Wheetsin

It depends on what you're referring to when you say "pre surgery diet". Most surgeons require you to follow a diet before surgery, lasting between 1 - 14 days, usually. This diet is the surgeon's requirement and based on what needs to happen for the easiest/safest surgery possible. It's not linked to anything else. The purpose of the diet is to purge sugar stores from the liver, decreasing its size, and allowing easier access to the area the surgeon will need to access. Some insurance companies require pre-op diets for X time or that result in X loss. I believe the companies that require this require it across the board, so it's not really based on any body metric. Some surgeons require pre-op diets. I've seen this happen two ways. One is of the patient is so obese that it compromises the surgeons' comfort level. I think the threshold for this is BMI of 60+. The surgeons may then require weightloss to a certain BMI as a qualifier for the surgery. Some surgeons also like to see X percent of weightloss in patients before they will do the procedure, but most often it's an insurance requirement. Few surgeons are going to tell a sure-thing self pay that they have to complete a diet first. Hope this helps.

Moving to the proper forum, will answer over there.

Ack, I hate that I'm compelled to do this. Just one suggestion. "Lap-Band" is actually a registered trademark of Allergan, even though we use it as a generic term. I would either include the ® or whatever CYA is required, or change it to a generic term like adjustable gastric banding. Just to keep everyone out of hot water. :biggrin:

Drinking too fast caused me significant pain. I was very, very careful to sip but a few times I would tip back too much, and what do you do? Nowadays it's more a matter of drinking too soon, than the speed at which I drink.

Oh, I should have thought of this earlier, but one other point on the gum. It makes you salivate much, much more than normal. If you're like me and tend to be tighter earlier in the day, the extra salivation from chewing gum can lead to some discomfort. Just keep your fingers crossed, I guess. No one's going to tell you not to do it, but everyone has never swallowed gum, until that one time it happens.

My surgeon did not include cream of soups in the liquids phase, they were in a separate phase he called "thick liquids" - along with yogurts, purees, etc. If they were on my list, and I was still afraid of them, I would just blend them down with some Water or milk. Then you can decrease the fluids you're blending them with as you go. BTW, some are condensed, and some are not. If you buy condensed you will need to cut it or it won't be "cream of" Soup, it will be a congealed concentrate. So just watch what you're buying and be sure to read the directions.

And another:

Here is an excerpt from some advice I've posted before:

BTW, just read your clarification: Yes, I'm talking about a unfill to unlock the stuck food. Wish I could erase my vote because I didn't see that clarification first, but I cannot. I've never needed an unfill to clear stuck food. By the time I needed the unfill, I was yakking up saliva, just from swallowing. And actually, while waiting at the surgeon's office, the yakking stopped. I would have been fine to turn around and go home, but I figured the next time something got stuck I would start all over again, so may as well relieve some of the restriction. I know several banded people IRL, most of whom have been banded longer than I have. I know one person who once needed an unfill because food would not clear.

I've needed one unfill but it wasn't to relieve a single stick. It rarely is. In my case, I was overfilled (about two days prior to getting the unfill) and got stuck on a chewable Vitamin. It wasn't the vitamin, but the subsequent swelling, that sent my resetriction over the edge and to the point that I was closed off. Your question reads like - you eat a bite of something, and as a result need an unfill. THAT has never happened to me. So I wanted to clarify so as not to skew your results.

Our first time pre-op I was on top, I had about 100 lbs less than you to lose tho, so the size of my thighs was never the issue. So, if that helps, I was banded at 392 lbs, for size reference I'm between 5'10 and 5'11, and I could be on top pre-op.

Getting rid of stuck food. Please see our FAQ section, you will find a thread called "abbreviations and what they mean" - that will answer this question in more detail, and most questions on our special lingo. Back to topic...

See, PBs spurred by drinking too soon are totally different for me. As I'm drinking, before any feelings have truly registered, I get this sort of wave over my body, it's an "oh shit" feeling, where I know something is wrong and I know something is going to hurt. Like when you stub your toe, but just feel weird for a split second before the pain kicks in. Then when it registers, it hurts. Much more than a PB from food. Usually happens much faster, too. *shrug* So basically, we can't tell you what yours will be like. We can only give you some suggestions as to what you might experience.

