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After 10 years I got rid of my cpap with the weight loss. For the first 12 months the cpap did nothing for me, it did not give me more sleep. As for getting used to mask, that was not a problem. From day 1 it is just a matter of getting it adjusted so it is not to tight or loose. No need to be apprehensive.

Sounds like you have a good perspective. I think you're being supportive and will be able to read her emotions. Hopefully through the support group she will recognize and accept the different ways people experience this weight loss. Having an emotional attachment to food makes it difficult so she's lucky to have you by her side. PS. Its never too late to begin with technology. I hooked my mom up at 70 and trained her from long distance whenever she had problems. Forums like this might motivate her to give the internet a try. Fingers crossed for you and your family

One of my close family members has started the process of getting sleeved. I was sleeved 9 months ago, so she has talked to me quite a bit about the process, and I went with her to the initial informational meeting. She has asked me to attend her first meeting with the surgeon as well. I'm happy for her. Her health has been deteriorating, and I know weight loss will help. She is worried about her heart, and it was her cardiologist that first suggested she look into weight loss. Nine months ago, when I had my own weight loss, she had declared herself too old for anything like that, but her health has deteriorated since then and much of it is weight-related. I'm also worried. I've had a pretty smooth process. I have never vomited, and I've only felt overly full a couple of times. I didn't have the health issues she has had. I'm worried that she will be upset if everything doesn't go as smoothly as my own surgery. She doesn't have access to the internet, so she can't check out forums like this one. But she is going to the same surgeon group that I went to, so we can both attend the face-to-face support meetings together. I just want to make sure that I stay in a supportive role and not become irritating for her. I know food plays a different role in her life than food does in mine. She is more connected to food than I am. She can cook and loves to cook. She has signature recipes that people clamor for -- I've never been a cook. I guess I'm worried she'll have buyer's remorse and end up blaming me at least in the short-term when she is on all liquids and can barely get a sip of Water in. I know many of you have had family members that have been sleeved. How has that gone for all of you? How much of a time difference was there in surgeries? What struggles were there? What were the relationships? I'd love some tips!

You jump started your metabolism. Some of my biggest losses have followed nights of binge drinking. Not very often mind you. Your metabolism sits there thinking you are going to give the same old amount of calories to burn and has become efficient at burning just what you give it. But when you give it more than it is expecting, it jumps into overdrive. That is why some people suggest eating more when you are at a plateau. Who cares anyways? You are losing again!!!!

My insurance says: All of the following conditions must be met to qualify: You're at least 18 years old or you must provide documentation of completion of bone growth. You were unsuccessful with non-surgical medical treatments for obesity. Your medical records must show your failed attempts.Diet programs, such as Weight Watchers®* and Jenny Craig*, are acceptable methods of dietary management, as long as there are monthly clinical visits with your doctor and medical documentation of your participation and your progress throughout the course of the dietary program. *These programs are not covered by TRICARE. Physician-supervised programs made-up of only weight-loss medication management, do not meet this requirement. You have proof of one of the following:A body-mass index greater than or equal to 40 kilograms per meter squared (kg/m2); or A body-mass index of 35-39.9 kg/m2 with one clinically significant comorbidity, including but not limited to, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes mellitus, obstructive sleep apnea, Pickwickian syndrome, hypertension, coronary artery disease, obesity-related cardiomyopathy, or pulmonary hypertension. I am 5'7 and 219 which makes me about 34 BMI. I don't want to get declined. I have 4 comorbidities but not sure if that matters if I am no 35 BMI at my first appointment on May 12th. Any suggestions?

ok first 6 weeks lost 20 lbs and was ok with that, even a slow loss is ok.....but no move ment on scale for almost 3 weeks..........I have played around with calories, carbs, proteins I just am so disappointed and worried its not going to work.........

Lol I thought I was the only person who had that feeling of avoiding the mirror when my stylist does my hair.

