stacy73

I had the back pain as well- it most likely is from the anasthesia-after a couple of weeks it went away-try the gas-x

I was never told by my doc post op to get in that many calories- I know I got in 600 a day tops!!

I had my lab work done, ekg, chest x ray, upper gi, and psych consult in april-then when I finally was approved in august-I had to see interneal specialist to clear me for surgery and they just did a preop lab day of surgery-so anything you can get done before will help-plus if they find anything that may need to be looked at by a specialist it is better to know a month before than right before you want to have surgery- i have some vitamin defieciencies that i never knew about-so i had to see a specialist before my surgery-so i was glad I started everything before-the insurance really can't deny any of these tests-so they should be covered. Good luck!!

I was in bandsters hell about 3 weeks ago-I was starving!!! it was tough but I made it to my first fill and so will all of you!!!-I have restriction with my first fill but some people don't- what I have noticed now is that I was probably consuming too many calories during those three weeks-right now I am at about 900 cal a day.I am content with this and I have no need or want to snack-so my advice is be patient.. even though it is really hard and you guys will make it!!

I agree with Kat- it is very common for new bandsters to gain weight before first fill-just try to cut the meals down a bit-drink lots of fluid if possible and when you get your fill hopefully you will have restriction- I just got my 1st fill and I have some restriction- I am not nearly as hungry as I was before my fill and I get full fairly fast- it is time to be patient-if possible- I know now I say this a couple of weeks ago I was you!! Don't worry-brush off what she said -what does she know about it??

I was banded on 09/05- at weeks 3-6 I got very hungry and stayed the same weight-then last week I got my fill- 4 lbs dropped off in one week- I have lost 21 lbs since I was banded which I feel is pretty good-I will be happy with 8 lbs a month- which is 2 per week- most people say 1-2 lbs is the avg-but it just depends-depends on your eating, exercise, and compliance to the plan. Also restriction is a factor- I do have restiction even with my first fill-but will need another one soon i am sure.. I am eating about 900-1000 cal a day- some of the successful bandsters who last really quick were doing about 600-800- but I do not feel like I can function on only 600 cal a day-900 is pretty good-it allows for 3 meals a day-plus a snack and protein shake.I have a 10cc aps band- I have a fill of 4.4 cc-the band actually takes 2.4 just to fill the inside so I had an addl 2 cc added on my first fill. yesterday was the first day i had any trouble- my family got teriyaki chicken for dinner-the rice I could handle-the chicken-no-I got stuck and had a chest pain for a couple of minutes-the chicken was too dry- chicken that is moist works fine. Hope this helps!

Did you tell people you were having it done? Yes- it is hard for me to keep a secret- everyone knew I was trying to lose weight-once I decided to do this many of my co-workers became very interested in the whole process-it is nice having their support-they constantly ask me how much I have lost.. its fun now-I am sure I will get annoyed at some point- I figure it keeps me motivated to continue to do this-having people who are around me know about it helps me stay honest and on track.. Did you eat like you were never going to eat again???? surprisingly no, before I went on my pre-op diet- I had steak and a baked potato- it really wasn't that great.. Did you establish an exercise program? I joined the gym right before my surgery-worked out a couple of times a week before and did some light walking. What was your favorite Protein drink and where did you purchase. my favorite is EAS Chocolate-I buy it at Sam's club-my first bag I bought 4 months ago and I just ran out- it is $29-not bad for 4 mo supply- I also did vanilla preop but I find when I blend it with fruit now-I do not like it as much anymore. I have also tried the Champion whey stack chocolate- it is good as well but more expensive-you can buy it online or at any GNC or super supplement store.

It is possible- Do you mean United Healthcare??- I have UHC and I did all my pre-op stuff before I got approved (they paid for everything!) so once approved you have final pre-op appt then surgery so yes it is possible-once I got approval I had surgery within one month-just depends on the dr and availability of sched appts.

kagoscuba- you are not nerdy.. I was thinking of doing posting something similar-beat me to the punch!!

CAN WE COPY AND PASTE THE MOST RECENT UPDATE SO THAT EVERYONE'S WEIGHT LOSS WILL GET RECORDED..I WILL START-ALSO I AM KEEPING A SPREADSHEET OF OUR WEIGHT LOSS... Stacy 73… 40 TulipStar…22 Mdicurn…20 time4me…27.8 Magooz07…11 Caresarn…16 Klpdbl…31 Lapband4me...32 Sirusman…23 Allisarin…23 Tishamarie…49 EL1…23 Juliacleone…14 Kimmie…43 dsmit13…23 ScareDcat…22 Lapitup…22.5 mandi78…23 andrea71…28 Thinmom…23 Kellymovingon...35

yay!! awesome!!

good luck Julie.. Looking forward to hearing all about this next journey of yours.

A success!!!

pissed me off-jez should have stayed!!

picture of me before-sorry not a good one- at 277 picture of me last week at 237 I am crossing my fingers that this works!