Yeah, it's important to understand that our experiences are very individual. I PB once every few months (Feb was my last, and it was 2007 before that), some people PB weekly. It depends on restriction, eating behaviors, probably some luck, etc. So varied too are the ways we experience PBs. E.g., some people have luck with clearing a stick by drinking pineapple juice, eating papaya enzyme, meat tenderizer, certain body positions, etc. I've tried the papaya and all it did was turn my PB orange. I've tried the pineapple juice and all it did was intensify the pain and maybe slightly speed up the process. When a close call stick clears, for me it's usually a hiccup followed immediately by a burp. A hiccurp, if you will, and instant relief. On a few rarer occasions I've felt the stick clear, felt the "plop" as it moved through. Just a few times tho.

Low calorie tends to be high carb and vice versa. If you enjoy yogurt, and carbs seem to have that much effect on you, go for the low carb options over low cal/low fat. You can always omit it and add it from your diet to trend its effect. Maybe it was coincidence, but tracking it for a few weeks will help you figure out for sure.

I've given up gum. I've seen too many people in pain for days and days because a piece they've accidentally swallowed gets stuck. There's no way it's worth it. I had the urge to chew, so I chewed ice. Satisfied the urge + added to my daily Water intake, and usually felt really good going down. Have you tried ice? If you swallow a piece unchewed, at least it will melt. Can't say the same for gum.

My first two concerts (I can't remember which came first) were Echo & the Bunnymen and Sha-Na-Na. My third when I was about 13 was going to see John Kay & Steppenwolf with my parents at the Del Mar Fair. My first concert without parents was the Motley Crue "Dr. Feelgood" tour. I still, to this day, regularly listen to Tears for Fears, Duran Duran, The Cure, Joy Division, Echo & the Bunnymen, Bad English, Culture Club, Eurythmics, U2, etc. I'd have to look up songs I remember to see when they came out, but most of them I was listenting to in grade school, and I was a year ahead in school. Some of teh stuff you guys are talking about I barely remember, some of it is very clear. I'm on that weird GenX/GenY (or "millenial" if you prefer" cusp. I was in 6th grade I think when NKOTB hit. "Please don't go girl". I was going to marry Joey McIntyre, who's now this ultra conservative Christian singer. Guess we weren't such a great match afterall! I see a lot of the 80s fashion out there now and it kills me because I hated it the first time around. The thick tights under skirts, or tights with a long shirt -- matching your nail polish to your clothes, etc. I saw some young kids wearing the massive hair bows a few weeks ago, and a few kids with them had the "flock of seagulls" asymmetrical cut. Ok, random things I remember. Hopefully I'm not the only one. Not saying they originated in the 80s, just that I remember them from then. Monchichis Jem The Water pinball games, forget what they're actually called, where you pushed the button over and over trying to "puff" your balls into a net, or get your rings on a stick, etc. Denim jackets, preferrably with as many buttons as you could fit. Using weird things like plastic coils as belts. Wearing mom's dress shirts belted, like that made it a dress, with my Madonna style booties. Sea-Wees (man how I loved these in the bath or pool) My Little Pony, Rainbow Bright, Carebears (all of which are retro now, boohoo). I learned how to braid from reading the back of the MLP box and practicing on their tails. Teddy Ruxpin Cabbage patch Kids! Atari Malibu Musk and Love's Baby Soft. God, did anyone NOT wear Love's? Guess jeans. The size-smaller-than-you-really-wear, terribly bad fitting, overpriced jeans you HAD to have. Jeans with some generic leg embellishment, e.g. the size zipper, or the back was cut out and held together with denin bows, or front buttons, etc. Rememebr when fabric puff paint came out, and everyone had "customized" thirts, shoes, sweatshirts? Colorforms, shrinky dinks... I -layed with boy toys and had a giant collection of transformers, go-bots, Mastesr of the Universe, popoids, etc. Pillow People, Puffalumps, Smooshies... Aww crap I'm old.

