AXA

Sunday- Friday: Breakfast: eggbeater omelette with onions, tomatoes, and low sodium Canadian bacon or turkey First Snack: 16 oz black coffee Second Snack: small lettuce wrap with chicken, tomatoes, cucumber, and mustard Lunch: small green salad with chopped half chicken breast, tomatoes, garbanzos, oil and vinegar Afternoon snack: snap peas or celery Dinner: 3 oz meat, 1/2 cup veggies (usually brocolli or mixed) Snack: 30 pistachios OR tablespoon Peanut Butter OR sugarfree/carb free drink OR nothing Saturday only : lots of dairy, cheese, Protein drinks, fruit and carbs with no limits

Go get an unfill. Overfilled bands cause all sorts of problems including slips, erosion, and permanent damage. It's not worth it.

I'm going to have to disagree with everyone here. I think you should wait until your clothes are too large. Putting them away now or getting rid of them is like counting your chickens before they've hatched. What if the lapband doesn't work for you? What if there are unforeseen complications? Or, what if it takes 6 months of fills to get you to start losing? Also, if you do lose, it feels good to pull up your regular pants and seeing them fall down without a belt (that's the moment in which you dig out the smaller sizes). Plan for success--yes, but live in the now.

I got fat because food activates the pleasure-centers in my brain and makes eating, especially carbs, very enjoyable.

Welcome to my world. I lost 5 pounds in the first 3 months! (so you lost more than double that in less time) Then, I woke up. Now I'm down 32 (in the last 2 1/2 months). Here's what I suggest (and what I did): 1- go to your doctor and get advice 2- go on a healthy diet (my favorite is the Slow Carb Diet) and track it on something like myfitnesspal.com 3-drink lots of Water. RiteAid have these great 32oz bottles. Drink 2 a day. 4 -increase your activity. It doesn't have to be an hour gym workout....it is as simple as adding in walking in as many parts of your day as you can. Put a pedometer in your pocket (or a fitbit) and shoot for 10,000 steps a day. Get a big, energetic dog that needs long walks. 5- take your body measurements so you have another way to measure your success. Do it NOW while you're still big because it will be SOOOO satisfying later when you see the difference. (I started at a 42 waist and now I'm down to 37---can't wait to see 30). I hope these ideas help. Keep in mind that all of us are different, with different metabolisms, bodies, and even different stomach bacteria ( 3 different kinds). We have different doctors who give us different advice. There is no absolute consensus in these forums on what you have to do to be successful but there is a general theme in most posts to eat healthy, exercise, drink water, listen to your doctor, and most of all be patient.

I miss Cherry Coke Zero terribly! When I tried to drink it, my stomach exploded (well it felt like it). Sometimes when I'm really stressed, I just sit and think about diet soda the way ex-smokers think of cigarettes. I found it a harder addiction to break than carbs. I didn't quit it because my doctor told me to (which he did), I quit it because my dentist told me that the acid was aggravating my gum line and contributing to its recession. There is no scarier thought to me than being toothless!

Pretend you don't have a lapband and go on a diet. Find a healthy one that you may have done and had success with in the past. If you can stay away from sugar for a week, you're cravings will subside a little. Fill up on good proteins and veggies (snap-peas and celery are my best friends).

I find that the protein you get from food such as chicken keeps you fuller. I didn't lose any weight while I was using Protein drinks. Just something to think about.

Someone put a video in these forums somewhere by a doctor that really loved the sleeve. He showed how insulin levels were much more controlled on it. I remember he called the lapband, "a diet with a seatbelt," he thought gastric bypass wasn't the best, and he loved the sleeve. He had me convinced but of course I already have the lapband and like everyone else on this forum, I want to keep all my body parts intact even if it is harder and takes me longer. By the same token, I feel that I get to take credit for my weight loss because the lapband only works if I put in effort. My husband mentioned to me after my first three months of the Lapband with no weight loss that I should have had another surgery because it would have been easier. It would have been but I wasn't look for easy, I was looking for healthy. I think the Lapband is the healthiest option.

Have you tried cutting out the Protein Shakes, yogurt, cheese, cottage cheese, and soup? All of those, albeit healthy, are slider foods. Stick with the eggs, chicken, and fish and add in lots of veggies. Watch the sodium content of foods and also be aware if it's that time of month. Also, don't use the scale as your only measure. Use measurements like your waist circumference, hips, arms, thighs etc. You might see some reduction in inches even if you see a slight gain in pounds.

myfitnesspal.com Make sure you set the privacy settings

3 months

I picked the Lapband because I think it's healthier than gastric bypass. With the lapband, you lose slow in a way that is easier on your body. It is reversible and no one is messing with your intestines. However, it has been a lot of hard work on my part. For me, it's been a tool like a pedometer is a tool. If you don't clip on the pedometer or you don't do anything with the information then you wasted your money on it. I've found these forums extremely helpful in getting me over the initial "band failure" that I experienced. Some experience instant success. I think that it just works better with some people's anatomy than others but it can work for almost all with just more personal effort, doctor consultations, and the willingness to try new habits. You won't know if it's going to be easy, hard, or somewhere in the middle until you get the band.

I eat 1000 calorories or less a day, 60-100 grams of protein, and under 100 grams of carbs a day. I workout 6 days a week (3 with weights) and I'm pretty active the rest of the day. My body does not go into starvation mode because on one day a week (usually Saturday), I up my calories considerably and eat whatever I want. My body gets its fill of sugar, carbs, fat and psychologically I get all my cravings fed. I lose 2 pounds a week.

