honk

Ask if your doctor has a post surgery "diet" progression hand out. Mine had a 20 page document covering the first 4 weeks post surgery and beyond. When it comes to things like cottage cheese pick the low or non fat versions. Also for pudding cups pick the sugar free. I made my protein shakes with fat free milk.

If you can only get "slidders" down you are too tight. Candy is not a food choice. Get an unfil so that you can eat dense protein.

FYI in two years I have NEVER met my PCP. I always see the Nurse Practioner. Also keep in mind that a year ago I had a stroke at 39 and was in the hospital for a week (ICU for 3 days). Could'nt belive that she could'nt take the time to meet with me. So as long as the numbers are being documented I don't think there is an issue. After all you are'nt really meeting with him for diet advice are you? Seems that anything like that would be with a Nut or Dietician. I had to meet with a Nutricianist twice presurgery; fromt he surgeons office.

If you have to go down the road of "If I needed a liver transplant would you tell me not to because it was so permanent?" You have to make health/medical decision for you. I have a sister who has always been thin but now in her 50's has gained 20 pounds and is having trouble losing it. I think this has given her an idea of what it's like to be me.

Also for dessert you could have jellied cranberry sauce. Just be careful it does have A LOT of calories. I had craving for it recently and discovered it has over 100 cal for 1/4 cup! I bought fresh cranberries to make my own with Splendra. Squash or mashed yams/sweet potatos. Since I don't cook Thanksgiving dinner I always make sure to go to the gym before heading out.

At 9 days I was on full liquids, tomato soup and Protein shakes. I would have the soup and then a couple hours later have the protein. This way I was "eating" every couple hours. Your stomach needs to heal; you could do yourself damage eating solids like this. The post op "diet" sucks but it's there for a reason. If necessary then add additional Protein Shakes since protein makes you feel satisfied longer. Having 1,000 calories of liquids is better for you at this time than 1,000 cal from solids.

You need to speak with your doctors' office to know for sure what they want. The 12 pounds loss may be expected before any liquid diet. My experience was that I was told to loose 30 pounds before the surgery. In general my doctor did not require me to do a presurgery diet. My surgery ended up being postponed for other healther reasons but in the end I lost about 54 pounds presurgery. I can tell you what I did. First, if you are not on an exercise program start one. A mistake that over weight people often do is thinking that they have to start an intense program suddenly. If you can do 10 minutes the first couple days that's fine. Personally I swim; it burns lots of calories and your joints are'nt getting a lot of stress all of a sudden. You can even buy waterproof MP3 players which makes swimming way more fun. The first 7 months presurgery I ate a conservative diet and exercized daily. The month prior to surgery I went to 2 Protein drinks a day (made with milk, about 200 calories each); and one lean protein based meal. Remember the surgery is not the end game. Start now rethinking your eating and shopping habits. I think if I were to run into my doctor at the grocery store and was embarressed to have something in my cart then I should'nt buy it.

I have the Realize version. I think many people call it Lap Band because that was the first one; Kind of like saying Kleenex, or Scotch Tape (In England they even refer to vacuuming as Hoovering!).

I know this is not what you want to hear but a large portion of loosing weight with the band is not about your stomach but your head. My program required me to attend 3 group sessions to discuss our eating habits and relationships with food. The doctor who is thin and not banded discussed her own issues with ice cream. She made a rule that she can't keep it in her house. If she is out and sees a gourmet ice cream shop she can go in and buy a small/children's cone and that's it. When she brought her last child to college she was allowed to stop and Friendlies and get a small cone because it was a BAD day for her. She could not even keep small portions of skinny cow in the freezer because it would allow her to develop a distructive habit. Personally I don't keep trigger foods in my house candy, ice cream, chips, crackers. If I am at a party I can some (one or two) but then I have to stop.

Is this your first consult or your last meeting with the surgeon? Not be a downer but if you are just heading into your first consult and are paying with insurance you could be waiting a while. I had my first consult 12/28/09 met with Nurse, Dietician, and Psychologist. They approved my joining the program. From there I had to meet with the dietician twice, the doctor twice, attend 3 group therapy sessions, and lose 30 pounds. Many doctors require weight loss prior to the 2 week liquied diet you've read about. I ended up having to postpone my surgery but I had completed my requirements including weight loss in time for my scheduled surgery of 3/10/10.

