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I am a food addict. Or should I say I have an addictive personality. If I enjoy something I have an intense drive to over do it. I don't know why this is, but I am working really hard to fix it. I. AM. NOT. PERFECT. But, I will admit I have problems in my head and I need to fix them. I am posting the 12 Steps of Addiction Recovery. Know them, learn them, live them. The 12 Steps Step 1 - We admitted we were powerless over our addiction - that our lives had become unmanageable Step 2 - Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity Step 3 - Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood God Step 4 - Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves Step 5 - Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs Step 6 - Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character Step 7 - Humbly asked God to remove our shortcomings Step 8 - Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all Step 9 - Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others Step 10 - Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it Step 11 - Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood God, praying only for knowledge of God's will for us and the power to carry that out Step 12 - Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to other addicts, and to practice these principles in all our affairs Where I found this information: http://www.12step.org/

I had my first Protein shake this a.m. Still buzzing. But yes, my post-op is just as you described remembering. I have a magic bullet. LOVE IT. I quickly whip up my Protein shakes, etc. My surgeons post-op plan has me on protein shakes until day 21...I'm thinking that is severe and I may start soupy stuff in a week...putting my at about 15 days. I'm not trying to 'buck' the experts, but strike a balance between reasonably cautious and listening to my body. I'msure people will want to lecture me, but the post-op diet does allow for some discretion based on if you feel lethargic, etc. I don't yet, but I'm up to walking almost a mile in the a.m. and 3/4 in the p.m. on my treadmill. I have had zero problems with any area so far. I'm 9 days out (I count surgery day since I was done by 10 a.m.). Anyway, how about chicken enchilada's (easy). Chicken and rice ala Campbell's cream of something soup with baby carrots (all one dish cooking), chicken salad with some cashews (yum!) on nice rolls, chicken stir fry with frozen veggies over rice (use the packet sauces from the asian section), chicken dumplings (easy)... Gotta run, I have a "lunch" date with a girlfriend who doesn't know about my quick trip to Mexico. lol I'm debating whether to mention it, for a lot of reasons, but I don't want to lie about why I'm not eating. I'm not hungry, well...that's true. Strict diet: drastic times calls for drastic measures...that's also true. Ummmm Maybe I'll order french onion soup and just eat the broth and she won't notice. hahahaha Talk later! Susan

When I had the barium xray before my surgery, it made me so full and nauseated, I couldn't eat or barely drink for 4 days! Easy way to start the liquid diet I guess. I know my Dr. does fills with fluoro, so am I going to have to drink that stuff again? Forget the iritaion of the fill, I'm worried about the barium! Michelle Banded April 19, 2007

Hello everyone, I am new here. I finished my Options Class on Oct. 5. got my referral number last week and I receive a call from PB in San Diego last week for my 3 consultation. I am schedule for Nov. 10. I was told they are currently scheduling surgery for the end of December early January.

My surgery is 10/14 and sometimes I dream if awful things like mourning food and being in a lot of pain and not being able to work. But I also dream of amazing things like slipping into a pair of perfect curve hugging jeans or chasing my kids around. I dream of my sleeve almost nightly.

Hello, I am in the process of started my visits and i am wanting to know what is deemed medically necesssary per title 19? I called the customer care and I was informed only my provider can request that information? If anyone can help me I would appreciate it??

Totally normal to be nervous - I almost backed out a week or two after scheduling. The closer I got the calmer I got though, which is weird. Or maybe I just didn't have the energy to be nervous bc I was too lethargic from the Pre-Op diet! I think you are lucky to be doing it young. Not that it should be taken lightly, but in my 20's and 30's I wasn't heavy enough to be a candidate - still struggled with my weight/dieting/body image, but just not extreme enough for this kind of medical intervention. I am 45 now, and when I look at the before and after pics, some of the women just look SO amazing, and then I realize that they are the ones who had it done while they were younger. Everything bounces back better Not to dis the rest of us, we still look and feel a far cry better than if we had not had the procedure, (I'm 10 days post-op now, so I'm kind of an expert, haha), but I think for most in our age group, it's the body contouring and "lifts" and skin tightening that make the best end result aesthetically speaking. Just remind yourself that you made this decision for a good reason and try not to second-guess that too much, because that's extra stress that really isn't worth it. Just shoot for "optimistically cautious"

My doctor said surgery was day one. I was scheduled for a 11:00 surgery which due to complications from the 10:00 surgery I was pushed out to 4:30. Buy the time they got me to my room all I did was sleep until day 2.