You've been sick, and on antibiotics. Your body is storing everything it can so it can recover. I also recommend the same thing to people that experience a stall. Up your Water, and calories. Even if it's just 50-100 calories per day with a string cheese or more greek yogurt, something to shake things up. If you're active, then you very well may not be getting enough calories. I hate the word "lightweight" just as much as I hate the word "heavyweight", but your starting BMI was a full 13 points lower than mine, and it's true, statistically, I will lose faster than you. It sucks, but it's what seems to the be the trend. Can you have sugar free puddings, what about thinned out cream of wheat with an egg white tossed in for extra Protein (it sounds gross, but it doesn't change the taste or the texture)? Hang in there, the scale will move. Shake things up, and as difficult as it seems, stress actually causes the body to produce more cortisol which in turns causes no loss. It's the "fight or flight" thing.

I had noticed several posts on this subject the last month or two. I was lucky to have a very good NUT advising me in the early months of this process so it was drilled into me to keep portions small, so I didn't always relate to this problem/issue. I was on a week long business trip last week. I was in workshop/meetings 4 of the days and of course had 5 hour flight to and from as well - and all the food related challenges that come with airports and flying. What was hard is that I couldn't do my usual mini meals. Food was basically offered 3 times a day and the content of it was not within my control. I did carry Protein bars. So, what I experienced was interesting, and may be useful to others as well. Because I went so long between meals, I was really pretty hungry by the time I ate. I felt that I ate way more then usual at meal times. I was eating off fullsize plates, not my mini plates I use at home. It was one of those "surprised how much I COULD eat" I noticed an increase in bathroom issues, I noticed a little bit of an upset stomach, I noticed symptoms that I have seen people post about that I don't normally experience. hmmmm. I also noticed that my hunger increased. So, what I did a good job of was staying low carb. The day they had pizza and salad - I had salad and Protein Bar. I ate from a Breakfast buffet, and had basically meat and cheese or a greek yogurt. The day they served sandwiches, I only ate some of the bread, but basically ate the insides - that sort of thing. What I did poorly was eating too many peanuts and high calorie Snacks when traveling. I ate too big of meals, and didn't eat often enough on the workshop days. I only worked out 2 of the days, but that is because the work committments ran into the evenings and I was pretty tired. Lesson for me, to apply to my day to day life? Portion sizes and eating frequently are very very important. Going back to my home routine immediately resolved my stomach upset/acidy feeling - it was from too big of portions I think! Luckily, I didn't let myself get on the carb craving cycle (that has happened to me before) so transitioning home has gone pretty well. Anyway, for those of you experiencing this feeling of eating too much, perhaps consider going to the eating 4-6 mini meals a day and do the tricks about eating from a teaplate, using appetizer utinsils etc and see if it doesn't help you get back to the more petite portions. My own approach is to use a very small plate, and to make sure the food doesn't touch even on the small plate. This, combined with eating more frequently, keeps me from overeating . I would be curious to hear if other find that they just feel better too - the larger portions didn't hurt, but, I think were mildly uncomfortable which i experienced as an acidy kind of feeling. I had a small loss, but more importantly, I was able to not gain even after eating so weird and hopefully learned something that will help me when I move to maintenance. This was not my first business trip post sleeve, but I think it was the first one where I really learned about my eating needs in these situations. Oh, and the amazing part, I didn't crave the pizza like I would have in the past, it didn't even smell good to me... it really helps to keep the carb monster somewhat contained - really reduces or eliminates cravings.

You are so right. I think my hunger is more then it was (started returning at about 7 months post op) but I feel like my relationship with food continues to improve. It is like I can finally accept, without a feeling of loss or even disbelief, that I don't need that much food, I don't need alot of bread and other carbs... I am content and happier even by eating carefully. It no longer drives my day - food is just sustenance it doesn't need to be anything else really. I sure hope that feeling stays because maintenance scares the heck out of me and this gives me hope.... I am not ready for maintenance, but sometime in 2013 I will be and it worries me!

My #1 question for my surgeon was how long was the surgery going to take? I had already researched him online and knew quite a bit, but I'd want to know how many years/surgeries he'd done for the Sleeve. How much pain to expect and when to expect to be released from the hospital. Ask him for a realistic expectation for weight loss too. Also, I'd get to his office early and see if I could get into a conversation with some of his patients coming in for follow up appointments. They were the best source of info for me. They were happy to share their stories. When I went in for my 1st appointment. It was a mixture of 1st visits and post-op patients. We were all up tight cause we all knew why we were there, we were nervous, and didn't know how to talk about it. But we wanted to. Luckily I was able to make a joke about all the pages and pages of paperwork. That got the ball rolling and soon we were all talking.

