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Hang in there. I havent lost much either (3-5 lbs in 2 months) i've had to fills and now have 5cc in a 10 cc band, and it's not enough, i still dont have enough restriction at all. i can eat over a cup of food if i eat slow enough. i know thats the choice i make, i can't stop myself, so i lose SLOW. i go for a fill in 3 weeks and i will be lucky if i'm down a pound. of course i dont exercise as much as i should. i want to be realistic about this, i know i wont be a gym person or a marathon runner, so why dump money into it now so i can fizzle out of it in 6 months. if i lose slow, i figure it will be a normal slow, not a run around with my head cut off, exercise freak, fast losing different me. i want to stay me, but in a smaller body. does that make sense? anyways, i just hope my next fill will be the ticket. good luck shurmeka.

I havent been on here for a while and thought I would post some things. I'm almost 2 months post op and down 28lbs as of this morning. I'm not seeing a huge scale change but I was also not putting in 100% effort either. The holidays were...well the holidays. lol. So yes I did induldge a bit. I was excited to know that there was a limit to what I could eat and ran into a couple times where I ate too fast or too much and it was extremley uncomfortable. I started off Monday back in the right direction. I'm eating a lot of protein and eating very little of anything else. I've been doing a lot of diced up meats and cheese, chicken, string cheese, squash, and other meats. My diet is not very exciting but when I stick to it, it seems to work. I got down to 31lbs lost before the holidays. I would like to be down atleast another 10 if not 20lbs by the new year. I am learning a lot about myself. I really love my lapband. I have had 2 fills already and I have another scheduled for next week. I have 4.1cc's in my 10cc band. Anyone that is reading this that does not have lapband yet just know that this is not the "easy" way out. ANY WLS takes effort. And yes, some may be a little easier at first than others but in the long run its up to us to keep the weight off. I cought myself a couple of times eating things that I use to eat and then I would ask myself, Why did you have surgery? Just because you have lapband doesnt mean your obesity is cured. I wish. But that's not how this works. If you put in the time and effort the weight will come off. If not, than there is really no point in having surgery. I feel very motivated right now and have been doing well sticking to my diet. I do have days though where I am not as motivated. The nice thing though lately is that the more fills I seem to get the more I cant just eat without thinking about chew chew chew. Or else I have extreme pain. So I love that my band holds me accountable. My doctor also would like to see me have less than 30grams of carbs a day....Has anyone else been asked to do this? If you are new to the whole counting calories thing that is like two string cheeses! So if anyone has any good ideas for high protein/low carb foods please LET ME KNOW :-) Have a great day!!!

How long ago did your Dr tell you this? At 10 months out, you should have progressed to eating a balanced diet of Protein and veggies. Are you trying to do low carb? If so, I can almost assure you that is the reason why your energy is low. Carbs are quickly converted to glycogen and stored in your liver. Glycogen is what your body needs for energy. Did you have your surgery in the U.S.? Do you have access to a nutritionist? Have you tried Premier Protein shakes from Costco/Sam's Club? Many, many folks who have struggled with protein shakes have found them tasty. But, I'm more concerned that you aren't able to eat a balanced diet. Are you to tell me all you eat all day long is meat or meat type products?

I have been swallowing Water in a more normal fashion than I thought I would be since the first week post-op, but now, at Day 26 post-op, I would almost characterize drinking water as "normal" for me. When I was able to introduce Premier Protein shakes at Day 10 post-op, though, it took me about 2 hours to drink one. Now, I can drink one in about 20 minutes. I count my blessings about the water, though, as I have read about many people who are still sipping weeks out from surgery.

First of all, take a deep breath :tongue: Your situation is very similar to mine. My advice to you is to be upfront with your doctors. You are most certainly not the first person to have surgery and then relocate. Being up front may even help you in the long run to speed things up. I started the process for WLS in December. In January I attended to seminar. While waiting for my other appointments, I found out we were moving in MAY. The first thing I did was tell both my PCP and my surgeon's office so that they knew I was under a severe time crunch. I did not want to start the whole process here only to be banded at another facility or have to start over. After all was said and done, my surgeon put a rush on the approval for insurance. Like you, my insurance required more documents which took 10 days. Once they had them, they approved me the very same day. Tell your doctors and be upfront with them. That's the only way they can really help you get this done. :biggrin:

