vickyd

I have set my goal weight to be at a normal BMI. I am already at the point of having lost 50% of my excess body weight and while I'm no longer considered Morbidly Obese I still fall into the Obese category and that is not ok with me. They set 50-60% of your excess weight as a determination of whether or not the procedure was successful...nothing says you have to stop there...you need to decide what weight you are happy with (and don't be surprised if that changes a few times along the way...mine has).

Can you remember any thing else that was helpful for you during the first month after surgery? The best advice I can give you is to weigh and measure your food (to make sure your portion sizes are good)and to track what you eat on a daily basis. I use the MyFitnessPal app on my IPhone to track calories and Protein as well as exercise and Water. When did you get your first fill? I have only had one fill which I got 3 months after surgery. I am a bit atypical in that I felt restriction from the very beginning and never really went through "bandster hell". How many blood pressure meds were you on? I was only on one medication - Atenolol How soon after your surgery did it positively affect your bp? Within 2 months of surgery I noticed a significant change. When did you start weaning off them? I started weaning off of it after I had lost 65 lbs (around 4 months post op) and am now completely off all meds with the exception of my Thyroid med which I will have to take for the rest of my life because I had a total Thyroidectomy (but as my weight has gone down, my dose has been reduced twice). Good luck to you and congratulations on already seeing improvement in your blood pressure. It is so nice to go to the doctor now and not be afraid of getting on the scale or hearing bad news...I have a long way to go but the results so far have been beyond my wildest dreams!!

It sounds like you do need an adjustment to your meds but I would caution you to wait until talk to your Dr on Monday to start weaning off of any meds. Your blood pressure isn't so low that it's dangerous so you will be fine to wait. I can also tell you that once I went off of my BP meds, I lost 10 lbs in 2 weeks so it is very possible that your meds are causing you to retain fluid.

I skipped my first 2 fills, then I had my one and only fill 3 months after surgery. My surgeon is aggressive with the first fill - 5 ccs - because they feel like it helps people get to the right restriction faster. After the first fill, from what they told me, they give 1 cc per fill. I had some restriction from the beginning but it wasn't until I had my fill that I started to have occaisional PB episodes.

Nestle Quik has a reduced sugar version of Strawberry and I have used that in my protein shakes. Can you find that in any stores near you? Also you can buy the SF Torani syrups online thru Amazon.com.

You will still be able to enjoy eating out...I certainly do, but I find it easier to share high calorie foods instead of eating the whole dish myself. My latest favorite is going to Tapas restaurants because the portion sizes are perfect and I get to taste a little bit of everything. I also find that I actually enjoy food more now because I am not so focused on the quantity of food and since I eat so much slower I can really savor the flavors. So far, I don't feel like I'm depriving myself at all.

I'm not going to talk about what to eat or the beer because you already have gotten some good advice...I know that you were worried before surgery about these types of social functions so why don't you look at it as a good opportunity to see that you can still attend these functions, eat well and enjoy yourself. Just plan your day accordingly and make the best choices you can but keep in mind that even though you haven't had a fill you CAN still get stuck if you take too big of a bite and don't chew well enough so don't throw all of the rules out the window. Have fun!

I love Greek Yogurt! Like others have said, it has more protein that regular yogurt which is great for us bandsters since our diet is very focused on protein. It is thicker and a more tangy than regular yogurt but it keeps me full and is a good choice if I need to grab something quick for breakfast. One thing to keep in mind is that if you are watching your carbs, Chobani yogurt (my fav) has 22g of carbs per 6 oz serving but it also has 14g protein...I can make it work with my diet although it has about half the total carbs I normally consume in a day...

My Dr never said no coffee either but suggested I limit caffeine. I don't drink it daily but I see nothing wrong with it.

I have been losing steadily despite exercising sporadically at best. I know that as I lose more weight I will have to seriously ramp up my exercise routine but right now I am having a hard time finding the motivation. That said, I think that the reason I have lost so well is that I had restriction from the beginning and I am very careful about what and how much I eat. If I wasn't so careful with my diet then I don't think I could have lost as much as I have.

I have UHC and I didn't have to do the 6 month duet but I did have to provide 5 years of documented weights showing I had been obese.