Just wondering if anyone else has read or seen effects of Lexapro slowing weight loss?

I also use MyFitnessPal. It has helped me tremendously. I know what you mean about the amount of calories. On a day with no exercise it says I can have up to 2,230 calories day to maintain 1 1/2 of weight loss per week. If I exercise that number is almost 3000. I never get close to that number. I am not interested in losing weight really fast. I am more interested in gaining perspective of what I put into my system and keep a nice controlled weight loss. Plus I don't really want that deflated look. I am working with a nutritionist and they say it is the best way to go to keep off the lbs for good. Everyone is different though and no matter how you use it MyFitnessPal is a great product and service. You can add me on there if you like. My username is djtheeo thanks

I've been tracking my calories and protein the good old fashioned way...paper & pen. Calorie intake around 1100-1300 (based on dr recommendations following metabolism testing) and exercise (elliptical for an hour 5 times a week). Water intake 100oz/day. Protein intake 60-80g/day. So I see on the boards that a lot of people use & recommend myfitnesspal.com for tracking. Thought I would give it a shot....surgery was 5/4/11 and I've been stuck at 10 pounds pre-surgery loss and 10 pounds post-surgery loss (in first month and none since) and I've had one fill (that provided no restriction/hunger control). My question is....after you've entered all of your data (age, weight, goal, exercise, lifestyle) and it gives you a recommended calorie goal for the day.....who follows that and if you do, have you had success? Based on my input (lightly active) and current exercise, it recommends I eat 1950 calories a day. WHAT????? I know that what I've been doing is not dropping any pounds so I'm wondering if I should slightly eat more and meet the dr recommendation and the myfitnesspal.com recommendation in the middle and see how that goes? Needing feedback...thanks!!!!

Hey everyone, hopefully someone can help me out! So as the title says I'm 6 1/2 months out and I'm wondering how many calories a day I should be having. I want to average around 2 pounds of weight loss a week. I currently keep my calories from 450-550, but is this too little? I am considering increasing my intake to 600-700 calories a day, especially now that I'm farther out. I'll be honest, I don't work out. I did in the beginning and of course in the end there is no excuse, but being a full-time college student it's hard to get to the gym when an essay is due the next day! LOL So, if you guys can be so kind as to tell me how many calories a day should I be aiming for if I want to lose 2 pounds a week and don't exercise. THANKS Also, I have noticed that 2oz no longer makes me as full! I'm satisfied with 2 oz, but I could easily at least eat another ounce, maybe more! That worries me SO MUCH! I am worried I've stretched my sleeve

You have lost 20 pounds already, that's a very decent loss for someone coming off a band revision. Especially considering you only had 50 to lose. That's already nearly half your extra weight. I would focus on following my program and getting my exercise etc and give it some time before thinking about another surgery. It seems a bit premature for all this drama and feeling betrayed. Just my opinion. Good luck either way.

