honk

FYI my Nut said to try for 1,000 calories a day. In regards to controlling serving sizes you need to get a digital food scale; esp. one that you can zero out once you put the plate on top. If you eating at home you need to measure. I buy chicken breast and package up 3 oz portions and freeze them. That way I know I am getting the appropriate amount. It's important to make eating plans, buy the food so that the correct food is readily available. If I have to do a lot of work I'm guarenteed to make a the wrong decision. Yes it can take a while to get restriction. I am not at the sweet spot yet (close) and have had 5 fill over the last 4 plus months.

Clearly when I am at a restaurant or at my sister's I don't weight my protein (though I could becuase she has a better food scale than I do). At home however I always measure; it on takes five seconds so can't see why you would'nt have time.

I was on clear liquids for 7 days. I would keep Water near by and drink as much of it as you can. For trips in the car put a sofa pillow between you and the seatbelt.

Hi. When I say six months is'nt the end of the world I know about which I speak. Three months into my journey and 5 days before surgery I had to postpone because the blood clot that I was being treated for was not disolved. I was crushed! Devistated! It ended being another 4.5 months before my surgery. Keep in mind even if insurance does not require a 6 month supervised diet your doctor (like mine) may require a % of body weight loss. I had to loose 30-34 pounds before surgery. You can imagine my anger and frustration when in 3 months I had lost 30 pounds and still had to postpone my surgery! During the prep of the surgery you get obsessed with the surgery itself. Especially when you wait 8.5 months for it! The fact is surgery is really the starting line. Now is the time to start practicing a healthier lifestyle. If you can walk for 10 minutes to start; do that. Trust me you will work your way up for longer workouts. People who seem to be more succesful after the surgery; tell of the behavioral changes they made presurgery. Half of this battle is mental/emotional; so the more things you can change presurgery (food choices, exercising) the less changes you need to make after.

To be truthful if this had been an option at 18 I probably would have taken it. As long as she is aware of the work and restrictions that come with the band and is a mature 18 this could be the best thing for her. The more research that comes out the more I see how things were stacked against me. Recently there was a study that said that in families that have a history of alcolism in the males the females are more likely to be obese. This supports my belief that my brother and I have addictive personalities his led him to drink, mine to eating.

The first seminar I went to they had a $400 fee not covered by insurance. Luckly living the greater Boston, MA area I do not want for choices of medical providers. I went to a better known hospital and doctor (another 10 min drive) and did not pay any fee. There have been people on this board whose doctor charges a fee but that includes paying for fills. Personally I would look for a new doctor is you have a choise.

I know they can give you a blood test to check for a chemical from cigarettes. I would ask if they will be giving a smoking test.

Just a note that my Nut. said I could count decaf coffee. Now that it's winter and I work from home and am too cheap to turn up the heat I drink a lot of decaf to keep warm.

From highest weight (start of work out routine)30%; about 109 pounds. No wonder I had such a problem climbing the stairs at work. Most people dont carry another person ups the stairs!

I am not diabetic but have issues when my blood sugar is low (runs in my family, even my brother in law knew when my thin sister went to long without eating that they had to stop whatever they were doing and get her food. NOW). I have started to get restriction and have noticed that since I am eating noticiably less that I'm getting occational headaches. Seems to get better after I eat. I tend to eat low carb and the brain runs on carbs.

I agree with previous posters 5 fills before starting to see restriction. I think many doctors don't do enough educating people that yes you will be on a diet for several months. Because of this lack of specific instruction patients focus on the band controlling their portion sizes. Also exercise is a important part of this journey.

Purple shell, my recommendation for post fill diet is to have 1 cup of tomato, low fat cream chicken etc soup; and then a Protein shake an hour or so later. Your body needs protein and a liquid soup is only giving you carbs and no protein. After a fill I try to space out my soup and Protein Shake so that I "eat" every couple hours. If you have your soup then protein shake right away; it goes through the band and you have another 5 hours before you get to eat again. After my last fill I lost 5 pounds (in a week) then when I went back to solids gained 3. This week I have been doing solids 2 mealsa day and then liquids for dinner. I'm hoping this will jump start my loss; but that my body won't panic because it is getting 2 reg. meals a day.

Hi. My doctor recommeded Flintsone Chewables; but I found a Costco Kirkland brand that has the same specs but is less money. I don't really mind vitamin time in the morning. I take chewable: fiber gummies, multi vitamin and calcium.

I've heard that most people can eat breakfast esp. if they have hot coffee or tea first. The other question is are some people too tight and that and the band being instrinsicly tigher in the morning leads to trouble with breakfast.

Rchavez101 I would try to work out a cash payment price as mentioned above. Also if you are at the begining and will be getting multiple fills you could see if they will agree to a block pricing: so 5 fills for at $200 a piece instead of $350. Again you could say that you'd pay the $1,000 up front. Also if you have Medical spending account through your employer you should be able to pay for these medical treatments using that money. Remember medical spending accounts are pretax so you are saving at least 25% in tax burden.