I wish I had known it was going to be this hard. I wish I had known that the lapband isn't a magic pill and it doesn't work for everyone. For me, it didn't work at all . . . .at first. Then, I cut out all carbs (except veggies and beans), dairy products, fruit, and even protein drinks (save for one day a week), started tracking my calories on myfitnesspal, began measuring and weighing all my food, invested in a fitbit to be as active as I can be (not just one hour a day), and just became really strict with myself. I've done all this before and it hasn't worked. It's working this time and maybe the lapband gives me just the edge I needed to do it.

Snapdragon, Update? are you still struggling?

One time, I was charged $5,000 for a one hour emergency room visit with no tests or medicine. The reason I was charged so much was that my husband didn't have the wherewithal to give them my insurance card so they charged me as much as they could. It's a great way of making money. Once I got them my insurance card, suddenly the bill they charged insurance went down to $800 and I ended up paying nothing. That is what is happening to you. Doctors can charge whatever they want. I also had a hernia fix and a lapband. The bill to insurance was only $14,000 and I paid around $2000. That is how much it costs. Depending on the state you live in, there are laws that say you don't have to pay more than what the doctors get from the insurance company. At most, you are out $15,000. Talk to your insurance first. It may be a mistake. Then, talk to your doctor. His billing might be mistaken. If he stands by his costs then he is commiting fraud and you need to report him to the medical board.

Yeah, I was looking at the Cyclic Ketogenic Diet that bodybuilders do and then at the Spike Diet. Ferris's diet is relatively easier and healthy. He encourages Beans which are carbs but it helps tamp down food cravings. I love to exercise and lift weights so this diet is perfect for me because I lose fat but keep my muscle. I found this diet right before I got the Lapband and lost 10 pounds on my pre-op diet but then thought I didn't need it anymore so I stopped it. Big mistake. Now, I love it and I got my husband doing it with me. I love keeping a list of my cravings and being able to say no to them all week since I'll know I'll get them on Saturday. It's a great way to still enjoy food.

Hmm. My experience is different. The band doesn't tell me anything and most of the time I can't even tell it's there. I have to measure my portions and only eat that much and no more. I want to eat more and I spend a lot of time thinking about food but I know I won't lose weight unless I do the one-cup a meal rule that my doctor advises. The only time my band tells me anything is when I take a big bite of something and don't chew it into little bits. Since I usually cut up my food into little pieces ahead a time, this is not such a problem anymore.

It's a very interesting book. I love the chapters on diet the best but also how to prevent injuries has been very helpful. Yes, you can lose weight through ice and he describes how to do it but I won't even try it--I don't like being cold. His other chapters are interesting but I don't think a lot of what he writes is exactly good advice (he likes taking multiple and frequent Xrays of his whole body and tries to get by on less than 2 hours of sleep). You need a critical mind for this book. Take the best the from it and forget the rest.

I only lost 5 pounds for the three months after surgery. My doctor thought I was filled enough and advised me to eat no more than 1000 calories a day. So, I cut out the protein drinks, the yogurt, cheese, and fruit and started to follow Tim Ferris's Slow Carb Diet (in The Four Hour Body). It's just meat/eggs, veggies, and beans 6 days a week. I track it all on My Fitness Pal and keep it under 1000 calories. On the 7th day, I eat whatever I want and seriously boost my calorie intake. My body doesn't think it's starving because of that one day. I've lost 25 pounds since I started this diet 12 weeks ago.

I got the Lapband in early December 2011. I lost 5 pounds the first week on the liquid diet. Once I moved to soft foods, I stopped losing. It's now almost March and I have yo-yoed back and forth with those 5 pounds. I've had two fills. The first didn't make a difference, I could eat as much as I was hungry for. The second fill is tighter and I throw-up if I eat too fast but I'm still so hungry. I track food daily on myfitnesspal.com and I exercise 6 days a week. I see on my food tracking that I just eat too many calories (although they are mostly good, whole food calories). When I limit my calories for more than four days, I get too exhausted to exercise and get so overwrought, I eat the wrong foods. This was my problem before the lapband, too (although then I could diet for longer stretch of time). I keep reading about all these people who have lost so much weight with the lapband. Has anyone struggled at the beginning like I have and then gone on to lose a lot of weight? Or, am I just part of that 5% that don't lose with the lapband? Has anyone joined Jenny Craig, Nutrisystem, or Weight Watchers to support the lapband? Any advice at all would be helpful. Thanks!

Sarz, Wouldn't taking Iron pills prevent anemia? I know that is the treatment anyway. It's just a blood test, right? I was going to get my blood tested again once I lost 20 or 30 pounds but since that hasn't happened, I'm delaying it.

Make sure you take measurements such as your waist, hips, upper arms, and thighs. That will tell you if exercise is doing you good. I understand what you are going through with the hunger. I'm an exercise fiend and am hungry all the time and haven't lost hardly anything on the band. Stopping or lessening exercise doesn't really seem like a good idea though.

Thank you! I like your soup idea. I am so hungry when I start to eat but having a little lo-cal soup to start might slow me down a bit. I was just afraid of getting into the slider-food mode if I went with soup. I also like your idea of eating 5 small meals, rather than 3. I've been really trying for 3 because my doc told me to do that, but I really start going crazy around the 3rd or 4th hour without food. I found some sugar-free popsicles in the fridge at work and have been having one at the end of my day on my commute and that seems to help a bit too. To everyone who has commented so far - thank you! You all have had very helpful tips that I can start putting into practice.