band sliding off. List goes on...

In the beginning my Wife as well as I had a hard time with portion sizes. She got a bit offended when I started dishing my own food because she had a hard time adjusting to my needs. She understands completely now. She is getting ready to start her own journey and I feel if she does it we can only be that much more successful...together. We have both learned a lot with my journey which should help her transition go a lot smoother.

NSV = Non Scale Victory

Awesome!!

That was actually and adjustment as well especially when going out for dinner. It is not required to polish off your plate but it is certainly something to get used to changing. Now if my Wife doesn't want what ever it is we don't bother to take it home with us. I do not do leftovers. I would rather waste it then eat around my band. My Wife and I had a talk yesterday because it was becoming habit for her to take and finish some of my plate if I cannot eat it. Well that is not good for her either. I am eating less and she is eating more. Not good!! She is considering joining the band ranks this year. Going to a seminar with her in April.