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Congrats on your NSV! That's a terrific accomplishment! VSG 10/11/17 HW = 360 SW = 292 GW = 220 3/7/18 CW = 215.8 (6'5") [emoji256]

I am not getting diet info that helps me and I can't see my doc until next month. Can someone please help me by telling me what their daily diet consists of (a woman) in ounces and total calories, Protein, fat and carbs daily. My nut gives me plans that consist of foods I don't like and can't prepare as my work schedule does not allow me to cook each day and eat the same time each day. If I can get a daily target amount of nutrition for each day along with portion sizes in ounces or grams I think it may solve part of my problems. I'm not good at eyeballing a piece of meat to determine its the size of a deck of cards or estimating this piece of meat is about 1/2 cup. At this point I need to go by ounces/grams as I need a more specific way to determine portions. I'm doing something wrong and I'm giving up. I bought a digital scale so I can weigh everything in advance but I need to know how much. Thank you!!!! Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Well, It's been over 10 days that I've been tracking my calories on myfitnesspal.com I have done good so far. I need to increase the water but I have been doing so very slowly. I am kind of upset because I went over my calorie goal today...with a soft serve chocolate ice cream with sprinkles. It was the smallest size but still made me go over. But I am trying to forgive myself for it. Yesterday, I had Taco Bell for dinner and I was SOO surprised that by having 2 tacos a soda I didn't pass my calorie mark and I still had leftover uneaten calories. That made my day. But today was tough, my daughter had a problem at school...so I just had the ice cream.

So I spent my days before surgery searching every single thing I could on this website so I figured I would post for everyone else. This is my first post. I had surgery on Monday and I'm not gonna lie it wasn't easy. But they did have me on a pain pump in the hospital which helped ALOT. They will take it away the next day but if you are in pain they will give you more of the same meds. U just have to be adamant about your pain. I had to tell them my pain was a 10 one time to get somebody to listen to me. Those are magic words in the hospital. And if you tell them you want to walk and you need meds first, they will give it to u. I had to do a leak test but was able to have ice chips and popsicles (sugar free) right after surgery, haven't had an appetite for much besides ice chips to be honest. I'm now on my 2nd day post op and feel sooo much better. Last night at 3 in the morning my doctor had to call a 24 hour cvs and send in a nausea med that melts under tongue which is helping me A LOT. Just keep walking and try to pass gas as much as possible. No matter who is around! U gotta work that stuff out! Ask me any questions and I'll answer as a two day post opper Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

HI, I had my band placed on June 8th. I was very scared about the operation but I have to say it was very easy. I went to sleep at 8:25 and I woke up in recovery at 10:05. I had no pain. I was very cold but they gave me alot of blankets and that passed. The first week was very tough for me. I was very tired and I was having some emotional issues. every day gets better. I am down 46 pounds and feeling good. Good Luck to you

There is no way to know how long it will take YOU to feel comfortable going back to work. That said, here is my story: I was sleeved on 10/19/11, released from the hospital on 10/21/11 and back at my desk job 10/25/11 only because I don't like my jerk of a boss and decided I needed Monday as a "me" day. My doctor said he wanted me out for at least two weeks but I cannot just sit at the house for that long (especially since my time off was unpaid). I heal rather quickly though. The biggest challenge for me so far has been my emotions. I was not allowed to take my birth control (hormone balancer), my mood stabilizer, or my antidepressant for three days. This threw me WAY out of wack emotionally. I am just starting to get back to my normal self. Another challenge has been that I work in a large room of cubicles with about 200 other people who all seem to have great smelling lunches. Oh and there were back to back pot luck lunches yesterday and today. Smelling all that food and then drinking my lunch is tortorous! This too shall pass once I can actually chew something. At home, I don't have a problem. I hope I have helped you or someone else in some way with this post.

Okay okay, I will break down and tell you.... Pouch packing is also known as "eating around the band". It is when you force in food because you want it rather than when you need it. It makes you feel all sickly full like you are a stuffed thanksgiving day turkey rather than satisfied. First you feel great because you ate all the food you wanted to, then you feel guilty... then you feel like crap because you over ate (we all know how that feels from pre band). When you take little sips of Water while you eat, you essentially push down the food from the upper pouch into the lower pouch, therefore eating more. Also, if you eat for 20 minutes, take a 10 minute break, eat more, then another 10 minute break, then more, and so on and so on.... therefore, "packing" your pouch and essentially overall stretching it as a muscle. And about the crack... "Crack" is the street name given to cocaine that has been processed from cocaine hydrochloride to a ready-to-use form for smoking. Rather than requiring the more dangerous method of processing cocaine using ether, crack cocaine is processed with ammonia or sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and water and heated to remove the hydrochloride, thus producing a form of cocaine that can be smoked. The term "crack" refers to the crackling sound heard when the mixture is heated, presumably from the sodium bicarbonate. On the illicit market, crack, or "rock," is sold in small, inexpensive dosage units. Smoking this form of the drug delivers large quantities of cocaine to the lungs, producing effects comparable to intravenous injection. These effects are felt almost immediately after smoking, are very intense, and do not last long. The physical effects of coke are the same as any other stimulant drug -- except that the first rush is possibly much more intense. The initial effects are pleasant, they give the user increased confidence, a willingness to work, greater motivation, increased libido, and a euphoric rush or high. Over time, and with regular use, people may get paranoid, anxious, and confused, and sometimes they hallucinate. Insomnia, agitation, and depression can also result from frequent cocaine use.