My honest answer would be - depends #1 on how much you're willing to work at it, and #2 how much you have to lose. If you only have 100 lbs to lose, getting there in a year is going to be much tougher than if you have 200 lbs to lose.

When I used it, I would get it at GNC. $60 sounds about right. Never looked for it online. Once I tried some of the other brands, Isopure became a distant memory. Man, that stuff is nasty.

I eat Ethiopian food. I can tolerate injera. it's very moist and relatively easy to get down compard to most non-toasted breads I've tried (though I have no bread intolerances so far, it's just easier). If it proves to be a problem for you, just be "that" guy and ask for a fork. Don't break your pre-op diet. There are posts & posts on why this is bad, including having surgery cancelled.

I wasn't hungry at all for the first few days. 2 or 3. Then I hit a day where I was "starving" (obviously I really wasn't) and almost panicked because it seemed impossible to feel full on what I could eat. That lasted about a day and a half, and then it was easy going. To date, I could count on a hand and a half the number of times I've felt "true" hunger. Despite that one moment of panic, I pretty much lost my appetite on the pre-op diet, and it never really came back.

Curves is women only. Even employees. I can't say it's a great workout, but it's ok for beginners, and it beats watching tv. Curves is a mix of cardio and resistance training (like low weight/high rep weights, kind of). You're at a resistance station, then you go to a cardio station, then resistance station, then cardio station... My best suggestion, having been the totally paranoid girl at the regular gym -- just swallow the pride and shame, and go. Trust me, I was almost 400 lbs and I know the discomfort that comes with going to a coed gym. I know it perhaps better than most others. But a regular gym is going to be better long-term than something like Curves (IMO). See if a local college has one they will let the public use, that's a little less "meat market" usually. Dh and I have a membership to the one our local CC uses and the stff is great, they're used to seeing a lot of college freshman who don't know how to use the equipment or what type of program to follow, so they're excellent when it comes to instructing you on the use, making sure you get it, etc. Plus they'll usually offer classes for little to to add'l fee - yoga, aerobics, etc. Maybe not for you now, but eventually. Also, if you have a local Y. We had a membership there for about a year. It was a lot pricier than a regular gym (about $80/month, compared to $400 a year for the local gym, BUT our Y based your fee on income and DH and I were above their maximum income and were billed at their highest rate so we paid more than most others there. Which in principle pissed me off, but anyway... they told us avg for ppl to pay was about $25/month). Pro - onsite pool. Con - onsite pool was booked by the local HS swimteam 4/7 nights. Pro - lots of equipment choices. Con - workout rooms smelled like old sweat. Pro - good variety in physical condition, age, etc. Con - kids tended to go there in groups and would be extremely loud/obnoxious, and would always loiter right by the scale which I refused to get on if anyone else could see anything. ETA: you really don't have to worry about walking into a gym and doing your own thing. Every gym I've belonged to, even the Y, scheduled you for a consultation with one of their "fitness experts" where you went over your stats, limitations, gas, etc. and they would design a sort of workout schedule for you... what to do, how much to do it, how often, etc. If for no other reason than liability, so they can show you how to use the machines, this is usually a required step. So it's not like you walk in blind and just do your thing.

