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Hi y'all and TIA! So, here's a question for you? I totally "get" the whole protein forward approach using dense protein to anchor satiety and weight loss once we're able to tolerate a "full" post WLS diet. But here's the question--do any of you eat a pleasing combination of dense protein + veggies to get your meals? OR does eating in the first year, especially, really look like: MOSTLY dense protein + a bite or two of cooked veg? I ask this not because I'm in denial about the way I will need to eat post surgery (after the healing), but rather to prepare myself and get my mental game ready for reality. I adore meat. But I adore veggies too and love having my mixed low carb meals: protein + veggies + healthy fats. So will you share what your meal composition looks like please? TIA!!!

Glad to hear that you're doing better, a2m2p4. Heck, I still have pain at my port site sometimes and I'm almost a month out. How is your surgeon making you go back to work? Or can you not stay out longer without a doctor's note because it's a new job? I only missed 4 days of work because I didn't have enough leave to miss more. Otherwise I would've liked to take two weeks off. 20 pounds in 8 days is a lot and as you know this is healing time, not weight loss time anyway. So hang in there. My weight loss slowed way down when I started on real food, but that's how it is for many people until you start getting fills. Congrats on doing so well with your eating and it will get easier! And the walking is great. Keep us updated.

Sars.. I had my surgery 6 months ago. I too am having a hard time. I do good for breakfast , lunch and dinner. I eat at night. I am a sugar addict ! This has slowed my weight loss. I should be about 10 pounds less. When I reached out to my nutritionist she acted like I had no self control. I asked for something to curb my appetite and they would or could not help me. I have lost 50 since my surgery Oct. 29 2014. I need to lose 30 more pounds. I will keep working on it. I too hope I haven't strecht my stomach. I had the sleeve done. Good luck!!!

Since Obesity is such a growing health concern, it has been stated that with obesity weight loss surgery, we may be eligible for a tax write off. I'm also wondering if the purchase of fitness equipment falls into that same category? Anyone work for the IRS or is an accountant that may know the answer to this question?

Hello All, My surgery was 13 days ago, I had my first follow up appt. today & so far I've lost 20 lbs:smile: (which includes 1 week of pre-op liquid diet) I dont see any change anywhere yet but it will take time...I just hope the loss continues & doesnt slow up........ Good luck to everyone........

Just banded yesterday. As I waited for the O.R. to become available I turned to my husband and said, "Is this the right choice?" I, too, am a loser of weight only to put it back on. I am looking forward to having more control over the quantity I eat, gradual weight loss, and not regaining every pound and then some that I have lost! By the way, his response was, "YES!" He knows how much time I have spent researching this and how much support this web site gives me. If it weren't for insurance hang-ups, I would have been banded years ago. Good luck to you! Karen

Everybody has given good advice, the main 2 reasons is to shrink the liver and have more weight loss so there is more room for the surgeon to work. Every stage is going to be a challenge but we all had an idea of what we were getting into. When things get tough just sit back and remember why you are doing this. Turn to your loved ones for support, and you have this community too. Sent from my iPad using BariatricPal

After surgery hair loss

I have created the Lap-band Blueprint, hopefully this will help you as well. The band was designed to eat a normal meal. A normal meal means you eat a smaller meal without side effects. If you are properly adjusted you can eat without experiencing Productive Burping or much sliming. · Learn to chew your food to liquid form. Chewing your food to liquid form will reduce the amount of productive burps; this will also help reduce the sliming effect as well. · Avoid Soft Food Syndrome. If you are eating softer foods because it is easier, you have no way of knowing if you are properly adjusted. Eating softer foods allows you eat more and can halt your weight loss altogether. · Eat your Protein first. Eating protein first ensures you are getting enough protein to keep your energy levels up. · Don’t be so dependent on the band. Some patients are expecting the band to be their “Food Police”. Taking responsibility for what you are eating and how you are eating will take away the disappointed feeling. · The band is tighter in the morning. There is no scientific reason why the band is tighter in the morning. Just because the band is tight in the morning is no excuse to skip a meal. Mix up a Protein shake to start your day. · Being too tight serves no good purpose. If the band is too tight and you are experiencing PB after PB this will not aid in the weight loss efforts. Also having a band that is too tight could result in a slip; which could result in another surgery. · The band is not properly adjusted. You are wide open and can eat anything you want, this is a sign you are not properly adjusted. Make an appointment with your surgeon to get another fill. · Tweaking your band. It could be as simple as .01 CC to get you to your sweet spot. Don’t think you have to have a full 1.0 CC to be properly adjusted. · Don’t compare yourself to others. Just because someone has reached their sweet spot with 2.50 CC’s doesn’t mean you are going to reach your sweet spot with the same amount of fill. There are too many different size bands on the market and the person you are comparing your fill to might not even have the same band as you do. · Don’t deprive yourself. Eat what you like in moderation. The more processed the food the easier it is to eat with the band; it also means more calories. Read your labels if a serving size is 15 chips then only eat 15 chips not the whole bag. Keep in touch with your surgeon so he/she knows what is going on. If you are not following up with your surgeon they can’t get you to your sweet spot. Don’t feel bad if you have not lost any weight since your last visit; your surgeon will not yell at you. Especially if you keep a food diary and exercise diary; this will aid your surgeon to help you stay on track. If you are newly post-op take advantage of this time to really learn how to chew your food; trust me you will “Thank” yourself down the road. If you are properly adjusted; you will have to chew your food to liquid form; otherwise you will be experiencing productive burping and sliming. This leads to frustration and could possibly lead you to soft food syndrome which will halt your weight loss efforts. You have worked so hard to have the surgery and expected to have amazing results. It is possible if you work with your band as opposed to working against it. Don’t think of this as being another diet; think of this as being a “Lifestyle”. If you watch skinny fit people eat you will see they still allow themselves treats; you should be no different. Remember you had surgery on your stomach not your brain. It will be hard at times and you might make poor choices. Getting back on the band-wagon is easy to do. Go back to the band basics and you will see the results you want and deserve.

