2muchfun

No pre op diet for me either. No problemo with surgery. tmf

Clothes. Being able to fit into some of my old skinnier clothes and not looking like a fat slob in them. Joint pain. Much less joint pain. Energy and flexibility. I can almost keep up with my 12 year younger wife on our bike rides now. tmf

Lolita is so right. One of the biggest downfalls of bandsters who do not do well is that they do not utilize their nutritionists enough. Your nutritionist will understand your needs much more than most surgeons. Get to know him/her and be prepared to go over your eating habits. Be brutally honest about what you eat. No sugar coating And do not hesitate to contact your nutritionist after surgery if you should meet a plateau or backslide. tmf

I remember being where you are. Sometimes it feels like you're on the verge of a great and wonderful journey, and then other times it's like you're standing on the edge of a cliff with no parachute. Wholly crap, what have I done? LOL It sounds like you've got your head screwed on straight so we're looking forward to your posts and progress. tmf

I noticed a difference in my own eating behavior once I reached a personal weight goal. I've allowing some old bad habits to creep back in. This is a hard time of the year to lose weight with BBQs, vacations, relatives etc. Still losing, just have to adjust to losing less and being happy about it. tmf

Yes I was. Say hello to my little friend. Hey, check your messages. I sent you a message about two weeks ago. So good to hear so many people so happy with their new smaller bodies eh? tmf

You are normal. This is how it works. I'm not sure what you were expecting but the first 30 days you will lose a lot of excess fluids. Then you may not lose for a while. It depends on how much you eat and what you eat. You won't feel restriction till you get that one fill that does the trick. It could be 0-6 fills. It was 6 for me. Keep reading this forum. The math behind losing weight means you may only lose 1-2 lbs a week. You may plateau for weeks on end. But if you follow the rules you will lose weight. Right now you need to focus on healing and getting in touch with your body and band. You are not expected to lose a lot of weight at this point. Most of us didn't. tmf

It's all good. Slowly losing weight. A little behind my expected pace but still losing. I've found my old little friend again. He was lost for a few years but he's back and hanging in there tmf

My relationship with food made me wait about 2 years longer than it should have. I didn't think I could give it up, but I did. Here I am 7 months post-op and I really don't miss stuffing my face till I'm so uncomfortable I can't sleep at night. As another bandster said it, "I'm so stinkin' thrilled with my weight loss I dont even care about what i cant eat!" I resemble this remark and you will too in 6 months. tmf

Start at the top of this thread and read down. This is what we're talking about. tmf

Maria, I lost 12 lbs my first 2 weeks and then nada for the next 3.5 months. You won't see a significant weight/fat loss till you find restriction. tmf

I posted a few weeks ago that I do the same. I go to the mall, movies, shopping, and there are obese people everywhere. I don't judge them but I do want to walk up to them and shake them and tell them what they're missing and how to find it. That's so arrogant on my part I'm embarrassed to post it but I did We all have to find our way in this life and we should try not to judge(but we're human right?). For me, that's why I've been so overtly honest with people around me. I want others to see that it can be done and screw those who think I'm cheating. It's not illegal. And it's not fair that I was given the genes I was born with. I'm working harder now to lose weight than I ever did before my band. tmf

40 lbs is awesome. You're normal. Most of us lose 2-8 lbs a month. So you lose 5 lbs. You're better than normal. tmf

