honk

I had to loose 30 pounds before my surgery would be done. Have you started an exercise program? Find something you can commit to 5-7 days a week. To start out it can be 15 minutes a day; but make it 15 real minutes. If you're walking walk at a good pace for 15 minutes. Personally I swim. I wear a fat lady suit with a skirt. Once I'm in the Water no one can see me anyway. I was loosing weight on my own so my doctor let me set my own program (he tried putting me on a special 500 calorie diet which did nothing for me and I lost no weight. 500 calories such BS.). One thing to consider is to substitute one Protein shake for a meal a day. My Nut recommended whey Isolate Protein Powder; that I made with milk and suger/fat free instant pudding powder. Powder should have no more than 140 calories, and less than 4 grams of fat.

In MA, NH area Demoulas and Marketbasket (both owned by two parts of the same Greek family) carry Chobani for $1 a piece. Other stores like Shaws and Stop and Shop have it for like $1.50. You can also by variety packs at costco which equals $1.00 a piece. Personally I don't worry about the suger content. I exercise every day and decided if I am eating 0% fat yogurt I am allowed the carbs. Especially when I am staying under 800 calories a day.

Slightly off topic. I normally weigh myself in the morning in my PJ's. Since my summer PJ's are not that heavy it measures less than when I am fully dressed. Which do you carry in your head as your current weight pajamas/nude or fully dressed doctors scale reading. I only ask becuase for me it's usually several pounds more.

I think my PCP got their scale recalibrated. I weigh myself fully dressed before going there and the doctors scale used to be 1 pound less then mine. Today they were exactly the same. My surgeons scale is one pound more. I did notice one time that at the PCP they deducted 2 pounds for clothing in their notes. I don't think the surgeon does though.

I would be more forceful with your surgeons office. I had no nausea at all; and while I was not really hungry the first few days I could swallow and keep broth down.

By all means talk with either your PCP or Sugeon's office. My personal thought is it could be due to the blood thinners you got pre and post surgery. While I have not had any cycle changes yet banded 2 weeks ago; I have had issues when on oral blood thinners. I had a bloodclot a year ago (mini stroke) and was put on bloodthinner for 9 months. At that point I was take off them and put on asprin so they could run a special test. In those 11 months my cycle moved back entire month! Basically kept moving back several days every month. I am back on bloodthinners for now to see how my clotting changes as I loose weight. Not happy becuase they make me drowsy and my periods are worse (more painful and stronger.)

Hi. Do you mind sharing which hospital you are using? I went through Lahey with Dr. Brams. I am 2 weeks and one day out; and things have been going really well. Due to another health issue it ended up taking me 8.5 months to have surgery. I am not a patient waiter. One thing to keep in mind is the more weight you loose up front; possibly the lower weight you will end up with at goal. I ended up loosing about 52 pounds from my first consult to surgery. Most doctors require you to loose weight before the surgery mine said 30 pounds. The way I look at it is that I have lost weight in the past (more than 100 pounds 3 times) but gained it back. This time I am going to loose it and keep it off. I actually started exercising (hour of cardio 7 days a week) and semi watching what I ate in November 2008 and am now down 94 pounds. One thing to consider is to find an exercise you feel comfortable doing. The more often you exercise the more it becomes a habit. I have knee problems so my Ortho told me to consider swimming. Due to Clorine allergies I always hated swimming. Well I got a snorkle (covers eyes and nose); and a Water proof MP3 player. Makes swimming so much nicer. Helps pass the time. Even with the individual TV's at the gym I would rather swim than do the cardio machines. If you can only do 15 minutes that's fine consider it 15 more minutes of exercise than you used to get. Exercise does'nt have to be epic it just needs to be something you can sustain. And I don't know if it's because I was so fat that I actually get a lot of support from people at the gym. I think they are astounded that I exercise every day. I even had someone stop me at a store one time and said they recognized me from the gym and wanted to congratulate me on my weight loss.

Hi. Not sure what UK doctors have you eat after surgery but here are some thoughts. I found buying Chicken Stock was much better than Chicken Broth. Gave a lot more flavor. Also when you can move to full liquids I really enjoy Greek Yogurt which is higher in protein than the regular stuff we get here in the US (mine has 17 grams protein for 6 ounces). I take it out of it's original container and put it in a bowl and add several tablespoons vanilla Whey Protein Powder, unflavored fiber powder, Splenda (fake sweetener sold in the US), and a tablespoon fat free milk. I use a "stick blender and mix everything together and mince up the fruit from the yogurt. Tastes fabulous!

My mother is first generation Greek American. She absolutely refuses to try the greek yogurt in stores today because she hated the version her mother made. Did I say hated I meant hated with a passion.

I have a long body so I have always had to look for longer shirts. It does'nt help that the "look" right now is mid rift stuff. Only problem is that you have to have a perfect body to pull that off. When you go shopping hold different style shirts up to one another and pick the ones that are longer.

