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Tracking/Journaling your food intake is always a good idea IMO. I use the one at The Daily Plate on LIVESTRONG.COM - Calorie Counter, Weight Loss, Food Calorie Counter, Nutrition Facts | LIVESTRONG.COM. It also has a fitness/exercise logging function. I have found though, that calorie burn calculators are by and large extremely optimistic. If you have the funds available, I would advise investing in a HR monitor or some other device that helps determine YOUR individual workout calorie burn. Some good options are a fitbit, bodybugg (and it's clone GoWear), hr monitor watches (several models out there.. Garmin, Omron, Polar. I have a Polar). Before I got my HR monitor, I would chart my workout time at 1/2 of what I actually did. 60 minute workout I would claim 30 minutes.. this was to offset any over estimation that exercise calculators are notorious for making. I was very surprised to find after getting my watch that even cutting the time in half, sometimes the calorie burn that the site estimated was still too high. Perhaps this is just a problem with the dailyplate site. I haven't had the time or inclination to check with other sites. Just a heads up and giving my experience. One other thing that has helped me as the loss via scale has slowed down is to start keeping track of my measurements monthly. I also have clothes that I check ever so often to see if they fit again..

Yep! I've had that too especially when I wake up. Didn't have the problem before surgery. I'm 2 months post op. It's starting to get better now. I read somewhere that people do experience this due to rapid weight loss, something to do with connective tissue and yadda yadda ... sorry I don't have an official place to quote. I'm not too worried about it. My body is like "what are we doing"! I figure it's all changing and moving, redistributing but def see your doc if you need to!

@@Puppypaws57 Yes!! I do feel so much better all the time. I mean I have my days where I don't feel too good but for the most part I feel so much better than I did when I would eat sugar. The most sugar I eat now is from a few bites of natural fresh fruit and then it's usually not much in one serving. I feel very healthy! Sending you prayers for your strength. ETA: Yes my weight loss is slow but steady. I'm perfectly okay with that. I just notice I an overall better look of health too. And yes I have an obstacle. I live with 2 other people who are very addicted to sugar. There's always stuff around the house but being this far into my count I don't even get tempted, only sometimes and it's usually at big events like birthday parties and everyone is having cake and ice cream and I'm not.

Hello, I was plicated on July 11, 2013. The good news is, from pre-op liquid diet to the 4 week mark which is tomorrow, or a total of 5 weeks, I have lost 30 lbs! I have gone from 241 to 212. I never thought it was possible to lose 30 lbs, let alone the other 40 I need to go! The bad news is recovery was really tough. I can say the first month was hard. The first week I was not really coherent, just really dehydrated and unable to eat and barely drink, I had to get fluids twice. I have 2 small children so I had to send them to relatives houses for a few days, and when the baby came back (he's 11 months) I still wasn't ready for him so my husband cared for him mostly - my husband had to take a week and a half off work, and my mother in law babysat me and the kids the following week. I felt my stomach was too tight, but it was just really swollen. The swelling has gone down and now I can eat about half of a salad plate of food (mushies) and soft meat. I'm so relieved, since the beginning was so tough. The other bad news is I've had some issues - I have thrown up multiple times, at the beginning and when I eat too much, and I have had dumping syndrome 3 times which was awful. However I'm turning around, feeling normal, and lots of restriction which freaked me out at first but not I'm enjoying as when I'm full I don't want to eat more, and I don't feel deprived! I'm supposedly on a regular diet starting tomorrow but I don't think i'm ready for salads or tough meat at all since I've had so many gastrointestinal issues, I'm going to go super slow. The 30 lbs is great!!!!! For anyone considering this surgery it's not a walk in the park, and it's not an easy fix. yes you lose weight at the beginning easily but now the weight loss is slowing down and I have to work at it (eating protein and veggies and fruit and exercising). So don't do it unless you're willing to make big changes! xoxo

