OnTheWay to Thin

It is not an easy decision, I like you have struggled with the way to go and have decided and am schedled for the band next week. Why, it is reversable, it is less invasive surgry, I have always been able to lose weight but not able to keep it off, my girlfriend had this surgery and has had very positive results. While you hear a lot of horor stories on LBT I think that the actual overall percentage of difficulties is pretty small and often due to not following the program correctly. Of course there are some unavoidable issues as well but I consider the risk of those to be less than the risk of staying this weight and facing the related health consequences of that. Good luck on your decision.

I have done the same as you and have often had 2-3 sizes in my closet then a stash elsewhere when clothes no longer fit in the closet. But after talking to the psyc dr I decided that was pretty self defeating so this time as I undergrow it it is gone... no more 3 sizes of clothes, it will hold me much more accountable if my clothes suddenly start fitting differently and I have nothing else to go into. I will have to face it and deal with it which for me I think is healthier. I am also going to continue to weigh, I think the last time I lost weight my downfall was those 2 things, having "fat clothes" in the closet and not weighing so I did not have to face how bad it was getting as I climbed up. My surgery is next week but my husband has been eating much healthier since I have started dieting (at least at home) and he says he feels like he can now drop some of the extra weight he has picked up as well. (he needs to lose 40 lbs or so). Good luck to you.

Pasta, pizza, potatoes, pecan pie, garlic bread, really all kinds of bread, waffels, homemade mac n cheese. I am not too bad on sweets but there are certain foods I love. So I am hoping I will be able to occasionally have some of the above foods. What I wont miss, knees that hurt, back that hurts, having to get shots in my knee every 5-6 mos just so I can walk, airplane seats, airplane bathrooms, rv bathrooms, booths in restaurants, lane bryant & avenue LOL, being considered morbidly obese or even obese, being able to get up from the floor without the aid of a fork lift LOL, so I try to think of those things as I am missing some of the above. My surgery is next week, I am down 13 lbs on preop diet and allready can tell the different in the worst of my knees...

You are a bit on the slow side, but you are losing and that is the important thing. That being said, how many calories are you eating a day? Have you had fills? Are you exercising? What is your typical food on a typical day?

It depends on if your insurance covered the surgery to begin with, if they did they generally cover complications, if the did not then they will also exclude any related complications.

You are not getting enough calories, so your body has gone into starvation mode, basically when you dont eat enough your body holds onto everything it has, wont let go to conserve itself and drastically slows the metabolism as well, just keep following the doctors advice and you will start losing again.

Your best bets are lean chicken, if it is dry it will get stuck so cook in broth or something to keep it very moist, fish, also very moist, pork tenderloin again cook with plenty of liquid. Then lots of veggies, and only fresh fruit. You look like you need more protien and less dairy and also are you starting to exercise yet, maybe a bit of walking will kick your metabolism up a bit. Also at 800 calories your body is doing starvation mode, does not want to give anything up, try increasing it to 1100 but keep it all lean meat, veggies and fresh fruit and I bet you will start moving again. I buy very lean turkey breast lunch meat, 4 slices is 60 calories, spread that with about 1 tbs of ff vegetable cream cheese, which is 35 calories and use that as a snack and it keeps me full longer than most any other snack I use.

Wow - that is some heavy stuff you are putting yourself through. First I want you to think a bit differently, this does not have to do with willpower or discipline, it has to do with obesity which is a disease and often is caused by many more factors than overeating. It runs in families, there are chemicals and hormones involved that make it impossible for 95% of the people who lose with diet and exercise to keep it off long term, I have lost over 100lbs 3 different times... If you had cancer would you think that the treatment was an easy out or out of gods plan. I totally understand your reluctance, I have been there in making this decision, but I am having my surgery on the 218th and I consider it a gift from god that I will finally have a tool that will allow me to be successful once and for all. Congrats on your weight loss so far, but I consider my health and being healthier as the result of weight loss part of gods plan regardless of how I do it, I believe He has wanted me to be a thin person all along and I am now being given the gift of a tool to help me do just that. Good luck.

If you have been dehydrated recently your body will be very reluctant to give up liquids, so just keep pouring in the water, once it sees the drought has passed it will. For eating you have lost a lot of weight so just focus on good nutrition, protiens, veg and fruit and you should be fine.

Well I can tell you what I have been doing. I stopped drinking carbonnated beverages, I was a diet pepsi addict so that was no small thing for me, stopped drinking liquid with meals, started tracking everything I put in my mouth on an online calorie counter, started making sure I drink lots of water. Started reducing meal size to get used to the new way I will have to do things. Focus on eating a steady 60-70 grams of protien a day. Mandatory, started having breakfast, never did that before. I have my surgery on the 28th and beginning next thursday I go to liquids only. So it has been a lot of prep but I feel I am ready for the surgery and know I can be successful with it. Hope this helps.

