Fanny Adams

For me, the motivation remains because I know that I CAN achieve things with this band. In the past, I have dieted then lost motivation when I hit a plateau and given up and gone back to my bad old eating habits. This time around, I CAN'T go back to those gargantuan meals, so even when I'm not trying very hard, I can easily maintain or lose slowly. It is possible to sabotage yourself even with the band, by making bad food choices and eating a lot of high fat, high calorie, low fibre/bulk food, like icecreams or chocolates, but when eating a reasonably healthy range of foods, loss will happen. Also, I find that I am not having to fight hunger constantly and so have more energy to devote to resisting temptations. Living for weeks with the sensation of "OMG I'M STARVING!!!" is debilitiating and demoralising. I would previously struggle with that until I got to the point of "BUGGER THIS! GIMME SOME FOOOOOOOOD!!" and then proceed to stuff my face and undo all my hard work. Now, that hunger doesn't bite nearly as deeply, so I only have to deal with resisting the chocolate binge, instead of having to try to resist everything. My weight loss hasn't been as fast or as dramatic as some around, but I am quietly confident that it will be continuous and steady. That confidence alone is one of my biggest motivators - this time I actually believe I can do it, something that I don't think I ever truly believed before.

Hope it all went well and that you are now recovering nicely! Good luck on the liquid stage and be prepared for a NORMAL stall/slight regain in about 2 weeks as you ease into thicker liquids and mushies. Don't panic when it happens (and it happens to most of us!), just take heart and keep on going - the plateau does end if you don't give up!

I'd love to be there but I'm back on site this weekend :rolleyes2: I hope to catch up with you all soon!

$77K?? $77 thousand dollars???:blushing:

Wow, that seems extremely high, especially the cost of the lapband itself. I was a self-pay in Australia and I know that our medical costs aren't as high as yours, but still - I would have thought that the cost of the band itself would be comparable and mine was $3600 AUD (which is about $3200 US). Actually, I would have thought that it would be more expensive in Aus, because we usually pay much higher prices for manufactured goods than folk in the US do (eg cars, white goods, etc). I paid cash individually to each party involved, so I know my cost breakdown worked like this: AP 10cm lapband: $3600 Surgeon's Fee: $2700 Anaesthetist's Fee: $1600 Private Hospital Theatre Fees & Day Bed (including take home drugs and those awful anti-thrombosis stockings, etc): $3700 Lab Bloodwork: $170 Total cost for the day: $11,770 AUD (approx $10,600 US) I can add to that the $150 for the pre-op visit to the surgeon and then two followup visits for fills ($150 each), and subtract the $1400 rebate that our Medicare system gave (which is very minimal because this was privately done), so far this band has cost me $10,820. I wonder why the band itself is so much more expensive for you - it's all from the same company and we have higher import duties, tariffs and other taxes than you, I was very surprised by that.

Great idea Jachut! Might have to try that one myself!

Erk... I was lying in bed last night, wondering what the hell was this odd pain I felt, and it sounds very much like yours only milder. If it works its way up into anything more severe, I'm off to the doctor's to check it out *sigh*

Not only do I think this woman was being out of line, I truly don't understand her point. With 3 young kids under 4 years old, are you not a family? Who is such a room designed for, if not you? It does say "Family", doesn't it? What does she mean by "you can just use the regular room"? You said "we" several times, so I am assuming that you were in the Family room with your partner and kids - so was she seriously expecting you two to split up and take some kids into the Ladies room with Mum and the other(s) into the Mens room with Dad? That's ridiculous!

LOL! I think we were separated at birth, Jacqui! That is me to a T!

Today was the first day that some that I hadn't told about the surgery actually asked "Have you lost weight?" Whoohoo!! It's finally noticeable!

Congrats to everyone! Whether you've lost 10lb or 50lb, just think of this: All of us have been successful! Can you imagine having lost ANY amount of weight over the period December 2006 to February 2007? If you're anything like me, that time of year is a guaranteed GAIN for me, so even though I'm at the low end of the weight loss scale, I'm thrilled with what I've achieved so far.

