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I eat a lot of fish lemon sole - sauteed in butter and lemon chile - burgers (just the patty 10% lean) I havent' made my staple chicken breast marinated in olive oil, lemon and oregano Veggies usually portobello mushrooms grilled. Have done baked eggplant w/ the greek garlcky yogurt.

I got banded on 12/19 - are you all still doing liquids or have you moved to mushies?

Yippee! I was re-banded on 12/19. So looking forward to a fresh start

Almost one year in - wow what a journey! So many things have changed in my life that still amaze me to this day. My health is 100% better. I have stopped taking at least 8 out of 10 meds. I have so much more energy - I go out so much more, walk and exercise. I feel great about my looks, and I can shop for regular-size clothing! When I go clothes shopping it makes me smile when I try on clothes that are too big for me! This is a mind set that will take some time to change - I've been so big for so long. When I take public transportation and see a seat on the bus or train, my heart does not have to beat fast, realizing that I don't have to size it up to see if I can fit into it. I just sit down with room to spare! This is something else it will take time to get used to. I have 12 more pounds to go before I reach my goal. I have not lost any weight since my last posting - I've hit another plateau that I have spoken so much about. I wanted to be at my goal weight by October 26 - the first anniversary of my LAP-BAND surgery. I'm not going to make it exactly, but, hey, a year ago I weighed 288 pounds! I know I came a long way and I will surely lose the 12 pounds soon. I still work out daily. Now I even have a few women who ask me to help them the with their workout regimen on the weekends. We go the the pier and look at the New York skyline from the Jersey side - makes for a great background for walking and exercising. Two of the women have lost 8-10 pounds each and are so excited about it! Can you believe I'm helping others to loose weight? So I guess it is going to take some time to get used to the new me! I'm extremely happy and excited, and I've been amazed on my one-year journey that has transformed me. Now I'm looking forward to the rest of my life as the new me. I want to thank everyone on this site for all the wonderful support and encouragement that has been so important to me. And I know that this support is so important to all of us who are in the process of changing our lives in such a big way! For more about my journey and to see my Recipes of the Day, please visit my blog at http://life-after-lap-band.blogspot.com/ :ohmy: :frown:

