kimk1999

I never asked the surgeon and probably should, but I think I started drinking again about 2 weeks after surgery. Predominantly - it's wine. Usually red wine for health benefits. I have started buying the small little bottles to really help with the option control. Sometimes I'll do a vodka and Water. Sometimes, with a soda stream I'll very lightly carbonate water to mix if I really want some depth to my drinks. Always have to keep in mind that it is empty calories. I do get a buzz much quicker but it doesn't last as long. Before wls I would easily consume about 1500-2000+ calories a day and then have a drink vs now being at about 32 lbs lighter and 800-1000 calories for the day. I think that's why it hits me faster and harder.

Similar to what Miss Mac mentioned and others... I'm somewhat following my own blend of Atkins, South Beach, and Paleo / Primal. Essentially all low carb / high protein diets. Paleo / Prinal is easier for me to follow but some pure strictness is impossible for me to follow perfectly. So I'm somewhat of a blend of the 3/4. This pretty much fits into the diet that is outlined for most of us.

Thanks, you two. If I eat the 'proper' 4 oz of chicken and some veggies, I am hungry (stomach growling hunger) in less than two hours. If I eat bigger it'll last me the 3-4 hours but I am trying to be good and eat what I'm supposed to eat. I'm also waiting about 30 mins to 1 hour to start drinking Water again. For the most part I've cut out my bad carbs. I can eat bread no problem. The only thing that I seem to have a bit of a problem with is steak and that's only if I don't cut it up small enough / chew enough. Other than that I can eat anything. I don't think I'm anywhere close to green or the red. I try to stay away from the shakes too. I've only had one in the past 4 weeks when I was stuck at work really late for a deadline and was avoiding the vending machine.

Even before surgery, I've always asked for them to cut it small. This usually results in half the width of the normal piece and it's much easier to eat. I've only tried sashimi (fish only) and this point and one piece of my finances sushi without any problems. I'm always concerned about paying that much for a roll, it getting stuck and I cannot have leftover sushi. Ugh. So I've stuck with sashimi and stealing from others.

Like the others have posted you need to follow your surgeons advice.... But for me, my surgeon never said no to NSAIDs. There's nothing even in my binder of information. One would think, if it's that critical and my surgeon believed it, then it would be in the binder of information. There's a chance your surgeon knows something mine doesn't or vise versa. If there's a potential for erosion or ulcers or whatever. Make sure you know all the potential risks before possibly breaking the rules. Again, listen to your doctor/surgeon as I'm not medically qualified to tell you otherwise

Use what works for you mentally, but Zoloft made me gain and retain weight! Mind is more important than waist, but by being over weight that made me more depressed.

Oh dear, I'm so sorry to hear. I've been there. Unfortunately Zoloft makes me nauseated so that doesn't work for me. I've tried others but I didn't like the side effects either. Not that depression is better but nauseated, but that was my deciding factor. Yeah talk to pharmacist/doctors. Hopefully you can crush it and it'll go down. Do you drink plenty of water with your medicine? I know some docs limit how much water you can drink with meds but mine doesn't. Not telling you to bypass your doctors rules but um, it's an option. I had those same similar thoughts when I got divorced. It sucks. It absolutely sucks. Some people are able to move on with life with a little bit of sadness and can pick themselves back up. It took me a LONG time to get better. Hope mentally you get there soon. It is definitely easier said than done but I hope you feel better soon and get over this current mountain of an obstacle. Your weight will get there. Just need to find the right channel in your brain to switch on as well as switching off the bad channel. That's definitely difficult. You'll get there someday. (Hugs)

Oh yeah - one other thing to keep in mind - and you should do this research ... Look at failure rates / failure complications for each one. Use your mind filters as they can be scary but there are serious potential risks for both. Keep in mind the failure potentials/complaints of WW, nutrisystem, etc. There's lots of people that will complain about everything. It's just important to remember about the erosion from the band or slippage that 2muchfun mentioned. I don't think it happens that often and you just need to pay attention to warning signs but it's important to know when you're doing your research.

It's definitely a touchy subject - almost like politics or abortion or some other controversy (hehe). For me - I debated between the two as well. My surgeon offers both. The initial seminar discussed both. I read as much as I could on both to be comfortable with my decision. Part of my deciding factors For the band (at least what's important to me and the deciding factors): *Fully absorb all nutrients. I hope to get pregnant after losing the weight so this was a big one for me. *If / when I get pregnant - I can have it fills removed if necessary if I need to eat more for nutrients / sickness etc. *It's reversible - if it doesn't work out, if you have problems, etc, you can have it removed *It's adjustable - if you are still gaining, you can have a fill to make it tighter to help you lose. If it's too tight, you can have it loosened. It's customizable to what you need/want. *I can always go to the sleeve or gastric bypass if this doesn't work out, but my options are limited once I have the sleeve. *I didn't like the idea of a permanent removal of part of my stomach. *You have more followups with your surgeon. For me, I felt that leads to better accountability and more 'hands' on attention. I'm not sure if the sleeve will give you 'stuck' feelings due to a tight band. Some people like that it's done right out of surgery and they don't have to wait on fills. I think the sleeve you loose faster initially so you'll hit your goal faster, but getting it faster (IMO) is that you'll have more loose skin as the body couldn't keep up. I like the slower aspect, but it can be frustrating as well. Oh - one (of many) cons about the band, is that if you lose a lot of weight and become really skinny, your port may show. You could have surgery to move it to be below the muscle from what I've read. There's also low profile ports, but I think it'll still show up as a bump. That's one of my biggest concerns for when I get to my full goal weight. Good luck. Do lots of research. In the end, you need to figure out what works for you.