The three most important elements after RNY gastric bypass surgery are to meet your daily protein, fluid and vitamin requirements. Food is secondary because your body is converting your stored fat into the energy that drives your body. Thus you lose weight. Weight loss is achieved after surgery through meal volume control. You begin at 2 ounces (1/4 cup) per meal and gradually over the next year and a half increase the volume to 1 cup per meal. With this minuscule amount of food, it is next to impossible to meet your protein daily requirements by food alone, so therefore you need to rely on supplements such as protein shakes. One thing to do now at your stage of 3 1/2 months post-op is to assess your protein intake. Your daily protein requirement is met by a combination of the amount of protein you obtain from food combined with the amount of protein from protein supplements (protein shakes, protein bars). Right after gastric bypass surgery, the volume of food you consume is minuscule (2 ounces) per meal. But as you get further along, the meal volume increases. Therefore you have a very important option available to you. As a result, you can begin to reduce your reliance on protein shakes. I went from 3 a day, down to 2, down to 1 and eventually none when I reached 1 cup per meal at a year and a half post-op. This is important because protein shakes contain calories. If you can reduce your caloric intake, then you can end a stall. At least that was the approach that I used and it worked for me. Your lack of bowel movements could be caused by not drinking enough fluids.

Wow, why can't some ppl just offer some advice and not also be annoying! 1200 calories sounds about right to me, depending on how much you weigh now and how fast you want to lose. 800, in my opinion, would be too low, you don't want to mess with you metabolism. Also, if your a year out, the weight loss will slow but keep doing what your doing!!

My last stall lasted 5 of the longest, most frustrating weeks ever. Now I am at a lower weight, losing it is so much more difficult. I am eating more calories, about 900 to 1200 a day and having limited exercise is making my weight loss tough going. I knew this would happen sooner or later but it's still damn annoying. We cannot tell what your weight is so we would find it difficult to help you, but many say that it's really hard to get to our ideal set point. Our bodies just don't want to give up the last bits of fat. Some on here have managed to get to 'gold medal' stage but many have had to admit defeat at silver. We are all winners in my eye if we can keep our lost weight off My team think I will lose slowly for another 6 or 7 months. Then I can consider plastic surgery on my old saggy bits. TBH, I have lost more than I ever dreamt I could. So, vary your diet as much as possible and keep going until you cannot do one damn day more !

I take it your mother is the one paying for the surgery? I would make an appointment to meet with the surgeon and bring her along. Your surgeon should be able to discuss with both of you all of the scientific evidence that shows it verges on impossible for a morbidly obese person to lose a significant amount of weight and maintain that weight loss without surgery. If she has already met with the surgeon and gone over all of the evidence, then I guess just spend a lot of time talking with her. Tell her exactly how being so overweight makes you feel and impacts your life. I know for most of us there is a lot of shame and self-hate involved in that sort of discussion - if that is true for you, dig deep and keep talking. She's your mom and I am sure she loves you and wants you to be happy, but she's probably scared of the risks of surgery. Explain to her that sleeve surgery has the same risk of complications and death as gall bladder surgery -- she wouldn't be demanding you just keep suffering in pain if you needed your gall bladder out, right? She would accept the risks (very small!) and you would get the surgery you need to end the debilitating pain. Well, for most of us, being morbidly obese inflicts severe pain as well, we just mask it better. You can also talk with her about all your previous attempts to lose weight. Help her to see that you have tried, and struggled, and you need this tool to be successful. If your mother still doesn't want to pay for the surgery, that's her right -- check into self-pay options (there's a great board for self-pay patients here) and see what you can do to save up or finance it. Depending on where you go, it might be less expensive than you think. Good luck to you!

