honk

Are you eating soup with solid food (noodles) or puree (like tomato). I am on first week of full liquids and I can have tomato but not chicken noodle either with noodles or blended. If you are blending noodles etc I would step back to smooth tomato or squash. Just my opinion.

I would find another good surgeon, get a copy of your surgery notes/videos and get a second opinion. It could have been a fluke or the doctor could have been negligent. He/she is never going to say to you "Well I was thinking about my golf game and punctured your stomach by mistake".

See if they will give you guidelines to stay within. Some Protein is higher in calories/fat/carbs than you will want. For post surgery my Nut recommended whey Isolate protein powder; which you can find at many stores. For better quality protein you may need to check out places like Vitamin Shoppe and GNC. I find Vitamin Shoppe to be cheaper and the flavors better (also available online). On flavor I enjoy is Gold Standard Double chocolate. Another thought is to use a blender. I have a personal Hamilton Beach blender (you drink directly out of the jar. If you are allowed to make them with milk you can also try making "Milk Cubes" (instead of Ice Cubes) which will give you more of a Frappe texture (that's new england for thick milk shake). Also I was able to add suger/fat free pudding mix (2 tablespoons).

My official answer will be to talk with your Nut. In post op I am making my Protein shakes with Fat Free Milk rather than Water which adds 90 calories. It does add calories and carbs but also protein. During the first week I was at around 650-700 calories a day which is'nt really that high. I have also been walking at the gym every day (since 3 days post op); and have lost 10 pounds since the surgery. I am currently on day 8. Are you exercising? I think that is a huge plus in your preop and personally would not be terribly worried about 100 calories from milk if you are burning 500-600 exercising.

Forget about any stigma. Yes people can be nosy and judgemental; which is why I am not telling the world in general. The way I look at it if someone had cancer, a heart problem, or needed a joint replacement we would'nt tell them to "think" themselves well. I work in HR and people have all kinds of issues that they can hide alcholism, drug addiction, gambling no one would ever say they should'nt get help with these problems. If you're fat however you're told to just stop eating. Or my favorite "If you just exercise and count calories; you'll lose weight." Yeah no duh.

Hi. My surgeon required that I lose 10% body weight. My surgery had to be postponed for other reasons and I ended up loosing about 15%. Prior to starting this journey I was already excercising an hour a day 6-7 days a week. For the first three months I was on a low calorie/carb diet with excercise (lost 30 pounds); the second three months I substitued 1-2 meals a day for whey Isolate Protein shakes (lost another 24 pounds). Having to go to the doctors office every couple weeks to get weighed is a motivator to eat right and exercise. I think it is really important to find an excerise programe you can stick to. I go swiming (even have a Water proof MP3 player) and I've got to the point where if I don't go I really miss it. Keep in mind that your doctor might require you to do a 2 week presurgery liquid diet and then a 3 weeks post op of clear, full, mushy foods. Personally I would try to eat less of solid foods on your own so that you spend less time presurgery on liquids. I am 8 days post op and was so excited today to eat tomato Soup (and I don't really like tomato soup).

First No I don't feel guilty. I guess my question for you is have you tried dieting before? How much did you loose? Did you keep it off for a year? How long have you been over weight: a year, five years, 10 years? I have been over weight my whole life I am forty. When I was 39 I had a mini stroke had no warning or previous episodes. The doctors have no explanation why it happened but said that it could have been related to my weight. Keep in mind at that point I had been watching what I ate and doing an hour of cardio 7 days a week and had lost 30 pounds. Three times in my life (13, 18, 29) I lost 100 pounds and gained it all back. I am the best dieter in the world. My problem is it's a diet: every minute of every day. I have to force myself to stop eating; every time I put something in my mouth. I need help. I am willing to put the time in; and willing to make life style eating changes; I just need help. I want to be able to eat two bites of cake and stop. That's what thin people do. Not taking three or five small pieces that equal half the cake. You will need to commit to eating reasonably; again like most thin people (yes some people eat a lot of crap). You won't be able to eat 1 donut for Breakfast (instead of 2), quarter pounder for lunch (instead Big Mac), and a fishermans platter for dinner. You'll have to eat healthy food. The band is not going to allow you to eat badly and still loose weight. I hope you are not offended but I did not make this decision easily. I felt like such a failure. I am successul indepedent professional woman and how could I not control this?

If you are allowed broth you might give that a try since it will be salty.

For Ready to Drink the Premier at Costco are pretty good. I like the Gold Standard Whey Isolate Chocolate powder from Vitamin Shoppe. For Protein Powder look for 24-30 Grams Protein, Calories less than 140, Carbs less than 4. My Nut recommended Whey Isolate protein which you can buy many places even grocery stores. I find Vitamin Shoppe to be cheaper than GNC and I liked Gold Standard more than the GNC brand.

The last time I lost a lot of weight I told myself that I could'nt have dinner if I did'nt go to the gym directly after work. No gym no dinner. I always want to have dinner soooo. Admittedly that is a harsh mentality but it worked for me.

