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Moisturize (anything petroleum based will do at keeping moisture in), Protein high, massages help, lots of Fluid and exercise. You want as much muscle under the skin as possible. That said, I hope you picked your ancestors well, because genetics seems to be the most important factor.

I posted this in the other forums in hopes of good tips! I have yet to try it, but want to hear how you make it! Just water? Do you add ice and fruit? Let me know what tastes best for you. I'm excited and nervous to start these meal replacement shakes, I just want it to taste good!

So let me start by saying this , I got the lap band to improve my quality of life. Because I have PCOS ( Poly Cystic ovarian syndrome ) and migraines I am at greater risk of things like stroke, diabetes and high blood pressure as it is. Being over weight adds to that. So I wanted the band to reduce that risk BEFORE anything bad happened to me. I am a mother of 2 boys who need me . After I first got the band things were great, I could eat what i wanted, just smaller portions and occasionally threw up after eating too much , or so I thought .. I even changed the way I ate, what i ate , i felt better so I ate better. I was , as you can ask my doctor , the model patient, i did everything I was suppose to (with the expectation of working out and that lesson has been learned trust me ) Eventually what I ate seemed to come back up more often , But after losing 125 pounds I thought I was doing ok. At a year out a slipped my band , that is where my stomach comes up through the band and can potentially be very serious. After it corrected it self I gained some weight ... It slipped again , more weight gain . I was then told my band had scar tissue build up around it and I could no longer get the fills I needed to lose the weight the opening to my stomach would be closed off it was filled again . That was around 2-3 yrs ago . As time has gone on I have slowly gotten worse. You see because of where the scar tissue is I still have " restriction" Meaning , I am still limited on what i eat , so things like steak, pork, chicken , solid Proteins wont go down . The food literally sits on top of my band until it gets either pushed through , which is very painful , or it comes back up . If I throw up too much, my stomach swells and eating any form of solid food is impossible for several days. So i have to go to liquids, milk shakes, Protein shakes , mash potatoes things like that. Those type of things are high in calorie and cause me to gain weight , but what other choices do i have ? broth, Water ? Yeah those fill you up ?? NOT ! So my day goes like this ... Breakfast: Protein shake cause eating in the morning is nearly impossible. That's if I can get it to go down if I cant and anything comes back up then its liquids for me the entire rest of the day Lunch: I try to eat something semi solid but I usually end up eating Soup Dinner: Some times a salad works but most evenings I throw up my dinner several times over and end up in pain from the swelling . By that time liquids hurt to go down ... NOW that leads me to my "other issues" Joint pain Fatigue body aches head aches My teeth are deteriorating because of how much I throw up Cold feet cold hands numb feet cysts on my feet numb hands You see they are finding out now that people who have had bands for several years are developing auto immune disorders like Fibromyalgia .. Problem ? Docs done believe it yet .. So no doc will help me out . With out insurance I cant get proper diagnoses . You can read more about that stuff here . I am now 20 or so pounds away from my original start weight before surgery . That's right I have gained nearly ALL My weight back . And at the rate I am going by next month or so I will exceed the 250 pounds i was before my surgery . I had my revision surgery on 11-14-2012 after surgery they told me the band removal went fine and they were able to repair a hiatal hernia , that was a surprise to them ( and me ) and sleeve me in one procedure. I was SO relieved to have had it done in once procedure. The day after surgery I started throwing up water and unable to keep it down . After a couple more tried they ordered an EGD for me . They told me if the scope went through easily then and showed no obstructions I should be fine and not need another surgery , but if it did not I could have excess scar tissue from the band and I could need another surgery . WHAT !! Yikes . So they did it and it showed no obstruction some swelling around the band area ( where the band was ) they told me to take liquids slow . For several days I was still throwing up just water, in fact it freaked me out because it looked like I was throwing up some blood as well. Finally around day 3 or so the water was staying down . So finally I was able to go home today . NOT an easy process that's for sure , but I am glad its over. The doc told me to progress my liquids slowly , as long as I was keeping liquids down I was fine , the minute i started if i did throwing up liquids I needed to come back . But to just take it slow . I have been home for about a week now and its still a back and forth issue with food. I encourage ANYONE reading this to NOT get the lap band, do not ever tell anyone abou the band and Hope some day it falls off the face of the earth !

