flowers

I think all this is a good argument for not telling people you are banded. I told the lady going on my cruise, because I would be eating differently. Protein first and then some salad (or so I plan). I told my parents, but we didnt tell my sister because she would tell others, she cant keep things to herself. I did mention it as a possibility to someone else, but havent mentioned yet that its done. My Dad did ask me if I lost 10 lbs and asked him, do you mean since surgery??!! Un no. He hasnt asked since.

I took a can of V8, and added tabisco and salt and pepper to spice it up like a virgin bloody mary mix. I salt the ice.

Im not as far along as you and last night sucummbed. How much acid could it cause. I ate 3 cherries and a few bites of tomato. I wanted a BIG slice of the tomato. It tasted divine.

If you are swollen still from surgery or some doctors do a little prefill in your band at the time of surgery, you may have some restriction. I was like, when is dinner after my surgery. I dont have any restriction other than excess gas. I have no fills. Congrats on being newly banded. Im guessing from your question you must be one who is not feeling able to eat after surgery. It varies. I think if you were one on a strict pre opt diet you may not feel like eating the house down after surgery too. I wish I felt some restriction, but I dont. Im already in a holding pattern weight wise, gotta get walking again. There is a reason some dont start losing after surgery. Its all will power right now for me. I could eat any food right now if I was allowed.

How could you read this thread and ask that question?? As many have said you will lose slower but long term you will lose just as much weight. By pass is rny because of the shape, they route the top of your stomach to your arse so you have malnutrition and if you studied the subject and asked around you know people who did by pass and over ate and stretched out their newly formed smaller pouch and gained it all back and more. Lap band is the tortoise, slow and steady, but can win the race. You really should do some reading if you have lapband and dont know what the other options were to lapband. With lapband if you are like me, I have no restriction with the surgery and it can take an average of 3 fills on your nickle to get to your sweet spot where it dims your appetitue. It doesnt happen overnight with the band. Each procedure has pluses and minuses.

You say you are hesitant to be on supplements for the rest of your life. Is this due to PCOS?? You should still be eating as much of healthy food as you need, and probably better balanced than you are getting now. You dont NEED bread in your diet for nutrition, so your body wouldnt miss it and other non nutritive carbs nutrition wise. Losing the weight will not only make it easier to get pregnant, but it will make it easier for you to keep up with a child, which takes a lot of energy to do right. I guess you choose not to go to Mexico, I paid less than half what you are and feel I got better medical care than in the U.S. I was self pay too, so I choose not to pay extra for a surgery I felt non risky. For later plastic surgery, I think Id choose to have it done closer to home.

Im down about that much overall too. We might just have to push each other a little now and again. I need to make myself walk too, or my weight loss will slow down as my metabolism changes. Im impatient like you, I want the weight to just slide on off and be gone .... dont I wish!!! I think you have to not lose for a couple of weeks to call it a stall. Maybe change up the calories and anything with a higher sugar level too. Im using Boost (el yucko I know) and it has some sugar, so I could have a lower sugar Protein Drink tomorrow etc. Just dont let your eating get into a total rut. Its hard when we cant grab a piece of meat to hold off the hunger already for me. I want some munchies. So maybe we can push each other once in a while?

Actually, Im always surprised when folks assume that it took years to get to this weight. I was down to 157 lbs early 2007. My Dad let's just say had multiple problems and last winter it all came down on me. Plus then I broke my shoulder and was immobile and exercising my shoulder not my body. It actually doesnt take years to put on the weight, just for the record. Its just takes a big stress issue and comfort eating and such and puff!!!! You can put on all the weight you lost before plus more. I also have an issue about one doctor who charges more each appointment for a fill, or the other one is less but now is so filled up wouldnt see me for 3 months. 3 months is a long time without a fill from what I hear. Since I have zero restriction, I dont know how I feel about all the bad effects of beign restricted, willing to find out but no fill doctor. Im a leper for getting banded in Mexico. I know Ill relose the weight, but its hard being patient.

Did you lose 23 lbs since surgery??? Im only down at most 11 lbs and thrilled to death in 2 weeks. I had trouble with my stitches and stopped walking at night and my weight loss has stalled out too. Got the stitches out that were irratating my skin and giving myself off tonight and plan to start walking around the block again tomorrow night. I need to up my metabolism and keep it moving to keep losing well. Looks to me like you are way ahead of me. When I lost weight last time, I would sometimes go as long as 8 days and then drops 3 - 4 lbs just like that. You need to see what your pattern of losing settles into. I didnt lose weight as regularly, but then would drop more than others at one time. I just want to lose and keep it off this one last time. Cant wait. I just looked and sure enough, we were banded the exact same day. 7/9/08 here too. We are band buddies.

That's why I had the band put in, I can lose the weight, but cant keep it off. Im hoping when I start needing to cheat, my band will be at perfect resistance (that sweet spot) and I will be good next time.

Well, to update you'all, you can cross True Results/Richardson Surgery Center from the list of possible fill doctors. They insist you pay for seeing one of the doctors listed on their list on their website and being referred. I wasnt sure they were the same place, True Results and Richardson Surgery, but they both gave me the same answer. NO. Its no wonder that Dr. Maese is so overwhelmed with new fill patients he had to start making them wait to see him. Im still hoping for another fill doctor to show up to get a fill before I cruise, but oh well. At least I got my band, lot of good its doing me.

I lost 80 lbs on Nutrisystem and never gave up my coffee. It might stimulate your appetite and all that, but it didnt stop my weight loss. (Unfortunately I regained the weight, so here I am with a lap band so I keep it off this time).

