Leepers

Your body is a Onederland! (Haha, a pun on a John Mayer song). Congrats!!

Thank you for your wonderful, inspiring story!

Popcorn was off my list due to the hard kernels. They could get stuck in the nooks and crannies of the pouch and cause irritation. I did have a couple of bites of popcorn when I went to the movies with my husband but I ate the poofy part off the kernel. lol.

I was totally nervous before my surgery. It was my first time ever having surgery. I think as far as the preop diet goes, just eat the things on the list. You can do it. In the whole scheme of time it is just a blip on the radar. This is the time to prove to yourself that you CAN do it. After about the third day, your body will adjust and you won't feel so hungry. Some people say that cheating can stop your body from adjusting. Most of the time, the purpose of the preop diet is to deplete your glycogen stores and thereby lose weight off of your liver. This will make the surgery easier for the surgeon. Don't take the chance. Find your zen. Remember, hunger is just a sensation. Like being touched or pinched. It's a feeling. If you can just ignore it, it eventually goes away. You'll be fine!

It seems that a lot of the foods you are eating are not solid foods. My surgeon wants me to eat three meals of solid food every day. He basically wants me off of protein shakes as they really just go straight through the band. And soup has liquid. that goes through quickly too. Did your surgeon give you drinking restrictions with meals? Mine wants me to not drink liquids 1/2 hour before and 1 hour after a meal. I am still adjusting to that as sometimes I forget. It may help you. Having said that, my typical day of eating 4 weeks post op is: Breakfast- Oatmeal or 2 hard boiled eggs Lunch- Tuna salad with Melba Toast Dinner- Chicken or Fish with a Vegetable Sometimes for lunch or dinner I have Morningstar Spicy Black Bean Burger with a little hummus on top and a side of cottage cheese. Yummy. I do not last the desired 4-5 hours post meal with no hunger. Hoping my first fill will help with that.

Catfish, what is the alternative to "blindly or the can water go through method?" I think my surgeon uses the water method. My first fill is next week.

Today I would like to talk about exercise. First, I would like to say that if your doctor or bariatric team has set an activity plan for you, you should do your best to follow their plan. This blog entry is more about those who are out there who have not started exercising and have no plan. Maybe you have never had an exercise regimen in your life, maybe you have tried exercise before but hated it and couldn't stick with it. This is just one girl's opinion and it probably goes against anything a personal trainer would want you to do. The thing is, I'm talking about starting from ZERO. So many times, the people who are telling us where, how, and how long to exercise are probably not people who have started from zero. They may have never been overweight. They may not know what it's like to be obese and have very little activiity and very little muscle. Now, you may look at my profile and say, where does this girl get off, just four weeks after surgery, weighing 270 pounds, acting like she knows something about exercise? Well, O.K., I'm not a personal trainer. I did, however, lose about 70 pounds 12 years ago. I got up to the point where I could jog 3 miles! I had never even jogged a mile in my entire life. This blog entry is to let you know how I did it back then. How I found what worked for me. And how I am pretty much approaching exercise the same way this time too. About 12 years ago, I found myself at what was then my heaviest weight ever (250). I decided that I had to do something. Being a young single woman, I just wasn't ready to go on a food diet because I had done those before. I decided I would try exercise. (Watching what I ate came later after I was seeing the success of exercise.) Don't try that with WLS. Please, watch what you eat! I thought about what had kept me from being a successful exerciser over the years. A few things came to mind: being the fattest, slowest, person at the gym; starting out gung ho and having sore muscles that made me not want to exercise the next few days and therefore falling of the wagon; doing things I didn't enjoy. I decided that I was just going to get out and walk. I didn't have a length of time. I didn't have a set distance. I wasn't going to be concerned with how fast I was walking. I wasn't going to be concerned if I got my heart rate up. I didn't need to have exercise outfits. I was just going to walk around the neighborhood. I was going to take a stroll. Look at the houses. Check out the neighbors. Get away by myself and give myself time to think. Time to work out my issues. It was wonderful. I didn't go home exhausted. I went home happy. I was happy that I did SOMETHING. I kept doing this for a few weeks. Eventually, when I was ready, I decided to walk a little faster. If I got tired, I slowed down. I didn't push myself. I was new to exercise. I wasn't gonna be Florence Griffith Joyner. I reeaaallllly eased myself into exercise. And every now and then, I upped the pace. After a few months, I measured out a mile around the neighborhood and I walked the full mile. And so on. Until miraculously, about 9 months later, I could jog 3 miles! Why do we feel impelled to push ourselves so hard, only to fail? I'm sorry, but C25K (Couch to Five Kilometers) is not for people who were really laying around on the couch. Unless those people were not overweight and had underlying muscle tone. Find something you enjoy. Don't feel like you have to spend money on a gym membership that you might not use. Walking is free. Hiking is free. Riding a bike is free (if you have one). Spend just a little bit to join the Y. They have a pool. Do a little swimming. Dancing to music in your house is free. Some cable companies have cardio and yoga sessions on demand. Hell, youtube has everything you could ever possibly want. Start in the privacy of your own home if you're worried about being embarassed about coordination. And if you can only do that video for 10 minutes....that's fine! Only do that video for 10 minutes for the next two weeks. Then up it a bit. Another thing I did, early on, was focus on my breathing. A lot of people who don't exercise are very shallow breathers. While you are walking or even lying in bed at night, practice filling your lungs to capacity when you breathe in. Feel not just your chest inflate, but your abdomen too. Increasing your lung capacity will help you get that vital oxygen to your muscles when you decide to up the activity. I also focused on breathing with a rythm. Sounds funny, but it really helped me keep from getting out of breath. I would inhale with so many steps and exhale with so many steps. It really made a difference to me. You'll have good days and bad days. But it will start to get easier and maybe, hopefully start to be enjoyable. That satisfaction from having done SOMETHING. You feel good about yourself. It shifts your mindset. You don't have to push yourself so hard. You're already worried enough about WLS and changing your eating habits. Just find SOMETHING that works for you. Do it at least three days a week. Plan it and do it. Your self esteem will love you for it.

