ccweeks

Personal feelings on it: I drink AS MUCH AS I WANT before a meal. However, once I start a meal, I put the water (or whatever) away. I've noticed that drinking with a meal only makes me stuck, so it's not worth it. After I'm done eating and I feel my food move through my band completely, I try and wait a while and will then only have a sip of water.

Ohhhh, I got the hiccups all the time after surgery. In fact, I was beginning to think that hiccups replaced burping b/c I was noticing I never burped anymore. It's normal. What's not good is when you hiccup several months post op...usually means you ate something you shouldn't have.

As others have mentioned, I would really recommend paying close attention to the QUALITY of the food you take in and the order in which you eat it. Protein first, veggies second, carbs third. Also, exercise exercise exercise!!!! A great goal for exercise would be 5 days / wk. This band is NOT going to work as long as you have the same habits as before. Remember, the band is a tool...let it help you!

It all depends on where your port is located and how much fat you have around it when you reach goal. I think if you get extremely thin, you might be able to see it, esp. if it's pretty much centered above your belly button. But the average bandster will not have a visible port. Most of ours are off the the side of the belly button and a little high. Mine is below my left breast by about 3 inches.

Drink your protein drinks. It's so crucial. Also, try some of the Campbell's Soup at Hand soups. I looked forward to those everyday.

I have several great food finds: -TJ's pear sauce (pear version of apple sauce) -Jell-O Mousse Temptations - excellent craving quencher when you are craving chocolate...only 60 calories! -Premium Nutrition pre-packaged Protein drinks from costco. they have 160 cals, 3g fat, 30g protein, 5g carbs, 2g fiber!

What is the typical eating regimen after getting a fill? How long do you have to be on liquids or mushies?

OMG. I'm soooo with you. I was banded on 11/20 and about two weeks post op I could eat any and everything in my house. I've eaten no-nos, as well...esp pizza and it doesn't bother my pouch. I have no problem getting food down. If I couldn't feel my port, I would swear that the dr. never put in my band! However, I've been getting back on track, lately. I've been recording my foods at fitday.com to keep myself accountable. I don't want to type in 3 slices of Totinos pepperoni pizza again. That was bad. As for stretching your pouch, that isn't something that happends overnight. It takes a long time of eating too much to cause damage. I wouldn't make it a habit, but just know that our poor eating habits lately haven't done any permanent damage. :scared2:

i use fitday.com...it's free. i can add my foods that i eat and track my weight. it has great charts to analyze the percentage of calories from fat, carbs, and protein as well as charts that show how you are progressing in your weight loss as well as telling you how much you should be losing per week to achieve your goal weight by a certain date.

I know exactly how you feel. Immediately after surgery my parents took me to our beach house. That night, they ordered Carraba's while I sipped on broth. They ate it right in front of me and kept commenting on how delicious it was. This continued the week of Thanksgiving. I know it was my decision to have the procedure and, to be honest, they weren't very supportive of the decision, but I kept wondering why they couldn't hold off on eating delicious food around me. I didn't want them to be eating just broth as well, but I would hope that they would be considerate and they were not. I don't live with my parents, but I do spend a lot of time with them. My feeling on our situation is this: let them go out to dinner without you if they are so in need of eating out. If the restaurant has something you can eat, then join, but otherwise let them overeat the calorie-ridden meals and you stay on track. Don't let them sabotage your transformation!!

I agree with keeping your protein intake high, but you can do it without eating blended meat. I eat greek yogurt, eggs, thick Protein shakes and cottage cheese. Plenty of options to stay liquified meat-free!!

I'm not actually blending anything. It just sounds gross to me to eat liquified meat. I eat yogurt, thick Soups, low fat cottage cheese, hummus, thick Protein drinks, etc.

I agree with the others. Try other flavors like Cookies and Cream from Designer Whey. If you truly can't handle shakes anymore, try the protein shots you can get from Wal-Mart or try getting your protein in from mushy sources like fat free greek yogurt and low-fat cottage cheese.

It's probably the gas. Where is it hurting? Walk every chance you get, even if it's only for 5 minutes. But do it once every hour or two. I know what you mean about not knowing what is causing the pain. I was banded on 11/20 and for about 5 days I had definite gas pains, but didn't know it! Walking helped me so much!

This is completely normal. Everyone has different restriction post-op. For example, by day 6 I was as hungry as I'd ever been and fluids were not helping. When I had my post-op appt he moved me to the next stage in the post-op diet. He said that everyone's inflamation period lasts different. Some stay restricted after a month and some just a few days. The first few days after surgery I felt very similar to you. I thought to myself "I paid $15k of my own money to have this done to myself??? Was I nuts?" But, it got better and now I feel very normal, like nothing was done to me.

I am soooo with you, WalkingFool! I was starving at day 6. Today, I'm 17 days post-op and can eat many solid foods. I lost weight up until day 10, but haven't lost any since. I'm trying to eat well (sometimes I can do it, sometimes I don't).

Hello November Knockouts! I was banded on the 20th and it went really well. I had a hard time in the recovery room and almost passed out, but got through it. I also had a hard time with pain and gas for 3 days and felt as though I was hit by a Mack truck. The 23rd I was much better, though. Now, I'm great! I'm down 9lb since surgery for a total of 24lb since I began pre-op. Not happy about waiting until 12/28 for my first fill, but I am determined to be successful during Bandster Hell!!!!

Should we have weekly weigh-ins to help keep us motivated? Like, should everyone report their weight on each Monday by 12 noon? Thoughts? I think we should keep up with this on the group site. If you haven't joined, the November Knockouts group is HERE! btw today I'm 240. that's down 24lb. since I began this process! :confused:

For those bandsters who have had success...what have been the keys to your success? I've seen this thread, but am interested in more details. Was it the support groups, using this site, exercising 7 days a week, eating more strict? I'm preparing to be banded and really want to make this work for me. I love to hear your knowledge. Thank you!

I know there are a bunch of us out there! We're only 2 days away! How is everyone doing with their pre-op diet, nerves, preparations, etc? I realized this morning that I have a lot to do. Tonight I need to change out my closet to my winter clothes since I won't be able to lift anything greater than 5lb for 5 weeks! I'm so excited for us!

I looooooooooooove Chike! The banana tastes like Banana bread!!!!

I drink Jay Robb protein drinks. They are pretty good and can be found at Vitamin Shoppe's. I also really like Designer Whey. It mixes well with just water.