I can have instant oatmeal, just not the old fashioned kind which is harder on your stomach to digest. Im also drinking skim milk and having lite laughing cow cheese for extra Protein, its very creamy. My stomach hurts, so maybe Im overdoing it. I know what you mean when you say you are worried.

You should realize if you are insulin resistant, sugar makes your insulin spike up to 300% more than a normal person's. You say this is what you are eating on the side, sugary food. You need to eat to stay full so you are not tempted by those foods, which sound like they are poisen for you just as they are for me. I was the same way as you are, Im not really over eating at any one time, but Im willing to try and eat to stay full and stay away from bad carbs and sugary foods. Read a few diet books about eating low gi. Eating low gi is proven to lose weight faster than cutting calories or eating low fat, even on more calories a day. It really is what you eat, not just how much you eat. Only you know if you are ready to change you eating style. Believe me Im in the same boat as you are, will this work for me?? I sure dont know. Im still in the 4 weeks post surgery and cant eat real food for a month, which while Im going thru it seems like a very very long time.

Nothing is draining. Its red in color, especially on either end of the stiches that are right above my belly button. I was able to take it easy, but today was back in and out of the car and the bank themometer said 100 degrees. Its also a place that is easily rubbed by everything.

You were banded July 11th and you are eating a hot dog??? Are you sure you are allowed. You dont want slippage. If you are eating wrong foods, that could be what is causing your problems and why you are having trouble eating. I was banded before you and folks are having a fit Im allowed mushy food already. Certainly not a hot dog.

Well, Im not crying, but not happy either. Im sooooooooo tired of my stomach hurting all the time, never has stopped. Now I have a incision that looks infected, might have to go see a doctor and cant eat regular food for a whole month. Laying in bed this morning, 1 month was stretching pretty long in front of me. Its all well and good for someone who is thru it to say, they did it so we can too, but Im still at the point 3 weeks is a very long time. Im 2 days short of 2 weeks.

I went to a seminar in June too, and came away thinking I had made a mistake and cancelled my lapband surgery. No one was there for me. I finally rescheduled it, but it was very negative on lapband. The lady said to me, "Are YOU going to be happy only losing half the weight you need to lose??" I was like, well no, I want to lose it all. And she said the stats are only 50% that we will lose the weight to a normal BMI. By the time the seminar was over, no one else was considering lapband. Very preduidical.

Carbonation, soda, champaigne, or beer would expand the pouch and you run the risk of slippage. So, its the ONE no no. Some other things seem personal. Some can have salad, some say they cant, but they eat rice and someone else has trouble with rice. Carbonation is the only total no no. I dont want to chance having more surgery to fix the slippage. Im still in the first 3 weeks building scar tissue to keep the band in place.

I think one thing people need to know is you wouldnt have the band working for you for up to 6 weeks post surgery. Some patients get a small prefill at the time of surgery, but my surgeon was dead set against that, so I didnt. I came out of surgery hungry, but on Clear Liquids. Im AM (edit) on mushy food. No tacos allowed!!! I can have a spoon full of the meat, but not the shell. 4 weeks of this is a long time, a month looking back doesnt sound bad until you are here doing it. Some doctors want to wait until up to 6 weeks for the first fill and then most say very little restriction, takes on average 3 fills to get to where the band is stopping you from eating, up until then its mostly will power. Im down almost 10 lbs since my surgury, but its been all will power and not eating real food.

I dont plan on having carbonations, (soda, champaign, beer) ever again, why take a chance on slippage?? Your band can slip and then you would have to have surgery to replace it. No soda is worth that risk to me. I dont think a sip or two would hurt, but not more than that. I plan on not being filled as much as others, I dont want to get like some Im read where they get so tight they cant even drink Water, talking about sitting in bed and twisting to get it down, but oh what great weight loss. I dont think I need to be filled that much. The good thing is its up to you how aggresive you want your fills or feel you need them to stop you from overeating.

Im thinking he doesnt want new patients because he is telling not only me but others he wouldnt take us if we were banded in Mexico for 3 months. Looks like he told Camel Cracker the same thing he told me, 3 months!!! http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f20/fill-doctors-dfw-35504/

I have a card which has my name and my surgeon's. Even if you tried to not tell them, Im sure they would look up where that surgeon practices. Im calling someone Monday and got my fingers crossed, being banded in Mexico isnt a problem. One place I had the nurse go ask and she told me two cash pay folks who ended up in ER, they got stuck with the bill, so now they wouldnt take any more banded in Mexico. Its definetely an issue with the fill doctors.

Hi ChinaDoll, I am glad you posted again. I skipped walking last night and this morning, so Im on again and off again still in this Texas heat. Im down 9 lbs since surgery. I did sneak a very small slice of fresh stawberry tonight at my parents table, surely that isnt enough to make my band slip. Struggling more with the food choices than exercise at this point. I woke up wanting a crunchy taco at 2 am and finished off the chicken salad and some grape juice, between 2 and 3 a.m. Back to on track now for food. 4 weeks without regular food is a looooooooooooooong time.

I called True Results and the 888 # phone said they would do it, so I will call that office Monday and see if they will take me thru True Results who will do the fills. At least they told me they would. After all the turn downs, Im cautiously optimistic. Im told the Richardson office of True Results is affiated with this surgery center. Keep your fingers crossed for me. I have no health issues at this time, just needing a fill, hopefully True Results will do it.