jnbwilds

My surgeon has a local support group that meets monthly. I take my clothes with me to group and offer them up to people who are in different stages.

How awesome! That is a great NSV!! I can't wait to catch up to my DH's weight. I've got about 20 lbs to go. I doubt my bottom will ever fit in his shorts - but darnit - now, I'm hankerin' to try!!

Sorry for hopping in to a discussion among Bostonians, but I thought I'd try to catch the OP's question. The 2 reasons to lose weight pre-op are 1) lower the weight - lower the risk of any surgery complications and 2) losing weight (especially by cutting carbs & sugar) will shrink your liver, making your stomach easier to access during surgery. Good luck all....

Thanks for coming out into the light! Congrats on your surgery date. While you are trying shakes - I highly recommend chocolate flavored Muscle Milk, especially if you are looking for something pre-mixed.

Welcome to the forum and congratulations on your decision! I'm sure you will find lots of support here. If you are new to the forum - a few really motivating areas are the Before and After pics in general support and of course, the month of surgery support groups. You can find people who are being banded the same month as you - so you are going through the same stages with you. I also have 2 small kids and already, I am so glad I did this! I can keep up with them much better now!

Welcome to the forum. It is wonderful to have a group of people who have followed the same journey! I'd start with the month of surgery support groups - look for April 2008. It's always great to be able to chat with people who are in the same stage as you are.

Welcome to the forum! Start with the FAQ and you'll learn a ton about the lap band. There are a lot of lap band veterans around who will be happy to answer your questions.

Welcome to the forum! Best of luck as you work through the preliminaries. Stick to those pre-op diets and congratulations on making a great decision.

Ok, I know this isn't really a "mild" suggestion - but my husband who hates fish and fishy smells loves this, so I figured it is safe to share. About 6 months ago I discovered Salmon pinwheels at the Target Grocery. They are thin fillets of salmon pinwheeled around a stuffing (I love the crab or lobster, and even the spinach / cheese) They are delicious, easy to cook up, really don't smell very fishy because of all the spices and filling, and are outrageously full of Protein. They are a bit high in fat, but if you are low-carbing, they are a great dinner protein. I also processed them to mush in my food processor during my puree phase post-op - really, really yummy. Another way to cook Tilapia to reduce the fishy smell / taste - is to lightly saute scallions and a tomato, toss with Feta cheese and put on top of broiled Tilapia.

Hi! We started at the same BMI - and let me tell you - you can TOTALLY lose more than the 30-50% of excess body weight. Of course, they estimate on the low end, just so your expectations are realistic. I do think it's important to go in with the expectations to get healthy rather than to get skinny. However, I've lost over 50% of my excess weight and I'm just 2 months out from surgery. Don't worry! You can do it. Remember, the statistics have to take into account all the people who do not adjust their lifestyle and eat around the band. If you follow the plan and use the band as a tool rather than expecting it to be a magic solution - you can lose closer to 75% of your excess weight.

Don't worry! Part of the purpose of the evaluation is to see if continuing counseling or meds would help you. I was worried too, because I had to admit to the guy that 1) I was on Prozac, 2) I have seen my counselor on and off for years and 3) I struggled with bulemia for a while. I was scared to death thinking he would deny me. BUT - to my surprise, he was actually pleased that I am in active treatment. He said it would be more worrisome if I had some of those issues and was unwilling to seek treatment. He said to continue to see my counselor, good luck with the surgery and see you later.... You'll be fine! Continuing counseling is a great idea since it will help you make behavior adjustments and is just a healthy thing to do overall!

If you are still in the puree post-op stage, you are probably getting under 800 calories a day. Under 800, your body is likely conserving energy, thinking you are in a "famine". Once you move to the next stage and are getting 800 plus calories, your energy will start to improve. Good luck!

No wonder this nation is obese!! Now that I've started paying attention to calories, I'm stunned by what I used to eat. The other night I looked up my huband's meal from Skyline Chili on-line. His large 5 way chili on spaghetti with cheese and oyster crackers, and 2 chili dogs came to almost 2000 calories. We won't mention the fat grams or carbs. When I read that out loud, he started turning green. Thanks for this list - I will NEVER eat a chocolate shake again - from anywhere!!

One option is bringing your own food. After our last trip to Disney World (which I LOVED and I am a Disney FREAK) I was disappointed by the price and quality of food - especially in the fast service places. Even 2 years before the band I knew it wasn't good for me or my DH and kids. And it was really expensive!! So next time we go I will be bringing a lot of health snacks and lunch things with us, and we will go out for a nice supper just once or twice. By the way....I can always get kid's meals wherever we go because I have an 8 year old son who has been out-eating me for years (darn that skinny little cutie pie). So he orders me a kid's meal, I order him a regular size meal and we switch when it arrives. hee hee!

I also order what I want and just have them box up half or more before they even bring it to the table. It's funny - I feel like I'm "cheating the system" because I get 2 or 3 meals out of any meal I get at restaurants. This strategy makes it much easier on my friends and family - who were constantly asking, "Where can Becca eat?" I now answer "Becca can eat wherever you want to eat - but if you see me start to peek into the 'to-go' box, you'd better slap my hand."

