Jodi_620

It is very normal to have doubts and fears this close to surgery. My biggest fear was going through surgery and still failing at losing weight. The band absolutely is just a tool, you will get out of it what you put in. You have to follow the rules, make good food choices, not eat in between meals and keep active. You also have to deal with any emotional eating and cravings on your own. In turn the band will allow you to feel satisfied on smaller portions and stay satisfied until your next meal. It is so much easier to deal with the healthy eating part when you are not constantly hungry. Having the band, eating only healthy carbs and eating solid fresh unprocessed nutritional food has allowed me to have consistent weight loss...no regrets.

hair loss is fairly common. It typically starts three months after surger and is resolved within three months. There are three possible reasons, make sure you cover these areas and you should be fine. 1.) Protein deficiency. Make sure you are getting 60 grams of high quality protein per day 2.) Vitamin B/Biotin Deficiency. Due to the pre-op and post-op diets and the lower volume of food you could experience vitamin deficiencies. You are probably taking a daily muliple, if not start. You may also want to add a Hair, Skin and Nails formula (easy to find in most stores that carry vitamins). Look for something with 3000mcg. of Biotin. 3.) System stress: many people have hair loss due to "shock". The body has gone through a sudden diet change and a surgery. Sometimes our system will shut down unnecessary functions to focus on the necessary ones. Hair not being necessary for life, is the first to go. Once your body recovers hair growth will resume. I had a lot of thinning and I focused on the above things, my hair loss stopped within three months and now it thicker than ever.

Yeah, it would be crazy to get an adjustment this early. In only two weeks, the internal sutures have not had time to heal. Just like eating solids too soon, getting a fill this early would risk you slipping the band. The band needs to heal in place properly so that you will have success. Try to be patient. Your weight stats are close to what mine were, it seems to take a long time in the beginning but before you know it you will be amazed at how quickly things are progressing.

For the first seven months I averaged 8 pounds per month. For the last two months, since I hit the "20 pounds to goal" mark, I am only losing around 2 or 3 per month. :thumbup: You are doing great. Sorry, 10+ pounds was not a realistic expectation. Shoot for 1-2 pounds per week, some weeks you might lose more and other times you may hit a plateau but you should try to average out to 4-8 pounds per month.

Are you taking small bites (about the size of the fingernail on your index finger), chewing well and waiting for it to go down before taking the next bite? Are you making sure you don't drink during the meal? (the not drinking rule is mainly to keep from washing to food out, but I found out the hard way that drinking can also cause me to get stuck) Are ending your meal before you are full? How much are you eating? Did the chicken dry out when you reheated it? Did you feel the pain just when you ate the leftovers or did it hurt to eat other foods (breakfast)? If you are following all the rules and all the above checks out, then maybe you are too tight.

The evils of carbs...the more you eat the more you crave it. Watch your intake of all processed carbs and try looking for a sugar free alternative to the candy. I am a carboholic but because I have strictly limited my breads, pastas, potato and sugar since my pre-op diet, I have not had many problems with cravings. I get my carbs from fruits, veggies, dairy and whole grain cereal. I tame sugar cravings with sugar free fruit juice or a sugar free snack. Once I eat just a little of the other stuff the cravings get started and I have to completely cut out carbs for a few days to reset myself.

I was told no strenuous lifting or abdominal stress for six weeks but to otherwise keep active and listen to my body so as not to overdo it.

That is just an average, not a magic number. It actually was five for me and more or less for others.

The OP is still in the pureed/mushie stage...candy is not an option right now.

My first "sweet spot" came at fill #3 I believe 3.22CC's. I was doing great for two weeks, lost a bunch of weight then lost my restriction. My doc allows me to come in anytime after 1 week to get another fill. Fill number four was small but effective then like the previous fill, I lost weight and lost restriction quickly. Fill five lasted longest. I guess by then I had lost most of the fat around my stomach so weight loss was not having such a big impact on my restriction. My doctor is not real sure exactly how much I have now but it is just a little over 5cc's (10cc band). I have been at this level for over two months now. At this point I am almost at goal so weight loss has been very slow. You know you have restriction when you are not hungry after eating a small amount of food (for me, approx. 3/4 C) and stay satisfied for several hours (at least four hours) and of course are losing weight. How you feel when you eat (getting stuck, PB'ing etc.) is not so much an indication that you need a fill as it is that you need to watch how and what you are eating. A hot drink in the morning is actually good for those of us who are tight in the AM...I have a cup of tea every morning with no issues.

Mine is accurate to my doctors scale. Although I typically weigh a pound or two lighter when I weigh myself first thing in the morning as compared to when I typically see my doctor in the afternoon. But I have come straight home from fill appointments and checked and my scale always jives with his. Not that there is ever a huge difference but in my mind I go by my weight first thing in the AM because that is always the better number.

Oh, I SO remember that feeling! I just wanted to CHEW something....anything. I did find that popsicles and fudgesicles helped a bit, you can chew them then let them melt before swallowing. Otherwise, just take it one day at a time and this stage will soon pass!

My DH is one of those that can eat like a horse and never gain an ounce, he has absolutely no fat on his body and his entire family is thin. Even before getting the Lap Band I ate less than hubby and still kept gaining. But all have been surprisingly supportive. MIL didn't quite get it at first and with good intentions suggested Jenny Craig and the gym as an alternative to surgery but she is so on board now. Mom worried about the surgery but is supportive now. Pretty much everyone around me knows that I have had it done and I have not had too many problems. I am sure that there are people who may seem supportive but are judging my decision behind by back but I am also sure that some of these same people judged me when I was obese too...thats just the way people are.