:thumbup:I hit my goal a few weeks ago. Shortly afterward I couldn't keep my food down. I droped 8 more pounds after that. I was feeling faint and light headed alll the time. I thought I could tough it out. I was just thinking it was me, that I was being overly sensitive. Monday I made an appointment and they got me in right away. Doc took out half my fluid in my band. Boy do I feel like a new person. He told me to gain 10 lbs. I about had a heart failure when he said that.... But most of it is water weight. He also said that my body has "struggled for 13 months" to get to my current weight. A month of freedom will be great. It is 3 days later and 4lbs heavier. I am so happy. I still want to gain 4 more lbs. Not hard for me!!! lol it is kinda fun. Then maybe a slight fill.

Here's some recipes I used to make when I was following Atkins. You can modify them any way you like to make them less calories. Low Carb cheese Cake 12 Servings @ 263 Calories a Slice and 3.58 Carbs Per Slice 3 Pkg Cream Cheese (8 oz each) 3 eggs 10 Pks Splenda 1 ½ Tsp vanilla 1 TBLS Lemon juice 1 Cup of Sour Cream Heat oven 350 degrees Line bottom of spring pan w/2 sheets of wax paper…spray w/pam Spray sides of pan w/pam Cover outside bottom of pan w/foil, make it tight Add batter Place pan w/batter in a deep roasting pan Add 1” of Water to roasting pan….. Cook 1 hour Shut oven off Let cake stand in oven for 1 additional hour Take out of water bath and cool on rack…refrigerate and eat the next day. With whipped cream made from any flavor of Divinci Syrup is devine _______________________________________________________________ Mock Fried Rice 3 1/2 cups of grated raw cauliflower 3 green onions 1 clove of garlic or 1/2 tsp garlic powder 1/2 tsp ginger 3 tbsp soy sauce 3 beaten eggs Olive oil Cooked chicken, shrimp, beef, pork, whatever. In a wok or large flat skillet, heat enough oil to cover the bottom. Fry minced garlic (or garlic powder) with finely diced white part of onions for approx. 1 minute. Add grated cauliflower and fry 4-5 minutes, stirring constantly. Add soy, ginger, diced green onion tops, and pre-cooked cubed meat or baby shrimp. Stir to mix well and brown a bit. Push mixture to one side of pan. Add more oil if necessary and scramble eggs in empty side of pan until done but still moist. Stir eggs into "rice" mix and remove from heat. 3-4 servings 5 net carbs each _______________________________________________________________ Egg Muffins Spray w/Pam a 12 hole muffin pan, put crumbled cooked sausage or cut up ham or bacon or whatever you like in the cups. Some broccoli or spinach or asparagus would be good too. Add grated cheese, cheddar or montery jack or swiss. Don't over fill it w/the meat & cheese, like about 1/2 way or 3/4 at most. Beat 8 eggs with lt cream or half and half, just a splash and spoon egg mixture into the cups. Bake 350 degrees, maybe 15 minutes or so, you'll see them start to brown. The possibilities are endless, you can add any kind of cheese, meat or veggies, they are wonderful to freeze. In the mornings I like to grab one or two out of the freezer and by the time I get to work they are defrosted and ready to heat. LOVE LOVE LOVE THESE!! _______________________________________________________________ Sausage & Cabbage 1 head of green cabbage, shredded (or a bag of precut coleslaw mix) 1/4 Cup onion chopped 1 Pkg of turkey sausage (removed from casings)I like Shaddy Brook hot or sweet. 1 egg (optional) garlic 2 cloves Olive oil cook sausage, save drippings. add a little olive oil and saute fresh crushed garlic (2 cloves or jar) into the drippings add onions saute more and then cabbage, saute until cooked down but not mush, you can add an egg at the end if you want, kinda like fried rice style. YUM _______________________________________________________________ Portabello Burgers This is easy. Portabello Mushroom Caps Ground Beef (chicken, turkey or veggie burgers work good too) Cheese Cook your burger any way you like it. Then grill some large portabello mushrooms caps w/a little olive oil brushed on them. When done use the caps like you would bread, you can even put your favorite toppings on it, bacon, cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickle, mayo, katchup (a touch), mustard, onions, etc...... OR !!! make some Low Carb Chili and put that on top for a chili burger. _______________________________________________________________ DEEP DISH pizza QUICHE 4 oz softened cream cheese 4 eggs 1/3 cup heavy cream 1/4 cup parmesan cheese (grated) 1 tbs chives 1/2 tsp Italian or pizza seasoning 2 cups shredded cheese (I use