I am glad you have not given up. My surgeon was not in the network but the hospital was. Most insurances if you have no network providers within a certain mile radius, will pay the provider as in network. My doctor filled out a form and agreed to a negotiated rate so I ended up with a 10% copay instead of 30%. I did have to have them reprocess the claim as they did pay it out of network first time. I am so grateful that my company is pushing their employees to be proactive in our healthcare and covers weight loss surgery. I never would have been able to do this without insurance coverage.

Enjoy everyday of your vacation! You work hard it appears .. So play hard now! Lots of stairs and walking and a gym on board if you choose . My choice was to bypass the buffets mostly and pay a nominal fee($5-10)for a "fancy" Sit down steak/ lobster type meal. Other ships have sit down/ waited-on restaurants for every evening meal. And...free room service if you just want a simple meal brought to you. Hope you have a blast with lots of family... And climb in and out of those tenders with ease, smiling as you vaguely remember your old, limited life. Bon voyage[emoji568]

congrats Ill be in the club on the 10 of april I hope it goes good for me to

I've got 7.2 in a 10 cc band...I think I finally have good restriction.

I'm 10 days post op and I'm starving... I'm hoping once I get my first few fills this will subside... Also does anyone with polycystic ovaries still have a hard time losing the weight? That was always my problem and the medication that was given to me for this is also suppose to help lose weight becuz of the insulin resistance but this medication has awful side effects and I hate taking it... Ugh I hope there's light at the end of my tunnel.....

This may have been discussed before but for anyone covered by CIGNA or one of its affiliated companies, they have abandoned their prior formal requirement of a specific duration (e.g. 3 months) in favor of this language: • A statement from a physician/physician’s assistant/nurse practitioner/registered dietician (i.e., other than the requesting surgeon) that the individual has failed previous attempts to achieve and maintain weight loss by medical management. This is the old language: • Medical management including evidence of active participation within the last 12 months in a weight-management program that is supervised either by a physician/physician’s assistant/nurse practitioner or a registered dietician for a minimum of three consecutive months ((i.e., ≥ 89 days). The weight-management program must include monthly documentation of ALL of the following components:  weight  current dietary program  physical activity (e.g., exercise program) Programs such as Weight Watchers®, Jenny Craig® and Optifast® are acceptable alternatives if done in conjunction with the supervision of a physician/physician’s assistant/nurse practitioner or registered dietician and detailed documentation of participation is available for review. However, physician-supervised programs consisting exclusively of pharmacological management are not sufficient to meet this requirement. Anyone covered by CIGNA now and going through a mandatory weight loss program under the old medical policy should request their surgeon/bariatric program to submit their request for approval NOW and not wait to finish the supervised diet. You might get some push-back from crusty bariatric practices or surgeons, but hopefully they will help you. The new policy is more favorable to patients, and because it is the medical policy in effect for anyone having surgery after October 9th, we take the position this is the operative medical policy - NOT the policy at a patient's "starting point". Call us at 1-877-992-7732 if you have questions about this or are in need of any information about what you need to do if you have been denied by your insurer - whether it is CIGNA or any other payer. Good luck to all! CIGNA medical policy effective October 9 2018.pdf

I was sleeved 1/13 and am only down 20 lbs. I lost 10 in the first week after surgery and another 10 over the first 3 weeks. I have lost nothing in the last 4 weeks. I am beyond depressed. I don't know what I am doing wrong. I feel like I eat nothing and the scale won't budge

You are doing fine. One thing I learned is weight loss is 95% food intake. It toook me 5 months to get my energy back. I am now at 10 months 130 lbs down and started training for a 1/2 marathon in April. Last week I ran a 15 K. Give your self time. As my mentor says do most of the stuff , most of the time and you will lose most of the weight. You wont regret this ride.

