needtorecover

I have the lap band so my tolerance is still the same but I view alcohol as others do, as fattening and high in calories. That being said, I'm a total wine and beer snob and I cannot give it up forever! I just have one glass, usually on Friday and Saturday night. Since it's just one glass I make sure it's worth it and buy really good stuff. My brother gave up booze completely because it made him feel like crap but he's a musician and has a very active night life as a result. He tells his friends to feel free to drink in front of him because it's his choice and he's not judging anyone else for drinking. I think that's a good philosophy. And hey, it saves money at the bars! Get yourself your favorite drink and sip it slowly. Treat yourself to top shelf. Better yet, go to a specialty cocktail bar. I had an amazing ginger citrus cocktail a week ago and it was both delicious and relaxing.

Fantastic!! I got the surgery because I didn't want to be the fat mom at the park, too. You look very healthy and happy. I bet your kids are happy to have an active mom.

I've lost 27 pounds. My size 24 pants were *snug* pre-op and now they're feeling comfortable. It depends on your proportions. If you carry most of your excess weight in one area (like a larger belly, butt, thighs, arms, etc.) then you'll see your sizes drop faster. I'm proportionate so when I lose weight I lose it everywhere and not just a certain area so I thin out everywhere. I ran into someone I hadn't seen in a couple years yesterday and she gave me the up-and-down "you were bigger when I last saw you" face. That was pretty cool

Hey there - I had my Lap Band placed on December 28th 2015 and I am struggling. Could really use some help/support. The first couple weeks were easy enough since I was in recovery. Barely had any appetite, stuck to my liquid diet, and allowed myself to heal. I gained my appetite back during the mushies phase but was quickly and easily satisfied on small amounts of food. It felt great to not be at the mercy of my normally insatiable appetite. Well, now my stomach is completely healed and it's like I don't have a band at all. I knew this was coming, but I didn't realize how I'd react to it. I find myself back in my old ways for some meals - not quite as bad as before but it's taking a great deal of effort to control it. I know I have to get through this and I know it'll get better eventually but it really sucks right now. I could use some motivation. Anyone out there interested in helping this chunky newbie out?? Thanks!

LOL Goodness, you're giving me too much credit I have zero self control, which is why I needed the lap band in the first place... My blessing is that I've always been a good eater in that I love ALL foods. Fruits, veggies, Proteins, good carbs... I love all the foods I'm "supposed" to eat, but I also love the foods I'm NOT "supposed" to eat. My problem before WLS was that I'd load up my plate, big time. Heaping piles of potatoes, 8-10 ounces of meat, heaping piles of veggies covered in olive oil and/or tossed with feta cheese and lemon juice (YUM!!!) and then I'd eat dessert like a 2 pack snack cakes or a bowl of ice cream. And I'd eat my partner's leftovers. Every meal I ate would be balanced, but would also be enough to feed 2-3 normal sized people. The lap band enables me to eat an appropriate portion for one person. I think you need to focus on what your problem is. For me, it's always been portion sizes. I have a hard time dishing up a normal serving size for myself and I use salad plates now so I won't over-do it. I fill the plate mostly with Protein and veggies, and then one scoop of rice/potatoes/pasta because I just can't do without a few bites of it. I eat the protein first, then the veggies, and that leaves very little room for starches so I eat a couple bites and then I throw the rest away. Usually that's good enough for me. I eat until my stomach says "stop" and then I'm done. If I eat beyond that "stop" I get a stomach ache. There are times where I'll stare at my food and feel totally baffled because I WANT to keep eating but I CAN'T keep eating. It's a very, very strange feeling for a volume eater. My PA told me everyone's weight problem stems from different issues. Some of the folks she saw ate only carbs and had to get used to including proteins and veggies. Others loved dessert too much. Others struggled with emotional issues and needed counseling. My problem is I'm an enthusiastic eater with a very powerful appetite. The lap band itself easily resolved that for me - my issue appears to be purely physical. I've thought about it a lot because I thought I was an emotional eater and I went through counseling only to learn that I'm really not... I don't know why I have an abnormal appetite, I just do. So I think you need to really think about why you're struggling. What are you eating? How much? How often do you get hungry? When do you get hungry? Do you have situations that trigger your hunger? Are you drinking enough Water? Do you have a medical condition that caused/causes weight gain? Hope that helps a little... I'm sorry you're struggling I'm not quite an expert yet because I only just had my surgery a couple months ago but I'm happy to answer any questions!

My personal favorite

Didn't your doctor have you drink Water after your fill? If milk is coming back up, you're too tight! Being too tight is just as bad as being too loose because you won't be able to eat good, healthy food (like dense Proteins or veggies/legumes full of fiber). Instead you'll only eat foods that go down easy (like processed foods, ice cream, etc.). I imagine if milk isn't going down, neither is water - and that is *dangerous.* Water is absolutely vital to survival. I hope you called your doctor...