I'm in total agreement. I can live with the banner ads and the ones on the right, but the one in the middle of the thread is just plain intrusive!

Wow!! Someone's lost 81lb or more since December? :biggrin: Way to GO!!!

For me, the weirdest thing about this thread is that the original poster and all of the responders TALK with other people in the waiting room.:scared2: I don't think I've ever even overheard conversation in the waiting room, let alone spoken to other people about the band. I don't know if it is a cultural difference or not, but I don't think it is lap-band related, as I have noticed the same thing in any GP's waiting room for all of my life. It's like it is a library or confessional or something - everyone reads the magazines, keeps their heads down and, if eye contact is accidentally made, a small nod is all the communication allowed.

Coz we still get unholy glee from breaking into the Boy's Fort and giving you all Girl Germs!! Ahahahahahahah!!

It sounds to me like you have the same addiction to the sensations of overeating that most of us have/had. When you weren't watching or attempting to control your intake, you were probably oblivious to how that eating pattern was fulfilling your emotional needs. Once you started to try to cut down and control those behaviours, your addiction fought back by finding ways to try to hide the food and hide your eating. It's scary to contemplate life without our favourite comfort. It scares the crap out of me, anyway! I was also terrified that I would have to give up my favourite tastes, including Pasta and other carbs. It's only been a short while since I took the plunge, but already I can tell that there is a HUGE difference in my hunger levels depending on whether or not I have eaten carbs that day. Carbs make me HUNGRY!!! At the same time, I don't have a lot of restriction yet, so right now there is absolutely nothing I can't eat, including breads, pasta and rice. In some way that is a comfort to me for the long run. I know that, right now, carbs are not doing me any favours because they are fighting against the value of the band which does decrease my appetite even without full restriction. I'm looking forward to getting more restriction and if the price for that is less carbs, I'm prepared to pay it. However, I also know that once I achieve goal, I should be able to loosen off the band a little and eat a sensible balanced maintenance diet that will include carbs and will satisfy me. The band doesn't mean giving up your favourites forever (except maybe carbonated drinks - although some can even manage that). When it is working, it doesn't mean living with hunger every day either - that is the whole point of it! That you DON'T feel the dreaded hunger daemon clawing at your insides in the same way. No-one can live with that feeling for very long. Other issues with emotional eating aren't solved of course, but it does help in taking away most of that physical sensation of "I'm starving!"

Congrats!! You're doing really well! I can't wait to be able to see a difference in my pics and then post them...

Hi Peek and welcome to the club :eek: Most of us had to do a pre-op diet, though not all - it depends upon the surgeon and on your own BMI. Generally, the higher the BMI, the more chance of a fatty/enlarged liver and therefore more likely a pre-op diet will be required. Some surgeons just prescribe them for everyone, regardless of BMI. Best to do just what your doctor says... Of all the pre-ops, a liquid Meal Replacement like Optifast is the most common, especially in Australia. Those of us who have had to do it have found that it really does help to jumpstart the weight loss, although sticking to it for 2 weeks is damned hard!! If it were me, I wouldn't go to that extreme until you had to do it - Optifast gets really old very quickly, and you will almost certainly be asked to stick to a liquid diet (although not necessarily Optifast) for at least 2 weeks post-op too, so a month on liquids is a tough haul. If you are confident you can tough it out for that long, go for it, but you may find it hard going and it could make you lose dedication before you've even begun. You know best how you react to diets, so it's up to you but something to think about anyway... Perhaps you should just try to eat sensibly and not gain, while you are waiting for the countdown to begin? I had fully intended to do that but found myself going the mini "Last Supper" route while I was still getting surgeon appointments and dates together. Then, when I finally got to see the surgeon, he scheduled the op for only 2 weeks later and I had to go on the Optifast starting immediately. I really mourned not having a chance for one last full-on blow out for a little while but came to my senses fairly quickly.

