honk

Hi. I am from NH. What hospital are you using? I am doing the program at Lahey.

Hi. I have been on a self imposed high protein/low carb diet preband. My surgery had to be postponed so I have been living a longer term diet which clearly has to be more sustainable then one that is done for 1-2 weeks. Once sometimes twice a day I substitue a meal with a Protein shake. The important thing to remember is the quality of the protein, calories, fat and carbs. When looking at whey protein look for one that has as high a percentage of Isolates as possible. This is a purer form of protein and easier for your body to digest. Personally I have found Gold Standard sold at Vitamin Shoppe to be a good value. GNC has a variety of products but they are more expensive. I would try to stay within the following ranges per serving Protein 25-30g, Calories 110-140, Carbs 1-4, Fat 1-4. I make shakes with 2 frozen milk cubes, 2 frozen fuit flavored Water cubes (Product contains splendra), 2/3 cup milk. The cubes give the shake a thicker creamier texture. Other possible add ins: suger free/fat free instant pudding, davinci suger free syrups, diet orange/rootbeer ice cubes. I use a Personal blender made by Hamilton Beech (15 bucks at Walmart/Kmart). Total Calories about 220-250. One thought I had for you was I would be less concerned eating fruit in moderation. Would I choose an apple or orange over pineapple, yes. My opinion (though I am not a doctor nor do I play one on TV) is that Fruit and Veggies that contain high carbs are a whole differnt ball of wax than carbs from donuts (mmmmm donuts), bagels (low fat high in carbs), or bread. Also, personally I have naturaly high cholesterol. I would not eat a high fat Atkins diet even short term. My most common meal to eat out is breakfast/brunch. Order egg beaters or egg whites (No cheese)

In the past I have done a walk at lunch and a mix of cardio 7 days a week and M,W, F weight lifting. Currently I lap swim 7 days a week for 60 minutes. Personally I do think there can be such a thing as too much exercise. If you are going to do high intensity weight bearing exercise (multiple times a day, 7 days a week); then I think you MUST have a high protein Low fat/carb snack. Otherwise your body will start to break down muscle to fuel itself. In regards to the biggest looser personally I don't really see that show as being healthy. Many of their contestants gain their weight back so clearly the philosphy they are teaching is'nt guarenteed.

The new Bear Tracks Ice Cream cone commercials are killing me! And I'm not really into ice cream which makes no sense to me.

I am preband but based on an excercise program and diet I have lost about 75 pounds. I definately see a difference in how people treat me. An in regards to men I would'nt call it an attraction thing; but I certainly get more doors opened or held open for me now than before.

How many calories are you on per day. If you are consuming to little your body will not loose weight. I was on a 500 calorie a day liquid diet from surgeons office. In five days I lost less than a pound. Keep in mind I do an hour of cardio a day. At the time I was losing closer to 2 pounds a week on my own partial liquid diet (800-1,000 calories). As I am on a bloodthinner my TOM has been irregular. I will get on the scale and have gained a pound; turns out I am in PMS.

I think the question was have you ever been so hungry and felt you had to chew something rather than being concerned about a stuck episode. I was on a PreSurgery liquid diet, 500 calories, a day that was a nightmare. I have never been as obsessed with thinking about food as I was during that 5 days. Are you on solid foods or a liquid diet? There have been times that I think about hot buttered toast. Somepeople might disagree but I find thinking about the crunch of the bread and saltiness of the butter as kind of cathartic.

At my first appointment my BMI was 57 and I was told I would need to loose about 34 pounds before the surgery was done. I met that requirment but had to postpone the surgery for other health reasons. I have since lost an additional 11 pounds. While I would look for another doctor; you should be prepared that most doctors will expect you to loose 10% of your body weight before they will do the surgery.

My surgeon does not remove gall bladders as part of the banding. At a PreBand Class the nurse mentioned the only time they removed a gallbladder was because it was necrotic. Meaning the tissue was dead and could lead to gangreen. It would have been medically negligant to leave it so they had to remove the gallbladder.

I am preband but had my gall bladder taken out when I was 19 after losing about 100 pounds. Get the thing out. The attacks only get worse. To prevent attacks don't eat fat period. Even "good fats" will trigger an attack. They now do gallbladders with one insistion I had to have a regular open surgery. Went back to college 4 days later! Looking back that was Crazy!!!!

Okay, don't see this as a scold because we all make food decisions based on our situation. My sister had a birthday recently and had three birthday parties (yeh I know); and my nephew graduated from high school I had cake at all four occations. A small piece and I planned my daily calorie bank based on eating that cake. One thing that I've decided (and was brought up in my Thoughful Eating class) is that not eating food which may now go to waste is not immoral. If you grow up in a poor household (which I did); throwing food away is considered sinful. If I buy something and it does'nt grab me I bring it to work, give it to my family; or sadly sometimes throw it a way. I would rather save my calories for something that I really want. I would recommend in the future puting the ice cream cone down the disposal or the toilet.

Have you considered lap swimming? I have knee problems so it is my exercise of choice. I find that after swimming I feel less taxed than when I do the eliptical machine. I swim for an hour at a moderate pace (no stopping). I am pre-band and since I started swiming in 9/08 I have lost 76 pounds. While I improved my eating habits I did not start a really serious diet until my band consult in 1/10. I use a waterproof MP3 player which makes swimming sooooo much more pleasant.