Just some additional thoughts Liquid Tylenol (I did not take perscription pain killers once I got home but the port site is the most painful because it's bigger. It is easier to get the liquid version down the first couple days after surgery) Benefiber Unflavored (added it to everything clear and full liquid stage to keep everything moving. I found the sugar free pudding cups from the refrigerated section were better than the once in the pudding isle. Crystal Light Sugar free popsicles were my favorite. Pacific Brand Tomato and Sweet Red Pepper (Organic) Soup sometimes kept in the "organic" grocery section. Costco has it at a really good price. Mrs Dash Salt Free flavoring to add to stock I tried to buy stock felt it had more depth of flavor than broth. I found the low salt versions of both/stock to be gross. You are only eating colored water for a week. I think the salt is worth it. My last day of clear liquids I strained soup and drank the liquids it was so much better than just stock. Once you feel well enough to take trips out after surgery carry ready to drink protein with you. I was drinking small amounts and would be hungry every 2-3 hours. It was a pain to have to find RTD Protein while I was out.

YES, YES, YES. Run don't want to your HR department. This needs to be addressed NOW. At the very least this is hostile working environment at the worst this is Assault. Your employer could be sued (by you) over this event. You don't even need to tell her that the behavior is wrong. Any reasonable person (IE jury) would know that no one has the right to hit another person. Period. Let us know what your HR department says. Take notes in your meeting with HR and then email them an overview of your conversatiion. You want a paper trail. I work in HR and this story is giving me fits!

No fill means no band help. It was'nt until my third fill that I started to have any restriction; and it is not perfect even now (3 months out with 7CC). Personally I do have really good will power which can go for months on end. It's the life long, never having any treats that gets to me. Before surgery I had to attend 3 group therapy sessions with a Psychologist (not just a support group but a real therapy session). We discussed what triggered us to eat; how we looked at food; what our relationship was with it. Perhaps you should consider seeing a therapist to gain some insite into your food triggers. In regards to eating healthy at my first consult I told the Psychologist I was the healthiest eating fat person I knew. He asked me why is that- at the time I did'nt have an answer. My issue is portion control and not knowing when to stop. I used to buy children's Cereal to eat as a snack/dessert. I ate it straight out of the box by hand; figuring that it was low in fat so it was a good choice. My problem is that I would eat half the box in one setting. Literally At 100 cal serving say 7 servings that 700 calories!

I am three months out and after 3 fills am starting to get restriction. Other than starting to feel fullness on smaller amounts of food than presurgery I don't really feel anything. I would'nt say I am at the sweet spot yet; I stop eating because the food I measured out is gone. You can't feel it squeezing your stomach; and you don't feel the tube from the port to the band moving around (that would wig me out). My port is pretty deep so I can't feel it easily from the outside. Now that I have healed my port area does not hurt. I had a pretty easy recovery period. The only pain I did have was in the port site and only when I went to sit down or stand up. I did not use perscription drugs once I came home. The only time I've had pain when eating was when I ate some baby carrots to fast and apparently did not chew enough/at all. Passed pretty quickly like 20 seconds. The fills really don't bother me. My doctors office does not even have a numbing shot that some use. One of the nurses was better at finding my port than the other. The mental/emotional changes are important to think about. I had 8.5 months from the time of my first consult to surgery. I try to live by the 80/20 rule: if I eat correctly 80% of the time I can have some flexibility the other 20. Once a month I go to costco and pick the best samples and eat them. I don't keep pizza in my house but once a month I can have a 1 inch sample. So delicious!

Does your doctor require a "mindfull eating" seminar? I had to attend three group sessions with a psychologist to discuss destructive eating behaviors; and how to develop heathier eating habits. It was a lot more helpful than I thought it would be. I'm not sure what you mean by a "two week diet". Are you referring to the all liquid diet many people do presurgery? I would start assessing some of your eating habits and food purchases. I did not give up fruit before or after surgery. Apple Betty yes my granny smith's no. I did not give up bread entirely; but I did only buy really good bread and have one slice at a time (put it in the freezer). If you do decide against bread I find using Romain Lettuce leaves as wraps for sandwiches to be really good.

My doctor does both LAP and Realize; for me he chose Realize. He has done probably a thousand surgeries so I trusted him to decide. Personally I might do some research on doctors who have more experience than 50. The other question is this doctor a specialist in gastro surgery or is he/she a general surgeon? A specialist has to do extra study in their area; so even it they have only done 50 it's not like they are joe shmo off the street. My surgery was done at a teaching hospital. I was seen by no less than 4 Med students while I was in the hospital who were doing a specialty course in weight loss surgery.

I agree with a previous poster for most people it's not about the losing it's the maintanance. This is the fourth time in my life I have lost 100 pounds. The first three times I gained it back plus more. I think a "no white food" rule is misleading. Many people on this board would say not to have a steady diet of "white" because it tends to be high in carbs thus sugar. Also at restriction many people have trouble eating slices of bread; they get gummy in the pouch. Others will tell you they occationally have Pasta and or toasted bread. The word being occationally. Do I wish I had the surgery earlier yes. At 39 I had a mini stroke; doctors don't really know why but said they could'nt rule out my weight. How many of those people on the news or magazines that lost a lot of weight keep it off? Do they have a life long weight problem; or did they gain because of an illness/injury, or suddenly changing their work lifestyle. For the former I'd bet the weight will be back in a year; the latter most likely it will stay off.