So true! I'm embarassed now to remember how much time I spent eating, thinking about eating, watching TV about cooking, talking with friends about food, planning meals. Yikes. So here's what I'm doing now instead. 1. Getting out of the house with my family. We're walking and biking with the kids. Funny how much more enjoyable it is to ride my bike now that I don't run out of breath before I'm down the driveway. 2. Reading weight loss blogs and posts on this forum. Keeps me motivated. A few of my favorites are the hilarious PastaQueen at half of me (dot) com and of course the amazingly transformed Shauna at Dietgirl Com. 3. Self-pampering. Pedicures, long baths and massages are all part of this category. 4. Reading - I made myself a book list of great classics to read and I read them upstairs....far away from the fridge. 5. Shopping - now that I can buy tops in "normal" stores, I cannot be stopped. Now here are some things I THOUGHT I would spend time doing, but have not yet found the inspiration to get started on. 1. Catch up on my scrapbooking....so many pictures - it's overwhelming. 2. Join a gym - I'm waiting to see how much weight I can lose without having to do any formal form of exercise. 3. Clean my house more often. Why did I think I would do this?

I won't post a pic here since I am incapable of simple photo editing work without my husband's assistance and he is out of town. However, I do show off my scars (2 months post op) in Episode 2 of my video blog (linked below).

I had a surprising experience with my PCP today. The last time I saw him was in December, (I'm sure we had our "let's see if we can eat a bit less and exercise more" conversation, as usual). He had never been supportive of Gastric Bypass, which I had been researching last year. Since I did self-pay, I never needed to tell him about my lap-band. So, I didn't - but was a bit nervous, since his office is 3 doors down from my lap-band surgeon's door in the same medical building! Today, I went for my annual physical, and obviously, the scale told on me. I confessed that I had lap band surgery. To my happy surprise - his response was, "Fantastic! - why do you use the word 'confess'? I'm happy for you!" So I reminded him of his gastric bypass opinions - and his reply - "yes, but lap band is so much safer!". Wow. So he looks at my file to see the weight and notices that I've lost 50 lbs in 3 months. He was blown away. He said I was his first patient to have a lap band and he was thrilled to see how well I'd done. He mentioned that he had many other patients he would mention this to!! I was so relieved and happy with his support! So - there are plenty of PCP's out there who will do their research and not lump all WLS into one category. Good luck finding a new doctor! And good luck with your surgery!

Here were mine... 1. Most importantly - I wasn't thrilled with the fatality rate for gastric bypass. 2. Band is adjustable, which means that as I lose weight, the band adjusts to help me more or less as I have different needs. 3. Band works by restricting appetite, not through malabsorbtion (which causes vitamin deficiencies) 4. No "dumping syndrome" - so I can eat small amounts of sugar without throwing my body into insulin shock. 5. No re-routing of intestines - just didn't sound right to me. 6. Quicker surgery recovery 7. Slower weight loss - yep, I call that a benefit - because slower weight loss means less loose skin, and more likelihood of the weight staying off. 8. Significantly cheaper - especially important if your insurance doesn't cover the surgery. 9. Gastric bypass seemed too extreme for my BMI (40 at time of surgery) 10. I totally clicked with my lap band surgeon and his office staff - who have become not only my support network, but my friends. The local hospital that does gastric bypass was not appealing at all. Hope that helps!

It's TOTALLY worth it. Here's the difference. Pre-band night "naughty" dinner out: Huge Pasta dish w/ garlic bread, salad with ranch dressing, glass of wine. Dessert - large piece of cheesecake, cappuchino Post-band night "naughty" dinner out: Order steamed scallops - eat half of them, eat a few bites of salad and a few sips of wine. Order the cheesecake, but split with husband, drink decaf with dessert. Ideal Band night out: Grilled chicken salad with blue cheese - eat half, take home half. No dessert, wine or drinking with meal. So you see that with the band....even when you're "bad", you CAN'T be as bad as you used to be. I spent the last 10 years dieting myself up to almost 300 lbs. I started my band journey in January of this year - and I've already lost half of my excess weight. Oh yes....it's worth it.

Here's my miracle brew - works almost every day. This is my Breakfast each morning. In a large mug 2 Tablespoons of Carnation Instant breakfast 1 Tablespoon of Benefiber (I buy the Vitamin fortified kind) Fill with hot decaf and splash in some fat free creamer Between the extra fiber and the hot drink - I'm all set. And the bonus - it keeps me full until lunchtime.

It was wonderful. Every little bite. And just to be extra decadent - I scraped the big pile of whipped cream off of it and dumped that in my coffee. And really - it's not the cheesecake that's the problem. The problem is I make one little error, and then it snowballs into - "oh well, I might as well enjoy the weekend and get back on track Monday". Except, I didn't exactly get back on track Monday. In fact - today, I ate a whole bag of popcorn at the movies. My 8 year old son says to me, "Mommy, I thought you said you couldn't eat popcorn anymore." Nice....so, I reply, "Yes, I did say that, and even mommies make mistakes sometimes", but I don't think he heard me through my mouthful of popcorn (extra butter please).

I'm highly intrigued!! Just one question - do you get the "fake sugar aftertaste"? I'm a hater of all things asparteme - but can handle a little Splenda. Is it sickly sweet or more fruity would you say?

Ok - so I sound like a commercial for the band, but I have to say it.... I can't think of a food I miss the most because I can really eat anything....just in small portions! I choose not to eat simple carbs because I lose more weight that way. But really - that's why I love the band! I want something - I eat a few bites of it - I feel full and satisfied - I don't need to binge and eat the whole thing. So I can't eat celery anymore because it's stringy. Guess what I say to that? Thank Goodness!! The stuff was never any good unless covered in Peanut Butter or cream cheese anyway. And if you need to use something to dig out the peanut butter or cream cheese, use a spoon for crying out loud.

When: This weekend Where: Cheesecake Factory What: White Chocolate Raspberry Truffle How Much: Just half a piece...but with coffee Why: I really have no idea