I guess this is the first post so many draw back on post surgery and think "I can't believe that was me!" I too want success in my life and it feels like a lot of my personal successes have been stalled or overlooked by my weight problems. Here's my history... I was born a normal weight with no issues. I was involved in tons of sports, dance, and activities as a kid and was very thin until about age 12. After some minor health issues at 12, I started having some unexplained stomach ache problems. I went from dr to dr. Went to specialist after specialist. It was diagnosed as allergies and I went on medications. I was supposed to stay away from foods that triggered the massive stomach aches. Of course as I entered my teen years, I ate what most teenagers ate. In middle school, I first experienced being called fat. I was probably 5'4 and 130 lbs. I was still in dance and sports, but not as much as I used to be. I wasn't the heaviest girl on campus but I was not as thin as most of the girls either. I was somewhere in the middle. I started bugging my mom to help me lose weight. My mother herself was (and still is) about 100 lbs overweight at the time I asked for help. As far back as I can remember, I believe at some point she gave up and decided to be fat. She lost some weight here and there but essentially chose to let her weight control a lot of things. I love her and she's a fantastic mom but now that I'm a mom too, I see so many things that she and I missed out on because she didn't feel comfortable or physically couldn't participate. I also remember on a few occasions other kids talking about how fat she was. In high school my weight fluctuated from 130 to 150 at the most. I was 5'5 and felt HUGE. I was on several of the sports teams and on dance team. I was the largest girl on dance and track at size 12. I bounced from sizes 8 to 12. Most of my friends were a 4 so I thought I was disgusting. I tried some crazy diets, diet pills, exercising like crazy... all to be beat out by the smell of something like pizza and a weak will. I believe the only reason I didn't reach 200 lbs in High School was because I had my stomach issues and I was SO busy with school, sports, dating, dances, friends. I kept very active. Still, as I look back, I wasn't involved in tons of social stuff- I always felt like a cow and didn't go out to large parties or anything. My senior year I did a weight training program and a vegetable diet. I lost 20 lbs and kept it off for about 2 months. After high school when I left to go away to college is where the real trouble began. I had a horrible college roommates and the few friends I thought I had in the dorms all of a sudden didn't like me. I think I had changed and wore my insecurities on my shoulders. I felt sad, alone, worthless. I probably wouldn't have wanted to hang around me either. I amazingly joined a sorority (a pretty good one too) and thank God for that. I'm definitely not your typical sorority girl but had it not been for the sorority I would have left college and not met my future husband. College (especially college in a sorority house) was practically a weight experiment. I went from 140 lbs to 175 lbs my freshman year in the dorm. Then my second year I topped 185 lbs but then went on these Herbalife drops with a few other friends in the sorority and lost 25 lbs. I met a guy who I ended up dating the next two years. He was sort of out of my league but I got comfortable anyway. We ate fast food a lot together (which I of course loved) and yet he DID care if I was fat or not. I would go on diets and look good one minute, then fat and awful the next. We broke up a few times and finally for good before graduation. At work on campus I met my future husband. I was 5'5 and about 150 lbs and a size 10-12. Of course, again, I thought I was humongous. He is a great guy who I thank God I found but that's not to say he loves my weight issues. He never dated anyone overweight before me. Still, I know he loves me. So we date for several years and my weight jumps up and down. I went from size 10 up to 16 and even once to a size 18 from the ages of 22 to 25. I joined Weight Watchers, did MANY at home weight loss videos and programs, crazy diets found online, etc etc. I still had not reached 200 lbs. I had come close but I was still exercising a ton, keeping busy with my career, socializing. Age 26 was the real benchmark. At the beginning of the year I was 180 lbs. By the end of the year, I was 220 lbs. I had done nothing noticeably different. I just gain 40 lbs out of nowhere. I went to the dr and had my thyroid checked but they said it was "alright." My breasts had gotten so big I had a breast reduction. I like to say before I had "40 longs" (40E) and after I was 38C. At age 27, I starved for 4 months before my wedding in 2004 but still weighed 200 lbs and wore a size 18 wedding dress. My wedding was absolutely perfect except for the disappointment and embarassment that 300 people were watching my husband and I up in front where we weighed probably the same. The photos make me cringe a little actually. In 2005, I woke up out of a dead sleep feeling like I was choking. I had a lump in my throat. What did I do? I got up and went to the computer and googled. Everything that came up said "thyroid." I went to a different dr who told me I was actually severely hypothyroid. By this time I weight 230 and had all but stopped working out. My body hurt and I slept about 14 hours a night/day. Several issues came up with my thyroid and ultimately it was removed surgically (end of 2005.) Unfortunately, the parathyroid glands were removed accidentally too and now I deal with other vitamin issues too. I have been on synthetic thyroid hormone and vitamins since. 2005 & 2006 were me working but tired, disappointed in my lack of diet will power, and living at size 22/24 and weight of about 250 lbs. At one point my husband tells me how much he loves me but how sad he is about my weight too. To his credit, he was nice about it but it didn't sting any less. I outweighed him by 40 lbs after all. So beginning of 2007, I joined a weight loss competition and decided despite massive hunger and knee-pain, I was going to win. By the end of month one, I was down 20 lbs and pregnant! I always wanted a family but felt like I was too fat to even think about getting pregnant. It was unexpected but I was thrilled. I was classified as a high risk pregnancy due mainly to my weight and becoming gestational diabetic. I was 221 when I got pregnant and ended up being 278 on the day I delivered. The gestational diabetes was an absolute nightmare. Testing my blood sugar non stop, the insulin injections, the DIET. Oh yes, not only was I fat and craving of all things, sugar, I had to be on a freakin diet when pregnant. I had a beautiful baby girl and feel so blessed! Immediately after, I was depressed that I was a new mom at size 24. As a little girl envisioning my future wedding and birth of child, I never envisioned being over 200 lbs and more than a size 18. I felt bad like these events were actually mediocre and that I should've been at a normal weight for them to be right. (CONTINUED IN NEXT POST...)