I just checked and yes, it is whey protein. It also calls to make it with milk so I've been using about 50-70% skim milk and a little water. I didn't think about a lactose issue. I'll have to try mixing it with water only and see how that goes. If it's still giving me trouble then I'll give a different type of protein powder a shot. Well today ends week one of the post-op liquid diet. Now that I'm reading and hearing other people saying they came off onto puree after a week I'm a little less worried. Everything online says 2 weeks post-op but to me that just seems excessively cautious. Maybe for slow healers or people having a lot of struggles with adapting to the surgery. For me I feel fine in every way minus the desire for something more. I was just worried if I started trying puree foods if it was going to stretch my stomach or screw me over somehow. I didn't want to ruin the surgery early on or cause some kind of damage to myself. I wish I had regular check-ups with the surgical team to give me advice and updates on what I could try or do but I don't. In Canada since Healthcare is free and I didn't have to come out of pocket for this or use insurance you don't get the same access to treatment. My first follow-up is a month after surgery and they'll likely just ask for my progress and if I have any concerns or major issues. My first follow-up with the dietician is also about a month away. They never gave me any information about support groups I could go to or how to meet others in my local area who are having surgery to kind of have a buddy system like they do in other addiction groups. So it's kind of free sailing here and having to figure it out on my own.

Can you pal up with a buddy to help you through bad times? Or see a therapist around your eating habits, who can support you to make lifelong changes? The first year is going to be when you lose the weight so the sooner you nip this in the bud the better. Do you take account of what you eat, write it down or use a tracker app? Are you having enough Protein/water etc? I have a Protein bar (choc flavoured) which gets me over the chocolate fix. Its very low carbs and about 200 calories so not too bad. I love them but my hubby thinks they taste like MDF, not that hes ever eaten MDF lol! You CAN do it !! Have faith in yourself and the lovely new tiny sleeve you have

Like mralottolose said, STAY POSITIVE!!!! you have come this far you can do it. Just try your best to get your fluids and protein in. If you're having trouble talk to your dr about it, they are there to help you. How about exercise, how are you doing with that? You can do this!!!!

Trying just get my protein in is a challenge.

Use water with your protein instead of milk. Cut calories where you can and cardio exercise daily.

I think it was a combination of a few things, Water retention cause I'm not drinking enough, using milk with Protein drinks and other higher calorie Protein Drinks, and increased muscle mass. My doctor weighs me on this high tech scale that gives out detailed readings. It said I gained 6 lbs, but lost 1.5 % body fat. So who knows...

I was banded in September and I'm thinning as well. I use a special shampoo/conditioner by Redkin that my hair stylist suggested. I also take Biotin daily. And, I'm upping my Protein as much as I can. My hair stylist says it's thinning all over and not in spots, which made me happy. I would hate to have a big hole in the back of my head! I have noticed in the past couple of weeks, the shedding has slowed down. So perhaps I'm turning the page

So I was looking through your posts and you have this great topic posted on the 30th of July that says 4.5 months out - 80 pounds down. That means that you lost over an average of 4 pounds a week! That's incredible. Can you blame your body for needing some time to adjust? =) Stalls are crazy difficult things. I had a 3 week one when I was only 3 weeks out and I thought I was failing at another weight loss journey. Then one day it started moving again, simple as that. I think yours will be the same. Look through your nutrition records - are you getting in all your protein still? All your water? Are you creeping up on calories? I think the gastric sleeve is definitely for you. You didn't gain the weight over a six month period - to expect to lose it all that quick is not only not as healthy as losing slower, but you would have tons of loose skin! Do you measure? Are you losing inches in these three weeks? Maybe your skin is tighter than you'd be with RNY. Maybe you're healthier, have less vitamin deficiencies. Three weeks feels like forever, but in the scheme of things, it's really not. You are doing amazing. Don't give up.

