DELETE THIS ACCOUNT!

1 cup of food total per meal. Drink Water, it's the best for hydration. I track everything I eat on an app called Lose It! It makes it very easy.

I just did mine out of curiosity, it said I should have 2020 calories a day. That is almost twice what I currently eat and I guarantee if I ate that much I'd gain, not lose.

My answer is going to seem overly simple, but in my eyes it is simple. Listen to your surgeon and nutritionist, do what they recommend, and forget about numbers some website that knows absolutely nothing about you spits out.

1. I eat about 1100 calories a day 2. I make sure no more than 20% of daily calories are from fat 3. Not sure how much Protein is too much, however I am sure to eat at least 60g of protein a day For the record, I don't do low carb. I have no more than 125g of carbs per day. It works well for me.

Ibuprofen and aspirin are both blood thinners, but Tylenol (acetaminophen) is not. I'd give some Tylenol a try.

Tylenol might help. Are you on a pre-op diet or going through caffeine withdrawals?

Once you're on solids, Boboli makes a whole wheat crust that tastes great. Get one of those, some low fat mozzarella, and some tomato sauce. Throw on some turkey pepperoni and some veggies, and you have band friendly pizza!

Congratulations on the NSV's and thank God your family survived the tornado! That's horribly scary, I hope everyone else near is ok too.

Fashion Bug is closing? I'm totally heading there tomorrow!! Thanks!!!

Sounds like gas pain. Walk around as much as you can because it will help your body reabsorb it faster. Also, I found a heating pad helped too. Best wishes.

You could be getting stuck, in which case smaller bites and chewing better would help alleviate the problem. However, it could be a hiatal hernia or maybe even gall bladder attacks. I would try take tiny bites and chewing it until mush, and if you still have the problem, ask your doctor about it.

I have a major Reeses Peanut Butter cup thing. I try to avoid checkout aisles with candy because just the sight of the wrapper makes me start craving them. Most of the time I am able to resist, but I'd say one or twice a month I will buy a pack, eat one, and give the other to one of my kids. I'm always careful to count the calories against my daily allowance, too. For me, the trick is not keeping that sort of thing in the house. If it's here I will graze on it. So I intentionally don't keep any trigger foods on hand. If I have to physically go out and get what I'm craving, 90% of the time it's just not worth the effort and I just wait for the craving to pass.

I know it's hard right now. I remember that post op healing phase vividly. Quite frankly, it sucked seriously bad. I swear I had a constant headache and was a raving b*tch from prolonged lack of food. I remember when I got to mushies and my doctor let me have cottage cheese. I never in my life thought stupid cottage cheese could taste like heaven but it did lol. Everything you're going through is totally normal. I think we all go through it to one extent or another. But soon you'll find out that it really is worth it. I absolutely love my band. My only regret is that I didn't do it sooner. It's the best decision for myself I've ever made. Hang in there, it gets much better.

Do you count calories and if so how many calories are you eating a day?

Considering it's around your belly button, I'm pretty sure it has nothing to do with the band. Your stomach is considerably above your belly button and most ports are as well. Again, I'm no doctor and could be wrong, but anatomically speaking I don't know how it could be band related.

Try different brands, I tried 3 or 4 before finding one I actually liked. I use the unjury. I'm almost 8 months post op and I still have an Unjury chocolate Splendor shake for Breakfast every morning.

My first thought was umbilical hernia, but as Bamabander stated it could be something else. Definitely have your doctor take a look at it to be sure. Not to scare anyone but I just had emergency surgery for a strangulated hernia 3 weeks ago and it can be very very serious. If the pain level stays the same, you're not vomiting, don't have a fever, and are still having BM's then I'd wait until your doc returns to have him check it. But if the pain gets more intense, go to the ER. Best wishes.

First, it's highly unlikely you did any damage. However going forward stick to the post op diet your doctor gave you. You have to remember the band is sutured into your stomach. Your stomach needs to fully heal and you need to give it time to do so. And yes, it's normal to be able to eat a lot. In fact, most can still eat a lot even when they do have adequate Fluid in their bands. The band is not supposed to stop you from eating anything nor is it supposed to make you feel stuffed full. The only thing the band is supposed to is help you to feel satisfied with less food for longer periods of time. Feeling satisfied simply means not physically hungry, it has nothing to do with feeling full or being unable to eat more food. As we say a lot around here- just because you can eat something doesn't mean you should.

Most doctors say 4 weeks, but there is no set rule. Every surgeon handles it differently so you'll have to ask yours to find out.

I drank lots of protein shakes. Even just two a day gave me 50g of protein.

Unfortunately we can't answer that. Every surgeon has their own diet rules. You'll have to ask your surgeon because here everyone will have a different answer.

I am currently on Bactrim because of a Staph infection I got after surgery 3 weeks ago. (not for the Lap Band) My wound was very red and looked a lot like yours. I'm not saying you have infection for sure, but I would definitely get it checked out ASAP to be on the safe side. For the record, mine wasn't warm to the touch, it didn't smell bad, and I had no other symptoms. I was more than a little shocked to find out I tested positive for Staph.

First, I'd start tracking calories for at least a couple weeks. Most who don't track calories are shocked at how much they're actually consuming when they do start tracking them. Keep in mind the band isn't supposed to make you feel full. It supposed to make you feel satisfied, or no longer physically hungry, on less food for longer time periods. Don't expect that same full feeling we had before surgery- that is not what you're supposed to strive for. Have you been to a nutritionist? If not, that would be another smart step to take. A nutritionist who deals with bariatric patients can help you set up realistic food guidelines for optimal weight loss. It's possible you don't have adequate Fluid in your band yet, but if you want to lose weight I'd still stick to a cup or less of food per meal and count calories in the meantime.