annieM

I had a salad for lunch and it stayed down. Isn't that amazing? Just an un-fill of 0.5 cc to make such a difference. I'll have to be very careful not to overeat! That's with something like 11.5 cc's in a 14 cc band. Such a persnickety piece of plastic. It has been a beautiful day, nice sweater weather. What plans have you come up with? I'm always looking for new ideas.

Hi Angie! Good luck with jumping through the insurance hoops! I was self-pay also because mine wouldn't pay because my BMI wasn't high enough. I've lost 80 pounds now and all my co-morbidities are gone so who was right? sheesh. Hang in there!

Try herbal teas with honey, popsicles, and broth. The protein shake i use is the myoplex french vanilla 25gm protein. It's pretty good. Propel is also a favorite. Hope this helps, Good luck on your journey,

Welcome! I hope you have smooth sailing through the process. My BMI was 38 also, but I was self pay so it didn't matter. Now my BMI is in the normal range as is my cholesterol. In a year or so that could be you!:smile: Good luck on your journey!

Is your pre-surgery diet a liquid diet? Medifast? Low calorie? I remember chewing lots of sugarless gum... How about you distract yourself with something else entirely? Clean out the garage, rake leaves, catch up with friends, plan your post surgery life, take measurements of the "old" you, basically anything that doesn't revolve around food. In your new life you'll have the time and energy to do all sorts of things, why not start now? Take a mind shift away from the obsession with food. Make a wish list of stuff you would like to do if you could imagine yourself at your goal weight. Not only the physical stuff like getting up the stair without puffing, but the mental stuff too. How will I live my life? Heady choices ahead. Good luck!

Here's the thing. one pound of fat takes 3500 calories to burn. If you want to burn off 36 pounds, you need a deficit of 126,000 calories in your diet. If you are sedentary, multiply your weight times 12 and that's how many calories you can eat per day to stay the same weight. Now if you went on a 1200 calorie a day diet instead, you would have a deficit of calories every day. (As your weight goes down, the amount of calories it takes to maintain your weight goes down too). I did some rough calculations and on a 1200cal a day diet, being sedentary, it would take you about 14.5 weeks to lose 36 pounds. Want to lose it faster? Add in the exercise... Hope this helps,

Welcome! Hang in there on that diet! It will be worth every day of dieting, you just need to be patient and watch those pounds roll off! Good luck on your journey!

Welcome! Don't worry! The lapband won't delete your social life just because you can't consume mass quantities ! Just go out as you normally do, order something band-friendly and eat v e r y s l o w l y. By band friendly I mean something small, moist, with lots of protein and lots of nutrition. Not lots of carbs like a noodle dish or dry meat. Fish is always a good choice, as is other seafood (unless they overcook it), a tender steak is good, although you won't finish it, and chicken can be ok if it comes with a sauce (dry chicken is a no go). Eat your protein first, then your veggies (meaning cooked veggies or nutrient rich raw veggies, not heaps of iceberg lettuce) and starches only last if you have room and you probably won't. (South Beach Diet is a very band-friendly way of life, check it out) I hope this helps. You may get a bit of teasing for eating so little, but hey? Who will laugh last when you look all great at your goal weight? Doggie bags are the new chic... good luck!!

Welcome! How are you feeling? As far as things to "eat," I found herbal teas with honey to be very comforting, and they take a long time to sip. Are you on clear liquids or any liquids? If you are allowed protein drinks I would recommend the Myoplex french vanilla with 25gm of protein. It's not as vile as some of the other protein drinks. In fact, it's rather tasty and I'm able to get it at my local supermarket. Propel is another nice drink that's refreshing and portable for meetings. (I'm sure you can find more food suggestions in the food section of this forum) Good luck on your journey!!

Welcome Michael! You've done a terrific job so far, wow! I bet you will be at your goal before next summer. Just think of it, the beach, no extra heat exhaustion mowing the lawn, it will be great... Welcome and good luck on your journey!!

Good luck on your journey and welcome!

Oh, and I forgot, when I made my avatar I had been really into playing my flute, just for fun. Sadly to say, now I haven't played in a couple of years although I always have good intentions. Gardening and knitting are my current hobbies, other than losing weight that is!

No I hadn't had a fill in ages, that was the strange thing. I want to say it had been over six months. Most of that time though I was very tight but it was manageable. I started to cough at night, in addition to not being able to keep solids down, which really reminded me of when I was dilated. Hence the paranoia. I don't think a 0.5cc un fill will make all that much of a difference but my coffee and protein drink and soup have all stayed down today, so yay. Ze band can be a fickle little thing. Any luck on the weight loss front? Have a plan in place before you go back on solids next week so you don't "go wild" and backslide. You probably don't have much restriction yet.

The weather has been beautiful! I just love the warm days and crisp cool nights. I had a bit of band trouble; last week I just felt I was even tighter than my usual tightness and it made me paranoid about another impending dilation. So I went in for a barium swallow yesterday and , yea!, no dilation. My band was so tight the barium didn't go through the band though so the doc did a .5cc un fill and I was fine with that. So far solids are still a no-go, but I must be very swollen, so I'll hang on liquids for a while. It's funny, with all the throwing up, basically not eating anything, my weight hasn't budged. I must be very close to a weight my body wants to be. How are the pureed foods going? Are you feeling OK?

