mdlapband

Hi! I live in Raleigh, my husband and I were banded on 12/19 at Duke Raleigh. What part of NC are you from?

Carolinagirl ... I work in cary I got banded at Duke!

I have a blog and listed out a bunch of stuff here's the link http://happilyafterlapband.blogspot.com/search/label/Pre-Op

Hey y'all! I've had pcos for 10 years now and was banded 5 months ago. It is the number 1 reason why I opted for the surgery.So far, I've lost 72 lbs!! I stopped taking my birth control pills 3 months ago, because I was getting horrible acne on my neck. I tried plenty of different kinds of birth control and it was in fact the reason why my acne was so bad. I'm super excited because I just finished my cycle for the 2nd month in a row. This is the first time in years that I've had a normal cycle that has lasted between 5-7 days and stopped. I still want to lose 60 more lbs before I try to get pregnant. stay away from sugar, eat small amounts (I still aim for 4 oz or less per meal per my dietitian), get 60-80 grams of Protein a day and get yourself addicted to working out at least 6 days a week. I started walking 1-2 miles at a pace i could handle 1 week after surgery and just tried to push myself a little harder every day.

Not sure what the nutritional values are of the lean shakes, but here are the guidelines that my dietitian set out for me (and my husband) post op. (pre-op we were just told to lose as much weight as possible, so we did the atkins diet the week before, and then Clear liquids the day before) Post op we were told to drink 50-80 grams of Protein per day (at least 50 for me and at least 70 for him) Any shakes we drank had to have less than 10 grams of sugar per 8 oz. In order to get that amount of protein post op we added Protein powder to pre-mixed Protein Shakes. We were told to only drink 2oz of protein every 15 mins, so we made 1 shake in the morning that was pumped with protein and then sipped on that all day long. That being said.... sorry for the long answer. If you like those shakes and they are high protein low sugar, you should be able to drink them throughout all of the stages. But of course always check with your doc!

My husband and I do that a lot too. Every couple of weeks I'll voluntarily do a day of liquids. It seems to help. Then one day out of the week I have something that is more of a splurge. I never feel like I can't have anything, so it helps to keep me on track

First thing I wanted to reply with was that I'm 5 months post op and I used to have to take birth control in order to get a normal period. I dumped the birth control about 3 months ago because it was giving me the worst acne and GUESS WHAT?! I just finished a normal period for the 2nd month in a row!!!! YAY! In regards to the comment below: A low carb diet has always helped me with PCOS and I recently tried doing atkins w/ my lapband. ( I really like atkins and have no issues with it) But this time I was getting light headed/dizzy quite frequently and for longer than just the first couple of days. Dr. Westman, the dr who just wrote the New Atkins book actually practices at Duke (Where I had my lapband surgery done) and he has worked with the dietitians that I work with. My dietitian explained that lapband patients on atkins should acutally up sodium intake just a touch. Maybe have a cup of chicken broth midday. It is supposed to help with that low carb dizziness! I thought that was an awesome tip right from the King of Low Carb and wanted to share!!

Are you looking to be really full or just satisfied? My dietitian warned that you should never feel very full, because that can actually stretch your little pouch. Also, do you feel like you are starving hungry, or more head hungry? What I mean is, do you really want to eat, or do you feel like you're starving and you absolutely have to eat? Try bumping up the Protein in your breakfast. Maybe add a scoop of Protein powder to your glass of milk in the mornings.

YAY!! Letters of approval are definitely reason to celebrate! My husband is banded too he loves it and has lost over 90 lbs in 5 mos! You'll do great!

Try getting about 60-80 grams of protein a day. Even add protein to your pre-mixed protein shakes. That should help!

Welcome to the site and best of luck with the insurance/paperwork process. Getting a lapband is truly the best thing I've ever done for myself. It takes lots of work and lots of mental toughness but it works!

The protein is key! if you get sick of the same protein over and over again, check out syntrax nectar (promise I don't get paid to say any of this) There are so many different flavors so it makes it easy to get all your protein in. Mybariatricpantry.com sells sample packs of nectar, matrix, and protizyme I've loved all of those so far!

I have PCOS as well and decided to get a band in hopes that I will be able to get pregnant in a year or so. I've always just taken birth control for PCOS but it always gives me horrible cystic acne. I was banded on Dec 19, 2011 and I've lost 71 lbs to date. I decided about 2 months ago to dump the birth control because I was sick of the horrible acne. I'm happy to report that last month I had a normal 1 week period. I have about 49 more pounds to lose and then I'm going to try getting pregnant and see how it goes.

First and foremost you are down 16 lbs and that is awesome. Second, you are going to have slip ups. I always tell myself as long as I do right 6 days out of 7 I can be healthy. You aren't going to gain weight from eating the chicken strips. Was it a great healthy choice? No. But you're human and you messed up. As you get used to your band and understand how it works for your body some days will get a lot easier and some days will be tougher than today. The band isn't magic, it just a great tool that we can use. Overeating and making bad choices got us to where we were before the band and those habits will take a long time to change! You are in no way a failure. Here are a couple of things that have helped me. Use Myfitnesspal.com or some other form of food tracker. When you slip up be true to yourself and just record it. When you see the calories it makes it easier to say no the next time. As soon as you possibly can start walking and tracking the calories that you burn. when you compare how hard it is to burn calories to what you want to eat it makes it easier to say no. I wish I could give you a big hug because I know how you feel, but you're alright, just get up and try again tomorrow!