When I told my boss that I was having surgery, I just left it at that. No extra details. Some people that had asked when I was sore it was just abdominal surgery and they didn't ask any further. Nothing has been asked lately. I wish the weight would fall off quicker but I'm also glad it is slow as it doesn't seem hugely drastic for anyone to ask me.

Do you track everything you eat and do on myfitnesspal? My username here is the same there. Seeing what everyone is eating and exercising keeps me encouraged to keep at it. Seeing their total weight loss and weigh-in encourages me as well. There are a few other forums for myfitnesspal for lots of others usernames because we all want more friends. After you post you could request critiques. Might be a good start. Especially if you'll be seeing a NUT anytime soon that can give them the serious tools needed for an analysis to help you out.

As indecision stated there are a lot of special interest groups to meet new people and run together, bike, book clubs, and photography, etc. one site I've poked at is just meetup.com. It's not a dating site. Just a place for people to find groups for stuff you like to do / try to do. If you want to focus on dating, yeah I'd suggest going to online dating sites or keep your eyes open for gym guys, random guys when out shopping. I was married for 10 years when I got divorced. Dating again is scary but it's easier once you get over the initial scary hump.

Have you had blood work done lately to make sure your hormones are still ok? Do you think your thyroid might be acting up. From the sounds of it, I'd feel the same way that you feel based on your surgeons response. Can you track your food and bring him a journal? Can you cut up all your food and ask him if they are small enough bites (and that you still chew them to smithereens). That's the only way I can have steak - starting with super tiny cubes and chewing a lot. I'd suggest to try to search out for another surgeon to do your fills. In the end it comes down to money and I'm sure you'll find someone that will take yours without giving you lip. Oh - does your office have a nutritionist? Sometimes those are nicer and help you get to the bottom of the details.

I was banded on the same day. I lost 8 lbs right away within the first two weeks but the rest of it has been super slow and stopped a couple of weeks. I tried my best to stay within my doctors 800 cal limit... Then I started going up to 1200 - 1500. By varying my calories up and down it seems to be tricking my body not to think it's starving. Not sure what's really going on there. Have you had a fill yet? After I got my fill things started moving again. How's your salt intake? How's your 'tom' been? I definitely stall around that 'tom'. Eating enough protein?

Mine was a joke... Waste of time. Saying that I know it's a tool to control my portion sizes and to reduce my hunger. They want to know you have realistic expectations for the surgery and realistic outcomes. I wouldn't worry about it too much, but don't blow it off either in case your doc is more difficult.

Per the rules - are people allowed to take weight loss drugs / appetite suppressants? I see it states that it should be focused on healthy eating / exercises. If there are no exclusions for other 'tools', I say you should be allowed. If it states no tools then yeah you probably should not. Can you talk to the organizer? Explain the band how you still have to control what goes in and it's just a tool for portion control/appetite suppressant.

A bit of what B-52 said ... But I think it also depends on your endurance and capability for pushing yourself. I love the elliptical for my knees. Unfortunately where the treadmill can push you to maintain a certain speed it's super easy to slow down with the elliptical. If you can maintain a good pace for 60 mins straight - then I say go for that. If you get bored, zone out, slow down - I'd suggest to break it up into two. I tend to do 20 mins, weights and then 10 mins more. My heart rate gets up / exceeds the recommended number extremely easily. I am also focusing more on weights than cardio.

My mom was diagnosed with it a few years ago. She's never had weight loss surgery but is overweight. At the time it was determined to be mostly due to stress, she ended up having to quit her job and go on disability. Not sure if you're that bad, or will have to get that bad. I'd suggest further testing, reduce your stress and read as much as you can on it. I don't think it's band related but probably didn't help that particular situation.

Yes I struggled with this thinking too. I've been a weight yo-yo for the longest time. I'd lose 30 and gain 40, then lose another 30 but gain back another 40. I was tired of the diet pills that made my heart race, made me bitchy and when I stopped the weight came back. I needed some sort of 'tool' that was permanent way of portion control. I needed a way to keep me from gorging on food. I was at 202 day of surgery. My highest weight was 214. I'm 5' 4". Trust me, I definitely thought about the one more diet mantra. Just try ____ and I'll lose the weight. I'm not getting any younger and I needed something. My doc said my weight was affecting my fertility. I'm 2 months out. I'm not that hungry and I don't snack that often. I next to never visit the vending machine at work. It's working for me and saving us a lot of money. Plus with the band - 1 it's major surgery, so you're more likely to follow docs orders instead of cheating on your diet and 2 it's fully adjustable for what you need to do to lose weight.

My scale was stuck for about 3 weeks too. I think mine was close to / around the 6 week post op visit. The scale will budge again. I suggest to measure yourself to see if you're loosing inches instead of pounds.

That is awesome! Great job and you look fantastic!!

Hard to believe it, but it will get easier. What does your pre-op diet consist of?

My tolerance went down as well... If you prefer the taste of the 70 to 100 proof, then you'll end up drinking less of it. If you want to drink more volume, then I'd suggest to get less proof. You should be eating less calories than before surgery so that lowers tolerance. You'll be weighing less so that lowers tolerance too. I've learned to slow down and enjoy the drink more than just drinking to drink

Oh yeah - Rossetta you can also track your fitness. Either enter what you do manually (elliptical for 30 mins) and/or sync some of the various fitness devices/apps to it. I have the fitbit and synced that. I think it also syncs to mapmyrun/mapmywalk etc. plus certain scales. Pretty cool site.

Of course