I stayed on mine....it helped with energy when I started my clear liquid diet. If your Dr says you can, I would continue taking them until they tell you to stop, usually up til surgery.....depending on your Dr. I was sleeved 9/14/16....haven't taken any since surgery but I'm also off work so a mass amount of energy isn't top priority yet lol but once I get back up and on my feet I will finish my rx to help with the gym but after that I'll quit. Good luck to you! Sent from my SM-G920V using the BariatricPal App That's good to know. I'm planning on staying on mine until the doctor tells me to stop taking them. :-) I was told to stop mine 10 days before surgery, which my surgery is Feb 6th and I mean I only have 4 pills left which is spot on 10 days before having my pre-op appointment on the 31st and when i scheduled my surgery dr told i had to lose 10 before the day of if not it will get postponed. I am -12lbs and I fear so much getting off phentermine and end up gaining anything before pre-op and final weigh in surgery date I hear you can gain weight back from stopping phentermine. any tips? Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Thank you both! My surgery group is supposed to be sending in the information today. I had to do the 6 months of weigh ins, nutrition classes and appt., cardiac clearance, upper GI test, psych eval. Now, I am just waiting. The insurance coordinator said with my insurance, the approval could take up to 7-10 days. I'm really excited. I've always been overweight and I am looking forward to using this tool to finally give me a chance to live the healthy life I've wanted.

Very Depressing day today.... I dont even know why. Maybe it is because I don NOT want to go to the doctors tomarrow. The last time I had a GYNO visit was HORRIBLE. LOL Probably why I havent gone in 6 years. The doc was such an arse. I have always sat up since I was 12 but nooooooooo she wanted me to lie down, then was mad cuz she couldnt see nothin and then was just a witch about it. I told her my cervix was tilted!!! Sheesh I just feel like I am in a viscous cycle. I cant work at a good job with good insurance cuz of my swelling legs and ankles. So I dont have insurance that will pay for surgery. I have a job that doesnt pay enough to get financing for surgery. Its like buying a house, I just dont think its ever gunna happen. I wont be able to work a "normal" job till I lose wieght. I just want to cry. LOL I even thought about playing the Megabucks the other day. The only 2 people I know that have money are my parents and one of my aunts friends. My parents wont loan me the money. *Sigh* LOL and I only met Rita once, how could I ask for a loan even though I know they have millions of dollars. But at this point I feel desprate. I think I will call my Aunt tomarrow, and see what she thinks. Being poor sucks sometimes. Its at times like this when I get angry with my parents. Why the hell would they say they would not help with college??? It wasnt my choice that you spent $100 grand on counceling because you all could not get it together. I think I would have chosen my future over that. Its why I had to wait 10 years to go to college, when you know thats all I have ever wanted to do. So now I am almost done and I am afraid cuz I might not be able to work... WTF??? When did life become so complicated???? I remember in my 20s that being poor wasnt a big deal. That was before all of my medical issues. What the hell is up with the cost of Drugs and going to the doctor???? Some days I just want to give up and call it quits.... Put me on Medicaid, give me a check and I can sit on my fat ass and not leave my house EVER. I really have thought about it. Even got a application sent 7 years ago. And the sick thing was my mom was like, go for it!!!! She must have missed the class where ya learn that you should want your kids to do better than yourself. So while she and dad live in thier 4000 sq ft house, going on cruises, snowbird ways, I trudge threw school a full time crappy pay job, live paycheck to paycheck and sink further and further down the working poor class funnel. I am really glad that these days are infrequent...lol OOOO and can I get my brothers phone number??? I only asked 3 years ago!!!! Sheesh....I know she is scared that I will tell the truth but come on, he is sick, I am sick, get over yourself!!!! I have already been sworn to never tell my Grandma she had a child out of wedlock and gave him up for adoption. I was punished cuz I told a friend. I just want to get to know him. I dont think it is fair that I had to meet him once with her there and never been able to talk to him since. It is just crap! I wonder what my life would have been like if so many things had not happened in my life. Would I have gained wieght? Would I have acted out sexually in childhood? Would I be a Pschologist like I planned? Would I have travled the world?Would I have tried modeling? Would I have become a dancer? Would I have children? I dunno.... But I do know I just want to be able to live, and thrive. I am dying here. I want to leave. My spirt is dying. I miss my "family" that I created. I miss all of the kids. I am afraid I will never be able to have any children now. Which is odd...lol... because I spent most of my 20s fearful of having kids cuz i didnt want to be like my mom. I married a wonderfull man that has a disability but who loves me unconditionally. He takes care of me, but he will never get a good job till he learns english. He accepts me with all my issues, God only knows he is a Saint, lol. Its amazing that i am so distorted. On a day to day basis I dont think of myself as fat. I catch a glimpse of someone in the mirror, who is that? ooops its me. IS that REALLY me???? Not at all who I think of as myself. I miss dancing,volleyball, softball, cute shoes, swimming all day, holidays..... OMG I let so many things just go by and not even batted an eyelash... ICK.. ENOUGH LAMENTING.... I shall get my fat arse upstairs and into bed for tomarrow is a new day

