kamala

That's my fault. The weight gain number was a ballpark based on the maximum acceptable gain to me over that time period. I didn't base the gain on the additional calories I would expect to consume. I would not be putting down 3700 calories per day for 3 weeks straight. Of the 3 weeks, there are only 7-8 days that are a concern. The other 13-14 days I will be in situations where I will definitely not have cultural/communication issues related to eating and will be able to make appropriate food choices based only on my own dietary concerns.

I'm young and haven't developed any of the typical health problems that go along with being fat. Yet. I know I'll have much better quality of life fixing my weight issues now then waiting until those things come along. And I miss roller coasters, hate mens' wearhouse suits, and would like to use less air when I scuba dive!

I actually had a weird situation in the hospital post-op. My Doc's diet instructions are that cream of wheat/rice, grits, oatmeal are mushies, but the hopsital's full liquids menu included cream of wheat/rice. I had some runny cream of wheat with protein powder mixed in during the first two weeks, no problems.

Aurelia: As I already stated, having a discussion where someone poses a question and then pushes back to test the assertions laid out by others does not mean they are "hellbent" on doing something; for me it means exactly the opposite. I have not made a decision. I am an independent thinker and when I want to do something, I choose to do it once I believe I have sufficient information to do so. I don't need baseless platitudes or the validation of other people to support my decisions. What I do need is more information based on the actual experiences of other people (plus my doctor's opinion) to help me make an informed choice. I understand that saying I don't worry about the validation of other people appears to conflict with my initial point in this whole conversation about eating more than a lap band portion to not be insulting to hosts. We make trade-offs in all things in life. Given my hosts and their likely inability to understand what is going on with me and the effect that being rude will have on my relationships with other people who have relationships with my hosts, I am trying to find a way to accomodate my own issues and the cultural issues. I am not looking for anyone to tell me I won't have to pay a price for the unfill period, I am certain there will be some price. But I want to make the best decision I can by having as much information as possible about that price. As kglover correctly points out, we're 8.5 months from the trip and I agree with her that my thoughts and feelings about many things will likely undergo significant changes. Talking in absolutes does not advance this conversation unless you have some firm basis for stating that the three-week situation I have laid out will stop and reverse my weight loss for all time even if I am refilled afterwards. I understand and am sympathetic as to why some people need to deal with the issue of their weight in absolutes and if I were considerably older and wasn't trying to use the tools I have to address this issue and get more information months in advance, I'd be right there with you on looking at this as black and white rather than very gray. On the cow comment: I'm all for comedy and as anti-PC as they come, I was just worried it was in the same vein as the previous commenters who are thinking I'm going from lap-band portions to a trough. NancyB: Great point about walking more. But to add some more information into the conversation, walking is not an issue for me. I decided on surgery now because I wanted to avoid all the unfortunate co-morbidities suffered by many on the board. I don't have any though. If you looked at my medical record and ignored the weight, you would see a healthy 32 year-old male with acceptable total cholesterol but an undesirable HDL/LDL/Triglyceride balance and slightly elevated blood sugar. I can workout at high intensity for an hour. And I know I'm fortunate that my body has tolerated the weight as well as it has for as long as it has (although the last 90 lbs are only in the last couple of years). Sweet spot issues and a significant delay in getting back on track do seem to be a real concern though. I am prepared to accept 3 weeks of nil loss or slight gain (10-15 lbs) in return for ensuring I am acting in a culturally appropriate manner and being a good guest. But if the idea I have would result in being plateaued for months afterwards or the end of any lap-band progress at all, I would not do it. I haven't had my first fill yet (4 weeks from now), so who knows what is going to happen with fills at this point anyway. Just so we're clear (and I'm surprised no one has mentioned this yet), I am exploring ways to communicate what I would need to communicate about my eating restriction to our hosts the same as I would with a friend having me over for dinner in the US. If I were confident that would work, I wouldn't be here on the board asking questions. And I would absolutely choose that option over an unfill even if the information I get on the board and from my Doctor convinced me that a 3-week unfill would be okay.