Ghost-not flamed in any way.lol...I didn't know that either-about the 1 " being added-wow-so My goal of 150 would be ok according to their chart- The point I was trying to make and it seems like I didn't make it clear enough is that-FOR MOST PEOPLE-who set too high of a weight goal are cheating themselves-set a realistic healthy goal-please.. why would we go through lap band surgery only to lose 50 pounds when we are over 100 pounds overweight-(most of us) I think that the point is we are not healthy and will not be if we only lose 50- we will be healthier than before but not healthy yet...now some people because of height, body type, etc may not fall into the category set by Metlife-which strangely the chart was initally created for life insurance purposes..wth??? not sure why it is still used but anyway-it is a general guideline one can follow-but again I am not investing myself in this journey to only lose 50 lbs- now I will never weigh 114 lbs-that is just not possible for me-I am big boned-whatever that means- have a large bone structure-always have-but 150 yes that is do-able and is in the acceptable weight range for healthy weight FOR ME- I have consulted many different charts in my weight loss journey of over 15 years and they seem to be relatively similar-now if I got to 160 and that works for me so be it-but why not set a goal of 150 and see what happens?? I can see the situation where you cannot make this goal because of loose skin, especially for those of us who have been heavy for many years, so an adjustment probably would have to be made-Like I said in my previous post there is an exception to the rule-and for those of you setting higher goals my post is in no way trying to knock you for setting a higher goal- I am just saying if people are setting a high goal just so they can reach their goal quicker and settle for a lower weight loss than it seems like they are doing a disservice to themselves for doing so-for those whose goals are higher for a good reason this rant does not apply to those people-only the ones who are cheating themselves in the end.Just my opinion.

Mandi- I really feel it will change after your fill-it did for me-I was eating about 900-1100 calories a day before my fill- no weight loss-couldn't figure it out myself-then miracle happened-got my fill last week and I have lost 4 lbs in 5 days-been sticking to about 900 calories a day. I would say just do what you are doing-you are not gaining-my doc said most people actually gain before first fill.

that is awesome!! you will be there in no time!!

Redgirl- Maybe try eating only 1/2 c at a time-then wait-even an hour-if you are hungry try again- in weeks 3-6 for me I was starving and I know I was eating more than a cup per meal- I ended up staying the same weight during those three weeks-after my fill I have lost 4 lbs and it has not yet been a week- i have been staying at 1/2 c per meal and then protein drinks and pudding for snacks- I am not full at all times but am slowly training myself to stop eating. That way when sweet spot hits I will be ready. I also have noticed full is not what it used to be-it is basically the feeling of not being hungry.I know you are frustrated-it sucks..

I had my first fill last week and I had a salad today-no problems.

My co-worker who also has UHC choice (so do I) was missing one of the years but he had a previous year so maybe you will be ok. I have my fingers crossed for you.

here is typically what I eat- 6am-protein drink 8am-9am-oatmeal or a scrambled egg with cheese noon-soup 2-3pm-protein drink 6pm-dinner-meat, veggie, potato or rice if hungry later will have a sf pudding/jello or another Protein drink I would say the weeks I have lost weight it has been about 900 calories on those days.

Maybe I should have been more specific- for most women 190 lbs would not be healthy weight-I can say most are not in your situation-here is an example of height/weight chart- I do not by any means go strictly off this because I do not think it applies to everyone-but it can be used as a guideline- I am about 5'3 1/2- so I used 5'3 range and it says 147- but I know 150 is fine for me - I have always had a larger build even when I was thinner- Height Small Frame Medium Frame Large Frame 4'10" 102-111 109-121 118-131 4'11" 103-113 111-123 120-134 5'0" 104-115 113-126 122-137 5'1" 106-118 115-129 125-140 5'2" 108-121 118-132 128-143 5'3" 111-124 121-135 131-147 5'4" 114-127 124-138 134-151 5'5" 117-130 127-141 137-155 5'6" 120-133 130-144 140-159 5'7" 123-136 133-147 143-163 5'8" 126-139 136-150 146-167 5'9" 129-142 139-153 149-170 5'10" 132-145 142-156 152-173 5'11" 135-148 145-159 155-176 6'0" 138-151 148-162 158-179 I guess the point is... other people (not you) set their sights too low-the point of weight loss surgery is to get one to a healthy weight-My dr wanted me to set a lower weight but I know what is best so I set a healthy goal that is right for me-maybe some people just set too high of a goal weight because they afraid of failure-like all of us are. Anyways, there are always exceptions to the rule:) that's life...

Per the height/weight guidelines my max healthy weight should be 147- I set my goal for 150 because I have been 150 before and this is a weight I could live with and be happy with-however, once I have met that goal- I will decide if I want to go lower- I would not go below 140-for me 140 is like a size 5-at least it was the last time I weighed 140 lol-that is only a 10lb difference-not much in hindsight- I know what you mean though- some people set their sights too low- for crying out loud-you go through lap band surgery for a reason!! a woman setting a goal of 190-no matter what the height doesn't make sense to me-unless this is just a first goal- I say make a healthy goal-if it doesn't work-then modify it.

I have felt the same way when I ate too much- just make sure you are measuring how much before you eat- ideally 1/2 c- 1c max..I didn't feel uncomfortable until an hour later.