22 lbs in 6 weeks is awesome. Why so blue? tmf

If you read this forum you will probably see 1-4 topics every day regarding bandsters who have plateaued or believe they have plateaued. I personally don't consider it a plateau until it's about 2 weeks or more old and if you've been busting your butt in the exercise department as well as keeping that calorie count low. Some folks think if they go 3 days without losing a lb they're in a plateau. No way. But to answer your question. I've busted two plateaus lately. Here is how I did it. I averaged about an hour a day with two types of exercising. I did 5 days of intense 20 minute drills where I got my heartrate up to 140+ for a solid 15-20 minutes. I mostly did strength type exercising like lunges, squats, pullups, pushups, crunches etc. Then later in the day I'd go for a 30-60 minute bike ride or I'd play racquetball. The point is, I mixed it up. Don't do the same exercise day in and day out. I went on a no carb/high protein(and veggie) diet for 3 days. Then I went right back to 1200-1400 calories a day. I dropped 3 lbs both times. Like so many others have said, mix it up. Don't let your body get into a rhythym where it's comfortable with the norm. If you're on a very low calorie diet your body will slow it's metabolism way down. Feed it 1200-1400 calories a day for a week and then hit it with 800 a day for 3 or 4 days. That's what works for me. And I know that we all are so different so find something that works for you. But one thing that most of us all share is that we have to mix it up. tmf

RE: It's All About Restriction! Otherwise It's Just Another Diet. Did you coin this phrase? I've been using it only I plagiarized it incorrectly? tmf

Don't get stuck! Avoid foods that get stuck in your pouch or avoid eating too fast or too big. Are you feeling any restriction yet? Probably not, because if you were feeling restriction you would have had this wonderful sensation already. And yes, it comes with the territory. tmf

Here's something that worked for me yesterday. I ate a juicy plum. I'd eaten them before and just lately. I guess I missed a large chunk of skin and it may have covered the portal between the two stomachs. Pressure, pain, discomfort, sliming, weakness, it was all there. I had to go somewhere and I had 45 minutes. After 30 minutes of that very uncomfortable feeling and sliming, I drank 2 large sips of Water and stood on my head with my arms supporting most of my weight. It worked. Within a minute I was able to flush the rest down with water and went off to my appointment. I don't recommend this technique but I was desperate. tmf

SF(sugar free) popsicles. broth. I like to make up a batch of lipton dry chicken noodle Soup mix and filter out some of the noodles. You shouldn't eat the noodles but I did after surgery. Egg drop soup. Protein shakes. Crystal light. tmf

You heard it here first( or second or third, who knows), this will be one of the hardest things you've ever done in your life!! But, it is the easiest and most effective way to achieve what you want. I'm serious. This is going to be hard. But it is so worth it! Warning: If you are the type of person who started diets and gave up the next day, don't do this surgery. If you're a quitter, don't do this surgery! If you think the band is a miracle cure, don't do this surgery! If you are willing to follow simple, well established rules, have patience, and love the rewards of being healthier, DO THIS SURGERY! tmf

Shap, ya big baby! Just kidding dude! You could get by on 1000 but for me it's painful. I recently went on a 800 calorie a day plateau busting diet with intense workouts for 3 full days. It worked, jogged me down by 3 lbs a few days after my body came out of shock. So, yeah it's possible but most of us didn't sign on to the band to be uncomfortable. Diets were uncomforable if not painful for me and that's why I always eventually failed. It's still true with the band. I still eat 1000-1400 calories a day. I'd say I average 1300 and I'm a lot shorter than you. If you are an active kind of guy I'd think 1400-1800 would be a good goal. Here's a great site to calculate calories needed, burned, BMR etc. http://www.caloriesperhour.com/index_burn.php tmf

I go in tomorrow afternoon and I'm going to have .2 CCs taken out. Anyone know if I'll have to go back on liquids for a few days? Seems like that would be excessive since they're releasing pressure and not causing any new trauma to my stomach? tmf

Don't be a chicken, eat a chicken. Cut a small portion of it up into dice sized chunks. Eat one at a time. Chew the crap out of it. Go slow. You're Helen Keller with a fork K? It'll be OK. tmf

.2 removed this afternoon. His only orders were for me to have a great holiday weekend. Aye Aye Captain! tmf

Well that's a little more than scary? You describe exactly how many of my meals take place. However, I do take what you say with a grain of salt. We're all different and I think that some of us/you have much more elasticity in the stomach than others because I was in a lot of discomfort this mornng. Going in now for an unfill. tmf