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I am due to have my Gastric Band surgery mid April 2012. Like most I suppose I am looking forward to it with longing and trepidation. I know that this is my last chance to turn my life around and to this aim I reach out with both hands. I will post my successes and failures over time in the hope that it may help others stepping on this path

Thanks, work in progress, best move I have made in my life, wish I had had the op many years ago.

Well now 125 days post op and since the start I have lost just over 100 Ibs. No problem but have allowed the loss to slow down and now can safely go out with the wife for meals etc. I tend to eat just only the starter or share a main with my wife but don't restrict type of food I eat. Photos show just before the op, on the grass next to Wells Cathedral and yesterday on a windy Brean Down walk near Weston-super-Mare.

Profoundly true, couldn't put it better myself. Its all about expectations when you step on those scales in the morning. I am happy to see a gradual fall, it gives me time to tone up the muscles to minimise saggy skin, though I am fighting a losing battle. I like walking and metal detecting but hate the gym, Which I find very dull. Metal detecting is the best, 4 hours of digging holes is shattering and I sleep like a log :-)

I should stray more often into powder rooms, this thread is so funny.

Pretty good thanks, though loss has slowed. In the 75 days since the op I have lost 54Ibs, 80 Ibs from D-Day (decision day a couple of months pre-op). So good really. Eating more now but I am happy with that, seems more healthy.

Grats Vamp on your win, way to go :-)

Not bad, does more than fitbug, looks good. I use the Ipad app TargetWeight which does a similar sort of thing, all these are really useful for measuring your progress. I try to walk more than 10,000 steps per day but its the time that takes that really ho ds me back, the U.K. weather doesn't help either :-)

Hi Sandy, yes I use the fitbug too, its good. I completed the fitbug race from Beijing to London (not really that distance but still a long way) by walking 330 km (about 200 miles). I covered 4 to 9 miles per day, great fun. Yes I like the fitbug and its fun to download but I don't bother withfood etc but sure it must be useful, providing an overall fitness and body plan. Good luck.

Thanks :-) keeping at it.

Thanks Berniec, sorry to hear about the non-loss but hope you don't get upset, as happens to all of us, I put on weight over the last 3 days but the body is strange, which is why you shouldn't weigh yourself everyday if that concerns you. Exercise is the key though, walk and keep walking. Good luck.

Tks Vamp, I have seen your progress pics and you also have done brilliantly, hope all still goes well.

Thanks Vap, hopefully you mean for the better :-) I am still finding all things post-op a breeze and enjoying walking up to 9 miles a day, which I never did pre-op. Wish I had done this years ago.

Update after 58 days, lost 47 Ibs since op, 73 Ibs including pre-op diet. Not exceptional but I eat well, i.e. plenty of protein and hundreds of strawberries made into Eton Mess (love it, very English I know but google it and try it. I use Total 0% no fat Greek yoghurt and meringues crushed mixed with chopped strawberries...great). Eat a lot of pre-cooked chicken with low fat dressings e.g. Mayo, but must eat slowly or it gets stuck and hurts, a lot! Good luck all and absolutely no regrets, mind and body feel great. Attached are pre-op and current photos, lost the beard :-)

Thanks all, I have found this forum so much help in making me realise I had made the right decision and later for tips and support, wonderful. Sushi tastes awesome, my favourite is avocado salad. Even though I cannot eat so many it was awonderful treat andI am finding I use my smaller eating capacity on better tasting foods and appreciate them more.

Thanks and way to go Berniec, I remember your pre-op posts, glad it all worked. out.

I do weigh myself daily and fill in my records which monitor steps, weight, blood pressure, waist measurement, steps and results of blood tests when done at the doctor. I know this means if I go up or platform it will bother me but I like the progress records and it has allowed me to come off blood pressure and cholestral meds as the doctor trusts I am monitoring it. An yes its an amazing adventure.

Way to go 30 weeks and 106 Ibs, congrats, that is the sort of loss I am looking for and I look forward to the do-dah bit :-). Thanks.

Thanks all for your support, here is my progress report. I am 6'4" and was weighed at 368 Ibs at the op time on April 10. So 39 days later I have am 326 Ibs, a loss of 41 Ibs. My surprise is how easy it has been. I haven't been sick once. I started solid food a couple of weeks early and so far have had only 2 painful episodes when I ate sliced beef and cooked tuna too fast and without a dressing or sauce...well we have to learn. The feeling is just the same as in the old days when I ate too much to fast and it gets stuck, I was always a fast eater. Today I had meringue without any dumping so I hope I will be able to eat small quantities of sugar without a problem, I hear some get dumping while others don't. So eating has been no problem and I enjoy a full range of foods, including sushi, risotto etc, which has proved that the gastric bypass was a much better choice than the band for me, so no regrets there. The key for me has been the walking, never less than 2 miles (at good pace) everyday. Sometimes up to 7 miles in a day, which has burnt off a mass of calories. So my body shape has changed already and I get daily positive comments, which is a boost. Of course I get the standard question, do you feel better, which is annoying because the answer is not really, for though I look better I can't say I feel much different. Maybe its happening too fast and the body hasn't caught up as it would with a slow diet loss of the same weight, who knows. So if you are thinking of RNY, I can say that after just over a month I can say this has changed my life 100% and for me I wish I had done it years ago. Good Luck all.

Thanks :-) Can see my typo in the previous post, not wailing for 4+ miles but walking of course, Though feel like wailing sometimes. Fairly steady progress but the big change is I can go to a restaurant with my wife and just drink tea, which is great. Still dont need to eat unnecessarily because not hungry. Love it.

Well 30 days post op and I have lost 27 Ibs since the op and a lot more before, so happy. Waling 4+ miles per day. Onwards and downwards :-)

Pedometer you mean, yep they are good if you get a good one and they aren't expensive from Amazon. I prefer the Yamax, mine is a CW700 but they all seem good. Its nice to monitor your progress, set targets etc.

Hi, yes they seem torn, they say to walk but not overdo it. Obviously I didn't feel bad so I just kept it up, it was a lot better than just sitting at home and post op I had masses of energy which has tailed off now but is still there. Anyway I vary between 5,000 and 15,000 steps a day (2 to 6 miles) and have never felt so good. Next week I plan to start to do 10,000 steps everyday for at least 6 weeks. I have converted fat to muscle which meant that my weight loss maybe slower but will be good in the long run. Since the op I have lost 1 pound a day, pretty average I think, but with the walking I hope this will keep going while others may platform....well I hope :-)

I do not have diabetes but you are right that the Doctor will have to give you special instructions. Goo luck.

Hope the pre-op diet goes well for you. It.was stress at work etc that caused me problems, its as though one can survive happily on the pre-op diet but there is no reserve for stress situations. Each person will be different.