In the soft mushie food stage I could have ricotta and cottage cheese (low/non fat chive, pinapple flavored are nice), egg whites, canned chicken or tuna. I found mixing the chichen with low fat laughing cow cheese (there are sevaral flavors)to be pretty good instead of Mayo. I also added Mrs Dash (non salt) seasoning to the chicken. I added Benefiber non flavored to things in this stage to help keep things moving.

Not to hijack this thread. I would'nt say that I lean towards Atkins even though I eat a high protein diet; because I eat a low fat/cholesterol protein. When I think Atkins I think beef, pork; which I have combined maybe 4 times a year (at Easter or when I eat at my sister's). Basically my point is you can have fish or chicken/turkey based protein and not get the high fat of traditional atkins.

Happygirl, you need to make the right decision for you. In regards to a having a "foreign object"; if you needed a hip replacement or you would be in a wheel chair would you decline the surgery? Or a pacemaker, or heart stents? My mother put off for years having hip replacement and when it was done said why did I wait this long? Personally, I can loose weight. My issue is keeping if off. When I was thirty I lost over a hundred pounds. My work situation got stressful, then I got laid off. Everything fell apart and ten years later I had gained about 200 pounds. At 39 I had a ministroke. One of my doctors said 'have you considered weight loss surgery?" For me the end game is to not just loose weight but keep if off. Reading your post it sounds like you (like me) can focus and commit to self denial and will power for streches of time and then things start to cave in. While the band won't make decisions for you (I have a weekness for crunchy peanut butter) it will help you eat less. I am single with no kids so I do have more me time. Making exercising a non negotiable thing is important.

I don't know if I would call my self a hardcore diet coke addict. If it were around preband I drank it. One thing that helped me give it up was that last year I was unemployeed for a couple months and the 2 bucks that DC costs at restaurants really bugged me. Since I did'nt often keep soda/tonic in the house that cut my consumption down a lot. Maybe because I don't have a huge issue with giving up soda I did drink it right up to the day before surgery. Regarding insurance. I wonder if the cold shoulder you're getting is more about payment for the presurgery cost/tests. I would think that technically a doctor's office would be willing to treat you as long as they get paid. If you don't currently have insurance all the presurgery costs would have to be out of pocket cash payments. To give you an idea my doctor required that I have recent results for the following on file: Preliminary consult (nurse practitioner, dietician, Psychologist)Mammogram, Pap Smear, Cardio Ultrasound, Physical, Blood Labs, 2 meetings with a dietician, 3 Mindfull Eating Group Therapy sessions, 2 meetings with the surgeon. I would see the issue as being if you can't afford these costs of pocket (and who would want to) then you would need to wait until your insurance kicks in to start the process. The other issues is whether you would meet the requirements of you insurnce for the surgery. Have you called to check? Some require a BMI of 40 + or 35 with comodities (high blood pressure, cholesterol, etc.). All of this however does'nt mean that you can't start preparing now. Due to a medical issue I ended up having to wait 8.5 months for surgery. In that time I lost over 50 pounds. FYI many doctors require a weight loss before surgery. Mine required 10%

I have also had low blood suger issues in the past. This is usually when I get to the really "irrational" hunger point. Where I need to eat someting right now (usually if it's been 7-8 hours since I last ate). Trying to plan out my meals so that I eat at regular intervals has helped me to control this. Since the surgery I've had a couple times when I went way to long without eating (usually because I've gone to the gym so there is a huge gap between lunch and dinner); and I stopped to buy a piece of fruit on the way home.

Are you sure it was 20 g of PROTEIN or could they have said carbs. My doctor required at least 50 g of Protein a day pre surgery and 60 after. When your body does not have protein it starts breaking down muscle for fuel. Yes, that includes the heart.

My doctor used the Realize band for me. Personally I think some people get hung up on the brand name of LAP Band because it was first. I would ask the doctor why they only use Realize or why they want to you use it on YOU. That way you are getting a medical answer as apposed to a what a bunch of non doctors think about a brand name.

What does your doctor recommend for the first 48 hours post fill? Were you eating solids? My doctor requires full liquids first 24 and soft/mushies next 24. I had my third fill to now 7 CC's and for now I definally feel a difference from the 6 I was at. I think I would have had an issue if I had tried to eat solids those first 2 days.