Hey, Banders!We’re into the long, lazy days of summer – but there’s plenty going on at LapBandTalk.com! So why don’t you use this newsletter as a reminder to get on over to the boards? It’ll help you stay on track or motivate you to get back on board if you’ve gotten off track a little. Here’s what you’ll find in this newsletter. Burning question: What’s the Big Deal about Protein? Member Spotlight: Meet TanyainNY! Bander Challenge: Record Your Diet! Become a Board Expert: How to Get More Involved We hope you’re having a great summer and feeling great about meeting your weight loss and healthy lifestyle goals. Enjoy the newsletter, and of course please contact me any time with suggestions, comments or any other feedback. See you on the boards! Sincerely, Alex Brecher Founder Breakfast should be high in protein to give you a good start for the day. But why is protein so important? First, it’s an essential nutrient for your immune system and as a part of your muscles, skin, bones and other body tissues. But it’s even more important when you’re losing weight so fast, like you are after your lap-band surgery. When you lose weight, you’re losing body fat, of course. But if you’re not careful to get enough protein, you’re going to lose a noticeable amount of lean body mass, too. That means you’ll lose some muscle mass and your metabolism will slow down. Another benefit of protein is that it actually helps you stick to your low-calorie post-surgery diet so that you lose weight faster. Protein takes a longer time to digest than carbohydrates. That means that eating a high-protein meal will help you stay full for longer than a high-carbohydrate meal without much protein. So don’t forget to hit your protein at each meal! Aim for one to two servings per meal, and if you have a snack, include some protein. What are the best sources of protein? Stay tuned for the answer coming up in a future newsletter! If you have a burning question that you’d like to see answered in the newsletter, just send Alex a PM over in the forums. It can be about anything - lap-band problems, food, fitness, weight loss, health…just let us know! Member Spotlight – Meet TanyainNY! TanyainNY from Cooperstown, New York, has used the lap-band to turn herself into a wonderful success story. Tanya is a registered nurse whose weight was a poor example for her patients. Like so many others, Tanya decided to get banded after she felt ashamed of asking her 6-year-old son to move to the dining room table to play board games instead of being able to sit on the floor with her children. Tanya got banded in December of 2009. At 5 feet 5 inches, her starting weight was 270 pounds. Now, she’s down nearly 100 pounds, only 20 pounds away from her goal weight of 155 pounds. This 39-year-old mom has the energy of her 20-year-old self. She does it all, from bench-pressiing and squatting with the big boys to taking muy thai kickboxing classes. This self-described gym rat has even become a Zumba instructor, and she competes in running races. Her next venture is to master the art of riding her new motorcycle. Tanya’s diet has been transformed along with her body. She no longer depends on “white foods,” such as Pasta, chicken and cheese. Now, her diet is a variety of healthy foods, including two salads a day and plenty of fruits, vegetables and protein. Her friends now come to her for nutrition advice! She’s loving life and taking full advantage of every opportunity! Congratulations on all of your success, Tanya, and thanks for being in our Spotlight! We feature a different LapBandTalk.com member each week in our Member Spotlight section. Let us know in the member spotlight forum if there’s someone you want to learn more about or if you want to be our spotlighted member! Nominating yourself isn’t bragging. We all want to learn more about you if you’re willing to share your trials, triumphs, tricks and tips! If you’re shy, just PM Alex with the message that you want to be in the spotlight. Thanks! Bander Challenge – Record Your Diet! Each newsletter, we challenge you with another Bander Challenge. It’s a chance to push yourself a little outside of your comfort zone or get you thinking about ways to make your weight loss journey even more successful. The challenge can inspire you to try things that you’d never thought about but that can make you more successful and confident in your weight loss journey. The challenge is completely non-competitive, but we hope you’ll post your results in the Challenge Forum so that other members can be motivated by your own challenge actions. Study after study proves that the most successful losers – and maintainers – record their diets. If you don’t already do it, now’s a good time to get into the habit. This newsletter’s challenge is for you to record your diet for three days. Include what you eat, how much and what time you had each meal and snack. You can also put in details like how hungry you were before you ate and afterwards, whether you ate exactly what you’d planned, and whether you were eating with people or alone. Did you learn anything new about your diet? Is there anything you can change so that your choices are healthier? Let us know how it went in the Challenge Forum! There, you can always look back at the previous challenges and post your results. It’s never too late to try something new. Better Boarding Tips – Getting into the Swing of Things For some members, jumping right into the conversations on the board feels natural. You know exactly what to say and have no trouble asking for help and providing your own support. For the rest of us, it can be a little tougher. We may not always know what to say to someone who needs help or how to reach out for support when we need it. How can you improve your social boarding skills? Practice! The more you post, the more comfortable you’ll feel. Start by filling in your profile, if you haven’t already. Head on over to the Introductions Forum (you can get there from the front page) and welcome a few new members. Then browse the forums until you see some topics that call to you. You might be able to answer some member questions about food choices or some of the pros and cons that you’ve experienced with your weight loss surgery. You’ll soon feel like an old pro with so much practice, and the other members will sure appreciate your input! That’s about it for this week’s newsletter. You can always find the old newsletters in the newsletter forum if you ever miss one. Thanks as always for your support, and we’re looking forward to seeing you out on the boards! Take care of yourself and each other, Alex ============================================================== If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter, you may unsubscribe by going to your Control Panel and clicking on the Newsletters tab, or clicking on the following link: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/index.php?app=core&module=usercp&tab=newsletter