I have a couple of short trips planned back to the East Coast in the next few months but they don't present a fair comparison even though my hometown, NYC, has numerous food triggers. The people I am visiting are close enough that I can explain what is going on (most of them already know about the surgery). And I have had enough cannolis and Papaya King to last a lifetime. To do this experiment accurately, I would have to take two very similar trips in close proximity. And, unfortunately, I don't see another three-week trip to Europe happening anytime soon!

The cow comments are not helpful to the dialogue, same as huge/gorge/overeat. It is impossible for me to believe that I am the only person on this board who when not banded and not on a diet pre-band was able to eat a normal-healthy-larger-than-a-band-portion meal. I'm not saying that is how I ate all the time, because that's obviously not true. But I don't think its helpful to work from the idea that everyone's pre-band behavior at all times was five overloaded plates at the buffet. I have knowledge, tools, a goal (and several non-scale goals related to the scale goals), and will schedule a post-vacation fill appointment. I consciously think about my eating and what I put in my mouth in a way that has never before happened in my life. I exercise like a fiend. Why should all of these things count for nothing when making this decision? Let me throw another log on the fire. And preface it with the fact that in my pre-surgery evals, the social worker, dietician, my PCP, and surgeon all agreed that this was the single most important aspect of my fitness for lap-band and candidate to be successful. When asked why lap-band, I said "my problem is not down, it's up. I can lose weight on my own and have lost a lot in the past. But without a tool that focuses me on what I am eating, when work gets in the way I don't think about eating and just do what I am going to do until things calm down enough at work for me to refocus myself." So given all the active thinking I am doing on these issues, how is it impossible for me to travel three weeks and eat larger but not cow/obscene/gorge while still exercising and then get a fill when I return? Let's not pretend that there aren't plenty of people on this board who have held it together for three weeks if not significantly longer on their pre-band efforts.

Now I feel like we're having a useful discussion. WasABB's comments on alcoholism are somewhat on point also. The difference here from whatever I did before and any splurges that eventually took me off prior game plans is that there is a guaranteed end date to the vacation and a scheduled appointment for refill afterwards. That splurge mentality that has failed us before in trying prior diets is based upon the mental thought "I'm doing okay, I can have one day off, then get back on the horse." I chose lap-band because I know I have a problem with eating and that I do a terrible job of controlling myself. For this vacation, I am going in with the thought "I know I have a problem, I will do my best to utilize the skills I've learned to manage the vacation, but because those are ultimately not enough in the long term, I will be refilled after vacation." To me, this mindset and a specified end date is the biggest difference between pre-band diets/splurges and the circumstances of the vacation. Also, so we can avoid additional comments that I've already made up my mind, which is categorically not true, let me expand upon some earlier comments. Sometimes it is important just to have the conversation, but that conversation's utility is directly proportional to the strength of the rationale behind people's arguments. So please don't take my push back as denial, entrenched mindset, or anything else of that nature. I'm pushing back to further the conversation and probe the issues and/or because some of the comments raise genuine new questions about what I originally posted. I am quite conflicted about what to do and raise it now so that I can carefully think about this for 8.5 months rather than try to figure out what the hell I'm going to do 3 weeks before vacation.

Part of the problem with this discussion is that people are using loaded words like "huge," "gorge," and "overeat" that I did not use in my questions. I think somewhere between the 1/2 to 1 cup allowed by the band and huge/gorge/overeat is a reasonable compromise for 3 weeks with the knowledge that I will get the band re-filled as soon as I get home. I don't expect to be served claimjumper or otherwise supersized portions (one of the many good reasons Europeans are generally in better shape than Americans), but I know that no one will be putting 4 ounces of food in front of me either. And I'm not looking to put away multiple plates of Pasta. My intent is to eat with the non-band habits that I have painstakingly developed for the benefit of the band (and that you can see resulted in decent weight loss leading up to surgery earlier this month). This includes eating slowly, chewing thoroughly, avoiding drinking with meals, and limiting alcohol. Also, I will be continuing to exercise as intensely as I do here with the added bonus of walking around all day rather than sitting at a desk.