Thank you!!!!

I'm so excited to say that today I finally hit the big -70. This band has seriously been the best thing I've ever done for myself. In a last ditch effort to win myself a reward i have a favor to ask. I apologize in advance for this but stay with me. For the past week I have been competing in an internet contest for a complete eyewear makeover. At the beginning I was sweeping the whole thing and got so excited that I might actually win this thing, but all of sudden yesterday some lady came out of left field and started leading. Apparently she's a school teacher and had all kinds of kids vote for her. So on the last night of the competition, I'm trailing by less than 100 votes. I've cashed out everyone I know for votes so in one last ditch effort to take back this competition I wanted to reach out to my lovely lap band community and ask if you would vote for me. It's a facebook/like the page kind of contest. Since today I hit the big 7-0 lbs I figured I'd go out of the box and see if I can win myself and awesome reward Here's the link: https://apps.facebook.com/ecanc-photo-contest/Contest.psp?c=110830&u=27333&a=374012022642395&p=88153691047&v=Entry&id=332981&rest=1 Thank you so so so much for any help you can give bandsters!!!!

Sign up for a free pass for a gym that offers group classes. Take a bunch of classes throughout the free period and then see if there is something you really like. I just discovered Bosu classes and I already can't get enough. You just have to find something that is not easy that you want to get better at!

Best of luck to you, you have a great tool to make the changes. Look at it as changing your life not just losing weight. I know that's cliche, but it's truth. I use Myfitnesspal.com for food tracking I LOVE LOVE LOVE it. it's great to add friends so that you can cheer eachother on. Check it out and if you decide to use it, add me as a friend! dsanborn33

Michele this is off topic -- but if i can tell you anything at all. Don't get upset when he loses more weight than you, while he eats more and does less!! haha it's just going to happen. My husband has lost almost 90 lbs and I have to work twice as hard to keep within 20 lbs of him. Use it as motivation, don't get down on yourself. Men just have an easier time at it than we do!!

If your doctor uses a fluroscope to do the fill, you could truly be in the green zone every month. You need fills because your band sits on a fat pad around your stomach. As that fat pad gets smaller from losing weight the band gets loose. I've read where some doctors not only guess on how much of a fill you need, but also have to guess where the port is resulting in you getting poked a whole bunch of times. I would suggest asking your doctor to use a fluro for fills!

Yep we had to drink protein as soon as we got home from our surgery. They told us it was the single most important thing we had to do. The day of surgery we just had to get as much as we could down in 2 oz portions and then the day after surgery we had to aim for 50-70 grams of protein. That's actually what turned us on to the slim fast shakes. They are only about 10 oz with 20 protein which is really great.

Adding spinach to a Protein Shake is wonderful. Here's one I made a while back http://happilyafterlapband.blogspot.com/2012/01/blueberry-spinach-protein-shake.html Sauteed mushrooms go down easy, here's my recipe: http://happilyafterlapband.blogspot.com/2012/02/sauteed-mushrooms-my-lighter-version.html I recently made meatloaves in a muffin tin and added Shredded zuchinni. The meatloaves were wonderful: http://happilyafterlapband.blogspot.com/2012/03/muffin-tin-meatloaves.html Mashing up cauliflower with some ranch seasoning is delicious. Have you tried Broccolini? I had some the other night and it went down great.Just steam a little extra and chew it a ton. Split Pea and Ham is fab and has lots of Protein. I make my mother in law's recipe and it's very simple and delicious, let me know if you'd like me to share it! I'll be glad to send it to you. raw baby spinach is another thing my husband and I eat a lot of because we can have quite a bit of it and still get all of our protein in. I keep seeing everyone talk about roasted brussel sprouts. I've never had one but it seems like they are all the rage. You could also make a zuchinni lasagna (slice the zuchinni thin and use it as noodles) Spagetti squash also goes down really easy and you can pair that with Ground Turkey and tomato sauce so you get your protein in that as well.

Yes, as you lose weight you lose restriction. The band gets loose just like a belt around your waist would get loose. I find that I need a fill every 3 weeks. I watched a couple of videos online that really made me understand my band better. if you search youtube for videos there are some really good ones I don't know about the cough, might be good to ask your doc.

My husband and I were banded on the same day which was a total blessing. We have added a lot more exercise to our days. I've actually started getting up at 5:00 am 3 days a week and going to the gym before work. I'm too the point now where I hate missing the gym. It's still hard to keep pushing through work outs, but actually going there on my own is a huge behavioral change for me. My husband and I rarely eat out anymore. We used to eat out at least 3-4 times a week. We find ourselves walking a lot more to get extra steps in (thanks to the fitbit) And if we go to the movies we eat popcorn... but we don't eat a meal in addition to that.

1-2 lbs is a huge success and in my opinion being able to eat whatever I want in small portions is also a huge success. I find that I need a fill every 3 weeks as opposed to every 4 weeks, but my dr never overfills me. I can tell when I'm ready for a fill because I get hungry two hours after eating. I think you're doing great if you're eating 1 cup or less at every meal and feel full. I think the hard part about surgery is that a whole bunch drops off right at the beginning and then when it slows down to a normal pace we all get panicked. I thought I was at a plateau this week, and when I looked back at my numbers I lost 2.6 lbs!! That's a huge loss.. it's just not as dramatic as my 4 and 6 lb weeks of the past. Just stick with it and you'll have doubled your weight loss in no time.