I can tell you from experience that drinking lots of water doesn't always do the trick. I am 6 months post op and drink 80-100 oz per day but within the last couple of weeks I have become more and more constipated. The PA at my surgeon's office told me to use Benefiber daily to prevent it...that's well and good but what to do about the what's already blocked up? Today, I realized that I was heading quickly towards being impacted so I used a Fleet enema to take care of business...it wasn't fun and it hurt a bit but I feel a million times better and I will definitely be taking the Benefiber every day from now on.

Ok, I'll play... I wish I had known that when you move from the post op liquid diet to mushies that your weight loss can stall. I wish I had known that you can't just take the suggested calorie range from the nutritionist and follow that and lose at a good rate. I had to spend several weeks tweaking my calories to find the right range for me to lose effectively. I wish I had known that some people can never just eat until they feel full. Evidently, my full notification system is faulty because if I eat until I'm full then I will be miserable later. I wish I had known that I can't eat whatever I want (only less) and lose weight. All in all, I'm thrilled with my band. Never in my life have I been able to lose 86 lbs and feel confident that I can keep it off!

You're doing great!! I know how it feels to have lost so much but still have so far to go but WE CAN DO THIS!!!

I also have issues some days getting in my calories. What I normally do is add both a mid morning and mid afternoon snack even if I'm not hungry - it is normally something small like string cheese or babybel light that together amount to about 100 calories. Like reverie said, nuts are a great way to get a decent amount of calories in without too much volume and I have also been looking at pepperoni (someone on here had a post about microwaving it or baking it so it turns crunchy...a serving of regular pepperoni has like 160 calories and no carbs so that might work also.

I couldn't agree more...well said!!:thumbup:

I would definately suggest a partial unfill (and make sure to drink a significant amount of liquid before leaving the surgeon's office just to make sure they take enough out). You may be one of the people who are very sensitive to fills and need to get smaller fills in order to avoid problems - I know that 1cc doesn't sound like much but for some people it is way too much to add. I am also suprised that you were allowed to eat even eggs the day after a fill. My surgeon has me do liquids for 3 days, then mushies for a day or two after a fill to give the swelling time to go down. I'm sorry you are going through such a difficult time with your band...good luck to you and I hope you start feeling better...

I can only tell you what I would do if I was in your situation...I would get the sleeve. After spending my entire life dieting to lose weight only to gain it (and more) back I decided that I needed some help to finally conquer this issue. If lapband had not been an option for me due to health reasons, I would have had the sleeve. I know several people in my support group who are doing very well with the sleeve and are very happy that they had it done. I know you feel comfortable here on LBT, but I would recommend hanging out on the VSG site to get to know them and to be able to get your questions answered (you can still come visit us whenever you want to let us know how you're doing ). Good luck to you!

There are some guys who participate in LBT but they aren't quite as vocal as the girls...you might want to try posting in "The Men's Room" forum in the Lap Band Support Groups section of LBT. One person you should definately seek out is Dave_W...he was banded around the same time I was (December 2010) and is doing extremely well with his weight loss. Good luck to you!

If i remember correctly, i was allowed raw veggies after 3 months. When you eat them be sure to chew very well...I regularly eat baby carrots but I make absolutely sure that I chew them to death so they don't get stuck.

A fill can cause some swelling (like you had after surgery) so the liquids are to give the swelling time to go down. Also, you can look at it as a little "jump start" to your weight loss...

I consider myself a very successful bandster...I had surgery 6 months ago and have lost 84 lbs. As others have said, most of the posts on here are from people who need help or have questions so don't base your opinion on that...it's the nature if the forum. For some good success stories, check out some blogs...I would suggest Lapband Gal, Chronicles from Band Land and Once Upon A Time in the Land of Cheese and Sunkist. All three of these ladies have had wonderful success with their bands and are very inspirational.

I had the best day!!! First I had an appointment with my surgeon who was thrilled with my progress and then I had an appointment with my PCP who hasn't seen me since he wrote my referral for surgery. He and his nurse both couldn't stop complementing me for my weight loss AND I didn't have to wear the "fat girl" gown!! The regular gown fit comfortably!!

This what is happening with me. My periods have become regular for the first time in my life and this past month, the cramps were horrible. I used to take prescription strength Motrin but this month I made due with Tylenol...it didn't make them go away completely but helped dull them to a tolerable level.

For right now, 6 days post op, I'm sure it's ok but going forward food or drinks with sugar are just empty calories. Those calories just take away from calories that will provide much needed nutrition for you.