mozzarella /cheddar mix) 1/2 tsp wet garlic or 1/4 tsp garlic powder 1/2 cup lowest carb tomato or pizza sauce 1 cup mozzarella cheese Toppings to taste (I use pepperoni, sausage, onion, green pepper, mushrooms, whatever!) Beat together cream cheese and eggs till smooth. Add cream, parmesean cheese and spices Spray 13x9 glass baking dish with oil Put 2 cups of shredded cheese in dish and pour egg mixt. over Bake at 375 for 30 minutes Spread with sauce and then add your toppings Cover with mozzarella cheese Bake till browning and bubbly Let stand for 5 minutes or so. ________________________________________________________________ Chicken Cordon Blue Chicken Burgers Makes 4 large burgers 2 lbs ground chicken 2 heafty teaspoons sweet paprika 2 heafty teaspoons poultry seasoning 1 tsp salt 2 chopped up scallions 1 - 2 Tbs oil (what ever you prefer) ********************************** Ham Swiss Cheese Garlic soft spreadable cheese ********************************** Mix first 6 ingred together well, make 4 burgers, they are sticky so when you flatten them out coat the outside with more oil so they are managable. Grill them, and just before they are done, spread some soft garlic cheese on top, place a slice of ham on top and then a slice of swiss cheese (melt it). These can be tweaked to add any spice/seasoning you like. We ate this with a bunch of sauted mushrooms....very very good !!!!! _________________________________________________________________ Cole slaw 2 bags dole precut cabbage/cole slaw mix (20 oz each bag I think) 1 Cup Helmans Mayo 2 Teaspoons Celery Salt 4 Tablespoons Vinegar 6 Tablespoons Lt Cream 6 Tablespoons Water 14 Packets Splenda Mix all ingred together except cabbage, pour over cabbage and toss well, refrig over night and enjoy next day. When the flavors mingle mmmmm mmmm !! And nobody know's its low carb ______________________________________________________________ Mock Mashed Potatoes 1 head cauliflower 1/2 stick butter 1 cup sour cream Salt to taste Cut up and cook cauliflower til very soft, drain well. Melt butter on cooked cauliflower. Puree or Mash it (I mash, I kinda like it lumpy) cauliflower with butter, and sour cream, salt, in blender or food processor. (be careful not to puree too long) You can also add cheddar cheese and bake it for about 25 minutes until cheese melts (350 degrees). _________________________________________________________________ Cold Broccoli salad 1/4 - 1/2 Pound Cooked Pork Bacon, crumbled (depends on your taste) 1 head fresh raw broccoli, cut into bite size pieces (I used only the flower part) 1/4 cup red onion, chopped 3 tablespoons white Vinegar 6 - 8 Pks Splenda (depends how sweet you like it) 1 cup mayonnaise 3 Tablespoons Light Cream 3 Tablespoons Water 2 Tablespoons Bacon Fat 1 Teaspoon Salt Mix all ingred together and then pour over broccoli, refrig over night and enjoy next day. This broccoli salad is one of my all time favorites _____________________________________________________________ Tips on Buying Ground Chicken READ READ READ !!! Make sure the package says Ground BREAST of Chicken, this way you are getting the white, lean meat and not the icky fatty funky stuff they throw in the regular ground chicken (like they do to ground beef). I buy Perdue and love it !! Here's the nutritional information on Ground BREAST of Chicken vs. regular Ground Chicken from Perdue - the differences are staggering !!!!!! http://www.perdue.com/athome/product/product.asp Ground BREAST of Chicken - Perdue Brand 4 OZ - Raw Calories: 100 Cal From Fat: 5 Total Fat: 0.5 gm Saturated Fat: ** (traces) Cholesterol: 65 mg Sodium: 75 mg Carbs: 0 Compaired to - Regular Ground Chicken - Perdue Brand 4 OZ - Raw Calories: 180 Cal From Fat: 100 Total Fat: 12 gm Saturated Fat: 4 Cholesterol: 135 mg Sodium: 75 mg Carbs: 0 I make chicken burgers alot, you can stuff them with just about anything. To keep my calories and carbs lower with the burgers, I do NOT add breadcrumbs, I just throw in some poultry spices, and any kind of ckn spice you like, onion, sweet paprika, garlic, etc. They are VERY sticky so you might want to add a teaspoon of olive oil in the mix (normally I don't but you can). What I do is spray a plate w/pam first, plop some ckn mixture on it, spray some pam on top of the ckn blob and flatten it out into burger shapes. Also, when you grill it, if you grill it, spray the spatula first. I'm telling you, it is so worth it, YUM!!!!!!!!!!! low cal, low carb, high Protein and low fat...what more can you ask for and left overs are wonderful. _________________________________________________________________