@Sanstan My husband has actually lost 10 lbs LOL! We tend to cook a lot of fish and chicken for dinner now, with a green or non-starch veggie. He is and always has been pretty fit, but I guess the healthier eating is good for him too! He still gets some of my leftovers too though, in fact he got my 3rd shrimp : )

Hi everyone! My name is P.J.. I live in yakima, wa and I was banded 5 yrs ago by Dr. Sanchez in MX. I was almost to goal and re gained my weight. Now to this day I am 10 pounds over what I was going in for my banding. I didnt know that over time I would need a fill. I thought once you get filled you'r good to go. I guess nothing is that easy. I was not given much info on bands ether. So instead of sitting on the couch and not caring about myself I have desided to do something to is good for me. That would be to get a fill. I am sooooo freaked out about needles but I am gonna put on my big girl pants and deal with it! :frown: I am a mom of 5 kids. 3 or my bio kids and 2 are my bonus kids from my husband, kevin. They are 2 boys ( 13 yrs & 12yrs) 3 girls ( 13yrs, 11yrs and 9yrs) 3 of our kids are special needs, so we have our hands full. I guess thats it. I would love meeting you all and learning as much as I can and hope to build some friendships as well.

Weight today 203! Total: 980 Fat:34 307 32% Carbs:52 191 20% Fiber:4 0 0% Protein:73 293 31% Alcohol:22 155 16% Activity - 30 mins on treadmill 3.1mph @ 2.5 incline - 200 cals recumbant bike - 10 mins - 50 cals Net calories 730

It was a urinary tract infection due to being dehydrated. Spent 10 days on a nasty liquid antibiotic, but otherwise have had no problems since.

I've got 'em. I put some clothes on today and pants are getting saggy in the crotch. I put on a favorite shirt and now my bra shows under the arms. Time for a trip to the goodwill. Hurray! Looks like I may need medium shirts now and size 10 or 8(!) pants. La dee da.

Hi all, I had a May 23rd surgery date too. I know what you are going through. My scale is wacked out. I lost ten pounds the first week and then nothing the second week, a pound the third week and then a pound this fourth week. So 12-13 pounds in a month is really disappointing. I keep telling myself - its okay because I lost 58 pounds before surgery (10 pounds during pre-op, after I gained some back during my food funeral). I know that comparing myself to others is not good because some people didn't lose that much prior to the surgery so they are in a different place with their weight loss. But it is very frustrating. I am not eating too much, not too many carbs and am getting my Protein in. I think I may have eaten too many carbs the first two weeks because the only thing I could eat was cottage cheese and other dairy products that rose my carb levels. Now, I'm all about the protein and keeping bad fat and carbs low. The only thing that I think may be a problem is that I don't always drink enough so I will work on this now. My husband gets mad at me when I get upset with the scale and tells me that he is going to hide it. I am not obsessing with it so I only "count" the time I weigh in on Monday morning. He thinks I'm being impatient and unreasonable that I am upset on what I've lost. I guess I just expected it to come off much quicker. This is the ultimate weight loss period and I'm afraid I won't be a success. I really want to get smaller. Everyone I know knows about this surgery so it is hard to say nope, no weight loss when people ask about it. I am an open person but now when I'm not losing it is hard to say that to people who are asking. Any thoughts of this being an easy process are out the window. I thought it would be easy to lose weight the first couple of months, at minimum and expected a battle after I got below 200 pounds. My scale fluctuates like crazy, even when I do weigh myself at the same time of day. I think maybe a new scale? I could see a couple of ounces but like 3 pounds between today and yesterday? It is not period weight, because I just had that less than a week ago. I don't know, I may go back to not weighing myself because it doesn't seem to help. The surgery is done, I plan on eating healthy and exercising regardless of the scale so I have to do my best. Also, weird question below - sorry if it grosses you out! Does anyone know how often we should have a bowel movement? I never (NEVER) had problems with constipation or being backed up so I don't know how often we should be having a bowel movement at this stage. I think I may be backed up but I don't want to take laxatives or stool softeners unless I truly need to. I don't know how to tell if you are (I know weird). I used to go at least once a day but I now go at least a day or two inbetween any bowel movements. I will ask my doctor about it when I see them the middle of July but wanted to see what you all thought.

Do you live in Mexico? There's really no reason to make a trip to Mexico for Botox. A good price for Botox ranges from $10-13 a unit which depending on the area I would be prepared to spend about $259/area.

I was cleared at 10 days to exercise. Talk to your team! Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Little Froggy, You should be fine to go back to work on the 3rd. I had my band on the 29th of July and a week later I had my energy back. For exercise you can walk. Walk as much as you can. Go to the gym and do the tread mill at no incline for as long as you can. (being on the tread mill you will know exactly how many calories you burn). According to my doctor: You cant swim for 3 weeks after the surgery. You cant lift anything over 10 pounds for six weeks. As to what to take to the hospital: I took my flip flops, zip up hoodie sweatshirt, a big night shirt and pants