60 miles for May and 25 miles for June....that is sad. For July I will walk at least 50 miles. July 01 3 miles HP 02 3 miles HP 03 nada 04 3 miles HP woohoo (9 miles so far for the month) 05 06 2.5 WAP tape walking/dancing (11.5) 07 Downtown walk 1.5 miles 08 3 miles HP 1 mile ST 09 3 miles HP (can I count the laundry) (20 miles so far) 10 TTC 1mile (20 minutes on a full stomach) 11 12 13 14 15 3 miles HP walking/dancing 15 min 16 3 miles HP and pool 40 minutes (27 miles so far) 17 TTC arm exercises 18 19 20 21 1 mile track 22 3 miles 10,000 steps shopping hand weights, floor exercise 23 1 mile other activities hand weights (32 miles so far) 24 TTC 25 1 mile uphill LOL 26 2 miles 27 28 29 1 mile 30 3.5 hp 31 TTC circuit training (39 miles)

I blogged for a while previously on Live Journal under the name AndybearNY, but it has been awhile. I have started to blog again over there and I will be cross blogging between the 2. The title is the same for both blogs Many things cross my mind as I start the process of the new me. I have less than 1 week now till the orientation meeting. I am the type of person that puts the cart before the horse. I know I have a long road ahead of me and I am not even approved. I have started working out and started to diet. But then I wonder should I be doing this? From what I understand the group I go to requires a 10% weight reduction prior to scheduling the surgery. Is that 10% based on when I was weighed at my primary's office the day he referred me to the group, or is it based on the weight that I am when I have my appointment with the bariatric doctor. I always push myself too hard and I am also the hardest on myself. An example of this would be my bike ride. My first 2 days on the bike I did 30 minute ride. I felt OK, not great, but I decided to push myself and did a 45 minute ride. Well I became over heated. I broke out into a cold sweat and started to throw up once I got home. I need to do things in moderation; this is always an issue for me. Whether it is food, drinks or exercise, I tend to binge on everything. This is a habit I need to break.

I couldn't like this post more!!!! I started my journey at 397 pounds in March, and I lost 99 pounds during my six-month, insurance-required diet program. It was the BEST thing I ever did for myself, and I think that it is AWESOME that you are taking that same path. There are so many benefits (health-wise and otherwise). And think how great it will be when the 3 week stall hits (and it will hit) and you will have lost 60 or 70 pounds by then rather than just 10 or 20 pounds if you waited on the surgery to begin. The mental save of that piece alone is a big reward. (I would never have handled my 3 week stall as well as I did if I had lost 20 pounds at that point rather than 120 pounds....) Congratulations. Good for you!!

Holy crap! 43 pounds in 10 weeks! That's awesome! Way to go! Sounds like your diet is right on too- are you exercising? Try to build up to 30 minutes of walking at this point- I know they say EVERYday but let's be reasonable- you're still healing and we can't always do it every day- I sure can't and I'm almost 7 months out- I am doing resistance training with a trainer (ha!) 3x a week and walking quickly before each of these sessions- I work 14 hours 3x a week so I only have one other day of the week I can get any exercise in and I try to walk 30-40 minutes outside if it's nice- Since I started my resistance training - and trust me - I HAD to hire a personal trainer for myself- because otherwise I'd still be sitting at home watching tv or reading and never move my butt- so since I started doing more weights I have FINALLY broken a 4 month (!) stall- and yes- I said 4 months- it has made such a huge difference- Even just get some cheap dumbbells from Target or a stability ball and do "push ups" on it- or a DVD- we are taking in so few calories that we are wasting lean muscle that burns fat constantly- it's just made a big difference for me-

Hi everyone I just got banded 9/10/12....I was very nervous about at first but so far so good..I had a hernia I didn't know about..so they removed it and now I'm just hungry...any suggestions???????help

I had 6 months of Dr monitored diet with a necessary loss of 10% body weight, visit with nutritionist, psych eval, endoscopy and sleep study.

Who was your coordinator.i was going to be using christi but she just emailed me and said that she no longer works with Dr. Kelly which is who i want to schedule with she said this: I would be more than happy to assist you in your weight loss journey. Unfortunately, I no longer represent Dr. Kelly as a surgeon. I have had numerous complaints from patients of being charged for things they were not supposed to be charged for. In November, I personally coordinated 11 patients for Dr.Kelly, of those 10 of them were charged extra for hotels, additional surgical costs and hotels the night before their surgeries that were supposed to be provided in their surgical packages. I am not saying anything against his surgical ability, but I could not in good conscience send patients to him and have him pull out whatever additional charges he feels like for that day. It was not what I want to represent and he had no intention of changing this practice, there have been other issues as well on the business side Anyone else hear of this? This had been through a lighter me. I need to find a new coordinator i guess because i would only feel comfortable with Dr. Kelly doing my surgery.