Best wishes to you on your journey!

What revision?

I TOTALLY felt that way after surgery. I felt like I wanted to let out one big ginormous burp but couldn't. That feeling lasted a couple of weeks. Now, a month later I still don't have big burps like I used to . I have little burps when I'm eating. I felt like the band changed the whole pressure system inside my esophagus. It probably did. Now the gas from your stomach can't escape upward through the smaller hole. Also, I haven't had any carbonation or been eating like crap to cause big burps. That uncomfortable feeling will pass.

I have yet to PB or slime. But I have had a couple of stuck episodes. Both times I could tell that the food wasn't going down like it should. Both times,for some reason, I foolishly thought that I could push it down with another bite. This lead to feeling like I had swallowed a golf ball. I had pain under my sternum and I felt like I had food and liquid sitting in the back of my throat. Fortunately I was able to work through these episodes but I'm pretty sure they could have easily turned into pb or sliming episodes. Both times I was eating chicken breast, too big of bites, too fast.

Sounds to me that you're going through all of the usual feelings and handling it well. Little excursions are good. Keep on!

I read online that the gas actually stays in the abdominal area but it rises up and sits against your diaphragm. There are a bunch of nerve endings in your diaphragm that the gas irritates and it manifests as shoulder pain.

I lost 7 pounds preop. Then I lost 10 pounds for a week and half post op. Then it really slowed down for a bit. I came to realize though, that I was building up toward my period. Once I had my period, I started losing again. I will say though, that I have really been watching what I eat and I started walking on the treadmill.

No. You are not crazy for wanting lap band. People are just saying that because they don't know what else to say. Only you can decide to take control of your health. There will be many people out there with negative opinions. Don't listen to them. Listen to you. You are the one who has to live in your body.

I was banded two days after you. I try to eat a lot of protein and I also watch my calories. Try the MyFitnessPal app to keep you on track. A typical day for me is: Breakfast- oatmeal or 2 hard boiled eggs Lunch- tuna salad with crackers Dinner- chicken with a fresh veggie I also like to eat Morningstar Black Bean Burgers. They're easy to throw in the microwave. I put a little hummus on them. Delish!

