Gaylancsu

I'm on week 4 and the scale FINALLY started sliding back down.. a little. As you move through mushies and into thicker foods the better they stay in the pouch. I haven't even bothered with a shake in 2 weeks because i am finding ways to get my Protein in thicker foods ... the thicker the foods the longer I can stay full and that has been the challenge. Good ways to sneak protein into foods that I have found: Make cream of wheat or grits with skim milk instead of Water GREEK YOGURT.. it's thicker and has WAY more protein and NO fat than regular yogurt (I make a tasty Breakfast blend of greek yogurt and cottage cheese with vanilla extract and stevia or splenda and sometimes I use that to fill a low carb/fat crepe) I love hummus, so I have been making it at home with as little fat as possible and just eating it (you can add greek yogurt here too to smooth it out) I was able to puree chicken when i went into mushy and did fine... add chicken broth to thin it out. I also tried adding some mild salsa in the puree for a mexican flare and ate it with purreed rfefried Beans and a dallop of plain greek yogurt (tastes like sour cream) I bought one of those Ninja food processor/blender things and it has been awesome. way better than my mini kitchen aid food processor to really puree things down. I swear one of the best meals I had was one of my first mushy days where I pureed canned chicken with my mom's homemade broth, thinned down some mashed potatoes and pureed some string beans... tasted like Sunday dinner and gave me some of the variety I was craving It takes a little creativity, but since I loved to cook before that's been fun for me to try and re-create "banded meals" ;o)

I'm only a month out and have lost 20 and already decided I am growing my hair long and then going blonde when I reach the onesies!

Ice packs def. helped with the incision and port sites.. I probably used them for the first week, less time each day. I wasn't told to try any Protein until 6 days after surgery and I can't imagine doing it sooner as I was having a hard enough time with Water and Jello. every doctor and plan is different, but I'd talk to your doc and nurses to see if they would want to adjust any diet stuff for you to make you more comfortable. I also found I needed pain meds more often in the first couple of days, but i didn't do anyting too strong, just alternated adult doses of liquid (children's) ibuprofren and tylenol... tylenol every 4-5 hours and ibuprofen in between.

I'm going through the same thing and everyone... board members, docs, nurses and my nutritionist say this is perfectly normal, though the end of last week i just wanted to cry... so right now I am following plan and enjoying that everything I put on that I was wearing before surgery feels loose! It will happen.

I went through the discount candy aisle today at target... hungry and starting my special time of the month so the URGE was insane... I forced myself to look at calories, fat and carbs and opted for little packs of rainsinet... 3 packs is a serving, so if I stick to one the affect is minimal and I still get the chocolate flavor. Who knew a raisinet would ever taste this good!?!!?

I got 2cc at surgery and fill up relatively quickly (I am working on a salad with grilled chicken right now that I used to be able to lick the bowl and right now there's more than half left and I am quite full) so I have been avoiding drinking... from what my program has advised, not drinking when and after I eat now is more to get in the behavior and habit for later. the psychologist I went to pre-op had suggested I start the habit then, which I did for the most part and it's helped. The most I will drink is a TINY sip to swish around my mouth.

When I was in pureed food I wasn't staying full for more than 2-3 hours, so when i ate, I only ate until I felt full and if I needed to eat between meals, then I finished the food I had started earlier. Purreed foods go through the band faster. As I have moved into denser foods I am def. staying fuller longer. I lost 20 pounds in the first 2 weeks and the last week and a half have kind of stalled despite eating 700-1000 calories a day and trying really hard to limit carb intake. They said that's normal though... hoping it will pick back up one of these days... I don't get a fill until Nov 18. I just have to keep telling myself that the first 6 weeks is about the healing and the reprocessing of the food side of my brain. Then the real weight loss begins!

I think mine is on the lower left side of my abdomen.. that's where it has been tender... haven't had a fill yet and don't really want to poke around. I know mine said he puts them all in the same place and the other girl I met pointed in that area for hers. I didn't get any kind of card either...

