reverie

Congrats! Remember you're still early out from surgery so things will/do get better.

Drink more water. Maybe try just keeping yourself busy. The hunger does pass. Congrats on your date; I like May 10.

I wasn't self-pay though from reading/seeing others' experiences, I would lean towards the sleeve unless you're able to find a doctor that gives you a set price that INCLUDES yearly/life time fills. Without insurance fills can get costly and since it can take 5+ tries to get to a proper level of restriction, you may be dishing out more money than you can afford. If I had to do self-pay, I would go for the sleeve. Not that I don't love my band or that it doesn't work, but for me, the sleeve would be the cheapest option if the money was coming out of my pocket. With the sleeve it's a one-time surgery that doesn't require continuous visits to the doctor for fills. Yes you'll need/want to have aftercare but with the sleeve it's a one and done surgery; with the band it's surgery and then follow-up visits to find your proper restriction level. If you choose to do it out of country, please be sure you know of a local doctor that knows about the WLS you choose. While it may be cheaper, you'll want to ensure that somewhere local is a doctor that can assist you if need be. Good luck with whatever you choose!

It happens. Pick yourself up and move on. You aren't gonna gain 10lbs *true* pounds from pigging out

I agree with the poster above. Low fat diets are bound to make you hungry, and they aren't the safest. Your brain needs fat to work properly as does your heart and other organs. If you're going to "diet" do low carb/high protein.

If pills worked would we have gotten WLS?

You'll be fine Mine bled a little too.

One week without a loss is hardly a plateau. When you go for a month without losing, then you can say you've hit a stall. You didn't get fat over night and you're not going to lose it over night, either. Be a bit realistic before you over-frustrate yourself for no good reason. Weight loss is not constant or linear, so you cannot, and you won't, lose weight every week. Try tracking your calories to make sure you aren't overeating. Are you exercising? If not, do so. Are you measuring your portions? If not, buy a food scale and start. Otherwise, wait it out, stay off the scale. Look for other measures of success. Maybe you're losing inches. Maybe you feel better and are seeing differences in your clothes. I doubt the port pain and lack of weight loss are related. Maybe try a heating pad to see if it helps. You could have just irritated it. My advice: be patient and stop expecting to lose everything so quickly; it won't happen.

The purpose of the pre-op diet isn't to lose weight unless your doctor has told you specifically that you need to lose weight to get surgery. Otherwise the pre-op diet is to shrink the liver and lower the triglyceride levels in your body. Weight loss generally occurs because of glycogen depletion and such low caloric levels.

It's your port..lol

Exactly! I have learned that completely eliminating foods only leads to me wanting them more and more..which results in a full out binge. So nowadays I literally eat anything and everything. Hello ice cream, kids Cereal, and dark choco! Besides, I wanted the band for portion control, not to eliminate foods I like.

Are you taking a Multivitamin with enough Vitamin D and Iron? Lack of calories can make you feel tired/weak as well. Maybe try eating more fats/carbs. As for Protein shakes, I'd recommend them but I wouldn't. They will not keep you full for long and should really only be used in the case that you need a quick and on-the-go source of protein/nutrients; not something that should be part of your everyday meals, IMO. If you go the protein route, try buying some casein or a casein blend protein and add it to yogurts, oatmeal, etc. I wouldn't rely on Protein drinks, not if you're weeks out from surgery. Just my opinion!

Online calculators are rarely correct, especially for obese people. I'm eating 1700 calories, with an hour+ of exercise a day, and I weigh 130lbs or so and I'm still losing. 1900 seems too high, especially when you have excess fat to lose. You need to focus on a caloric deficit and finding that really comes through trial and error. I'd recommend sticking it out until 6 weeks before you start messing around with your calories. Stick to a level that works for now and then focus on the scale. As some have said, you're 3 weeks post-op and you really need to take a step back and let yourself heal, honestly. Your body just underwent something very very invasive and while you may feel great on the outside, your body needs time to heal. It needs calories and nutrients to heal. Put the scale away for a few more weeks. It won't kill you, you're not going to gain 15lbs. Practice eating high Protein meals, getting in your Water, and resting when you can. Yes weight loss is important and is something we all want, immediately, but it doesn't work that way. Did you get fat overnight? Nope. Are you gonna lose steadily and constantly now that you're banded? Nope. My advice is to take a step back, breathe, and let yourself heal, even if you don't want to hear it. If you're this worked up over not losing 3 weeks post-op, you have a pretty frustrating road ahead as weight loss is NOT steady, linear, or constant. You'll lose a pound one week, 5 the next, and 0 the next. It's all part of the journey. Learn that it's a marathon, not a race. Good luck!