@@kathousefl - Just wanted to let you know that the restriction definitely set in about a week after I posted this. I guess that's why doctors make you wait a month between fills! Now I get it. Though I don't understand WHY it takes so long for a fill to register... maybe the liquid takes a while to settle? Who knows. In that time, I've lost another 13 pounds I'm excited! I think I need a little more fill to be completely green but this is a fantastic start. I'm starting to feel better already. It's nothing short of a miracle being able to feel full on so much less food. I have more energy now and I WANT to move. My pants that were tight before are hanging off my hips a little and my shirts don't feel as snug on my tummy. Why my general doctors didn't recommend WLS before is beyond me. I am so, so glad I did this.

Just for fun: what's the craziest/wackiest diet or weight loss plan you followed pre-WLS? The diet industry has no shortage of creative programs and gimmicks and I've been victim to several myself. I think the silliest one I did was Suzanne Sommers' Sommersize (her original diet program). The theory was if you separated your food groups you'd lose weight faster. Carbs for one meal, Proteins for another meal, certain fruits on certain days... it was exhausting. I also tried weight loss gum. Some confection created in the 90's that supposedly had an appetite suppressant added to it. Didn't do a thing for me.

Your parents grounded you for being overweight?! That is so horrible I took Metabolife, too. Not nearly as many as you, however... I took 3-6 a day (depending on how hungry I was before I took them). Usually 1.5 in the morning with Breakfast, 2 at lunch, and 1.5 at dinner. Worked like a charm, though. I lose weight quickly and easily using it. Yes, I had the racing heart and insomnia... didn't realize how dangerous it was. I'm glad it's off the market. No one should take it. Gained every pound back, plus another hundred. I have a friend who's losing a lot of weight on Phentermine. I worry about what'll happen when she stops taking it...

Orlistat!! Yeah, I tried that in the form of Alli and I had a very, very unfortunate "accident" at work. I forgot I even took it lol... I think I blocked it out of my mind because it was rather traumatic. Not so traumatic that other people knew about it... but traumatic enough. I'll leave it at that. It was interesting to see the floating orange oil knowing I didn't absorb that fat and feeling pleased that I didn't absorb those calories. That being said, yes, sugar is the problem, not fat. We metabolize sugar to become fat but fat itself doesn't turn into fat on our bodies. Science.

My internist and OBGYN were both discouraging against WLS. It would've helped if they'd been more educated on the topic (especially my internist). I know my internist wanted to help but she didn't know what to do or say and thought WLS had too many complications and wasn't worth the risk. Granted this was about 5 years ago when I first inquired and as time passes the procedures get safer... Now I'm worried about going back to her for my physicals because I don't know if she'll know how to treat me from here on out. I wish bariatric surgery was more mainstream. There is SO MUCH misinformation floating around the internet and I was overwhelmed when I did my own research. I was grateful for my bariatric surgeon who is also a researcher at my local university and his wife does obesity research and they taught me a lot. I don't want to go to my doctor feeling like I need to defend my surgery. I want my doctor to know more about WLS and maintenance than I do but as of now that's hard to find because they still primarily go with the traditional advice of "eat less and move more."

Question for those who hit the sweet spot: What does hunger feel like now? How does it feel to be "full" on the lap band? Can anyone describe it for me? Just wondering what I'd be looking for after I get the surgery and start having fills. Thanks!

I'd like to ask folks who have lost a significant amount of weight if their sleep needs have changed from when you were obese to when you reached your goal weight. I ask because I feel like I have abnormally high sleep needs and I'm wondering if it's related to my obesity - and really hoping these needs will reduce when my weight is reduced. As it is right now, I *need* between 8-9 hours of sleep to feel like a functioning human being during the week, but I prefer to sleep for 12-13 hours at a time. And I hate it. I don't want to sleep literally half my day away but when I'm left to my own devices that's exactly what happens. Were any of you a heavy, long sleeper pre-weight loss and then found you had more energy from reaching a healthier weight and need less sleep? Just looking for some hope here. I want to be the kind of person who wakes up on a Saturday morning at 8:30 am feeling happy and refreshed and able to ride her bike to the farmer's market. Not the human log who stays in bed until 1:00 pm and misses her whole day!