I guess it depends on what "eating normally" means. Eating "normally" got me to almost 600 pounds. At 10-days post op my surgeon/NUTS program still had me on full liquids. I didn't progress to soft foods until the third week. What does your NUT advise? Whether or not you care what any of us say, I would highly suggest you care what your NUT and surgeon say. You are in their care. In the first few weeks after surgery eating "healthy" means allowing yourself to heal after major surgery. Following the food stages (texture) helps you to heal with a minimum of complications. So does focusing on getting enough Protein and fluids. I was cleared to get in the pool about 4 weeks post-op, once my incisions had completely closed up. I've been in the pool ever since.

I was banded by Dr. Kuri in TJ on Jan 10 and it has been great. His office just called me Friday to touch base.... make sure I am still doing okay. If I have any questions. Great Experience!!! Good Luck to you it is a wonderful tool for weight loss.

Hi everyone, thought I'd check in and see if anyone is still coming onto the site from March 07. Today is my 7 year anniversary with my band. I am super happy I did this.... My life looks so different than it did 7 years ago.... I did gain 10 lbs this year so I am working at getting it off. I don't want to go back where I came from... The head hunger really is difficult but I am not going to let it get me. I stopped eating sugar on Ash Wednesday and I must say the cravings are gone. But it's one day at a time. Sugar was killing me this year. Last year I investigated switching to the sleeve. Mainly due to normal band behaviors we need to follow like having to chew slow, small pieces and some reflux issues I was having. My doctor recommended against it... I'm glad I didn't go that route because I'm hearing from some people that reflux is worse with sleeve. So I've disciplined myself to follow the directions I got on day 1 of getting my lapband Mainly eating slowly, small bites, etc. Anyway just wanted to jump on and check in.... Would love to hear how you guys are and how's it going? JosieK

It really depends upon your restriction; at 10 weeks out, I could eat ANY of that without issues; it took me 6 months to get to restriction;

For me I had to fly out of province to get my band, so the after care and fills was a huge deciding factor in making my decision. At first I thought I'd have to drive 1.5 hour away to a fill Dr. (and me without a car) but if that was my only choice then I would find a way to make it work - I had reached the end of my list of options and need the band to help me with my weight loss, so I was willing to do just about anything! If I want to fly back to the clinic then they will do the fill adjustments for me at n/c but luckily they now have a Dr. that is only a 10 minute walk from where I live! Each clinic have their own list of fill Dr. that the surgeon has trained to properly do the fills and some will even train your own family Dr., if they go to the clinic for the training. Do lots of research and ask lots of questions about the follow up care and where/who does the fills - for me this info decided which clinic I chose. Good luck to you!