I think you may be a tad too tight. At least I had a very similar experience when I had too much fill. Everything I tried to eat gave me pain. A very tiny unfill of .2cc fixed it for me. The amount of fill that you have doesn't really matter all that much. I know someone with the same band as me.. she's tight with 2cc's. I'm at a good level with 5.5. You could try drinking something hot (tea, coffee, Water with lemon, hot crystal light) right before eating. This will loosen the band just a little bit and might make it easier to eat. When I was too tight, I even sipped on hot tea during my meal. The key word is sip.. tiny ones. Not big drinks. The danger with being too tight is that you can fall into the habit of eating what's called "slider foods". These things are OK on a very short term basis, but over time, tend to be higher in calorie and less satisfying to fend off hunger, so we eat more of them.. with a result of reduced weight loss.. or even regain. I don't purposely change the amount I eat. I measure out my 3 or 4oz of Protein and 1/2 cup of veggies. I try to eat that and if I get too full before it's gone, then it gets put away for later. If I can finish that amount, then I'm done for at least 20 minutes. IF I am still feeling hungry after 20 minutes I'll let myself have more veggies. However, I eat my veggies fairly plain.. w/o butter or cheese. Usually only some lemon juice and/or salt on mine. Most of the time, the 20 minutes gives my stomach and brain time to communicate and they figure out I really have had enough. Hungry in 2 hours? I make sure I've drank 16 to 32 oz of water (not Powerade zero, crystal light, tea, etc... water). If I haven't, I get on that. Still hungry after water.. then I can have a small high protein snack. Apple and cheese stick is a favorite go-to. Also the small snack size cottage cheese. yup yup. I had the same experience. I hung out on yahoo bandster boards from fall of 08, reading and practicing bandster behavior until banding in March of 09. There's things that you just don't get till you're one of the club. :mad2: You're welcome. I hope it was of some use. Call your docs office and talk to one of the support staff.. see if they want you to come in for a teeny unfill or have some other suggestions to help you over this rough spot. Good luck!!

Potentially stupid ? alert...does taking three Viactiv chews at the same time have any impact on weight loss? I have been told to take three - one in AM, one midday and one in PM, but my work/life makes that hard, so I take all three at the same time along with my chewable multi. I am 7 weeks out overall having good results but pretty slow progress recently, and just wondering if anyone thinks it could be related?

Lordy! Deep thoughts for a hump day! As I sit here taking in my 2nd cup of real coffee and drinking my chocolate Peanut Butter (and espresso spiked) Protein shake I can't help but wonder of those are just not normal thoughts by normal people everyday? The last couple days have been terrible for me. I made a promise to myself that I wouldn't have simple carbs and sugars till the end of the year. Day before yesterday, I had a piece of cashew, dark chocolate topped peanut brittle. Thats all she wrote….things went to hell in a hand basket fast! Have been beating myself up one side and down the other since as I stuffed my face with the poison. I finally, yesterday afternoon took it out to the trash can out side and then beat myself up some for having to take that step. I was damned if I kept it and damned if I tossed it. Either way, I lose. After reading your post, it made me realize that we do this in more aspects of our lives than just as it relates to our weight loss journey. Maybe we have just conditioned ourselves to be our own worst enemy and critic? Yes? Whoever said this journey is every bit as much mental and emotional is absolutely correct. As most of us know, the actual part of losing the weight is not as hard as keeping it off. Keeping it off is where the head comes into play. If we don't fix that we will never succeed. We have heard them all, "We have to keep our head in the game", "We have to deal with what's eating us", We have to……the list goes on and on. Perhaps we need to redefine "success." We are constantly evolving and growing and changing and taking steps forward and backward and this and that….. Maybe the best gift we can give ourselves this Holiday season is try and see truly how far we have come and try not to look at how far we need to go. When we look at how far we need to go, the finish line is never in sight. Interesting topic, RJ. You really have expressed what I have been feeling the last few days. This should be a time of joy and gratitude and I have found myself blue and self loathing. I thought for sure I had this and the holidays would be a piece of cake. Not so much. Will I ever "have it"? Probably not. Will I ever give up striving to "have it"? I can only pray not. I do think today though, I am going to skip the gym and go outside in the beautiful sunshine and garden. It makes me happy. Just for today, I'm not going to work on my physical body. I'm going to work on my heart and my head. Thanks RJ, for helping me make the best decision that I can make for me as a person today. I wish the same for you. ((((big hugs)))) I'm a hugger!

