Melissannde

Take a look at Quest bars. They're quite different than most bars. Nothing artificial and are very good microwaved. High in Fiber.

To the OP, if you'd like to talk to people who've been banded longer than 8 years, you can find some in some of the yahoo groups band support lists. In particular, look for SmartBandsters and DFWBandsters. Both of them have members banded more than 10 years and doing well. Enjoy your sleeve.

Lord, I'm an exercise freak.. and have lost a lot of weight and I cannot stand Banded Wendy. To each their own.

Try to cut back on or elminate the high glycemic carbs.. such as white flour, bread, rice, Pasta, potatoes and corn. I try to eat low glycemic foods. www.glycemicindex.com and that helps quite a bit with the hunger. 22lbs in 5 weeks is an awesome rate. Keep on keeping on.

BTW: I had 3 months (Nov 2010 to Jan 2011) where the scale didn't move much at all, but I was reshaping. Every time I went to the gym people would ask if I had lost more weight....after those 3 months, the scale started moving again.

You state that you are losing inches? That's wonderful. Take it and run with it. If you're exercising that much, you are replacing your fat with muscle.. and while a pound = pound = pound, muscle takes up less room than fat.. that's why the slow lb loss and reshaping. If you're not doing so already, start tracking your food and exercise somewhere .. www.livestrong.com or www.myfitnesspal. Do NOT use their calculations for calorie burn though.. get a Heart Rate Monitor or some other device that will calculate your personal calorie burn. You might not be eating enough with all that exercise. Good job!!

I had no pre-op diet of any kind. I went down 2lbs on the Clear liquids day before surgery.. and that's all. Did very very well after surgery. 20lbs in the first 6 weeks post-op, 100lbs gone by 7 months. Do try to follow your doctor's orders/guidelines as best you can. If they want you to lose before surgery, do it.

We need calcium citrate and it should be taken in divided doses .. not all at once. Tums are not adequate no matter who told you that. They are behind the times. I take Citracal Petites, but have to take them with something warm to make sure they go down. When I was a newer bandster and needed chewables, I used either Bariatric Advantage or Celebrate. If something similar to Viactiv is wanted.. look at Bariatric Advantages Chewy Bites. Please visit www.wlsvitagaten.com for lots of bariatric Vitamin info.

i hate that term

Empty calories. And the effect of the alcohol loosens inhibitions and may cause/allow you to eat things that you normally would avoid. I know a bariatric nurse who says that alcohol will slow weight loss for 3 days. If I really really really want a drink, I'll have one. I do avoid carbonation. Most of the time I'm happy with having a sip of my husband's drink. Everyone has to do what is right for them. For me, I wanted to get my weight off quicker. Now that it's mostly gone, I'm a little less strict on myself. YMMV.

Fish and chicken are usually lower calorie, that is why you see them referred to so often. At 2.75 years out, I can eat most meats as long as they are tender and not dry.

That maybe why our Nuts are advising to avoid popcorn.. it's a slider and we can eat way more than we should. Also if you're talking movie popcorn, if you get the butter on it, it's deadly (re: calories). Slider foods are things that slide on down past the band and don't contribute to a feeling of satisfaction or fullness. The 100 calorie microwave bags are good, but I worry about all the extra chemicals in them. You can do your own microwave bag.. take a brown lunch bag, spritz the inside with olive oil, add 2 Tbspn popping corn, fold down the top and microwave for about a minute (adjust for your oven). Take out and spray with "I can't believe it's not butter" type spray and enjoy!!

I've tried various things during my 2.75 years of being banded and working out. What works for me is to eat something about an hour before working out. If I don't fuel my body, I don't have the energy to do as well. If I know it's going to be particularly strenuous, I eat something with some low GI carb. Steelcut oatmeal is a favorite. I try to drink some protein within the first hour after working out, not always feasible .. last week I had an appointment right after gym.. so I took some jerky and ate that. Experiment and find what works for YOU as the individual.

I was banded @ 383. And no pre-op diet or weight loss required. Find a different doctor.