Hi Jennifer I think it is fantastic that you joined up in support of your husband. I think the biggest misconception may be that there are foods we can't eat after surgery. Granted there are MANY items we shouldn't eat, but unless for some reason he can't tolerate something, the option to have his favorites, in moderation, are there. Bread is hard for a lot of folks, its just too dense and heavy. There is no way to know exactly how he will be effected. I love my carbs too, and I know I need to stay away from them to really get the most out of my weight loss efforts. This has ALWAYS been the case, not just post op. Carbs are necessary for a balanced diet, but most have no real nutritional value. Since we take in so few calories, we really want to get the most bang for our buck, so I try to stay away. I just found some wraps (Fiber One honey wheat) that I will have for lunch on occasion. Your switching to whole wheat pastas etc, is a great step in aiding his changing habits. I had a conversation with my mother not too long ago, she has never had any weight issues and we were a large family of 10 kids, so she never really thought about the food we ate growing up and how it does shape our habits throughout out life, just that we had enough. We had lots of bread and Pasta, quick meals that fed a lot of people for less money. It was a way of life, and that's what it needed to be at the time. But looking back, my habits were formed early on, it was up to me to change them. I completely understand his not wanting his struggles to be ones your children have later on and his wanting it to change now. That being said, it has got to be hard for a whole family to make sweeping changes, but some are for the overall better good. I don't have children, but I do have my young nieces & nephews come over a lot. Yogurt, cheese sticks, fruit. all acceptable snack items that are all still good for me too. keeping an open dialog is most important, if there is an item that he feels having around will make it really hard for him then maybe talk with the kids and see if they can take one for the team & dad and do away with for a while. I also can understand needing there not to be junk food in the house, maybe each of the kids can pick their own healthier alternative while he is in the early stages. I have been keeping pre-portioned packs of nuts as a snack, it gives me a crunch and on my plan. Making the decisions as a family for the overall good should make it a little easier at least. He may not realize all the changes you have been making behind the scenes. There are a few really good websites that have very tasty family friendly recipes. www.theworldaccordingtoeggface.com and www.emilybites.com The kids most likely won't even realize these are "healthier" options. If his inquiry about surgery opened more of a dialog about healthy eating habits for the family, there is no "fault" there. He might need to think about it in a different way, or at least know that you don't think of it that way. Every summer I go away with a big group of my family to the beach. This year I put it out there to my many nieces and nephews to bring their bikes as a way of getting from one house to another (and to get me moving on vacation) They JUMPED at it, they loved that I wanted to ride with them and every one brought a bike, the whole week we rode and they never thought it was more than a great way to spend time together. My point really has to do with perception. There is a sub-forum here The Man's room. He & youmay get unique point of view by checking it out. Again, I really applaud your efforts to understand what he is going through and your willingness to do what you can to make the process easier. Best of luck to you all!!

Thank you so much cervidae! You've given me hope that so much is gonna get better. I'm so excited for surgery but it's getting closer and I'm starting to get nervous. I'm on spironolactone for blood pressure and it's not helping with the facial hair, but I'm starting laser removal soon, it works amazingly and is worth every penny. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I am still here also! Been busy working my lap-band life style! I am now down 102 since we started, that's in just under 5 months! I could never have done this without my band and am thankful I went ahead and got my "tool". I am at 9 in my 14 band, my last fill was 1cc and I think it should have been 1/2 a cc. I have in the last two weeks had some of the things you all have talked about for the first time.I Slimed, bp,and have gotten stuck, I think I just have to learn to chew, chew, chew, and slow down. Up until now I did not have to and boy it makes a difference! .. I go to Curves 5 days a week and with the hot weather hope on my stationery bike for 1/2 hour in the evening. I read new posts on lbt on my laptop while I ride and it goes by quickly. I have the feeling I am going to have to start to push myself harder soon to get of my last 42 pounds off. The scary part will be reaching goal and maintaining it,I guess if I look at it as a challenge like the weight loss is it might be easier. As for eating, I have treats almost everyday! Fiber one brownies in the microwave for 20 seconds are wonderful! I also like the weight watcher ice cream bars. I eat healthy otherwise and really push my Protein. I have had no hair loss or other sideeffects from weight loss other than the saggy breasts and tummy. But that can be dealt with in the future!! I feel great and hope everyone else does also p.s. only 2 pound till onderland!

I'm almost 6 months out and beyond frustrated with the stall and very slow weight loss! I've started using fitness pal and I'm having a hard time staying with I the amount of fat gram I'm allowed. Any suggestions? By the way I don't like mushy foods only once with texture. Please help

im close to your size, 5'3 and was 225 lbs when i started looking at lap band last sept. i lost 6 lbs before i was banded dec 13th, and have lost 10 lbs since then. its all been a slow steady weight loss , a mild pain in my left side for the 1st 10 days, but felt fine otherwise. i know im on my way to sucess because i did my homework 1st. talk to anyone who has had it and read everything you can to make an informed decision. wait until you start getting NSV's (non scale victories) and compliments on your weight loss! you'll be so glad you got the band when some one calls you "a hot mama!!" best of luck to you !!