I had a situation preband where my surgeon wanted me to go on a 500 calorie a day liquid diet (HMR 500). I asked him whether the fact that I did an hour of moderate cardio 7 days a week would be a problem. He said "No, I have people on this diet all the time." Well that does'nt really answer my question. Are these people sedentary? How much do they weigh? I did this diet for 4 days continued to exercise and lost nothing. On my own diet I was losing 2 pounds a week with the exercise and being at about 1,000 calories a day. So while I respect the doctors knowledge I do think they can get stuck in "one size fits all" mentality.

I had a "small" hernia that was repaired during surgery. I was slightly suprised because since loosing about 85 pounds presurgery I had'nt really had indigestion. Only really noticed an issue if I ate and then did a lot of bending while doing yardwork.

Hi. I really like Chobani fat free yogurt (with fruit esp. Raspberry) with a couple tablespoons of Vanilla Whey protein powder and splendra. Really great protein level. Instant oatmeal is really high in salt and sugar and is high in carbs with very low protein.

Personally have never liked subway. I think I've seen commercials where they now have toasted sandwiches. My experience with them in the past was the sauces made the bread so wet it disolved. Yuck.

I think you should tell them they have to eat out and not bring it home. Other than that you can't really complain that they are eating when you can't. FYI I am on day five of clear liquids and miserable.

"Too many of us are programmed to apologize for our size, what we eat, how much room we take up in a theater seat. When someone chides us, we bow our heads, acknowledge our inferiority, and promise to do better. Well, I say the hell with it. Stand up, talk back, learn to be polite but firm, or just tell those people to go to the devil. We're overweight, we aren't childish, stupid, uneducated or in need of constance survellance by society. I am willing to bet most individuals on this forum know more about weight control than ten skinny civilians, so why do we let the uneducated and unexperienced buffalo us with unsolicited comments?" I could'nt agree more! I find in the workplace that people hush up and don't discuss distructive behavior like alcoholism, smoking, drug use, gambling, but feel free to attack overweight co workers. These people feel superior because they are lucky enough to be thin. I also had a hiatal hernia and that is what I am telling people outside my family that I had repaired.

Your experience and Mileage may vary. So far my recovery has gone really well. Surgery Thur 8/12, left hospital Friday afternoon 8/13, Sat afternoon 8/14 went out shopping with my mother (she drove) and did short spurts walking in several stores. Today Mon 8/16 while my mother went swimming at the gym I went on the treadmill at 1 mph for 30 minutes. First couple days was soar getting up from laying down but that is getting better. Probably my biggest issue was a reaction I had to the tape they used during the surgery. I am only on Tylenol right now.

I am newly banded (4 days) and yes 7 CC's sounds like a lot to me. Mine is empty and I would say I have restriction due to being swollen. I am not very hungry and some liquids move slowly through the pouch to the stomach. I have no gas pains and limited incision pain.

All insurance depends on your particular plan. I have Empire Bc/Bs. My first consult was 12/28 I received my approval in about 2 weeks. I orginally had a surgery date for 3/10 but had to postpone for other health reasons. One thing to consider is most surgeons require you to lose a % of your body weight my doctor said 10%. So if the doctor is strick about the weight loss and you are a slow looser that could affect how soon your surgery happens. I would explain your insurance concerns and see if they can give you a estimate on how long it would before your surgery could take place.

There were times when I was real gym rat that if I did'nt go to the gym I could'nt have dinner; and I always wanted dinner. Not saying that was the best mind set but it worked. I go swimming everyday and if I take a day or two off I can feel it. Muscles more tight back pain.

Preband I was trying for low-mid carb diet. As a treat though I would toast a piece of bakery bread and use benecol spread. Crunchy and salty yum. I did'nt have it every day but since I was having a lot of protein shakes that are sweet it was a nice to have the saltiness. In my experience when I was dieting making something "off limits forever" only made me want it more. Finding a compromise (one slice and not 2-3) makes me feel in control.

I would be concerned about the level of protein. CIB is not very high in protein (even with the milk that's added in). I would guess that's why you are so hungry. My doctor wanted me to do a Medical Diet that was 500 calories a day; but the nut said that it was not acceptable after surgery because it was to low in Protein.??? If the protein is too low after why is it okay before? If it was a spoonful of tomato spagetti sauce I would'nt be that worried. Alfredo is another matter.

In regards to snacking you may want to consider Fat Free Greek yogurt with fruit. I add quarter scoop vanilla whey protein and splendra and make a nice "yogurt pudding". It would give you a great protein snack. My Nut approved it just so you know.

At my first consult my BMI was 57.3 and I was told to loose 10% body weight (30 + pounds). My surgery was postponed due to recovering from a blood clot and the day of surgery my bmi was 48.2. If you have gained weight the doctor may postpone. Many doctors do put patients on a 2 week liquid diet in which they often loose alot.

I was on pain killers in the hospital for about 15 hours; after that I moved to liquid tylenol. I have not had gas pains in the shoulder. From the surgery/protein diet I am gassy. First or two felt like I had done too many sit ups but 3 day much better. I must say that my incisions look better than some that I found online. No bruising (and I was taking aspirin) until the surgery. Also I am not very hungry. My doctor says to have a serving of broth and then a Jello; and an hour later the protein shake. Some times I have to push my self to get the protein.