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I would be interested in starting or participating in a Local Chapter. This site has been very helpful to me and I want to share it with others. I have attended a couple of meetings hosted by my doctor's office but I would like to expand the reach. I am self-employed and have a flexible schedule. As the current President of my local Blue Star Mothers Chapter, I have experience in holding meetings. Also, with being a military mom, I know the importance of support with individuals who are in the same situation, no one understands unless they are going through the same thing. I have been successful so far in my 4 months since surgery and would like to help others to prepare for surgery and progress post-surgery. Let me know if you need anything else from me.

Congratulations and welcome to your new way of life! Get your rest and let the nurses take care of you. Keep us posted on your recovery

Great article! I am going to share with my non-Bariatric patient friend who was just asking me today about a diet plan she saw at Costco. I advised her to just focus on eating healthy and track everything. This will be good coming from another source

Fitbit is pretty accurate on what I should be consuming. As calories are added during the day due to activity I choose to ignore so that I am still around 1000 calories for the day. The longer you use Fitbit it will begin to adjust to your calories in/out and if you set up your rate of weight loss all will be calculated. I think that just tracking my food has been very helpful. Good luck!

Since we aren't that far away from each other, anytime you need some support just let me know! Welcome to the world of "losers"

Yes, I agree with your article @@Alex Brecher! We are all in this together, some just take different routes to arrive at the same place - a healthier you! It may be a good idea to add some of your comments to the welcome email. Thank you for writing about this topic, it is a good reminder and refresher for everyone who has been here for a little while or from the beginning.

You are awesome! What a great attitude, you CAN do it!!!! Keep us posted on your success

Now that the weather is breaking, I have been running into more people that I haven't seen in a while. When they comment on my weight loss, I just thank them and say I have been learning to eat better and am careful about what I eat. I have only told a few family members and very close friends. I feel that this is a private matter and it really doesn't matter how I lose the weight, only that I am becoming a more healthy person. No one has really pressed me on any other details.

Congratulations on starting the next chapter of your life! As others have said, follow the guidelines from your doctor and don't be afraid to ask questions. There is a lot of information here, I wish I had found this forum pre-surgery! This is truly a new way of life and eating but I am so happy that I made the decision. I am feeling better than I have in years! Keep us posted as you get closer to your banding. We are all here with you!

Mine also is 10cc. Did you get any type of card to carry with you or a form to register with the maker of your band? That should have the band info on it.

That's awesome, what a pick me up! Enjoy the rest of your trip!

I am at about the same situation. I was banded Dec 9 and have lost about 30 pounds so far. I have had 2 fills of 2cc each, the last fill was the end of January. When I went for my February appt my surgeon said that since I had lost 4 pounds he wasn't going to give me another fill. He feels that optimum weight loss is about a pound a week and my initial rapid loss was rare. We shall see what his thoughts are when I go in a couple of weeks again, I think I'm only down about a pound. I track what I eat on MyFitnessPal, keeping to about 900-1000 calories a day. I will admit, my exercise hasn't been too good and I know I need to step it up. Can't wait for the weather to break and be able to get outside and walk! I would like to lose another 30-40 pounds and I think that as we get closer to our goal it's going to be harder to lose those last few pounds. Since today is my 3 month mark, I am going to take my measurements and record in the binder that my clinic gave me. Measurements are as important as the # on the scale. Keep up the good work, we will all get there!!

Thank you for a great article and tips!

From Fitbit website Your Force is rain-, splash-, and sweat-proof but should be removed before swimming or showering.

Your doctor or clinic should have given you a meal guide for the next few weeks. But generally you should stay on clear liquids for the first week post op. The would include popsicles and broth. Any soup would need to be strained so you only have the broth. I could also have thinned greek yogurt, add milk to make it thin enough to pour.

My doctor had given me a prescription for Hydrocodone which I think is a combination of Vicodin and Tylenol. I alternated between that and liquid Tylenol for the first couple of days, then just Tylenol after that.

You are doing fantastic! Just think how much harder it would be on your back if you hadn't lost the weight you have. Soon you will be back to your regular routine and will catch up. Go you! Thanks for sharing some pics, you look fantastic!

Congratulations and welcome to the world of the banded! I had mine done on Dec 9 and I absolutely love it! I have learned to control much better what I eat. The first few days are rough as everyone has said. But take your tylenol every 4 hours for the first couple of days, walk when you can and sip, sip, sip. I was given a prescription of Hydrocondone and I pretty much only took that at night before bed and maybe once more during the day. The rest of the time I took tylenol. Having some GasX helps too with the excess gas but walking helps to loosen it up and get rid of it.

I was doing a little more research between tracking on Fitbit and MyFitnessPal and I came across this. I thought this was great info and I do agree that MyFitnessPal is much better for tracking your food intake. So I have changed how I track my food and I think its much more accurate. Would love to connect with anyone on MFP, I am Aimeriana101 Once your accounts are linked, it's important that you log your food and exercise ONLY with MyFitnessPal. We will sync your food and exercise diary information to the Fitbit site for you. Logging food or exercise yourself on the Fitbit website is unnecessary, and will lead to incorrect Net Calorie Goal adjustments. For the best experience with the integration, ALL manual entry of Food and Exercises should take place exclusively on the MyFitnessPal site. Please note that if you are wearing your Fitbit during the day, we recommend that you NOT log any exercise on your MyFitnessPal Exercise Diary that the Fitbit excels at tracking: this includes walking, jogging, running, climbing stairs or hills, or daily home or office activity. We do recommend that you log any exercise that your Fitbit's "step-based" system would have trouble detecting accurately, such as rowing or, cycling, and of course activities like swimming during which you cannot wear the device.

I still have my MyFitnessPal profile but I haven't logged into it in a while so I'm not sure how it works. On Fitbit, in my profile I set my starting weight and goal weight. Then select how aggressive I want to be to reach my goal. I chose "Kinda Hard" which cut 750 calories a day, which translates to about 1.5 pounds per week. Fitbit tracks my steps and uses my height/weight profile to determine how many calories I burn per day, it figures what I burn just by being alive too It also has a setting to change my calorie allowance daily based on my activity from the previous day. Check MyFitnessPal to see if you can set a plan to reach your goal weight. To lose weight you need to take in less calories than you burn, at least 500 for about a pound a week. But I do also try to eat a Paleo diet, cutting out all sugar and grains. I mainly eat fruits, veggies and meat. Good luck. Hope this helps you!

I would talk with your dietician to see what your calorie needs should be. Have you tried MyFitnessPal or a similar program? You can track everything you eat as well as your daily activities. This will help you to see what your calorie intake is compared to your calorie expenditure. To loose weight you have to consume less than you burn but if you are consuming too little then your body may be hanging on to every bit of calories for fear of starvation. You can print out a report that you can take to your dietician so you both can see where you need to make changes. I used MyFitnessPal prior to getting my Fitbit, I know track everything there. It's very helpful. MyFitnessPal is free. Good luck!

I was banded in Dec and had the same information. Looking for that site led me to this one. I am very happy to have found this forum!! Thank you Alex for starting this!!!