I know how you feel, I canceled my original surgery date which was September 4, 2013 to January 15, 2014 because of all the mixed emotions and feedback from family, especially my mother. My mother and I are best of friends but for some reason she is discouraging me on getting this surgery done, I know any surgery is a high risk procedure but her thought is long term, what are the complications. I work in the medical aspect of seeing the good and the bad with WLS but everyone is different. I joined a weight loss group with my mom and have seen good results. I'm trying to prepare my body and familiarize myself with portion control and help reduce my cravings. I still haven't made up my mind if I'm going to go through with the surgery but little by little as I get closer to my date I know what ever I decide will be because its my choice, no one else's.

Wow! That's a good one. Congrats on your weight loss and keep on huggin' that beautiful girl!!!

I know how you feel. I am 6 1/2 months post-op and have already experienced 2 months of no weight loss. What others are saying about your body adjusting itself is absolutely correct. I have twice now hit plateaus that lasted well over a month each. Be sure you take your body measurements because during these plateaus it is important that you realize you are losing inches. It does take the scale some time to catch up with the measurement losses. Hang in there and be patient. You didn't get to 400 pounds overnight and it's not going to fall off overnight. I do suggest, you increase your exercise time each week in order to keep seeing results and fluctuate your calorie intake by 100-200 calories periodically. Best of luck to you, Donna

Hello, My name is Jennifer, and my husband and I went to one of the bariatric surgery seminars a few weeks ago. We have had a follow up with the surgeon, appt with the dietitian, and my husband has attended I think 3 weekly support/information meetings that his surgeon runs. I'm posting here, because I truly want honesty and I'm not sure where else to put this. I am having some major concerns at this point. A little about me-I am not overweight, and I have no idea what that is like. I am a recovering addict, so the "addiction" issues that my husband has I do understand somewhat, I realize however that having food as an "addiction" is very different than drug and alcohol addiction. My husband (and I ) are 40. He is about 5'10" and currently weighs about 280. He has struggled with weight his entire life, but there have been times he was able to lose and keep weight off. This is the most he has ever weighed. I know he is miserable, depressed, uncomfortable, in pain and has no energy. We have gone through every diet, Meal Replacement, weight loss pills, etc-if they work, he stops doing them and then the weight comes back. He hates diets, hates being told, "you can't eat that" All the diets we have tried, low-carb, high Protein, he quickly abandons because of the restrictions. After our first one on one discussion with his surgeon we were talking about some of the lifestyle changes. His surgeon is a vegan, and my husband very clearly stated, well, I'm not going to do that kind of diet. He came home after group last night and appeared agitated and angry. We are dealing with some budget issues as well right now, and one of our huge expenditures is eating out, so that's something we are trying to drastically reduce. I went grocery shopping yesterday and on the way home I was thirsty so I got one of those frozen coffee things from burger king. This apparently was what triggered my husbands anger. After he had been home for a while, (he went and laid down almost immediately after he got home) he came into the kitchen and we were eating dinner. We started talking about how his meeting went, and it became very clear that he was really upset. My husband is normally pretty laid back, so this was a bit odd. Basically what it came down to is that he feels that we ALL eat lousy food and he doesn't want this lifestyle change to be "all his fault" and we really need to learn how bad all the food we eat is. OK, so over the past few years, I have changed a lot about our diet. I have traded out regular pastas for either whole wheat, rice, or veggie options, we don't eat potatoes hardly ever, low sodium everything, more salads and fresh veggies and fruits. If hamburger is in this house at all its 96% lean, more often its been replaced by ground turkey. I read and try to stay informed about healthy food choices. I do have 3 kids at home, all of whom pack a lunch every day. They have available to them quick microwave heat up things like pizza or chicken nuggets, there are chips and granola bars and applesauce, and puddings for Snacks to go with lunch. There is also fresh fruit that they take as well. Jason (my husband) seems to think this all needs to change. There shouldn't be any "junk" type foods ever, we are teaching our kids horrible eating habits, they are going to hit their 30s and 40s and become overweight. Bread is a useless food, unless it's homemade due to preservatives and even then it's minimally nutritious at best, (he became aware just last night I believe that he prob can't eat bread, or pastries or pancakes etc once he does this surgery) Bread and carbs are a bigger attraction for him than say candy and Cookies. Eliminating those items in the past for diets has caused him to hate diets. I'm concerned that if he goes thru with surgery he will just end up more depressed and angry at the limitations he is going to be under. Any thoughts?