I don't eat cheap, and I love making meals with 20 ingredients, but I will try and help you with some suggestions. With the caveat that I couldn't tell you what I pay for something unless I pulled out my receipts, if I had them, so I'm guessing on the costs. First - I've never heard of putting noodles in chili, so I guess my suggestion would be to use white beans/northern Beans, which I adore, but these would likely replace something nasty like kidney beans, and not Pasta. But hey - they're both white. I often cook turkey chili with sweet cornbread (one box cornbread mix, one box cake mix). I think ends up being a pretty cheap meal. The ground turkey is probably about $5, a few bucks for the tomato sauce and seasoning packet... a buck or so for beans, maybe a buck or two for the mixes. I also make a Mexican pork chili - pork loin (about $15 or $20, but this makes a HUGE batch of chili, so I usually only make it to take to family things), tomato sauce (ew cans, so what, few bucks?), some red pepper, etc. chicken can be made in tons of ways. And it's what, $5 or $6 a pack? (skinless, boneless). My husband prefers dark meat. Lastnight I fried some thighs (cheaper than breasts, I think) in olive oil (I did slice a few garlic cloves to sautee into the oil beforehand, but you could skip that or just use powdered), topped them with some random seasonings BUT you can also just slowly add canned/boxed chicken stock "with herbs" until the stock reduces and carmelizes, this makes a very easy, very tasty glaze for the chicken. Add some frozen veggies or steamed fresh or something, or some mac & cheese... My favorite crockpot meals are either lechon asado (cuban pork roast) or this thing I don't know what it's called, I read about it on here a year or so ago. For the lechon, it's a pork roast with a half bottle of Goya brand "Mojo Criollo" (about $3 or $4 for a wine-sized bottle, get 2 - 3 uses depending on the size of the pork roast and the size of your crockpot). If they have them I add extra juice from Seville oranges, or bitter orange, but not always. I also add in sliced onion. I usually just make it with cuban black beans (canned, about $1) and rice (don't know, $3 for a huge bag?) for hubby. Other favorite crockpot meal is chicken cut into cubes, and 1 - 2 (depednign on how much chicken) cans golden mushroom soup, cream of chicken soup. Then add either a cup of mayo or sour cream, don't remember which, and a handful of shredded cheddar. Hubby loves this over rice, I actually eat it hot like a soup. Burgers (I make turkey + hamburger for hubby since I don't eat red meat) are always cheap, and I usually throw on a few FF turkey dogs to snack on or have for future meals. If you have a place like Sam's, their frozen fish fillets are generally decent quality and cheap since you're buying in bulk. Maybe $10 - $20 per bag, but you're getting at least 10 fillets. I pay $7 per fillet for the fresh Costa Rican tilapia. (You can get Chinese imported cheaper, but don't). Where do you find most of your cooking budget going? I could easily spend $125 on one of my "way home from work" grocery stops, but I'm buying hubby wine to have with dinner, Desserts, fresh herbs and spices, I don't buy generics, lots of fresh fruits, etc. If I look at just the basics I'm buying, I'm spending $30 or so? Maybw teice or three times a week. But factor in that I'm paying more for it than I have to because I choose to go to organic grocers, local stores, or even Target. I'm sure if I went somewhere like Walmart, bought generic, used coupons, etc I could get a lot more for my money. When I was a baby, before my mom went back to work, they were on a very tight budget. I remember them getting by on lots of fillers, like mac & cheese with tuna stirred into it, or eggs with hot dogs cut up in them. breakfasts were eggs, toast... both very cheap. Omlette. Things like that. Lunches were mostly sandwiches. Wanna know something sad that's kind of hard to admit? Pre-op, between DH and I (I rarely cooked pre-op), we'd average about $1950/month of just food,mostly eating out because seriously, we'd eat breakfast/lunch/dinner out at least 5x a week. And there wasn't too much room on that average between high and low, maybe a low around $1700 and a high around $2200. On food. To think about that now so completely disgusts me.

Totally depends on the day, time of day, time of month. Yesterday a fried jalapeno cheese thing was too much, couldn't finish 1 of them. Saturday for dinner I had an order of Beans from Taco Bueno (comparable to pintos n' cheese in size, but much better) and the smallest quarter of a quesadilla. Friday I couldn't eat lunch, but I had a tilapia fillet and some asparagus for dinner. Typical for me is to be very, very restricted in the morning lasting until... I'd say between 1 and 5pm, and then be able to eat a moderate meal. I've seen a trend where, in the pm, one bite may seem like too much but then once I let it pass and take a drink, I'm able to eat "normal". Like a delayed first bite syndrome.

Puddin ended up looking like someone who never had a weight problem, minus the PS scars. Her pics always amazed me. I miss a few that I can remember, and some I can't. Lisa25 (she popped up somewhat recently but I haven't seen her since - did a drive-by), MiniMe, Carlene & TOM were great stimulation in RnR, it's not the same without them. VinesQueen (another drive-by). A few locals I know IRL who are oldies here. And a bunch of others I'm forgetting at the moment.