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Woo hoooo! Congrats. Your weight loss is great; 10lbs a month! You'll be at goal in no time.

I walked a lot until about 5 weeks then added a little bit of jogging, though not much at all. I was told no weight lifting/lifting anything heavy for 6 weeks. Maybe you can start small but I would be careful. When 6 weeks came I exercised like no other!

I'll take a stab at some of these. 1. The first couple of weeks many surgeons put you on a liquid diet, then a mushie stage, then a soft food, then solids. I'm assuming you mean post-op. This is really to just allow the stomach to heal and to adjust properly to the band. If you mean pre-op, then yes, doing a liquid diet pre-op does help to flush the sugars out of your body, but it is mainly used to shrink the liver. I don't believe it curbs the cravings, but once you haven't had certain foods for awhile, in my experience, I don't want them anymore, so I guess it sort of does. 2. I'm not maintaining yet so I can't say too much here. 3. Again, I don't think the cravings just go away. The band isn't some magical thing that re-wires your brain and makes you not think about junk food. It will help curb your appetite and you'll eat less but if you choose to eat the unhealthy foods, then that's all on you. Per your SIL gaining her weight back, she didn't make the needed lifestyle change. WLS involves changing what you eat, how much of it, and the amount of exercise you do. You can eat around bypass and you can surely eat around the band. It's up to you to train yourself to know what food is proper to eat and what isn't. The band won't do that for you. If you're ready to make that change and minimize the amount of sweets you eat, then being banded could be a great option for you.

40g of protein is fine. Your body will use what it needs. I have up to 120g protein a day, it doesn't hurt to go a little over.

I eat Quest Protein Bars. They only sell them online but I've found that a lot of other protein bars are full of too many carbs to fit my wants/needs nutritionally. These have 4 net carbs, 230 calories, and 20g of protein. I love the vanilla almond kind. I'm glad I found them as I HATE protein shakes.

Congrats on being banded. The pain does get better each day. Take your pain pills if you need them; they really do help as does walking.

It was offered a fill at 6 weeks post-op; I declined but I think 6-weeks is usually around the time doctors believe the stomach is healed/settled to have fluid put in the band.

Congrats on quitting!! You most definitely have the will power then. I've heard smoking is one of the hardest thing to quit.

Well first; congrats on being banded and another congrats on getting to onderland!! I was so excited when I saw a 1 on the scale instead of a 2. Per your questions.. 1. Protein is important as it helps your body heal after surgery. Though you wont be getting the amount you should, your body has a storage of it so it's not a huge deal, though when you get to the next post-op stage you may want to find a way to get more in during the day. Maybe you could look into protein shots? They are fruit flavored (usually fruit punch, grape, etc) and most people mix them into water. They sell them at Walmart and online. I too hated protein drinks but I did hold my nose and drink when I was early post-op. Today I can't stand to look at or even smell one; yuck. 2. I was 'sore' for a week or so. I wasn't feeling completely back to normal until about the end of week 1 though I was off my pain meds by day 4. My port incision hurt for a few weeks but is perfectly fine now. The gas pains went away at about day 5 I believe. Swelling is common; just be sure to take it easy and rest when you can. Hope this helps.

That's good then! Your port incision will probably hurt for a few weeks. Remember that it is sewn into your muscle so your body needs time to adjust and adapt to this new foreign object. Mine still gives me a little "ow" if I move the wrong way or if I bump into something but it does get better! And yes my weight loss has been great; unexpected (on my part) but I'm not complaining! Definitely exercise when you can. I started with walking and at 5-6 weeks I was doing normal activity. Don't push too hard though; give your body the time it needs to adjust and recover from surgery. Best of luck and hopefully your incision starts to feel better! A warm compress may help a little.

My requirements are only no water 30 minutes before or after eating. Two hours seems to be a long time. Maybe get yourself on a schedule and try to stick to it if you want to stick to your doctor's orders? It seems hard to wait that long, maybe your nutritionist can explain why 2 hours is needed? I've never heard of a wait that long, ever.

Amazon sells it. Just google sugar free davinci syrup and places will come up. Food wise: E: Quest protein bar B: egg whites w/ turkey sausage L: chicken with spaghetti sauce, spaghetti squash, and feta cheese D: salad with chicken I think I'll become a chicken one day; I eat too much of it.

Congrats!! It's an awesome feeling to fit into old clothing. Good luck with your surgery!

Congrats on being banded! Sorry you're feeling so much discomfort. I definitely know all about not being able to get comfortable in bed! It took a few days to find a position that gave me at least a few hours of sleep. I can say that after about day 5 post-op I was feeling a lot better. I took my pain meds until about day 4 and haven't taken one since. If you're dealing with gas pain take Gas-X strips and use a heating pad. Remember, it does get better!

Do your count your calories, Protein levels, etc? If not, maybe you should look into it. Fitday.com is a good website to use to log your food. It's very common to lose a lot of weight right before and even sometimes right after surgery, but it does slow down. Remember, 1-2lbs a week is the goal. You may easily be eating too much or maybe even not enough; you'll want to look at your calorie levels and decide. Also, are you exercising? Just eating right won't make the weight come off. Exercise is a must. As for restriction, it's rare to get it on the first fill. It can take several times so hang in there! You can do this. What I eat on a daily basis really depends on the exercise I'm doing; I eat lighter on my "sculpt" days. But usually breakfast is egg whites w/ bacon or turkey sausage, lunch is usually 4oz meat with vegetables and dinner is usually a salad with chicken. I usually stay between 850-950 calories.

Way to go! 100lbs lost is great. I can only imagine how great you feel. I have a little bit more ways to go but..I'll get there.

Congrats on your surgery date! Once you get restriction you'll be surprised with the little bit of food you can eat that gets you to the "satisfied" level.

Congrats on starting your journey and definitely best of luck! I've only been banded for about 4 months but I can say the surgery is my best decision yet. The weight is coming off at a prety good rate and I feel better than ever. I think the most important part is just ensuring you're ready to make the needed changes. It does take effort on your part but the band most definitely helps, though it won't do all the work for you.

I think you're doing okay and a huge congrats on your 70lb loss. That is awesome! Unless you're gaining, PBing, sliming, etc, you are probably doing just fine. I weigh/count my calories like a fanatic, but that's because I'm so anal about things. I too can eat bread sometimes but I haven't tried/wanted pasta or rice lately. Just because you can eat those things doesn't mean you aren't using your band! Some people prefer to have a tigher band while others prefer it to be a little bit more on the loose side. Either way, as long as the scale is going down and you're feeling great, I don't see the issue. If you do start to gain, I would definitely go back to measuring, but if you're doing okay with just eyeballing things then keep at it!

If you feel it's best for you, then I say go for it. I too had people tell me with exercise/dieting I could lose weight. And yes, they were right, I could, but in the end I would gain the weight back. I needed something that would be long-term. Why don't you try to explain to him how your weight has been an issue for so long and that you feel that Lapband would allow you to lose the weight and keep it off?

I'm 19 and I was banded a few months ago. To get all the answers you need, you'll want to have your parents (or whoever you're insured under) to call the insurance company and find out if Lapband is covered and then the requirements, etc. The timeline really differs from person to person.

I doubt it's slippage though you may want to go back to liquids/soft foods until things calm down. It never hurts to call your surgeon as well just to be 100% sure.

I've been using a biotin shampoo that seems to be helping a bit, but in the end it's going to run its course. I know some companies do make chewable biotin. You may want to check out Puritan's Pride. The biotin they sell is pretty small if you buy the tablets. Biotin Vitamins | Puritan's Pride Hope this helps.