Awww *BIG HUGS* First of all, take a big deep breath and relax! You are NOT failing!! The band is NOT failing you!! This is absolutely bog-standard normal for most people in their first few weeks. I WISH all lap-band literature came with a big warning that said "CAUTION: You may plateau and even regain weight in the first few weeks after the operation!! Do not panic, this is normal and does not mean you are failing!" Just to put it in a bit of perspective for you, I did a search for how many people have reported this exact same problem in the last few weeks: I think I gained weight 7 days post-op I gained 1.5 on mushies! How to eat mushies and still lose These are just some of the many posts made - you are not alone. *HUGS AGAIN* Just hang in there and it will start to happen for you...

From one Susan to another, hang in there mate! I know how you feel, both about high school being only yesterday and about not following the rules. I'm still working on my initial fills (had one last month, due for another soon), and I've found I'm getting really sloppy on sticking to the band rules because I have no restriction yet. Maybe you want to try doing a pseudo pre-op diet to kick start you back into weight loss mode? Then follow that up with going back to basics on bandster eating - cutting your food up really small, chewing really well, waiting between bites, no Water with food, etc. I have found that, because I don't get any problems with eating larger bites, I am eating my meals more and more quickly and paying less attention to what I'm doing, and I am kicking myself for it, as my meals are getting larger and my weight loss is stalling. However, I also found that even when I was "just practising" in the weeks before my pre-op diet, that following the bandster rules really made a difference for me. Giving my body time to feel the food going down really helped in controlling hunger and made me feel full much sooner than when I chowed down at my usual fast pace. All I need to do now is take my own advice, eh? Anyway, *hugs* and good luck to you in getting back on the wagon! Cheers! Fanny (irl Sue/Susan)

I think Dr Watson relies on his patients to be sensible and listen to their bodies a lot more than other surgeons that I've heard of. For me, all the time frames he gave were very loose and came with the proviso "depending upon how you tolerate it". For example, he said clears for 2-4 days, full liquids for 7-14 days, mushies for 7-14 days, then back to normal food. Given those ranges, the shortest time back to normal food would be 16 days, the longest 32 days...quite a range. From what others have said, most other surgeons tend to be a lot more strict with their times. PS: Welcome to the club! Congrats!!

My surgeon said the same - by far and away the main cause of slippage is severe vomiting, so I'd say the answer is NO you don't! We can't help worrying at times, I know, but if you're not getting stuck and not vomiting, I'd say your chances of slippage are very very small. Just relax and try not to borrow trouble, eh?

That's a funny post, Derrick but it works both ways. Sure, those hot girls were just using the "nice guys" for emotional support and had no intention of ever dating them. Sadly, in my hey day (back in the Dark Ages), I was one of those and I have lived to regret it. However, on the other hand, all those "nice guys" weren't mooning after Miss Plain or Miss Shy or Miss Plump, sitting in the corner, now were they? If the "nice guys" are going to fall all over themselves being an emotional support crutch for the local hottie, is it really all the girl's fault for taking advantage of his willingness to be a doormat?

From what I've heard, you'll need to take things easy for a couple of weeks to a month after the surgery but after that you're fine. You might want to look for some similar threads in The Mens Room or the Exercise forums. The people in there would know better than I, coz weight lifting is not really my thing!

Not only can it happen but it happens to most of us! I think it is a combination of regaining Water after the IV fluids have flushed us out in the op, having a higher than normal sodium intake when on the liquids (I for one ate mostly canned Soups and upped the salt intake, trying to get extra flavour), our bodies going into shock mode after the operation, and normal plateauing that occurs 3-5 weeks after starting the pre-op diet. All of these factors together mean that just about everyone (that I have read in here anyway) experiences this disheartening problem. Take heart in that it usually only lasts a week or two at most, then as you start to get back onto normal foods, your weight will start to come down again, although expect it to drop at a much slower rate than in the first weeks of the pre/post-op phase. I think a lot of that initial loss is not actually fat, but just losing water, as is the regain. It is the slower loss that happens afterwards that is the real fat melting away. You may find that you stall altogether or only lose at about 1lb per week, until you start to get good restriction with your fills. Hang in there and know that you are not alone!