I haven't made up my mind, but I am looking for useful information or folks who have been in similar situations. I'm sorry you don't understand that refusing food and/or eating too little can be a terrible slight in some cultures. Obviously the most important person I can have this conversation with is my Doctor, but I asked the question here because I suspect there are folks here who have had to ask the same question.

I completely disagree about eating not being a big reason for a trip to other countries, particularly food-centric places such as Europe. A huge part of the culture and draw is the food. When we're on our own, eating with the band would be no issue. The problem is when we're being hosted by family friends and there is no really good way to explain why the big guy can't eat on vacation and not grossly insult the host. I honestly would rather re-do the work of putting that 10-15 pounds from vacation back off then be the ingrate visitor.

Had my two week appointment yesterday and Doc okayed me to transition to solids trying one new thing per meal. Scrambled eggs are a frequent meal. I've browned some ground chicken and mixed in some tomato sauce and a little skim ricotta and parmasean to make basically a pastaless lasagna. Also had a turkey burger plain, no bun.

Been to the gym a few times: elliptical, exercise bike, treadmill for 35 to 60 minutes. Had my 2-week post-op appointment yesterday and was taken off lifting and soaking restriction 2 weeks early! So hopefully I'll be doing some deep water hydrofit with my wife shortly. I honestly don't even know what that entails but my wife badly needs a workout buddy to get her to go, so I said I would.

Crumbled pork rinds also make a great alternate breading for some dishes!

I had my band installed one week ago, March 10. Things are going great, only took pain meds one day and that was two days after surgery so I could get some sleep. Already been to the gym for some quality time with the exercise bike and the elliptical. Will be nice to have some scrambled eggs when I go to soft foods in another week. My doc puts folks on a three-week liquid diet beforehand, so already at a month on liquids. Chili blends up real nice though. Hope everyone else is doing well.

48 hours or so to go here. I'm ready to rock!

And home scales are not completely accurate. I can weigh myself, go to the men's room, and weigh again 2 pounds heavier not even 10 minutes later knowing full well that I'm carrying around less.

I'm down for a buddy from Oz! Everyone ready for Tuesday?

I'm on Day 5 of a 3-week pre-op diet. Similar to what others have talked about: 2 shakes and a lean cuisine or equivalent calorie dinner or 4 shakes. I'm also allowed one 90-cal yogurt, salad greens with 1 cup cooked or 2 cups uncooked veggies and lemon juice or vinegar, and all the sugar-free Jello I can stomach. This is definitely tough, but I'm also not easing up on working out, which isn't helping with hunger. The scale is spinning down at light speed though, 7-8 pounds since Tuesday.

I'm on Day 5 of 3 week pre-op 1000 calorie liquid diet. Day 3 was tough. I was taking depositions for 12 hours and finished the 3 cans of slimfast optima I had with me by hour 9. Rough hour drive home for liquid dinner past a lot of fast food that I enjoy. But I made it.

I'm very excited to start my 3-week pre-surgery liquid diet when I wake up tomorrow morning. Hopefully the journey will be as fulfilling as the destination. Good luck to everyone else getting ready for surgery in the next few weeks!

Had my last pre-op appointments yesterday, nurse teaching and pre-anesthesia. I'm all set to start liquids on Tuesday. Let's rock!

March 10 here also. My doc requires 3 week liquid diet, so I'm on for Feb. 17. Spent some great times in Michigan, helluva state!

I'm ready for my date on March 10! March Madness or March Melters works for me. I'm not so keen on Maidens, Hotties, Beauties, or Lovelies, even if I do end up being the only guy!

I can't speak for other band doctors, but I know I've spent some time waiting in doc waiting rooms. Just hasn't happened at UW. Maybe 10 minute wait at the most and usually less. They also do a good job of stacking appointments so you don't have to make multiple trips to the Surgery Annex on different days to see the different folks you need to see. I work downtown and haven't had one issue with appointment timing.