Toddy

The best tasting one I've had so far is the Slim Fast Low Carb.

This is acid reflux and a sign that your band it too tight. It should not be ignored.

My first thought... and mind you I have absolutely no medical knowledge other than basic common sense... is I would not go in a river or lake or any body of water other than my own private bathtub unless my incisions are 100% closed and healed. As far as just basic exercise, my doctor let me get back to it pretty quickly, but I took it easy on the abdominal muscles for a good, solid six weeks.

The grape Isopure is not terrible. The worst part is it kind of has a weird after-taste. You should be able to buy one bottle and see if you like it. It does have a lot of protein and I drank it when I needed to get in more protein than I could eat.

It took me a little over 6 cc's to get decent restriction. I still have to watch WHAT I eat though! Seems like the very worst things are the easiest going down!!! Protein, protein, protein!

You need to ask where you'd be if you hadn't been banded. I've been banded for 7.5 months and I haven't quite lost 50 yet, but I'm thrilled because the numbers are still going down and not up!!!

Had a fill recently??

Have you been banded yet? If so, you're on your way, so don't worry about it. If he's been with the plant at least six years, sounds like most of his co-workers already know you anyway. Now give them an opportunity to meet the new and improving you! I always say the best revenge is to improve yourself and let the world see your happiness!

I think there is the "jealousy" too skinny comment; and then there is the "you look sick" too skinny comment. I think you should examine the comment maker's motives. I say this because I had a good friend lose weight a couple of years ago and she started looking really sickly. She put about five or six pounds back on and looked great. There really is such a thing as too skinny!

Have you had any fills at all??? Why in the world would they refuse to give you fills? Fills are what make this band work...without any Fluid in the band, you're just white-knuckle dieting. If we've been banded, that's a sure sign that we're not good at the white-knuckle dieting! Unless I've missed something in your post, I would be finding another doctor immediately!

I like that... Jean McMillan Day!!

If I'd had two slips, I'd be looking at other WLS options... maybe sleeve??

Mine said no carbonation, but didn't even mention caffeine. Regardless, since surgery water has become my beverage of choice!!

If I don't eat in the morning, I'll usually have a protein shake.

I've never heard of a carbonated margarita. I stick to wine myself since in small quantities it has a few health benefits. I'm careful to limit my intake of empty calories without totally depriving myself. You have to be careful because alcohol can very easily sabotage weight loss, not just with its empty calories, but also with inhibitions to eat anything and everything!

Lap band surgery was a good excuse to break a bad habit, since I was addicted to Diet Pepsi. I haven't had one since January 17, 2012. I have had a couple of sips of diet sodas since surgery, but it just doesn't feel quite right. I'm glad I have broken that habit, just like I'm glad I broke the smoking habit many years ago!

My only regret with lapband is that I was given the option of plication, but opted out!! However, if they had done plication without my knowledge, I would be furious!! For self-pays, there probably wasn't a charge, because it is still in the "study" phase, but you definitely should have been given a choice and been fully aware of exactly what procedure you were getting!

You need a minimum of 60 grams of protein a day. I take Biotin for my hair loss and it helps. Even my eyelashes have gotten a little thicker with the Biotin!!

Perfectly normal. Your body is healing right now. Give it time, the weight will eventually start coming off.

When I got to the green zone I had to finally say no to bread!! I also had trouble with dry meat, and broccoli. But really NO BREAD!! Oops, I thought it was about what food we couldn't eat. I could eat pretty much everything except bread, dry meat and broccoli, as long as I ate it PROPERLY!!!!! I could sometimes eat very thin crust pizza. It was one of those things that sometimes it would bother me and sometimes it wouldn't. Also, chili was like that -- sometimes yes, sometimes no.

Unfortunately very few people feel restriction with their first fill. Most doctors do very gradual fills, because there is swelling and irritation around the band when it's filled, hence the liquid and mushy stages after fills. The worst thing a doctor can do is put in too much at one time and then you end up where you can't eat or drink and have to have a large unfill and start the gradual fill process all over again. Everyone's process is individual, but it took me three fills to reach any kind of noticeable restriction and the fourth fill until I was in the "green zone"!

Do some research on this forum searching the words Bandster Hell. That will let you know what to be prepared for before you have enough fills to reach restriction. How many fills it takes to reach restriction is a very individual thing. For me, it was four, and my doctor is pretty aggressive.

I agree with the above posters. I was on the very fringe of being just a little over filled when I went on vacation. I ended up irritating my band during vacation and it just got worse after I got home. Ended up having to have 4 cc's removed in an ER and now have no restriction at all, even after one refill. Be patient... wait until you get back so you can enjoy your vacation.

I asked my surgeon which WLS he would recommend if his wife was going to have WLS. He said it would depend on her co-morbidities. For someone with diabetes, he would recommend either the sleeve or bypass. I have a friend with Type 2 diabetes that wants to have lapband because she has seen my success. I told to her to explore the sleeve because of its help with diabetes. Pre-band I had high blood pressure and acid reflux, both of which were totally gone within a matter of months of my surgery. I wouldn't go back for anything. Just wish I'd done it sooner! I, too, never had trouble losing weight; it was just keeping it off. Lost and regained the same 20-30 pounds more times than I even want to count! I look at lapband as my insurance policy to keep the weight off this time.

Nope, not worth it. I've had a couple of tiny sips when my husband had a carbonated beverage, and it just doesn't feel "right". Just not something I'm willing to take a chance on.