I did not blender anything in the mushie phase. I did have eggs whites and added 1/8 cup fat free cottage cheese with chives added at the very end. Cottate cheese melted and made the eggs so cheesy. Tasted like heaven after 2 weeks of liquids. Also I'd recommend making sweet potato's instead of white more fiber. Ricotta and cottage cheese with marinara is really good. Also I had greek yoghurt with fruit which I used a stick blender on; at the beginning added milk to thin out.

Wow 6 CC in a first fill is a lot. I am just now getting restriction at 9.4 and that took 5 fills.

I would call the health insurance myself. If the new policy does'nt cover fills you can't really fight that. The employer determines what they will and won't cover in the health insurance. What I would do is speak with the billing dept off the hospital or doctors office and see if you can negociate a cash payment price. If you look at the statement of benefits from your insurer they normally say billed cost of service $300, negociated rate $50, amount paid to provider $50. I would look at past bills to see what your insurance actually paid for the fills and tell the billing dept you want to pay what they were accepting from the insurnace company. You could tell them you will pay for service up front by credit card so that they know they will get the money. You may be able to save a lot of money that way.

When I moved 3 years ago I gave away all my thin clothes and everything in between. Most of the stuff I have now is from when I was 100 heavier. I work from home so I do'nt have to dress for work. Occationally I get desprate and buy a new shirt. I did go to the mall the other day to try on some things. I have been at a plateau for a while and wanted to see if I had lost any inches (since all my clothes are way to big I would never notice). I had gone done a size in pants and perhaps one on the top.

Yes the "diet" rules are for a reason! Your stomach is healing from being sewn. Think about that. While there are occational exceptions MOST doctors have a progressive diet like yours ordered. Yes the liquid diet sucks but that's the way it is. I hope you are'nt offend but the doctor knows wayyyyy more than we do about how the body responds to trauma. Almost everytime someone posts about having problems in the 2-3 weeks post surgery it's because they moved forward on the food plan before doctors orders. At my two week check in I ask the nurse if I could move to mushies like 2 days early. Her answer No! As for Protein are you allowed to make the shakes with fat free milk? That makes them taste so much better. Also there are lots of recipes on this site and on the internet in general about add ins that help the taste. I made mine with fat free milk, sugar/fat free pudding powder, sugar free coffee syrups, splendra; in a miniblender with ice cubes really helps the texture. Also costco has a nice RTD Premier chocolate 160 cal, 30 g protein.

Regarding exercise it's true that after doing something everyday for a month it does become a habit. You also need to find something that you can do comfortably. Because of a knee issue; I swim. It's really not as bad as it sounds. Until recently I wore a bathingsuit with a little skirt and once you are in the Water no one can see you anyway. I also use a water proof mp3 player. Elliptical machines are also good because they are weight bearing but don't have the impact of a treadmill. As for gyms 1) Many insurances will pay part of your membership; as long as you can provide a print out that you've been going; 2) Check out the YMCA/YWCA they are usually really affordable. Personally I tell myself if I want to have dinner I have to go to the gym. No gym no dinner. Who wants to go with out dinner? It may sound harsh but it's not. I also find if I don't go to the gym I'm don't sleep as well. As noted earlier clean out any trigger foods. If you take a bit of somthing here and there and it's not a veggie; it needs to go.

I am four and a half months out. I've had 5 fills and am not at 9.4 CC's. I think I am now starting to get restriction and think I will probably need a very small fill next time to be in the right spot. Knock on wood I have never had a PB incident. To the poster whose doctor told them they should be full on five bites; WHAT! My doctor says 3 oz of protein + veggies. You would have to take some seriously big bites to do that in 5 bites!

I'm not a morning person so I have to wait an hour or so before I am ready to eat. That said I do have to eat at regular intervals because I am prone to low blood sugar. With or without the band I think your body needs breakfast. If you had dinner at 7:00 pm you are not going to have food in your pouch at 8:00 in the morning. I usually have a cup of Reg Coffe and then Chobani fat free with fruit yoghurt, half scoop vanilla protein powder, 2 ts flavorless Benefiber, Splendra, and about 10 g Kashi Go Lean added in.

My nutritionist is more worried about the caffeine causing dehydration. She recommended that I do one reg coffee in the morning and then move to decaf. One diet tip I once read said that you could continue to have reg coffee but that you had to have an equal amount of water to offset the caffeine.

I made a Italian bake: cottage cheese, ricotta cheese, shredded parmesian. Mixed together put in a small baking dish, layer with a smooth jarred spagetti sauce. Baked in the oven. Also I made egg whites in a frying pan at the very end added fat free cottage cheese with chives 1/8 cup. Makes a nice cheesy sauce for the eggs. Sweet potato baked in the microwave. Scoop out the potato mash with fork, sprinkle with cinnamon, spritz with butter spray (maybe add some Splendra). Canned chicken mixed with low fat laughing cow cheese (there are lots of flavors). Some people get fat free refried Beans. I would avoid most mexican foods as they are unlikely to be soft or mushie.