It's been "one of those days" for me for the past several months lol... Having a teething toddler and in-laws living at my house has made for some pretty bad times. And now I have a cold, courtesy of my teething toddler, so that's added to the fun. I'm getting through it by making sure I have something to look forward to. I'm going to Florida in May and I'm really excited about that. I'm scheduling a massage for the end of the month. Gonna check out the local concert schedule and get tickets for a comedy festival coming to town in June. And I'm plotting out my garden in my mind and am looking forward to sprucing up my yard and growing fruits/veggies for the first time. Life is a series of ups and downs. You'll be on the upswing again soon, as will I

The stereotypical "healthy dinner" from the 90's was skinless baked chicken breast, broccoli, and rice. I think those pictures are a throwback of when that was the recommended dinner of choice for any dieter. I saw lots of photos like that at my gestational diabetes nutrition class. Which is a riot because rice made my blood sugar spike to dangerous levels so I stopped eating it. I don't eat it now anymore because it hurts my stomach. Though I have a lap band and my issue is I have a hard time passing it through my band unless I eat it in very small bites and chew very, very well. Sucks because I love it but I just eat my Protein and veggies if I have Chinese food.

My uncle tried hypnotism. I think his version was aversion therapy where the hypnotist/therapist trained his mind to think food tasted terrible. He's in bariatric surgery counseling now!

@@Thias38 I think it's a good tool for volume eaters. My diet was always healthy and balanced, I just ate too much of ALL food groups. @@JustWatchMe That's great news! Keep it up!!

Once my weight loss becomes more noticeable I plan to be vocal about my WLS. There's currently a stigma associated with WLS and that needs to go away. There's also the misconception that obesity is the result of someone being lazy, greedy, sloppy, etc. and that it's easily remedied by calorie reduction and exercise. If you're not disciplined enough to "put down the fork" then there's something morally wrong with you as a person. I want folks to understand that it's okay to need help losing weight, that you're not a bad person for getting fat, and that there IS a way out. I want people to feel like they can ask me questions. I have a couple friends who have had WLS or have considered it but they won't talk about it. It's time to start talking and kill the taboo!

Welcome, and good luck! Like others have already said, your fears and concerns are totally normal. You're making a very positive change in your life and health and WLS really is a game-changer for those of us who have tried losing weight but have failed at keeping it off time and time again. The success rate of WLS is much greater than diet/exercise alone. Even if your joints are shot, you will still feel an improvement in pain and you'll recover much faster after your joint replacement surgeries. My dad had a double knee replacement and he's able to do all the stuff he used to do when he was younger!

I just moved to a house near our city-wide biking trail and I'm really excited to start riding my bike!! I haven't ridden it since I was in college so it's been about 15 years... My parents bought me a really nice bike and have hung on to it all this time and they're bringing it down for me this weekend. I didn't take it before because I never had a decent place to store it (lived in a condo for the past decade with no garage or storage areas). I, too, am nervous about my weight impacting the bike and am worried about a sore butt. I may get a gel seat cover, too. That may help. I need to practice biking around before I get a trailer hitch to bring my kid with me.

I don't have the sleeve so I may be off base here but it sounds to me like you're starving yourself and your body is fighting back. When you restrict your calories that drastically (less than a thousand a day plus intense workouts) your systems are going to adjust to hang on to your fat reserves as much as possible because it's in panic mode. It's only been in the past hundred years or so that food has been so abundant and we're battling thousands of years of evolution when hanging on to fat was critical for survival (versus now when it's killing us). Personally, I would consume more fat and scale back on exercise. Maybe eat a quarter avocado or a handful of nuts as a snack and take a brisk walk rather than spending an hour at the gym doing intense cardio. The menstrual cycle changes could be a result of starvation/overexertion as well. You need to take care of yourself and be gentle. Remind yourself this is a marathon, not a sprint.

Five bites?! That's hardly enough to satisfy me post-WLS let alone the pre-WLS version of me who could eat a serving platter worth of food in one sitting, no problem. I have seen the bariatric surgery diet without bariatric surgery advertised on the net. Because of course you will lose weight if you eat small portions of a low carb/high Protein diet. The reason one has the surgery is to make that diet feasible without losing your mind in the process!

@@JustWatchMe I get it now It's really hard to explain the soft stop to anyone who hasn't had surgery but I definitely know what you're talking about. It happens all the time now and if I eat beyond the soft stop I get too full and it hurts. I'm able to eat between 1/3-1/2 of the amount of food I used to eat. I think I might need another 1/2 cc or 1 cc to be completely green but so far, so good!

@@mngreeneyes - Scary! My doctor did something similar to me - put me on Wellbutrin for weight loss (I think it's an antidepressant). It made me lethargic and crushed my appetite but in a bad way. I felt like you did, everything tasted bad and I didn't want to eat. The restriction from surgery is much more pleasant. I feel normal - that's all I wanted! Weight loss drugs are a Band-Aid, unfortunately. @@jane13 - I did WW, too, many times. It was exhausting measuring the fat against the Fiber against the number of calories. I had my little card, too. I had one with a dial on it so I could calculate the points in food. One thing I will say about WW is they have a fabulous 0 point veggie Soup recipe. It was quite tasty and I ate lots of it. I am contemplating making it again for a delicious hot snack