TulipStar

Hi everyone thanks for the repsonses. I am lacto-ovo vegetarian so I eat eggs and drink milk, but stay away from any kind of meat. Thanks for the recommendation on the book, Margie. I will buy it this weekend! I think that I will have to just make protein bars a staple for when I travel. Wheetsin, you are right, European pizza is way better for you than American pizza. The pizza I was eating was whole grain, very very thin crust and not greasy like American pizza. I was in Finland and if I was not veg, I would try the kebab (I see the signs everywhere!).

My first fill was SUPPOSED to be at 4 weeks, but they were booked too far in advance. Plus I have been in Europe this week soooo.... only 1 more week. GuinessGirl...give us more info! how is life after 1st fill???

I traveled domestically 2 weeks after surgery and was fine. Now I am in Europe 4 weeks after surgery and I am ok. However I was on full foods after 17 days. your 1st fill is not usually until at least 4-6 weeks, but some wait even longer (only a few do it sooner). Don't delay your surgery. Things will work out. I kept having "what if" scenarios planned around my vacation/work travel and in the end, my surgery kept getting pushed and pushed that it became the higher priority and I just had to work around the circumstance.

Hi, the pre-testing center (AIGB) "required" a sleep study for me. However, I told them that I didn't want to do it. (sleeping in a strange room overnight hooked up to machines freaked me out a bit). All they said was "it can help you get approved for insurance" and I said I would risk it. So, they didn't make me do it. Afterwards my Dr. asked if I had to do any weird tests and I told him the stress test, but I refused the sleep apnea test. He said "Good, you don't need that test, they just want your money!"

For years I only ate chicken, with the ocassionaly beef. Now, I got the audio book version "skinny bitch" on itunes and it has changed my view on meat. I am determined to stay off of it forever!

You look fabulous! What an inspirations! Congrats!!

I don't do it with the band bc it never worked for me w/o the band. I am more of a "calorie counter" and the "points" system that WW does is similar but I would always find a way around it. I know a lot of people who do WW or have, and they really really like it. Everyone is different, so it may work for you.

I stopped losing at 2 weeks and in my 2nd to 3rd week I actually gained 3 lbs. My dr said this was normal....I might gain a couple more before my 1st fill. He said it was just my metabolism.

The only thing that I regret is not doing it sooner. I fought it for so long and thought of it as a "last resort". I really wished I would have done it sooner, because then I would have part of "me" back and be living my life like I want to live it.

I am only 5 days post-op. My DH has been trying to tempt me to eat pizza and banana bread. He tells me to chew it and then spit it out. I reminded him that digestion starts in the mouth. I won't do it. I would be mortified if I accidently swallowed and something got stuck in my band or I vomited! And....to top it off, I had a dream about chocolate chip cookies...that I ate one and was chewing it in my mouth (tasted so good) and then realized what I was doing and spit it out. Has anyone else experience their significant other not being supportive? He knows I am on liquids only!!:faint:

Hi sara, I have been to 3 of these seminars before I got my band. Each seminar is hosted by different doctors. By going to multiple seminars I learned a lot of different things! First seminar: Met Dr. Marsden, really liked him (so much that he ended up being my surgron). I brought my husband along for support, bc in the beginning he was very against any type of wls. The seminar sold him and he gave his approval for me to move forward. 2nd seminar: was for Dr. Benavides. this time I just wanted to see if I could hear more/different info. the audience asks questions and every group asks different questions. Dr. Benavides didn't show up to his seminar, so I felt that if he couldn't make time for that, I was not going to consider him being my dr. 3rd seminar: Dr. Felts. He was good and would have been my second choice if I didn't go with Marsden. There were a lot of different questions in this seminar. My only suggestion on "what to bring" with you is your calendar. At the end of the seminar, if you want to schedule your initial consultation, you can. I recommend it because they have the open calendars with specially reserved space just for seminars. Otherwise, if you call the office, it will probably take about 1 month to get your first consultation. If you go to AIGB for your consultation, you won't meet with your lapband dr. You will meet with another dr. who will examine you and go over your history. Then they will schedule you for tests (stress test, sleep apnea (if needed), psych test (if needed). The purpose of this stage is to "clear" you for surgery. then AIGB passes it to Lapband solutions who works on getting your insurance approved. My first seminar was in May. I just got banded on Sept 10...so the whole process took about 4 months.