Medications can certainly make a differance. I was banded in August 2006. I lost about 80 pounds and then stuck at that point. I was loosing every week. I was also on Topamax for migraines and it supressed my appetite. I was on that medication for 1 year and could not stand the side effects of being tired all of the time and like I was always in a fog. It didn't help the migraines so the neurologist said to discontinue it. I noticed a huge change in my appetite after I quit taking it. My appetite returned and I felt hungry alot more of the time than when I was on the topamax. I could not ever get to my goal weight that I was 20 pounds from. Now I have put on abput 15 pounds over the last three years. I was going to support groups and did have a fill two years ago when I was 10 pounds heavier than my lowest, but it never helped me to loose any more weight and since have gained 5 pounds more as of now. I think I will try to get back to a support group and really think about what I am eating, as I do think I still have restriction, but have become too complacent about my eating. Maybe a support group would help to keep you motivated and accountable, where you have to continue your medication. I guess writing down everything you eat as well. Writing down when you exercise. I tend to eat small meals, but get hungry or bored and take in several Snacks during the day , particularly unsalted peanuts.

I saw my PCP on April 29, 2010 to discuss the option of LapBand for me. She agreed and prepared the referral to the IPA. I had my referral on May 3 and saw my doctor intially on May 5. Did my psche eval on May 11 and was submitted to Blue Shield for approval on May 19 and just received my approval on May 24. YAY!!! My surgery is already scheduled for June 4! This was the complete fAST TRACK!! I think i just got lucky .. so if you stay on top of people you might be lucky and get the process moving fast. It was all pretty easy. Hang in there.