I set my goals 10 pounds at a time

I started my pre-op liquids on 6/21 and had surgery on 7/1. Beginning weight was 320, day of surgery 296. I currently weigh 250. I have had 3 fills, plus the original 4cc's put in during surgery, for a total of 9.5cc in a 10 band. I still do not feel that I have true restriction but I have been able to follow the rules well enough so far. From here on out will be the true test for me, I can usually stick with anything for 3 or 4 months then I fall off the wagon. I, too, feel like it has come off faster than predicted but I'm not complaining. :eek:

Even though I had surgery before you2/4/19... I lost 25 lbs between my March 21st check up and yesterday.. with a few days when the scale showed a gain here and there and a few stalls... do t beat yourself up!!! You got this !!! You are doing well..

I had tried everything.. Camomile tea, melatonin 10 mgs, zoplicon.. you name it. I would be sleepy enough to be miserable but not enough to fall asleep. I would then increase the dose, not sleep all night and end up going to work like a zombie. After the surgery, I can sleep for 12 hours and still be hugging my pillow when it's time to get up. I don't take any sleeping aides and I have not added anything to my routine apart from the weight loss process. After having to go through years of no sleep of 3-4 hours maximum, I now wonder how anyone can be grumpy through out the day with 8+ hours of sleep every night. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

My VGS surgery is scheduled for July 13. My insurance company did not require me to do complete 6 months of dieting. My doctor wants me to go on a 10 day pre-op diet that consists mainly of liquids. I've been trying to get a head start by eating healthier foods and smaller portions, and have lost 7 pounds since Sunday. (However, I was sick on Monday and could barely keep anything down, so that probably accounts for a big portion of the Water weight lost.) My highest weight was 232---I am 225, as of today. I would love to be at 215 on the day of my surgery. Is it possible to lose 10 pounds in the next 13 days?

Day 1 - loading days 178.2 Day 2 - 178.5 (another loading day) Day 3 - First day of VLCD 179.8 Day 4 - 176.2 Day 5 - 175.6 Day 6 - 173.4 Day 7 - 172.4 Day 8 - 171.1 Day 9 - 168.9 Day 10 - 168.9 Day 11 - 168.8 Day 12 - 169.0 Day 13 - 168.2 Day 14 - 167.6 Day 15 - 167.5 Day 16 - 166.9 Day 17 - 165.8 Day 18 - 165.4 Its so nice getting on the scales and seeing them continue to go down. And its nice not experiencing any hunger! Today's menu Bfast 1/2 grapefruit, 2 cups of green tea snack melba toast Lunch Shrimp salad, celery Dinner HCG approved chili Applie crisp made with stevia - yum Wt this morning - 165.4

I was sleeved on 01-14-13 and have not had any problems whatsoever until this past Wednesday night. I have eaten everything exactly like they told me to eat. I had my soup for dinner and about 1 1/2 hours later I had the terrible dry heaves. Last night no problem until 1:30 a.m. (7 hours after dinner) and I threw up nothing but yellow liquid. Anybody having these problems? Somebody said it could be gallbladder. Any ideas? Thanks

Does anyone know about a doctor named Chris Sanborn? He is coming to the Chattanooga, Tn area from a military hospital in Kentucky. Please anyone knows about him I need to know asap!! I have already had my surgery ,but I have a friend of mine that is needing surgery. This doctor is coming to the Chattanooga area and we need to know what his surgery results have been. My friend is very scared about the surgery period and then having to use a new doctor over the one that has been doing surgery in the area well over 10 years. So if there is anyone that knows anything about this doctor please let me know..

So as most of you know I had me sleeve done 3-20-19. This was the best decision I made for myself. Since my surgery I have only lost 25 lbs. I have been doing everything they have asked, just can't lose it. I work out, get my protein and water. I'm not gaining just don't know what else to do. I'm so scary this will not work for me after I went through a year and a half working for it. The one day of the week that I don't go to the gym I feel guilty about it At first I was thinking this is a stall but come on I'm in week 9. I just don't know what to do anymore, hoping this wasn't a waste of time. Sent from my Moto E (4) using BariatricPal mobile app