Not herbal life, just 100% whey Protein...then I add ANYTHING to it I am in the mood for, and my imagination can come up with... I've been making smoothies with 2 shots of Espresso and goats milk lately... High protein, high energy smoothies and juice drinks are really starting to become the health craze lately...it does not surprise me you went to a class on it...my wife and daughter went to one recently also at Williams & Sonoma.... A lot of my friends are into it now also....and to think...I have been doing it for Breakfast every day since being banded 3 years ago....

Hello, I was banded June 2013. I've lost 55lbs so far. :-) I exercise at least 3 days a week. I've been in a plateau for a while now. I'm always interested in trying new things. Today I went to a nutritional shake shop in my town. I found out they use herbalife for their shakes. First you take a shot of aloe, then natural zero calorie,zero caffein tea, then the shake. All in all 250 cal,30 grams Protein, Vitamins, minerals and low sugar, low sodium etc. The shake was delicious!! Tasted like ice cream. I am wondering if anyone else has tried herbalife shakes only. I'm not interested in the vitamins/supplements etc. Just a shake as a Meal Replacement or to get the weight loss started again.

Congratulations on your surgery! I was told I HAD to consume 60-80g of protein each day. The first week they had to be clear. I chose the New Whey protein bullets (42g). I bought them at GNC. They are only 3 oz of fluid, so they are easy to get down. If you think they are too thick, then mix them with sugar free kool aid. You are still supposed to consume some calories. I may have gained weight at first, I don't know. I didn't have a scale, but at day 11 at my post op visit I had lost 15 lbs. Please start getting the protein calories in you so you don't get too weak.

I took a notebook with a list of questions I already had so that I wouldn't forget any. And that way I could write down the answers and any other notes. They'll ask you to describe your previous attempts at weight loss so you may want to jot a few notes down on that before hand - when, what did you try, how much did you lose, how long before you started to regain etc. They'll go through all the surgery options and discuss with you your specific conditions etc and help decide what will be the best option for your particular case. So it does take a while but it is not overwhelming. In my case, while I do see my primary doc regularly (2x a year to monitor my high blood pressure) he is only in the background for this process. I'm using the surgeon and his nutritionist for my insurance-required 6 month medically supervised pre-op period. I am having my primary copied on all tests etc and his office is part of the same larger medical group that the surgeon is in so he has total access to the records at my surgeon's office. But the point is, you probably won't HAVE to use your primary doc for this process other than to get the letter of recommendation.

I went for my second fill last Monday. I was filled to 2.75cc in my 4cc band. I was feeling way too tight the next day. It took me about 2 hours to finish a 4oz protein shake and I went from drinking 64oz of water a day to barely getting in 20. The next day after our group meeting at the hospital I decided to let the nurse know and she said it sounded like I was too tight and I could easily get dehydrated if I didn't get some taken out. So I did! My Dr. removed .5cc from my band so now I'm at 2.25cc and now I have very good restriction!!! I'm eating about 1/2cup of food at each meal, I'm satisfied, and I'm not having any food problems...NO PBs...knock on wood! :update: After being stuck at 252lbs for 3 weeks I finally weighed-in at 247lbs when I went for my fill so I lost 5lbs in one week. I lost that weight the week before my second fill when I barely had any restriction so it was mostly WILLPOWER. I worked my butt off to lose those 5lbs!!! I can't wait to weigh-in tomorrow to see how much weight I've lost since having the fill! WOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOO!!!!! :bounce: :high5: :nod:

I went for my pre-op weigh in today- I had to lose 4 lbs and I lost 12! So happy! I was on the 2 shakes/1 small protein & veggies meal but the shakes gave me (sorry, this is gross) diarrhea, so I only had 1 per day, and substituted an egg white omelet w 1 slice ff cheese, 2 c. lettuce & 1 TBSP fat free dressing. They told me today I could go back on 1200 cals./day up till surgery. That's next Wednesday, Feb. 8th. Of course I am not planning to put any weight back on. But, I feel like I've died and gone to heaven. Today I had 4 oz NY strip, 1 c whole wheat angel hair pasta w sauteed mushrooms. I feel full and GREAT! The surgeon said I could! Yay!!!!!!!!