Holla fellow bandsters! Hope you all had a fabulous Independence Day! I sat here and tried not to watch myself and boys have simultaneous combustion from the heat- alas we were all saved that scene. It was a strange holiday in that there was no BBQ to attend, here or otherwise, I didn't even go watch fireworks! I can't decide whether it was just too hot, or I'm just getting freaking too old to "OOOHH and AWWWW" about fire in the sky. Boys weren't interested either so I just listened to the neighbors pop it like it was hot til around midnight. My dogs didn't even seem to care. So the boys had Subway and I had the normal protein shake and cream of chicken soup but as an added bonus, I put strawberries and bananas with some Greek yogurt, 1 pkg Carnation sugar free instant breakfast and skim milk in the blender! Boys had smoothies I froze mine and had strawberry banana "ice cream" around 10 last night. Delish. So as you know, I have been thinking today I was scheduled to have my first fill. Thanks to this forum, I now know that the receptionist misspoke when she said "fill", what she meant to say was "Post-Op" visit. Regardless, I was excited to go pretty much anywhere at this point. I scrubbed up, brushed up and put on a comfy sundress to wear, good choice because I didn't have to worry about buttoning and or zipping anything, I'm still slightly swollen and all I had to do was put it over my head and Voila! I really had no clue what was going to happen at this 1st appointment and lucky me, I got a nurse who was clueless as well. The regular Nurse that takes care of such appointments was on vacation this week (HOW DARE SHE) so I don't know if she was brought up from another unit of the clinic/hospital or if she was an agency person, or if (Lord I hope not) she works there and I just never seen nor heard of her before. So kids this is how it went down. I was ushered into the examination room and sat on one of the chairs. The nurse says "Ok, so what have you been eating, and sorry, but I have to look at your incisions." Umm, Ok, I hope you're going to look at my incisions (DUH) and I told her protein shakes, yogurt, chicken soup, yada, yada, and then I said "Um, am I going to see the Dr today or what's happening here?" she said "Oh no honey, you won't see your Dr until after your 1 month check-up with the regular nurse who's on vacation, then 1 or 2 weeks after that appointment you will have 1 with the nutritionist, then the week after that you will have a fill" My head was spinning off my neck at that point. I decided it was best maybe not to ask not too many questions to this particular person at that particular time, besides, I have this forum if I want to know something right? Well you guessed it, I couldn't resist, I started asking because you know, I brought a small list. (Well I didn't want to forget anything ya know?) I looked at my little list and immediately mentally crossed off things that I assumed only the Dr would know, or I only personally wanted the Dr to answer. So I asked about vitamins I think, something along those lines and she excused herself and brought in a booklet and said "Did you get one of these?" Uh, I don't think so, it doesn't look familiar. So she handed it to me and then said she needed to look at my incisions, I said Ok, and she basically lifted my dress up and said those have to go and RRRIIIPPP off came the first one! HEY, I said. I don't know if I'm- RRRIIIPPP- well screw it guess I'm ready to release my surgi-strips. Look I know it sounds like a nightmare and it pretty much was, I could go on and on, but my point is I went to my post-op appointment and basically expected Ashton K. to jump out of somewhere telling me I've just been "Punked" although that didn't happen, I did get a a wink/half eye roll from the receptionist when the nurse was explaining to her the upcoming appointments I needed, especially when she called her Stephanie and she said "My name's Ashley" (insert half wink & eye roll) giggle. I guess I was pretty calm about the entire thing because when she took my blood pressure it was only 107/62. My temperature a chilly 97.3, and guess what? She never weighed me, and I didn't ask. I guess what I'm trying to say is that none of that really mattered. I already knew I wasn't going to be getting a fill today. I pretty much assumed that they were just going to check on me after surgery. I've survived the ripped off strips and now that I think of it, I'm glad she did it because I babied them so much and would have worn them as a badge as long as I could have and I need to move on. The receptionist, Ashley, and I agreed she would just call me on Monday and we would go from there, sounded great to me! On the way home I thought to myself, I'm not restricted at all. I could eat whatever I want right now and it would be fine with my twisty and my stomach. Maybe I'll just have a salad, that's not such a big deal. I thought like this for about 10 miles until I snapped out of it. Girl you better check yourself, for Christ's sake this is exactly why you had this done, if you don't start using it now, instead of thinking like a food addict, your road shall be even longer. I came home had a yogurt and a Crystal Light, I still wasn't even hungry, not really. I picked up the red booklet she gave me and it was "All you need to know about your upcoming gastric bypass surgery" I just laid it on my chest and laughed hysterically. As always, onward and upward and Lo & Behold....Velvet