Helllooo! Twice, I spent at least 20 minutes swiping out a blog entry on my phone and then I couldn't get it to publish. So here I am to try again on my computer. The other entry was about a couple of embarrassing situations that helped lead me WLS. I think though, that I'd like to give a little introduction about me and how I got to this point. My name is Leigh (rhymes with eeeee) (One time I had a guy ask me if my name was pronounced Lay because if you put an "S" on the front of my name it'd spell sleigh.) I am 40 years old. I live in Louisville, KY. (Yes, I wear shoes. No, I don't own a horse.) Louisville is a mid-size city. They like to boast that it's the 16th largest city in the nation. Whatever. I have been married for 8 years. I have been an RN for about 5 years. Before marriage and my nursing career, I was a diligent party girl. But, I've settled down in to a cozy little, mostly drama free, life with my husband and our two fur babies. I had various times growing up where I was chubby, but I don't remember ever being made fun of. In high school, I ran around with the popular party crowd and I generally had a good experience. The only thing was I always felt like I was different on the inside than those people I ran around with. By the time I graduated high school, I was in a size 14 and I thought I was fat. Man, lookin back on pictures of me, I was perfect! But I was 5'9" and all my friends were 5'4" and a size 4. Plus, for reasons I can't fathom now, my mother was always trying to bribe me to lose weight. I'm sure some of it was out of concern, maybe some was to try to help me when I complained I was fat. I don't know. I always felt like she was so concerned about appearances (still is) and that somehow she was ashamed of me. I started gaining weight as soon as I got out of high school and over the years I went from a 14 to a 22 by the time I was 30. I probably weighed about 250. I had pretty much always embraced my curves and didn't worry, but when I reached 250, I decided to lose weight. (I had done various other diets over the years.) That time, I lost about 70-80 pounds. I got back into a 14 and I felt great! That time, I just started walking one day. I didn't walk fast, I just took a stroll. Eventually, I worked myself up to where I could run 3 miles. It took me about a year. After a few months, I watched what I ate. It was a great time. I felt empowered. I felt beautiful. But then, life happened. I got a job with a different schedule that wasn't conducive to exercise and I also got into a long term relationship (hubby) and got lazy. And then, over the next ten years, I blew up to a whopping 295 pounds. (Side note, I have known the hubby for many years, so he knew me before I lost weight. He has always loved me, no matter what size I am). Over the last few years, my size really started to affect my life. I didn't want to go out, because I hated my clothes and I hated the way I looked in them. When I was in nursing school, I was also going through a big depression and went on antidepressants which helped me gain the weight. This last year, though, I spent a lot of time mortified by my size. It really affected my self esteem. I knew I had to do something about it. I'm an RN at a big hospital in the city. I have always worked in cardiac areas and I see, every day, the effects of weight on humans. It is bad. Every time a 300 or 400 pound person came in and we put them on the table for a procedure, I would see myself on that table. I have a very strong history of heart attacks and diabetes in my family. Every day, in front, of me was a reminder of what I was doing to myself. I had thought about Lap Band surgery for a couple of years, but could never get myself to ride across town to our sister hospital and go to the seminar. This last May, I had a couple of very embarassing experiences when I went on a convention trip with a few of my coworkers. One involving the seatbelt on the plane and the other being talked into hiking up the side of a mountain. It truely mortified me. Something. Had. To. Happen. One day, this past September, I got on the website for the Bariatric program and lo and behold! You could watch a video of the seminar instead of having to go in. So I did. And I filled out the info below. Two days later, they called me. I was lucky to have it so easy from there. They sent me a packet, which I filled out and returned. They called me a week later, said my insurance was approved. I had a 10 minute appt with the surgeon on October 15th. About 2 weeks later, I had a 5 minute appt with a psychiatrist. They made an appt for me to come in for labs, a barium swallow, and education on Dec 6th. I had one more 10 minute appt with the surgeon on Dec 11th. Then, on December 18th, I was banded! I had quite a bit of discomfort after the surgery and it took me a good couple of weeks to feel normal again. But now, about 4 weeks later, I feel great. I do feel that I have some restriction right off the bat from the surgery. But, is it really restriction? Or can I just not eat as much because I kept to the prescribed diets, watch my protions and calories, and have been practicing getting to know the difference between hungry, not hungry, and full? Maybe a little of all. My husband has been at my side this whole time and we have completely turned around our eating habits. We threw out all of the junk and most of the carbs and have been eating a mainly high protein diet. He has been exercising a lot and I have started walking on the treadmill 4 days a week for 30 minutes. Most of all, we are staying away from sweets and NOT EATING FAST FOOD. We were really bad fast food junkies. I've lost 20 pounds since I started the preop diet. I'm feeling really good. Today was a small setback because I have a really bad head cold and I don't know if I have the energy to walk. But I'm not going to let it bother me. If I feel good tomorrow, I will walk tomorrow. People get to down on themselves when they "slip up" and have something sweet or high calorie. I say, don't let this get you down. You have to "treat" yourself every now and then. Just don't let it become a habit. Make your new habit to be eating healthy and feeling good about yourself. Plan the times you get to eat what you want. For instance, I love to go out to restaurants. We are going to go out every other Friday. When I'm there, am I going to eat fried foods and carbs and desserts? No. I will make a sensible choices. But it will still be fun and nice not to cook. It will be a reward for staying on track for two weeks. I can't believe that I didn't do this sooner. Why did I spend all those years miserable and overweight? Well, I guess we all have to reach that point where we are ready to take control. If you're not ready and not truely comitted, success will be much harder. I have also accepted that my band, Brunhilde (that's her name), is only a tool. I have to make choices that are good for me. I have to committ to change. And things like this website and forum. Visiting and reading other people's stories and advice. I know it will lead to my success and help me keep on track. Do your research. Know what you're getting into. And when you're ready, make the step toward taking control of your life. It's the best thing I have ever done, and it will be for you, too. And to all of the veterans, thank you! Your success and advice make this a place worth visiting.