Just stay the course, that extra half a pound will go, heck just having too much salt last night could do that, and I always gain a lb ot 2 at that time of the month. Hang in there you will start back down again.

I have been told to discontinue my fish oil, water pills, and glucosamine at least 3 days before surgery. The reason is that they all deplete water from your system and they dont want you going into surgery dehydrated. It makes surgery much more difficult from what my doctor told me.

that is too funny, I NEVER would have thought of that. You made me snicker.

YIKES - you need a different doctor, any doctor but that one! He obviously does not care about you, just about lining his pocket. Check with your hosptal to see if they have a referral for you to another Weight Loss surgeon. Normally there are more than one in your area and you have been way more paitient than I would have been. Once you get another doctor lined up, go by this jerks office and pick up your file, then take that to your new doctor and have an honest discussion with him, it is just my guess but I bet anything you have a leak in your tubing so that you are not getting any restriction cause it all leaks out. Good luck.

My husband did not really understand either, but I took him to a seminar last night (i am scheduled for surgery on the 28th) and he finally understood, my surgeon did a really good job of explaining obesity and its causes and that although you can diet from now to the cows come home 95% who lose weight through dieting and exercise alone gain it back and then some within a couple years Good luck and keep working on it. Debbie

you may have slipped, call you doctor asap.

That is wonderful, congrats!

No I am in Washington State. Way accross the country from you. I am on preop diet currently and I am slowly losing weight, so I believe that I will meet and exceed my doctors mandate by the 28th. Then the real work begins... Good luck.

I know you are having a tough time, and I sympathize, but I must tell you that you HAVE to back off. When we eat chunky stuff, roughage and so on your stomach contracts to digest... if you continue with cole slaw chicken and other items you are not supposed to eat you up your chances of slippage or stitch tearing exponentially. No diet is easy, regardless of the method you use to accomplish it and the lap band is another form of a diet. Once you get to your sweet spot it will be easier, but for now you really need to follow your doctors program otherwise you will have done all this for nothing and have a very REAL possibility of long term complications. Good luck.

Yes there are lots of hoops to jump through, I was amazed I knocked mine out pretty quick and am having surgery on the 28th. On the picture they want you at your biggest, so they can show you the difference as you progress so now is the time to take it. I had to do the psych eval, nutritional eval, referral from family doctor, sugery eval, seminar, insurance approval, surgery preop, blood work and ekg... and lose 10 lbs before sugery so I am doing 1200 calories a day... good luck to you.

Well there is a combination of things it looks like. You need to eat most of your calories during the day, not at night. Starting with a good breakfast to get the metabolism going. Depending on the shake you are using you may not be getting enough am calories to do this. Try adding a banana or other fruit with your shake in the am, or add yougurt, and fruit and blend to smoothie consistency. The thing with being banded is that you are supposed to make all of your food work for you, and most all food needs to be good choices and keep it to 3 meals a day if at all possible, that means snacks and desert need to go. Chips, desert, and that kind of thing are empty calories with no nutritional bonuses. You have only had one fill so you are probably not at your sweet spot yet, but most doctors I have researched recommend 1000-1200 calories for paitients once they are able to eat normal food again. Also if you are not measuring your food and getting real caloric values you may be getting more calories than you think so try that too. And my last 2 cents worth is that you will hit plateaus with this process, where you have no weight loss and then bam 2-3 lbs go at once. So hang in there.

OK you obviously did not fully understand the process, what to expect and what your responsibilities are. Your stomach is healing right now and can not handle real food, as it can break your stitches and cause all kinds of issues. It is vital that you follow your doctors orders to a T to be successful. At this stage of the game you DO NOT have restriction, your total purpose is to heal and get over the surgery, you WILL NOT have restriction until you start having fills and then it may take several to get to your sweet spot. This is the timeframe know as bandster hell, you have no restriction, but you are supposed to follow a diet. You will lose if you follow instructions, but very slowly. Most doctors wait 4-6 weeks to do fills and once you start having those this will change.

Dave once you get to the correct fill level after a band, then you are supposed to be satisfied or full with about 1/2 - 3/4 cup of food. This is how you are able to lose weight, but you have to follow the rules. The band is made to be a lifetime implant, and many have had them for a long time, but sometimes there are complications where they have to be removed, that percentage is pretty small though. On the excess skin issue everyone is different, it depends on your age and the elasticity of your skin, one advantage to the band is you lose slowly and this allows your skin to retract better than very very rapid weight loss such as you have with a bypass surgery. I believe I remember reading that about 20% of band weight loss paitients need a plastic surgery after they are at their goal weight. Hope this helps. Debbie

When you call them ask for their medical policy on weight loss surgery. They should have a written set of requirements if they cover the procedure. If they still cant get that together, then once you go to your seminar you will be in touch with a doctor who specializes in this program. Their insurance people should be able to cut through all the red tape for you. Good luck.

When your weigth has finally gotten below 200 lbs, i.e 199 is officially onderland.