I’ve been wanting to do a blog entry, but then the website went all wonky. I’m going to try this today, and decide if I want to continue blogging or not. So far I’m not a real huge fan of the new site. I chose VST over the “other” WLS websites because it was specifically for VSG people; now bariatricpal mixes us all together again. Yes there is a certain amount of segregation, but now I find it difficult to navigate. I don’t really like the name even! I know people do not like change & I am one of them. I find myself less involved in the message boards because of the change. I am grateful that the change to the site took place when I was 5+ months out. I can’t imagine having gotten to where I am without the old board. Perhaps I’m ready to fly on my own now anyway. I am down 85 lbs since the start of 2 week preop diet, and down 75 since surgery. I am wearing clothes from the back of my closet, and people are finally really starting to notice I’ve changed. Amazing to me that it’s taken this long for them to see! BUT in a way, I would rather not draw attention to myself in this way. I am ready to be at goal weight and having people just know me as a girl of a healthy weight so that they don’t feel the need to compliment me on my loss. Some days are easier than others with the weight loss. I KNOW at this point that I could eat whatever I want. I have been very diligent thus far, and I am averaging a loss per week of 1.24%. I am occasionally tempted by the wrong stuff (i.e. “treats”) but I haven’t given in, and it is SO much easier since surgery to stick to a healthy plan I’ve devised for myself. I contribute this largely to having gone through detox in the time immediately after surgery. I’ve never been able to eat this clean for this long, and it feels good! I don’t look at it like a diet – that’s so cliché, but I have always WANTED to have a healthy lifestyle I just never had the control before. Now I know I have the control if I work it right. If I am hungry, I just have to make sure I eat dense protein first so that I can feel restriction. If I do not do that always, I will have a hard time getting to goal. I can’t say that I track my food anymore regularly, and I don’t count calories, etc. I stay away from bread, rice, pasta, except for one or two days per week. I have for the most part foregone sugar and processed food. I don’t stress over things being low fat. My breakfasts are coffee and protein drinks, then I have a green shake (spinach, fruit, protein, avocado, almonds) mid morning, then some lean protein for lunch, then a chike protein drink mid afternoon, and a “lean & green” dinner – but it’s mostly lean protein and just a spot of green vegetable. I feel my green drinks keep my veggie intake up. Routine is key for me. I take my vitamins daily, and drink as much water as I can. I enjoy sugarfree popsicles in the evenings. More than one. Sometimes I wonder if that’s a problem. They are essentially frozen crystal light, but am I playing into old behaviors by going back for several per evening? Yes I am still seeing weight loss but I want to change 40 years of bad habits, so I wonder about eating several of ANYTHING. I will ask my NUT tomorrow when I talk to her. I had bloodwork done and saw my endocrinologist yesterday. He said my iron is slightly high and my blood pressure is slightly low. The episodes of feeling worn out can be blamed on the low blood pressure. Even when I was 85 lbs heavier my blood pressure was on the low side, so you can imagine how it is now. I’m a bit of an anomaly in that way. So I get to indulge my salt cravings, and I need to make sure I stay hydrated even that much more! I fully intend to get to goal. I have yo-yo’d in the obese range for several years now. I’m now beginning to enter territory weight-wise where I haven’t been in 10 years, so I am really beginning to feel different. It’s fun and exciting and a bit scary. But I want to do it anyway – I want to lose about 59 more lbs.! And, 2 lbs from now and I will be merely overweight and no longer obese. That’s cool! I never lost hair, and I figure I’m in the clear. I’ll say it again: I never had hair loss! I will be at the 6 month mark in a week, so I pretty much figure I’m in the clear!! Yay! I had accepted that as a side effect long ago, but lo and behold it didn’t happen to me. I am thankful, but I would have dealt with it. I just didn’t want to cut my hair, because I’ve been growing it out for years. I got my claories up to 900 to 1000 fairly early after starting real foods, and I think this helped me hang on to my hair. I have half a small avocado in my green shake every day, as well as almonds. These things are high calorie but are “good fat”. And good fat is good for the hair and skin. So far excess skin isn’t horrible, but I know I won’t know until I get there how much of an issue it will be. I won’t get plastics though – it just looks too painful! And I hope that after years at a healthy goal weight perhaps the skin will go back to a reasonable shape. All in all I am very happy with how this is turning out! I knew immediately after surgery that I just needed to get on with living a new lifestyle and that as time passed I would see results. And I am! Onward!

Hi - I have about 7 or 8 ccs in my 10 cc band. I have been moving along nicely - about 11-14 lbs per month. Last month I did not get a fill because I was still struggling a lot to eat slowly and keep things down. Now I am okay as long as I am VERY SLOW and if I drink something warm before I eat. But I have noticed in the last 10 days, that my weight loss has slowed and I find I am hungry more frequently. I work out a lot and I actually contemplated cutting back a little for a week just to see if the hunger stops. I have a fill appt on January 25 but I am kind of confused and wonder if the experienced out there could give some guidance about these later fills. If I am hungry and the weight loss has slowed, that says FILL, right? But if I often have issues eating at all or keeping things down, I am scared about being any tighter. I try to remember that my surgeon says that PBs are because we make mistakes in eating and chewing, not because the band is too tight (I tell myself this every day when I sit down for one of my hour long attempts at eating). So do I get a fill? In what kind of increment? I am sure my doc will have a recommendation but I wanted some input from the experienced masses Thanks

http://www.zetacap.us/ I can't imagine this being for obese people. If I only had 10 lbs to lose I might try it.