I take adult gummy vitamins that I found at CVS and BJ's ... they also have gummy D as well which I take in addition to the standard multi. They are yummy

oh and I asked my doc about having any fill in the band... he said everyone is different and the band sizes differ and everyone's stomach is different... I think sometimes they put a little fill just to keep it in place. I couldn't walk upright for several days either, but I expected that, esp since they cut into your stomach... this is nothing compared to the tummy tuck my mom got... they cut her from hip to hip she was out of work 8 weeks and couldn't stand up straight for most of that.

My band had some fill when I left and most of the pain I felt was from the gas they blow your abdomen up with, I was def. getting lifted in and out of bed for a couple of days, but every day got a little better. I am surrised with how different everyone's post op diet it. I was banded Oct 8... Thursday... I was on clear liquids until Tuesday and my main goal was to get in 30-40 oz... I did this with Water, G2, Jello and broth. When I finally moved to full liquids it took me an hour to drink a prepacked atkins drink.. the swelling in my stomach made it feel tighter. As the swelling went down the easier it was to drink. I'm 4 weeks out and I have some restriction, which is nice and as I move into "thicker" foods I am staying fuller longer. I don't think a lot of people are prepared for the pain from the gas, that was pretty intense.

I feel lucky. I went in for my first dr visit Aug 20... by the end of the following week I had done my nutrition visit and psych eval done (surgeon brings these folks to his office once a week) and all my pre-op labs (just barium swallow, blood and EKG). They submitted the paper work to insurance on a Thursday and it was approved on a Monday. My surgery was Oct 8 (cause it fit best in my schedule). I didn't have any health risks other than being fat, so I know that helped, but boy am I thankful.

I started hiding it from everyone and then I decided to tell the world and I have to be honest it was liberating. People were so supportive and excited for me and it helped me to get more excited for the surgery. It really expanded my support group and has made the process better. This is nothing to be ashamed of, they should be proud and excited for you... I heard a lot of my friends, who would never have said a word about my weight tell me how glad they were that I was doing this and how proud they were of me, it's really meant a lot. good luck in whatever you do

I only had 1 bandage cause one of the dermabonded incisions didn't dry well and that bandage was secured with waterproof tape so I was able to shower (without scrubbing my stomach) 2 days after my surgery. Guess you should ask your Dr.

When I was still on full liquids I was usually only doing 300-400 calories/day as well. Even now on fuller mushy foods in the week 4 diet I'm usually 700-1000 (and that 1000 day I felt like I was always eating)

I was banded on Oct 8 and I can eat more volume than I expected, esp as you move into thicker foods... the super mushy things didn't have as much of an effect. Week 3 has been rough as I feel like I am hungry all the time... trying to figure out what's the right amount to eat and how often to eat. My docs want me to try to get it to 3 meals per day, but I'm hungry 2-3 hours after eating. My meals tend to be less than a cup of food though and I feel quite full at the time but since they are still on the mushier side it doesn't take them too long to go through the band. For example, I have been nibbling at a cup of a cottage cheese mix (cottage cheese, greek yogurt, vanilla and Stevia pulsed in the blender/processor..) for about 45 minutes. I am feeling full... but I don't know how long that will last. What I am trying to do is eat at normal times with the "right" foods.. when I feel hungry in between try to wait it out and if I can't, grab something high in Protein and low in fat and carbs and just HANG IN THERE. I am so looking forward to the fill Nov 18!

I was banded Oct 8 and hitting the same thing. I was loosing 2 pounds a day to start and then it just STOPPED. Since I started on mushy food I was turning to carbs, so that's going to stop and I'm going to refocus on protein. I fill up quick and then I'm starving before I know it though. Looking for new ideas...