I am one week 2 days out! I am experiencing ups and downs but doing ok! I had my post-op today Nd everything looks good. He said I can continue taking me pain meds as needed. I take them at night so I can sleep comfy. I have to say I am not hungry but I miss food. At moments I regret my decision but I know it's just my emotions getting the best of me I still walk nice and slow but I am moving. I still can't get that Protein in but each day I have been getting in a little more I have lost a totally of 20 pounds counting the weight I lost the week before the surgery Many thanks yous and blessings to everyone that has helped me get through this rough first week!!

I dont have my surgery until next month, but I suggest you eat if you feel hungry. Just eat protein first and small portions. Don't starve yourself. If you do, you will get so hungry that you will shove anything into your mouth.

Hi all - I've been banded since 2009 and I lost close to 100lb, gained back almost 30. I've stopped exercising, I can eat anything, haven't seen a Doc in 3+ years because I moved away from my surgeon. I need to establish a new doc, cash patient I presume, with new insurance and all, I also need to find a support group and get back on track before I "hurt" myself with a slip or other issue. I CAN EAT ANYTHING...I choose bad things - cookies, ice cream, candy, etc. I COULD drink a protein shake, eat a healthy salad for lunch and another shake for dinner and feel full and satisfied, but I don't - I eat, eat, eat - out of boredom, stupidity and I've gotten very lazy - I don't exercise anymore. Zero support from home and just moved to new area so I haven't made friends yet. I'm searching out Dr. in my area - Daytona Beach, FL area and going to get myself on track - please feel free to offer advise and motivation - I love to hear from people that are doing well, or that have experienced the same. I feel "fat" again and I'm really beginning to dislike myself again. The "rolls" are re-appearing. I was a gym-junkie for a couple of years so I know that girl is inside somewhere, but she's hiding under a blanket eating a strip of frozen thin mints. HELP!

You should drink at least 64ozs of clear fluids. This could be water, flavored water, decaffeinated tea, broth, sugar free popsicles, sugar free jello. It will be hard to get in protein until you can have shakes. You might have to put protein powder in your drinks. Get as much hydration as possible. Sip, sip, sip.

I'm 4 days post op, home and wondering if anyone has an ideal day in regards to fluid/ Protein intake? Thank you Sent from my iPad using the BariatricPal App

Even if you DO stretch your stomach a bit as long as you're making healthier choices for foods I don't see you regaining much. I mean 5-10 pounds is pretty much normal for regain so if it happens just try to work to get it off and I'm sure you'll be able to do it eventually. Rice swells though after you eat it so it can potentially lead to your stomach stretching. That's the reason my surgeon advised us to not eat rice anymore (I use cauliflower rice as a substitute). But if rice is something you don't want to give up you don't have to. Just know that it CAN stretch your stomach out. It was ADVISED anyway. The choice on whether to add rice back into our diet is very much our own. For me I eat mostly in the morning as I get sooooo hungry after taking my thyroid meds, but the rest of the day I basically have little to no appetite. I talked to my nutritionist on Monday and we went over my diet and I unloaded about how I ate mostly in the morning and I ate a LOT in a 3-4 hour period and she said that I was doing fine and stressing over nothing as my weight loss has been steady and I'm not going over my carb, fat, sugar, etc. limit and I'm getting my protein in like I'm supposed to. Apparently my metabolism is most active after I take the stupid thyroid meds and decides to sleep the rest of the day lol

You know when the surgery is the right option for you other people can't determine that. I know that I resisted for a while thinking I can do it on my own but Once I decided to do the sleeve I feel more encouraged and knowing that it could be a great tool for weight loss and hearing all the success stories is a plus too. I am 30 ... 5'5"...290lbs and a BMI of 49...

Could be on to something with the reflux and the pouch stretching. It isn't the protein because that's the first thing I did was stop protein and dairy products.