I am past that stage but I can still provide input. I ate lean meats, mainly white meat chicken & fish and fresh veggies. Egg Beaters is lowfat, low cal and high protein and not bad if you add some veggies and a little lowfat cheese. Oatmeal cooked in lowfat milk is good but without a fill might not be filling enough. You are in bandster hell (period between going on solids and getting adjustments) so you should not be expected to lose weight at this point. I was able to keep from gaining but did not lose much. My surgeon was pleased with that though and said many of his patients gain back 5-10 pounds during this stage. When the fills come you will start to see a difference, it may take a couple fills but be patient and it will happen.

Simple yes or no questions like "I love my mother", "I want to be a fireman" and my personal favorite "I like to torture small animals". Some of the questions are repeated, some several times. It is very boring but take your time and answer honestly (I was told that they can tell if you did not). There really isn't a pass or fail unless you don't answer honestly or you have some serious psych issues; it just determines personality and other traits about you. After evaluating my test she was able to describe my personality quite accurately and also determine that I have an addictive personality. I was also scheduled for two hours but it actually took closer to one hour.

Yeah, a scale can come in handy when measuring certain items: hard to measure a fish filet with a measuring cup without mashing it up.

I have a scale and weigh myself every morning. The general rule when losing weight is to NOT weigh every day but I think it really depends on the individual. It sounds like you would be discouraged by frequent weighing so maybe not having a scale would be best. Personally, I can handle slight weight fluctuations and understand that there are many factors that can cause flucutations. I weigh myself the same time every day, in the morning after emptying my bladder. For me, it helps keep me accountable.

What you will experience may be different but for me, not all docs do the same thing. I had two visits. The first one was to take a psych test, it took more than an hour and had several hundred "yes" and "no" questions like "Do you love your mother?" "Do you want to be a fireman?" "Have you ever intentionally hurt yourself?" Many of these questions are repeated and the test is soooo boring. If you have to take the test, just take your time and answer honestly (they can tell if you lie). The second visit was about 30 minutes. She went over the test and explained what the results show about me. She gave me a verbal "pop quiz" to see how well I have researched and understand the entire Lap Band process. We discussed my schedule, my eating habits and what kind a support I will have with family and friends. She gave me a bunch of reading material on emotional eating and nutrition and a journal to keep track of my eating. I agreed that if at any time during my weight loss process it is determined that I need counseling that I will seek it. In the beginning I wasn't too keen on the idea of having to see her but I can understand why it is a requirement. They just want to make sure that you are mentally and emotionally prepared for the surgery and what comes afterward.

What you thought was the port probably wasn't. The port usually isn't directly under the incision. If your port was placed near the belly button, it is probably above and to the right of your incision.

You should go from mushies to solids slowly but you shouldn't puree your food anymore, once on solids it is the time to train yourself to eat normally. Start out with soft Proteins like fish, Beans and eggs. Build up slowly to tender chicken or chicken cooked in sauce then tougher proteins like beef. Be sure to take small bites (about the size of the fingernail on your index finger) and chew your food very well before swallowing. Put your fork down and give the food time to go down before taking the next bite. After a while you will get used to what you can handle and it will come more naturally to you.

You can get a kitchen scale if you want. You can get them in most stores that sell kitchen supplies. I don't really measure, I did at first so that I could figure out how much food I could handle but after a while you get a feel for it and are able to serve it up without weighing and measuring, and your band will let you know when you've had enough. It takes more than 1/4-1/2 cup for me though. I guess I am eating around 1-2 ounces of meat and 1/2 cup of veggies maybe a little fruit for a total of 3/4-1 cup max per meal but my needs vary from meal-to-meal and fill-to-fill. Also the type of food you eat makes a difference. A softer mushier food is not going to fill you up like a denser heavier food. I never used a scale, I used measuring cups or just used tricks to eye up my portions. Here are some handy hints: 1 oz meat=size of matchbox 3 oz meat=size of deck of cards/bar of soap 3 oz fish filet=size of a checkbook 1 oz cheese=four dice

I can not lie down soon after eating, haven't been able to since banding. I have always needed a minimum of 2 hrs. to digest a bit. Maybe you could nap first then get up and eat, for weight loss that is the better way anyway. Since my last fill two months ago, I can't sleep on my stomach at all, no matter how long ago I have eaten or had a drink. I can have dinner at 5PM and at 1AM I wake up to find that I rolled over in my sleep and my pouch contents came up. I don't wretch but the undigested food or drink just works its way up into my throat (no stomach acid).

Are you taking a calcium supplement in addition to your multi-vitamin? I take either Caltrate chewables or Viactive both have extra vitamin D as well. When I get cravings, usually for plain milk, it is a sign that I need more calcium and have even doubled the dose.

Personally I am not "hungry" as in tummy growling but more like hungry as in I need nutrition, kinda feel run down or low on energy. My nutritionist said that it is important to "break your fast" by eating breakfast within the first hour of rising. I am always tight in the morning. I have always been able to manage solid food for breakfast (as in eggs or oatmeal) but some mornings it really takes work to get it down.