Does anyone walk several miles a day and drink a lot of Water? Will that help a lot with rapid or faster weight loss? Melanie

okay, so here's my issue. I have bcbs of al. Most of their policies will cover the lap-band. However, b/c my husband's company is so small they have an exclusion for all weight loss associated surgeries, treatment et. al. We are not really in a place to finance the surgery ourselves. i mean if it comes down to it, we can. But we'd rather not. So I have started looking for a new job that has insurance (my current does not) that i can take out on myself that will cover the lap-band. But in case that doesn't work... I was thinking of just buying my own policy privately. Has anyone took out their own insurance policy and done it that way. I started thinking about this and wanted to know if this has worked out for anyone.

So sorry for the loss of your band, but very excited about your little blessing. My T&P to you & yours!

I would definately not take the clothes.....I wouldn't even start with that...it will only lead to other crap from her. Tell her you have your own plans for a wardrobe as you lose. If you are annoyed that she is putting pressure on you to compete with the weight loss, then tell her....she needs to know this so that you can get this monkey off your back! Cripes.....its hard enough as it is without someone like this making it a competition and adding insult along the way. You do your own thing, your way.......and tell her to back off! Carol PS...guess you can tell I don't take crap from anyone!...LOL

My SIL and I were banded together (well at the same time...banded together created quite the visual!) anyway...she called me everyday wanting to compare weight loss, it was one big race to her...until she fell behind. She no longer asks me about my weight loss, she avoids the subject. She has VERY poor eating habits, survives on Cheetos, ice cream, and mashed potatoes. I have splurges....but nothing like that!!! I have now lost double what she has. But she doesn't know that, I will not rub it in, like she did to me in the begining when she was losing faster than I was. That sucked!!!When her weight loss stalled, so has the race! Keep plugging along, and use it to your advantage, it gives you additional motivation, to stay the course and do well!!! I like Lisah's dignified response about passing them on to someone else....classy! Good Luck--I've been there!!! Kat

I have heard of it being done before, but here is a easier option,, did you have your weight documented anywhere before the weight loss?

Hey everyone, Hope you're all doing well! So, I kind of just need to vent for a bit. I know everyone's experience is different and only my Doctor and Surgeon can give medical insight, but I'm hoping someone may have been in a similar situation as I am. So, before I could schedule a surgery date I had to do all the tests. The last step (which I now wish was the first step), was my blood panel. All results came back good, except the blood panel. The results returned showing that my Vitamin D, B12 and folic acid are all low. Easy enough to fix with a supplement. It also showed the my cholesterol was low, so my Doctor said to make sure I am eating healthy fats (avocados, nuts, fish, etc). *Possible TMI --> She also wants me to get an intravaginal ultrasound as she found heightened testosterone levels and yeast in my urine. Ultimately, she wants to rule out PCOS (which was ruled out in my teens, but that was roughly 20 years ago) But then she went on to explain that my A1C test (blood sugar test that shows my average over 3 months) was at a 10, while normal is 5.6 or less. With this number, it constitutes as Type 2 Diabetes. Because I have never had issues with this before, she is requesting that I wear a glucose monitoring device (in arm) for 2 weeks and begin a weekly injection called Trulicity. Apparently Trulicity will help lower my blood sugar levels, but also could bring on weight loss as it decreases overall appetite. She is hoping to see improvements in the next 3 months, but until then will not issue the clearance. I understand it is important for me to be healthy as my body will need all it can to heal post-surgery, but I am truly discouraged. 1. I'm angry at myself that I let things get this bad. 2. I'm worried that all my other tests will become null and void, since I'm fairly certain they are only valid for 6 months. Most were done in March and with having to wait at least 3 months - it's really cutting it close. 3. Has anyone been in a similar situation? If my numbers don't come down, does that mean surgery is out of the question? I appreciate the listening ears and any input or advice! Thank you and hope everyone has a wonderful Easter weekend.

Congrats...on your weight loss and more important your marriage to your partner. !!!!