Same here. My family doctor had been suggesting the surgery to me for over 10 years now because he saw how hard I was working trying to lose weight with nothing happening (he had me in the gym, trying different diet programs throughout the years, keeping food logs, seeing an endocrinologist, etc) . And even at his suggestion, giving me statistics, etc. I was still scared of the surgery. So I would do my own research here and there through the years but still chicken out when it came time to do anything more serious with it. It was until this year that I got more serious in the research because my A1C was reaching Type 2 status. I had always teetered on the edge but I was scared to finally go over. I didn't want or need another problem (already have high BP, PCOS, Insulin Resistance) so I bit the bullet and reached out. I was even more on board with doing it once I got to speak with the surgeon and had all my questions answered by him. I felt so much better about it all. However, sadly during the pre-op testing I discovered I was now in fact a Type 2 diabetic. Something I did not want to happen and was trying to avoid. But this makes me want the surgery even more now. This is a very personal thing and you have to do it in your own time. I wish you luck in whatever you decide. It's not an easy choice either way.

What you can do is VERY carefully trim away the part that is curling up (if that's feasible for you) I did that because the parts that were stuck seemed to be necessary and I didn't want one accidentally tugged loose by me catching the end on something while I was dressing etc. SO...I carefully trimmed the loose ends. The strips should stay on at least 10 days to 2 weeks. I itched but it was internal/healing, so lotion wouldn't help. You don't want to put lotion on any surgical sites, of course!

OMG! I've never done anything like that. I've just done Weight Watchers a gazillion times. I actually have lost a lot of weight once, about 15kg which was my surplus at the time. It took about a year to lose it, I just decided I wasnt going to diet anymore and that I was just going to eat sensibly. It worked, although it was slow. I was pretty active back in those days walking to work and the like. I kept that weight off and maintained about 145lb at 5ft 10 for a good 6 years till I started having babies. I even maintained it aftr my first baby but my second pregnancy I gained a heap of weight and never lost it and I found the lifetstyle change with 2 babies in 2 years was enough to gradually start the gaining.

All done! Rolled in the the operating room by 7:30am and awake in recovery a little after 10. Pretty darn sore. But that will pass. I get to see them tomorrow at my first post op visit. Here's the before and after... In my sexy surgical bra Ended up with 400cc moderate profile. My surgeon was VERY happen when she came to see me. So I think that's a good sign.

I've just started using Stevia. Purchased a box of 200 packets at Sam's Club for about $10. I find it to be sweeter than Truvia and no after taste. Also Aspartame and Splenda play heck with my bladder giving me spasms while Stevia does not.

There are bandsters who gain their weight back. Or some of it. And I'm not talking about people who have had to have their band removed due to erosion/slippage/whatever else. Some causes for gaining weight back even while banded: 1) Eating junk food instead of healthy food. 2) liquid & soft calories: make a habit of things like regular venti Frappucinos and Large DQ Blizzards and you'll be gaining in no time. Or that 900 calorie Jamba juice "smoothie". 3) Having your band loosened because of reflux or other issues - now you don't have full restriction anymore 4) Grazing all day instead of eating 3 small meals and a planned snack. 5) Going from regular exercise to no exercise but not cutting calories back to match 6) Emotional eating -- tends to be high-calorie food at non-mealtimes, and unplanned. 7) Drinking with meals, flushing food through the pouch making you able to eat more than you would otherwise. Seriously, a couple years out you may find that you lose motivation; you've lost weight and are feeling much better, so old habits can start to creep in and pretty soon you're 10 lbs up, or 20. Still, if you keep your band adjusted properly you won't gain back weight nearly as fast as without the band. If my doctor were to say something like "everyone gains it back", I would ask for details though, because that's not what the band studies show. How many patients does she have that have the band? How long have they had it? ALL of them gained ALL of their weight back, even with the band still in? How about gastric bypass patients, does she have any of those? etc.

OMG! I am so thankful that I too am not alone. I had my surgery on 5/14 and I feel so exhausted and believe it or not I didn't feel this way at first. I started feeling this way on 5/19. I didn't know what was going on. My doctor said this is normal but I hate to see when his definition of normal truly kicks in (lol). I'm sorry that I don't have an answer.

Thanks. I am on the pre-op 14 day shakes from New Directions and it sits in my mouth and I have a hard time swallowing it - this is pre-surgery lol. I found that Muscle Milk isn't banana cream that you get in the grocery store milk area is about the same and I bought one and had that for lunch. I have 10 more days of this and since I'm not liking it, it's going to be rough. Luckily after surgery I can go back to Pure Protein 100% Whey Protein, but I was thinking of trying GNC's unflavored one to add to things like instant mashed potatoes & Cream of Wheat for the mushy phase!

Hi I am from Ct also. Was sleeved at Midstate on 2/19/13. So I am kinda new too. Down 42lbs. Goodluck with everything!