Got it!! I love how you can personalize things to fit your needs/health needs. I hope it works well for you! The people I know who do it look great and feel great. It amazes me that they are never really hungry after a week or so. The body is amazingly adaptable. The things you find out after being banded! At least I have plenty of options if I ever lose my band.

Why not just track your calories on your own? I couldn't imagine paying anymore than I already have to lose weight with the band.

IF is very interesting! I've read about it when browsing fitness/bodybuilding forums and it seems very doable, especially if you have a busy schedule. I have never read it being done in 24 hour formats though, but I guess if it works for you, it works, and that's all that matters! From what I've read people fast for 14-16 hours then eat all of their calories in a 4-6 window frame. I love how IF disproves the whole 6 meal a day thing/frequent meals belief. The fact is, despite what anyone wants to think, that you can eat one huge meal a day at 10:00PM and be fine, or you can eat 20 small meals; meal timing is so irrelevant and has NOTHING to do with your metabolism! I've read it works best for men but if studies have proven to work to help with insulin resistance and ghrelin, I say why not! Good luck and have fun testing the waters I always look forward to your posts. PS. I still love my Protein but I've dropped mine a bit; carbs were much too low and fats too high, I think. But I still love what low carb dieting did for me

Have your iron and vitamin D levels checked. Some multi-vitamins are low in vit. D.

http://www.bariatriceating.com/BErecipes/ http://www.lowcarbfriends.com/recipereview/ http://www.3fatchicks.com/diet-recipes/ http://forum.lowcarber.org/forumdisplay.php?f=39&page=2&sort=lastpost&order=&pp=25&daysprune=-1 Just a few

I'd definitely say eat more. I started off eating 600-800 calories at my highest weight and lost pretty well, however I did plateau so I upped my calories and the scale moved again. You can't live off of 600-800 calories, especially not as you near a more "normal" weight. Maybe switch up your exercise, add in some weight lifting but my advice is to eat more.

You have to practice some will power. Yes a fill will help when you are able to get one, but I fill doesn't keep you from eating. It may make you fuller but it isn't going to keep you from putting food in your mouth. Maybe portion out what you eat, eat that, and then no more. Go somewhere or do something where food isn't on your mind/in sight.

1. None! 115lbs down in less than a year? No complaints or regrets from my mouth. 2. Nope. The gas pain hurt at times but was bearable with pain meds and walking. 3. 2 weeks; could have gone back in a week but had the paid leave so I used it. 4. I'd say 2 weeks or so post-op I felt much better. At 3 weeks I felt great.

Haha. I'll get there. I hate pictures!!

Those who have slipped in the past are more prone to slip again; go with the sleeve.

I'm down 115lbs in less than a year and I have 5-6 more to go and then I'll assess from there, but in a size 2 I'm not sure I can or want to get much smaller. From the beginning I did a low carb diet, similar to South Beach. I stayed away from breads, rice, Pasta, fruit, etc. as I was a big carboholic pre-banding. I tracked everything I ate and still do today, religiously. I exercised since day one. I started off with just walking until I was cleared to do more strenuous exercising. I ran for a little while, bought a treadmill, but got bored of it so I moved onto Beachbody programs. I did slim-in-6, P90, P90M, and now I am on my second round of P90X. Nowadays I truly eat what I want when I want but I keep it under 1800 calories to continue losing, but slowly. I don't keep myself from anything because I see no need. My problem pre-band was portion control and pure laziness; now both of those are gone. Good luck and hope this helps.