Hi everyone! I had the lap band in 2015 and thought I would be completely different within a year. I initially started to lose weight but even at the beginning felt like I shouldn't be able to eat as much as I could. I was constantly hungry and felt like I was starving all the time. I had several adjustments and even got to the max allowement then had to have it drained because I couldn't even drink Water.. It was aweful! My heaviest weight was 289.7 and I didn't even realize it! I seen a picture of myself and had no idea who that person was. I am 5'8 and have always been told that I'm curvy and look "good" so it never occurred to me that I was actually that big since I carry my weight well. Don't get me wrong, I knew I was a big girl but still felt like I wasn't that bad. My horrible motto and cop out was, "You can fix chubby but you can't fix ugly!" How horrible right?? Smh.. Well, I had pain, brusing on my belly button and could no longer hold down real food. But let me tell you that chips and candy went down super easy. I ate the big Reece's cups everyday! I felt like a complete and total failure and started feeling like everyone who loves me was being nice to me and telling me I was beautiful because they knew my heart. I am currently 33 and was 17 when my beautiful mother died and 19 when my amazing father died. I raised my 2 brothers and 1 sister when that happened and worked 3 jobs to make sure we had a roof over our heads. I sang in a band for many years and always felt like the fat girl. I even had a miscarriage 5 years ago that devastated me to the core. I was tired, and tired of being tired. Last week, October 19th I changed my life!! I had the revision to sleeve!! Let me tell you the honest raw uncut truth... I NEVER EXPECTED THIS! My amazing, supportive fiancé got me a scale yesterday as a surprise. I almost felt like maybe my doctor didn't actually do the sleeve since I don't notice any changes. I went into surgery at 281.7 and I weighed myself this morning at 262.4!!!!! I AM IN AWE!! I go to the doctor today for a follow up and am honestly in pain (mostly super tenderness) and man oh man do I want a cheeseburger.. Lol.. But this has been all worth it! I know that if I stay focused, stay connected, stay honest and give my all.. I will have amazing results! This site has been so inspirational. I have literally been reading stuff all night!! Haha.. I had to tell everyone a part of my story and really stay accountable. Thank you for reading my extremely long story. I hope that someone out there can relate and feel encouraged. My new motto is, "Live the life that you want to live and live it well!" Bee Sent from my LGMS550 using the BariatricPal App

For me this has been one of the biggest surprises of all! I went through this process to get healthy, it was never about getting thin. Well, I got healthy very fast. Then it became about losing the weight and getting to goal. I am currently 1lb overweight and 10lbs from my ideal weight although I would argue that I am literally Boney in places and I have a lot of loose skin after losing 135lbs. If I don't lose another pound I would be happy where I am, knowing some day soon I will have several pounds of loose skin removed. Now, I cannot believe I am saying this but I love clothes! I can shop wherever I want and normal sizes fit me! I wish I would win the lottery so I could have a giant closet full of beautiful clothes that were meant for me. Shoes too! They never mattered, now they do. I am currently holding off assuming I have another 10lbs to go and I am in between a size 12 and a size 10. If I have all this excess skin removed I would likely be a size 8. I own two pair of jeans that are becoming too big fast. Several pairs of yoga pants which I wear all the time. 2 long sleeve tops for winter, a couple of sweater dresses. A couple of tanks and a couple of sweaters that are too big but I can still wear them over my tanks. That is literally my whole closet. My husband hangs my pjs in there when he does laundry just to make it look better. LOL! I have purged so many times in the last year! It is the best part.

3 of mine opened pretty wide and deep 10 days post op. I kept them clean, dry, no band aids, and kept a close watch for infection. They healed on their own in about 4 weeks. Don't close it with steri strips because it could trap bacteria in there.

Yea! I got a new bra too recently and its the bra I always dreamed of. The old gals look 10 years perkier I haven't shopped in a brick and mortar store for years. I figured if I could fit in it that was good enough and putting on makeup felt like decorating a gourd. Now that I've dropped some weight I find I do care about fit and color and makeup etc so i went out shopping last weekend. And it was a blast!. Enjoy your new attire!