Way to go! Keep up the great work and those jeans will be falling off of you! :puke:

Great job on working out! That's a tough one and you are doing it! Keep up the good work. Your first fill may or not give you any restriction. In the meantime to get your weight loss going again, you could follow a diet such as South Beach ( which is very band friendly) or weight watchers. They generally like to be conservative about fills and don't go for that sweet spot on the first try because the risk of overfilling is just too great. Hang in there, and even make your next fill appointment while you are in the office, so you know and can plan around it. It is time consuming, but so worth it! Do some measuring too, so it's not just pounds you look to lose but inches as well. It's very satisfying to see those inches fall off. Another thing, don't forget to keep yourself well hydrated... good luck!

You could just have a liquid for breakfast, like a protein shake. Then have something soft for lunch. That's what I do. As you lose the weight you might need to adjust the amount of that medication you need as well. My BP is down from 140/80 to 90/50 with diet alone. Then you won't have that problem any more! (I have my band quite tight, that's why I do liquids in the morning) Good luck!

Welcome! My goodness you really have your hands full! You've done such a great job of losing weight so far, that's just excellent. Your boys need you to take care of yourself! Good luck on your journey!

Welcome! You poor thing! I hope the gas pains have subsided by now. That was probably an effect of all the swelling. Good luck on your journey!

I like to stay around 1200cal/day. More or less. I really am not sure of my Protein grams, I just try to get plenty. I have a feeling my maintenance calorie intake will not be much different. I'm certainly not losing very quickly. I know I won't get much of an unfill when I reach goal, if any. One of the moderators who has been at goal for years still gets fills... You may find that 1200cal feels too severe to start off with and that's OK. You will still be able to lose if you start at a slightly higher count and work your way down. (don't go below the level of 1200 though) You just need a deficit of 3500 cal to lose a pound of fat. If you are one who likes to calculate, multiply your current weight by 12 to get the amount of calories it takes to maintain your current weight per day. (This amount drops as you lose weight which is why it gets harder to lose as you reach your goal) Once you know what you have consumed in a day, you can subtract those calories from your maintenance amount and find how many calories you "saved" for that day. Adding up those saved calories for a week and dividing by 3500 will tell you exactly how many pounds of fat you have lost. If the scale doesn't reflect that, it eventually catches up. I once did a whole diet that way. It was totally OCD but it was very reassuring when the scale said I hadn't lost, but my calculations said I did. Quite time consuming though! I was single then with no kids and too much time on my hands. Are you on mushies yet?

Hey Paula, perhaps you just need to slow your eating down a bit. Then, as you are eating, really pay attention to cues that your body is giving you so you can learn the feel of what is "enough". You'll know you've past that point if you end up in the bathroom again. It takes time to learn when to stop eating, and it takes patience. You've done a terrific job on the weight loss so far. As far as what to eat goes, here are some ideas: Breakfast: Keep it soft or even liquid for breakfast because most people are their tightest early in the day. A protein drink, thin oatmeal, cream of wheat, would all be fine choices. I opt for the protein drink myself because I just can't tolerate solids in the morning. Midmorning: Time to DRINK! Get your water in, sip, sip, sip... Lunch: I still have to stay with soft foods at lunch for the most part, but everyone is different. One egg, or cottage cheese and fruit, a small salad, yogurt, or soup are all fine lunch choices. Be creative, but mind you eat your protein (meat or egg) first, then eat your other foods. It's the most important to get that protein in so you don't lose your hair, or your muscles. Wait an hour after eating and then resume sipping your WATER! Dinner: I generally have whatever the family is having except for that I will have it in the amounts a small 3 year old child would eat. Here again, I will eat the protein first and follow with the veggies and have little , if any starches (like potatoes or corn). I hope this helps. Be sure to write more questions if you have them, OK? Good luck and keep up the good work,

I'm sorry to hear you've had troubles. You are in the right place to get back on track! An exercise class is a terrific start. Then come the fill appointments. I too, do much better when I'm a bit too tight. The best of luck to you!

I agree, you just need to be patient. Also remember as you lose weight you need fewer calories to maintain your weight so it does get a bit harder to lose as you go along. How many calories are you consuming per day? (are you recording and measuring to keep yourself honest?) It takes a deficit of 3500 calories to lose a pound of fat (you probably know this), and the amount you burn per day is your weight in pounds, times 12. So if you are inclined to calculate you can figure out exactly how much weight you should be losing. If the scale doesn't match your calculations, it will catch up eventually.

I worried about that too, and it has not been too difficult. At first I would try a little bit, but it would make me so uncomfortable that i just wouldn't want it anymore. Now I don't even think about it. I drink propel by the case, from Sam's club though, so i guess I just traded addictions! :thumbdown:

25K? Holy cow, where are you? In Ohio it's around 15K. In Mexico it's about 5K. Can you do some shopping around?