I am on my third day of a head cold. From the neck down I feel fine but above the neck, not so much. Popping ears, stuffy nose, scratchy throat with dry cough. It's been a real chore. I had made a contract with myself that since, as a nurse, I only work three days a week, that the other four days I would do some sort of exercise for 30 minutes. It doesn't have to be running or anything crazy. Just go to the park and walk the dogs or walk on the treadmill. I was off yesterday, but didn't get in my exercise due to the head cold. I woke up kinda grumpy today cause I was still kinda sick and my hubby really irritated the piss out me last night and it was seeping into today. I did feel a litlle better when I weighed myself and I was down to 272.8.I got up and piddled around the house. Started making a grocery list. I'm a pretty good cook, but I'm not really the kind of person who likes to spend her free time cooking. But, since me and the hubby have turned over a new leaf, I want to start keeping stuff around the house so we aren't tempted eat "convienient food" or fast food. So I was online looking up all kinds of high Protein or low calorie recipes. And they all just seemed so involved. If it has more than 5 ingredients, I just get discouraged. This just added to my grumpy mood. I had taken some sudafed early this morning so by 930, my head was pretty clear. I kept saying to myself, "Leigh, you should get on the treadmill. Leigh, you should get your butt up and go to the grocery." And I just felt myself sliding down into that grumpy, I just wanna lay on the couch and give my husband the evil eye attitude. I finally asked myself, "Leigh, if you had to work today, would you have called in?" and I answered, "No." and then I told myself, "Leigh, get your flat, wide a$$ down those stairs and walk on that treadmill!" And I did. And I feel so good for having done it. And now I feel ready to get out into the world and go grocery shopping. And while I was on the treadmill, I decided that I didn't have to make fancy dinners. I read an article on here about food boredom and how it can help you lose weight. That by eating pretty much the same things every day, you start eating to live instead of living to eat. That by eating the same things a lot, you eliminate thinking about food and your next meal. And my hubby doesn't care. He always says he could eat the same thing for dinner every night as long as it is healthy and not fast food. My whole reason I wanted to post this was to say, JUST DO IT ANYWAY. We cannot form new habits and get rid of the old ones by making excuses. There will always be a reason not to do something. But the reason TO DO something is how good it makes you feel. Us heavy people have spent enough time feeling bad about ourselves. Make yourself feel good. No one else is going to do it for you. I leave you with a pic of me in the messy dungeon basement on my treadmill. And I challenge you, if you're not exercising, get out and do SOMETHING. Just 30 minutes. You don't have to kill yourself doing it. Just DO SOMETHING. You will feel good about yourself.

You're fine! It took me two weeks to feel somewhat normal. I didn't have much interest in food for a couple of weeks either. Just take it slow and easy.

Awesome pics! Congrats! What a difference 55 pounds makes.

I took two weeks off, but I'm a nurse and do a lot of pushing and pulling. Very physical. If I had had a desk job, my surgeon would have sent me back on Monday after a Wednesday surgery. I was glad to have the time off because it was the holidays, but I do think it's good to get up and get moving asap. Would your job allow you to use a couple of vacation days that next week?

Maybe you could find another doctor or bariatric program that would be more in tune to your needs. If not, then tell the one you have, what you want. Unfortunately there is no one really watching out for you in healthcare. I am so sorry that you have had so many trials. Getting back on track with your health could maybe give you something to focus on. I can't imagine how hard it is for you. But you CAN do it. I say, try that 5 day pouch test or start with the preop liquid diet again to cleanse your system. And come to this site for lots of support! Best wishes.

I don't like to say Good Luck because I always feel like it has an underlying feeling that I don't believe it will really happen. So, I like to say BEST WISHES!! You can do this. Look at how far you have come and with so many set backs. You will be successful. Enjoy the preop diet!

Thanks, Arlene! Yes, the Louisville Slugger is from here. Our biggest claim to fame is the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. The city goes crazy for two weeks straight. We missed out first night eating out because I worked and I have a cold. Oh well! We're going to Texas Roadhouse on Wednesday night with some family. I think I'll check out the menu ahead of time and see what kind of good choices I can make.

Yes, everything is normal. Be patient. It took me a good 2-3 weeks before I felt completely normal again. Best wishes for your success!