Hi. I am not sure how to do a survey so if you could reply with your answers that would be great. A member of my PreBand Class had their first fill last week. They gave him 5cc and he had a horrible reaction. He ended up at the ER (of the hospital where the surgery was done) and had to have an emergency unfill. Due to the internal trauma he now needs to wait until August for a refill. Doesn't this seem like a huge first fill? How much was your first fill?

I am preband. I swim laps an hour a day seven days a week. I Normally eat dinner after exercising. I try to stay around 1,000 calories a day and I am always hungry after working out.

I would be very leary of a doctor who want's 7,000 in addition to the surgery costs paid by your insurance!!!!! I have heard of program fees of $300-400. I went to a seminar at one hospital and they had this fee; I ended up going to another hospital that does not have a fee.

I eat lunch at around 1; go swimming in the early evening, and eat dinner around 7. Sometimes I have fruited Greek Yogurt by itself. Occationaly I will add vanilla flavored low fat/carb protein powder (and some splenda). Makes for a good prework out snack.

First, step away from the scale. You are unlikely to loose weight every day anyway so I think it is better to weigh yourself every couple days. You did'nt mention how many calories you can have on your liquid diet. My surgery had to be postponed due to another health issue. My surgeon had put me on this super strick HMR 500 diet. A 500 calorie diet which was a nightmare. I ended up having trouble with the shakes (allergic like reaction) and I lost 1 pound in 4 days (No cheating and being the perfect patient). I was loosing more on my own regular food/with Protein shake diet. Are you able to exercise? That is a really big help. In Oct 08 I started swiming everyday (yes 7 days a week) I am preband and since Oct 08 I have lost 75 pounds; and I have only been seriously dieting since 1/10.

I am preband but do an hour of lap swimming daily. My doctor and Nurse Practitioner both said to wait 2 weeks before returning to swimming.

I have Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield NY and I got approved in like 3 weeks.

I am preband. I also have had episodes where I am so hungry and blood sugar has fallen (not diabetic) where I get light headed and feel faint. This however really only happens when I have not eaten for like 7 hours; which really is pretty stupid on my part. True, this is usually due to scheduling issues at work or being on vacation and not having ready access to food. I am pre band and am on a pretty strick self imposed diet around 1,000 cal. a day. I do an hour of cardio a day. I do try to keep my blood sugar steady by having a high Protein low fat/calorie snack late afternoon (greek yogurt, chicken, string cheese). My surgeon does not really believe in the low blood sugar thing but I know it's true. My regular size sister has the same problem as did my father.

You may want to consider doing liquid diet of using good quality whey Isolate Protein powder. Some brands that I like are: Gold Standard (found Vitamin Shoppe) 100% Whey; and GNC Pro Performance Whey Isolate 28. The latter is 140 cal, 1 g fat, 4 g Carb, 28 g Protein. Talk with your Nutrionist. My surgery had to be postponed for other health reasons; but my Nut approved the below diet that I was using for the PreSurgery liquid diet. In the winter I was adding 1/3 cup of frozen fruit to the mix; now that it's summer I eat a piece of fresh fruit. Yes this adds carbs but for me fruit carbs are different than Cookies, crackers, bread carbs. Sample shake recipe: Protein Powder, Fat Free Milk (2 Milk "ice cubes" + 2/3 cup milk), 2 fruit flavored (zero cal) Water "ice cubes", fruit optional, 1 teaspoon suger/fat free pudding mix, optional 1 teaspoon suger free chocolate syrup, optional splenda packet. I use a Hampton Beech single serving mixer, $15 at Target/Walmart which works fabulous.

I am preband. 22 years ago I had lost over 100 pounds and started to have HORRIFIC pains like you mentioned. Horrible, unbearable pain. After the ultrasound I was diagnosed with Gall Stones. I would say they are going to remove the gall bladder. You are lucky though today they do one small opening. I had a regualar sugery and have about a four inch scar. Though compared to my mothers which is twice that size I guess I can't complain. To lower you chances of an attack I would go on a no fat diet (as close to zero as you can get). If I ate something high in fat it would set off an attack.

Sorry, but I think it is unethical to join without telling the person incharge. If you would'nt have joined pre-band (I know I would'nt because I would'nt want the judgement of everyone on how much I did or did not loose); then you should not join now. I see it as being an advantage that the others do not have. Would it be fair if you had 25 hours in your day and thus had time for an extra hour of exercise that they do not? FYI I work in HR. If you company is sponsoring this it would be a very messy employee relations nightware if you won and someone found out about your non disclosed WLS. Especially if there is money involved. There would clearly be people who took umbrage to the deception. Is it worth the potential of hurting your career over winning a biggest loser competition?

Hi. Until you can put fruit in the shakes; perhaps you can add sugar free Jello Powder/ and or pudding mix, or sugar free Davinci syrups. Might help to have some different flavors.

I'm sorry but I think you are really off base. If your friend got cancer and was a smoker would you say they didn't deserve treatment because they knew smoking was bad for them. Hopefully not. You have probably heard of the "fat friend syndrome". Were you secretly hoping she would now be the fat one of your group? While I am still PreOp I exercise every day (weekends, holidays, days I feel like crap); but that does'nt mean I expect everyone to live by my rules. Maybe she does'nt feel comfortable going to the gym. It can be very intiminating. I have had young children in the changing room say to their mothers "that lady is fat!". Do the mother's chastise their children? No Do they apologize? No. I would bet that if that happened to some people on this board even after the surgery they would'nt go back.