I have been a very slow loser. I was 256 the day before surgery and it took me 3 months to lose my first 20 post sleeve lbs. Very frustrating! It has taken me some time to mentally embrace my pre op loss and lump it all together as my total weight loss. But now I can say I have lost 64 lbs all together and I have 61 lbs left to go! I have nearly always followed my diet guidelines and started exercising at 1 week out. I did have faith that if I keep meeting my diet and exercise goals eventually I would get there. And now I can see it is happening! My main advice is not to get caught up in the scale and follow your eating plan and set exercise goals and then enjoy the process. We do have a choice. We can fret and worry that others are losing faster and spend the journey feeling like a failure or we can Celebrate the victories along the way. I choose to celebrate! The victories are sweet!

I was told if I went below 35 BMI (I have comorbidities) that I could be denied. Congratulations on your weight loss so far Summer

My surgery is Wednesday so I understand your nervousness. I guess the only thing I can say for you is you want to go ahead and go through with it because if you chicken out...you may decide to do it in the future and you'll have to start all over again. I for one, I'm done living like this. I won't waste one more day where my first thought in the morning is that I need to lose weight and my last thought when I lay my head down at night is I wish I wasn't fat. When I made this decision, my mind was finally free for so many other things. I was no longer obsessing over how or when I would lose weight. I had a concrete change coming and weight loss was a guarantee. Think about it! You know how I knew for sure I would be successful? I took on the pre diet and never cheated once. By day three all cravings were gone and it all just clicked. I've had 37 years to eat whatever the hell I wanted. I knew I had to succeed in this pre diet because if I didn't, food had more control over me than I have over it and there is nothing scarier than that. My friend just had her surgery two weeks ago today and she came to visit Saturday and looked and felt great. She had a few rough days, but she didn't regret it at all. I'm carrying that infectious enthusiasm with me for Wednesday morning!

I'm new at this, so please be patient if I seem not-so-smart about posting, etc. I went to my first weight loss seminar in March of this year, and have been pondering it ever since. My niece and her fiance' have had the sleeve done, and are doing great, so I've been watching their journey as well. Since I've tried every weight loss gimmick and plan and have always gained the weight back, I finally decided that I needed something that would finally work. That is why I chose the sleeve. I made an appt. with the surgeon, went for all my introductory appts. at his office and finally met with him last month. My surgery is scheduled for the 14th, and I just started the pre op diet of protein drinks only on Wed. So far, so good. I wish myself and all of you pre op members the best!

Hiya ive done a lot of pre-made taste tests, videos are available ( im repetitive) but i never found a premade that tasted like anything good. Not even the premier , i barfed first time i tried them. The problem with boost, ensure etc. is the sugar and carbs. Boost contains 20 GRAMS OF SUGAR and 41 Grams of CARBS. That not far off from a Hershey bar or a twix! You have to understand one basic fact. Protein shakes were not originally designed for weight loss, but were designed to replace a meal, or to add calories to muscle builder types. It is only recently that we see the advent of weight loss appropriate Protein Shakes. ALWAYS ALWAYS check the labels. Every special K, Boost, Atkins etc all are high in sugars and carv=bs, not one is fit for a bariatric patient. Even Muscle milk has a muscle milk light because the regular is high in sugar carbs and calories. Heres a tip buy shaker cups, load it in the morning with your protein mix inside, if you dont like that put a ziplock baggy with your daily protein mix powder in it inside the bottle. then just put it in your bag, at work pick up your 1% milk or Water from the cooler right into the bottle and shake shake youre having a shake. Easy Peasy. Heres a link to those taste tests if you like. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9YtO83j45OsMIY1l1p_rNw