My advice is to enjoy it while you can.... I wish that my phase of non-hunger lasted long (I got hungry on po day 6). I have a friend who was banded a month earlier than me and his hunger didn't return until 3 weeks later. His 1st piece of advice to me after surgery was "enjoy not being hungry while you can".

Congratulations!! That is wonderful news!

p>I consider myself a "connoisseur" of scales and after a lifetime of eating disorders, I've had many who were my friend and some were my foes. </p> <p>My 1st "friend" scale was a regular dial scale. I would weigh myself repeatedly thoughtout the day, looking for approval from it. If it read 215, I would pout and then lean a little to the left and the meter would go down ... 209? I'll take it!! What a great friend that scale was. I bought a couple more for he reassurance that I could "sway" my weight down.</p> <p>Next I moved on to a digital scale. This scale was really trying to be my friend. I would weight myself every morning first thing, within another hour I would weigh myself again... WOW, the digital scale would say I lost 6lbs since breakfast!!! This one was so good, I bought ANOTHER digital scale, just for reaffirmation.</p> <p>the moral of the story is that neither the digital or dial scale are any good. They are inaccurate & might drive you to do crazy things like I did above.</p> <p> </p> <p>The best kind of scale to have are the health-o-meter scales with the sliders across the top. Just like you see in most Dr's office. Mine was pricey (about $200), but I have had it over 4 years and I only weigh myself once now, because I know that it's the real #. It's worth it for peace of mind!</p>

low calorie works for me. I try to keep it under 1200 calories a day.

as long as it doesn't have any chunks in it. make sure you keep the portion really small..a couple tablespoons.

my goal right now is 1000-1200. My dr told me to try to keep it to 1200 until I get my first fill. The only problem is that I am so hungry I could eat a horse!! I try to fill up on protein and 4 out of 5 days this week I stayed around 1000 calories.

I think it would actually help you heal because of the lycopene in it. Try it!

My dr said I could eat soft pasta during the mushies stage. I didn't eat straight up pasta, but I had some chicken noodle soup. The noodles were really soft and I didn't have any problems.

Isn't 3 weeks marvelous! I finally feel back to myself, back to the gym and doing everything at top speed! Kimmie, you have done so well so far!! You'll be a skinny bitch in no time! I have already started eating regular foods and this means that I stopped losing weight last week. I have lost 1 lb this week and I will take it! I can't wait until my fill which is scheduled for 10/18!!

Now you guys have me worried... who should I be aware of who is in a bad mood? I am going for my 1st fill there on 10/18.

I am scheduled for a fill on the 18th... which seems like it is FOREVER away. I am just like you...hungry and plateaud...no more weight loss for me and I am trying like crazy! I can't wait for my fill!

I have used Dr. Marsden as well. He is really a great doctor and has done well over 500 lapbands. He used to be a heart surgeon and won many awards. He has skills that are unbelievable. I am only 3 weeks out and 4 of my 5 scars are almost gone. He is really easy to talk to. I also had my surgery at Wise Regional bc of insurance, which was like an hour away for me, but the hospital is really nice, cleanand the staff were great! The only advice I have for you is to take it easy. Don't be expecting to run a marathon the day after surgery, your body will be healing so take it easy while you can. I really thought that I would be back to "normal" after 2 days and I was depressed when I wasn't. After surgery you will have to call and schedule your post-op appt, which is 2 weeks after your surgery. He will talk to you about how you are feeling, check out your incisions, etc. You might also be surprised at how liberal his post-op diet is. Days 1-7: liquids, Days 8-14:mushies Day 15: all food as tolerated. Just take it easy when introducing new foods. And also schedule your fill by calling SCOR the same day as your post-op. They are running about 3-4 weeks for the earliest appt for fills. My first fill is scheduled on Oct. 18. I can't wait!! PM me for more info and don't worry, you will do great!!!

I had dr. Marsden as well. You will find that a lot of diets vary and some people on this board had all liquid, some don't have any diet at all, some only have to do liquids the day before...so it varies a lot by dr. I lost 7lbs pre-op w/ Dr. Marsden's diet. He is a really great dr... I really really like him! Good luck!!

WOW, now that you put it like that, i do understand. Especially since all he talks about is cars We are doing a lot better. Since I went on solids he is actually monitoring what I eat and being more supportive.