I also really like Chobani. I am in full liquid stage right now and I have a modified Chobani as my protein for breakfast. I add a couple tablespoons of vanilla protein powder, two teaspoons benefiber, Chobani 0% fat with fruit, 1 Tablespoon milk, some spendra and mix in a small tupperware with a stick blender. This makes the yoghert more liquidy (greek yogurt is thicker than reg.) and the fruit is minced. My favorite part of the full liquid diet. I would say it's about 25 grams protein.

I had a Nut (not the one from my surgeon) once tell me that she did not tell people to buy fat free cheese because it was just bad. She would rather someone have a lower fat cheese and eat smaller amounts than eat a flavorless fat free version that would leave you unsatisfied.

I feel your pain. When I went in for my presurgery labs I ended up speaking with a Nurse Practioner in the group but not my NP. Now I had been waiting for this surgery for 8 months and had lost about 15% body weight. Was I ever irritated when she said to me "Now don't gain any weight between now and the surgery!" I lost 3 pounds in the next two weeks. I can't tell you how badly I wanted to call her out on that comment. She said it in the hallway where I had no privacy. There is never an excuse for being unprofessional and I have a HIPPA privacy rights. Grrrrrrr.

You should be able to drink water, crystal light, decaf ice coffee as long as you stop 30 minutes before you "eat" and wait 60 minutes after.

If it makes you feel better I ended up having 8.5 months between first consult and surgery. I believe insurance uses the weigh in from your first appointment. Many doctors requires a weigh loss before they will do the surgery though at your BMI that may not be an issue. I was told to loose 10% body weight and ended up loosing 15%.

Zeniada I saw a surgery on YouTube where the surgeon said that there was evidence that a low fat/carb diet for two weeks could shrink the liver up to 25%. Did you do measurements before starting your preop diet? I was on a general diet for 8.5 months before my surgery and at one point I went like 3 weeks without losing any weight. I was exercising everyday so I was pretty frustrated. One day I tried on a button up shirt to see how it fit. To my suprise it was loose on me where a month before it had been too tight. So I was loosing fat but gaining muscle.

I bought a large container of unflavored Benefiber from Costco and am putting it in everything. I am week two full solids. I put it in soups, crystal light, protein drinks. This has helped me keep me regular.

asked the pharmacist and she told me that there was no liquid Tylenol and that I have to use liquid children's Tylenol. I'm hoping this pharmacist was referring to the recall instead of actually not knowing that Tylenol came in a liquid form for adults. Kind of scary considering I do shop at Walmart. Though when I know I'll need to ask a question I tend to go to other drug stores.

Personally I would have been able to get up and do a reading three days after surgery. I did not have gas pain and I was only on Tylenol. I would wear a comfortable bra and try to avoid nylons (wear knee highs). I would get a lot of rest in the morning and get to the church and sit until the ceremony. I also had no trouble standing but you don't want to push it to much by doing a lot of standing. Bring Ready to Drink Protein shakes. Again, personally I was not very hungry first couple days.

I recently bought liquid Tylenol at RiteAid (Adult Version).

My doctor does not give a date until after your final consult with the surgeon. Also the doctor requires everyone lose a percentage of body weight. So even though I got insurance authorization in about 2 weeks; it was about 2.5 months before I got a surgery date. My doctor's program also included 3/4 group therapy sessions where they covered thoughtful eating and emotional stressors that lead to bing eating.

Are you on a doctor perscribed liquid only diet? I had been losing on my own plan which was 2 protein shakes a day with one real meal. So yes I could have had salmon if I wanted.

I know how you mean. My journey was longer than most 8.5 months from first consult. I had a couple people comment that maybe I did'nt need surgery; I had lost about 55 pounds. My issue is I can loose weight but I can't keep it off with out help.

I did'nt really have that problem but some people do. I would buy some benefiber unflavored fiber and add it to your water, drinks etc. I am post op on and just moved to full liquids. I am less regular than normal but I think that's becuase I don't have anything solid going in. I have been adding fiber to my soups and it is helping.

I had surgery on 8/13 and am doing I think really well. I have been pretty lucky about not feeling hungry. The first week of broth and Protein drinks (I just can't do Jello and bought 15 calorie popsicles instead) is just kind of boring. I never thought I would be so happy to eat tomato soup! My doctor says you can have decaf coffee, and reg coffee on occation. I think the reason is that the coffee sits in your mini stomach for a while and they are afraid of ulcers. I had thought I would drink a lot of ice coffee in my first week as a release from the broth bordom but I did'nt. Oh and enough with the "Cheater" business. We're not taking about taxes, or business ethics, or driving 20 MPH over the speed limit. You are also not buying diet drugs not approved by the FDA. You are using a medical device to control a health problem. From the time of my first consult to surgery (8 months) I lost almost 60 pounds via diet and exercise. I don't call that cheating: I was preparing and for /living a life change. How come no one calls a genetically thin person a cheater because they are biologically predisposed to being thin? No one makes them wear fat suits so they don't have an advantage.