Banded 12/7/09 First Fill 1/5/10 (4cc's) Second Fill 2/2/10 (1.5cc's) Total 5.5cc's in an 11cc Band and guess what.. NO RESTRICTION! I was so looking forward to being banded and having this "tool" to help me along the way, but the tool isn't working yet, so it's so hard for me to get motivated to do anything different than I did pre-band because I still feel PRE-BANDED. I log on here and read all the success stories and see all the weight loss tickers moving and it seems like everyone is having such success and here's little (pun intended) ole' me with the scale not moving and eating what I want with no problem. I haven't had ONE episode of food getting stuck, no PB'ing, nothing to even let me actually feel that the band is there! I know from reading other's experiences that those things are "no fun" but believe it or not, I am actually looking forward to going thru something like that, at least I will know that the band is in there and it's making it's presence known. No, I'm not exercising. I'm not motivated to exercise. I wasn't a huge eater before the band, I just ate the wrong things. I know everyone's band experience is different, but I thought some things were across the board, like bread and guess what... 6 inch subway sandwich is not a problem for me. I go back next month for a 3rd fill but it just seems unlikely that I can go from not feeling anything to the 3rd fill being the "magical one" that turns the switch on. I thought this was a process, a gradual increase to the beloved "sweet spot" and I have yet to begin the climb. I'm just frustrated and venting. I was supposed to take my monthly "progress pictures" but I don't even want to do that because they will look the same as the December and January pictures! CONGRATUALTIONS to all of you who are having sucess and reaching milestones and goals. I am happy for you and I hope you keep up the good work. Your stories are an inspiration....

Look for great changes to come your way. I got sleeved on 10/11 so I know just how you are feeling.

My surgery was on October 27th, 2009. To be honest, I wasnt nervous at all. I got to the hospital at 6am to finish my registration. I was told I didnt have to have my $500 co-pay and that it would be billed with the cost of surgery. By the time I was done with registration, it was 6:30am and I was told to go to the Ambulatory Unit for pre-op preparation. I sat in a chair, waiting my turn for about fifteen minutes before I was taken to a bed. First I had to have my vitals taken and my nose swabbed. WEIRD! I was given this weird fabric gown to put on and some slippers. Then bloodwork is drawn and an IV started. I sat in that bed for nearly an hour and a half before I was taken to the "holding" room for surgery. I spent another hour in the holding room before I was taken to the OR. I dont remember much in the OR. Just the warm sensation of the anestesia going up my arm. I found it easier to just close my eyes and not try to keep them open. When I woke up I was in immense pain. I couldnt breathe very well and kept repeating, "OW" over and over. It tooks about 50 OWs before a nurse came over to give me some pain medication. Not sure if the pain was the breathing tube having been in my throat or the hernia being repaired. I was only awake for about 10-20mins before I was wheeled to my room. I was jazzed to have my own recovery room! I wasnt jazzed that it was across from the nurses station. A few hours after entering my room I was up and walking, and a couple hours later I was able to get up to use the bathroom on my own. I found this useful because the nurses were EXTREMELY busy and took FOREVER to come and help me. I would walk around the halls, doing 10 minutes intervals. I think that this helped with the gas, because during my night there, I had no pain. I was discharged the next morning around noon. Of course, I had to wait my turn for my upper GI and since my room was almost one of the last, the other two women that had just had surgery following me, had already been discharged. Breathing was not a problem. It was the incisions that caused me pain, and later, at home the gas. The gas was HORRIBLE!!!!!! It kept me up all night and caused me to sleep in a chair with my feet on another chair. I was constipated for two weeks! TWO WEEKS! That sucked. I have just now started to be able to comfortably sleep on my side, flat on my back, and on my stomach. THANK GOD! I am also currently having problems drinking my protein powder. I think I need to get some unflavored powder and blend it into things. This chocolate isnt doing it for me. I am also getting my mushy food "stuck" and that is painful for hours at a time. IT SUCKS!!!!!! Other than that, I am doing well. I drool at the smell of other food and dream of eating the foods I cant have. But with 25 pounds gone, I really have no complaint!

I just had VSG this last Thursday 1/5. So far so good. I can tell my stomach is still inflamed and it's hard to get liquids down currently but each day gets better. I have already lost 10 pds which was surprising to me as I thought I would be heavier after surgery. Glad to find a forum with people who are in a similar stage. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Even us as guy's go through this adjustment, it will pass. Good luck. Sent from my HTC 10 using the BariatricPal App

Also, who says you have to sip your water. I drink pretty healthy drinks of water and am downing a 16 ounce glass in about 10 - 15 minutes. This will probably change once I have restriction but for now, I drink at whatever rate I am comfortable with.