I was down 15 pounds after 1 week and 20 after 2 and nothing more in the 3rd, in fact it rebounded a little but then levelled off and has been staying at 20. Frustrating in a way because I'm tracking my food and I've not broken 1000 calories in a day (which before would cause me massive weight loss). I sprained my knee 2 days before surgery and it's still healing (eveytime I think it's better and try to even do a healthy walk it hurts so bad the next day). I'm going to get an exersize bike this weekend to see if I can work on that and not hurt my knee... but yeah, it's super annoying (as I sit here trying to make it to lunch on just having a homemade smoothie with Greek yogurt, protein powder and peaches and feeling absolutely STARVED)

I started to keep my surgery thing secret.. and then one day I just started telling everyone. It felt so liberating and found that the people around me became very supportive of my decision and were excited for me. It was to me like finally admitting that I had a problem (my own little food 12 step program). Even when I was still on liquids I sat with my family at the table and drank my liquids or had some Jello or Soup... when I moved to pureed and mushy I did the same thing, trying to fix meals that I could adapt to the food processor so I felt included. I haven't been out to a restaurant yet and it's been 3 weeks today since this started. I might try one tomorrow, but I'm planning ahead of where I can eat some mushier foods. The scale started tormenting me at the end of week 2, just not dropping like it was so I stopped getting on it. I am tracking what I am eating and might try again with the scale tomorrow, but I can tell my clothes are looser and that feels good too. I think part of the battle is accepting what you have done and sharing that acceptance with the people in your life. Good Luck!

I've been surprised with what people knew before surgery compared to others. My doctor required a psych eval with a specialist who counsels people doing lap band, a nutritionist, attend an info session and watch the emmi video... I think I knew what I was getting in to and I was excited by it. You have to stop thinking of "diet" as a negative word. Everyone is on a diet, a diet is simply what you eat and the band is here to help you eat less of it. I'm almost 3 weeks out and I've been excited by being able to eat less already... can't wait for a fill.

I couldn't hack the liquid hydrocodone either... made me nauseous. My nurse told me to try liquid tylenol every 4 hours... if it wasn't lastnight mix in liquid ibuprofen every 2-3 hours ... it really helped get me through the first couple of days... by day 5 I wasn't taking any pain med at all. It gets better every day

I have been enjoying low fat cottage cheese thrown in the processor with plain or vanilla Greek Yogurt and a splash of vanilla and a packet of Stivia... tastes like the filling in cheese blitzes (I tried a very eggy version of the crepe with no added fat Sunday and did fine eating it slow). tuna salad in the food processor homemade hummus, light on the tahini canned chicken with a little mild salsa in the food processor with some chicken brother, served over ff refried Beans cream of wheat Poached salmon with capers and lemon

I take a multivitamin gummy (for adults) and a Vit D gummy for adults

You probably still have the gas they used to expand your abdomin trapped in.. mine lingered for over a week.. it will feel like you need to burp but it's pressure in your body cavity on your esphogas, not coming up from your stomach. It really helped getting up and moving around to help that gas dissipate. it's likely not due to what you are eating.

I've been so worried about eating things that Im not supposed to that I haven't even tried... didn't want to end up back in the hospital or something cause I ate a cookie. One night I did take a bite of meatloaf, chew it up and spit it out. I love 15 pounds in week 1, week two has slowed the pace some, I'm sitting at 22 total now, but my scale seems confused cause everytime I step on it it changes (and we're talking about step on, step off, back on and it can be up or down 2 pounds). I tried changing the battery, but it's still confused. It wasn't used to getting used so much I guess. I moved on to pureed foods this week and have found satisfaction in getting familiar flavors. My nutritionist made some recommendations that might help. Think of meals you like and how you can reach that flavor. For example, purreed chicken (made with some good broth and canned chicken), some mashed potatoes blended with extra milk and purreed string Beans... I felt like i was eating Sunday dinner. Tonight I'm going to try layering a Mexican version with refried beans, chicken and green enchilada sauce with some greek yogurt instead of sour cream. Stick in there... you did this for a reason, try not to look for ways around it, but look for ways to live in it.