Hi all....I have heard that this sometimes happens but it's a first for me. Gonna give some background info here. Banded 3/24/10 First fill 5/4/10 and got 4.4ccs in a 10 cc band. Last 2 weeks have really had not much of an appetite and Surgeons office said that's ok, just keep hydrated and get Protein in which I have been doing faithfully. Last night, I was REALLY hungry so me and my partner went out for dinner. I ate till I was a bit over full but did not vomit or PB or anything. It all went down fine.... This morning I have some serious restriction. The thought of one bite of food makes me feel awful....I have had Water and a Protein Drink coffee, which is my normal routine. I never am hungry til later in the morning... I am also having a bit of pain....??? The pain is all around my upper rib cage in the front and the back. I would describe the pain as if I wore a bra and the band size was way too small...I know it's not my heart....maybe my lungs? or just the muscles all around my rib cage....??? I have read posts about people being tight in the morning and I usually am just a bit but this feels really tight.... Any thoughts or suggestions anyone??? Thanks, Meg

My summary after 1 week: 1. Room temp and warm fluids tolerated best. 2. New stomach did lots of "growling" but rejected nothing. 3. Nausea meds gave me a headache and made me dizzy. 4. Hunger still lives on! Surprised -- didn't expect that at all! 5. Cravings for a graham cracker on day 5, then club crackers on day 6. 6. Advice? Don't try to rush things - slow and steady gets you there. Stay ahead of hunger with proteins. 7. Regrets? Wish I had added 1 tsp Benefiber to each protein drink to avoid constipation. 8. Haven't managed 64oz fluids daily - only up to 48oz 9. Naps are wonderful. 10. Making grocery list for things I can soon have - cottage cheese, V8, creamy soups, spinach added to smoothies, applesauce, etc How does this compare with other experiences after one week?

Fill #1 - 3/6/07 - 2.2cc's Fill #2 - 4/17/07 - 3.0cc's Fill #3 - 7/6/07 - 3.5 cc's (I think it was only 2.5cc's because when I went back for fill #4, he could only w/draw 1.8 cc's) Fill #4 - 7/20/07 - filled me back to 3.0 ccs - He should have filled me more! Fill #5 - 8/17/07 - 3.4cc's Fill #6 - 10/08/07 - filled me to 3.8cc's - the best restriction I've ever had,but still could eat big bites of food, so I figured I needed to be tighter. Fill #7 - 11/21/07 filled to 4.0 cc's. By the evening could not hold anything down, not even my saliva. PBing all night - horrilble experieince UNFILL #1 - 11/23/07 - unfilled to somewhere between 2.5 to 3.0 cc's - NO RESTRICTIONS AGAIN :cursing: Fill #8 - 1/18/08 Went in and the doc filled me back up to just right under 4.0, according to Flouro, it was perfect. Well, by next morning, could not hold down saliva again, ended up back in hospital UNFILL #2 - 1/19/08 - Doctor had to unfill me to 3.0 again because of the swelling from all the PBing for being too tight. Again, NO RESTRICTION - :frown: Fill #9 - 2/12/08 - 3.5 cc's - was tight for about a week, now feel lose again. grrrr, still have "some" restriction, just not quite enough! Next fill scheduled for 4/7/08 - I hate that it takes sooooooo long to get in to see the fill doc. FILL #10 - 4/7/08 The doc just added .4cc's, making me at 3.9cc's. I think this might be the one! FILL #11 - Was scheduled on 6/25/08 - but the doc did not fill me up, I was leaving for a cruise on 6/27 so he didn't want to risk me being too tight, so did not get a fill. FILL #11 - 8/5/08 Went for a fill, this time the doc took all my fill out and all he could get out was 2.4 cc's. Filled me up to 4.0 cc's, I left, had to go right back because I could not drink, he took out a little over .2 cc's, he said I'm somewhere between 3.5 to 3.7 cc's. - I had great restriction for 2 weeks, but It has now loosened some. I feel I might need a tad more. I'm worried I have a very slow leak. UNFILL #3 - 8/5/08 - Took a little over .2 cc's out, had pretty good restriction, but still a tad too lose. FILL #12 - 9/17/08 - Added just 1/10th of a cc - I think I'm somewhere between 3.8 to 3.9 cc in a 4cc band. I am hoping and praying this is the fill that I stop with! I do not have another appointment for another fill, will wait this one out and see.