The fact that you know what you are doing is helpful towards your weight loss. This will help you be accountable and make changes. In the beginning weeks of my surgery I was testing the limits a bit and I tried low carb pasta and it didn't bother me. But, I remembered why I started this journey and that even though my body can tolerate something it doesn't mean it's good for me. There's no one to blame but me if I don't achieve my weight loss goal. I hope you make the most of the chance you have been given and go back to basics. Try using My Fitness Pal to log your foods and use any support you can find. Hang your old clothes up and pictures of where you want to be for motivation. Just my opinion. ????

Leslie - Let me start off by saying that I can only wish I would have done as well as you have. I am 19 mos out from banding and have only lost the 10 pounds I lost on the PRE-op diet! Although I am not bipolar, I have family that is, and I do take 40mg of Paxil for depression. I'm not going to say I know how you feel, because I have watched people suffer thru the ups and downs of being bipolar, but have not had to experience it myself. I know it's easier said than done, but try to pick yourself up - you have made great leaps and bounds since being banded. Many people, including myself, could only dream of the successess you have already had. I know how depressing and frustrating this can be - I'm there. Some people say "take it a day at a time" - I say "take it an hour at a time" - I can do a lot of damage in a days time! It is overwhelming for me to look at the big picture - I still have a good 100 pounds to lose, and haven't found a good way to do it. It is very upsetting - I feel like I have not only let myself down, but my family as well (they are pretty supportive of me, with the exception of my dad and sister). I've had 3 back surgeries and am 33 years old - I am certain that I will face more, especially if I don't get some of this weight off. You most certainly do deserve the band - you've shown that by the weight loss you've had so far. However, I sometimes feel I don't deserve the band either, as I have never allowed it to work the way its intended to work - as a tool - I wanted it to be the miracle answer to weight loss, and it's not. Hang in there! This is not an easy journey, and medications affect everyone differently - your meds may have A LOT to do with your feelings. (The closest my sister-in-law has ever been to suicide was when she was on Wellbutrin - but for some it's a God sent) Hopefully, your doctor will find the right medications for you - ones that will not only make you feel better about yourself, but ones that don't have terrible side effects. Good luck to you - and feel free to vent anytime you need to. We're here for each other. You can even Private Message me, if you want. Stephanie

in the first one month post op i lost almost 12 kg... i was in clear liquid diet ! ! ..after i started the sold food i had to wait for one month until i sow my wieght drop again did you start to walk or not yet? exercise will boost your weight loss and body shaping

Yea my port still hurts too even had some bleeding the last couple days but MD said all is well. Nice to have you a week ahead of me....gives me an idea of whats around the next corner. You have done great with your loss...keep up the great work!

The same thing happens to me, during my TOM I don't lose anything at all, my body just stalls. Then all of a sudden I'm down 5lbs in 2 days. I'd be okay if it was just once a month, but my friend has been doing sneak attacks on me...last month it was twice. GYN says that its the weight loss, but to keep on truckin' because I'm doing great. She assures me that my body will get back to normal. I can't wait for that!

I think the fear is pretty normal. I'm the type of person that once I put my mind to something LOOK OUT! My surgery is this Thursday and I wish I could just wake up and it would be over. I can't wait. Good luck and trust me you are in good hands on this website. Sheilamj1fan -- you are doing incredibly fantastic with you weight loss!!

Booboo Kitty you look great! Congrats on your weight loss! You exercised 1.5 hours everyday???? How long after the surgery did you start the exercising?

yes i avoid liquids at meals until 60 minutes after eating. I have pretty good restriction right now even though ive moved to solids. only able to eat probably 3-4 oz at a sitting, if i eat more, i get too full. I am still seeing weight loss even moving to solids but im only taking in about 600-800 calories a day still and ensuring im eating high protien foods first. we went to eat at ihop and i got a sr meal of grilled chicken and veggies, could only eat 1/3 of the chicken, and couple tiny bites of veggies. however, i noticed out of habit, i kept reaching for my drink, thank goodness i caught myself. old habits die hard dont they? From the research and posts ive read if you drink with your meals, it washes the food out of the pouch allowing you to not feel full faster, and eat more, which causes more caloric intake. I know its tough, but try to avoid if all possible.

I went through a weight loss clinic. Each month I went in and they did the weigh ins and kept track of that. I was put on a high Protein 1600 cal diet for the 3 months. They showed me exercises to do, but nobody kept track of that. Are you going through someone who specializes in weight loss or just a reg doc?

The people that are important to me are my husband and children. When I was considering the surgery I asked my husband what he thought about it and he said he would support me in whatever choice I made and he also said that he felt like it would be a good choice just from a health perspective. He is always the most wonderful man and he is VERY supportive of me so I was not surprised. My next step was to tell my 3 grown children. Every one of them has seen me struggle with weight for years and every one of them immediately said that I should do it. That is all the support I need. Some people are not supportive of things like quitting smoking and major weight loss because they are afraid it will affect THEM. They aren't even thinking about you, they are thinking how your life change will affect them. If they hang in there with you so be it. If not you will find new friends.

I was a slow loser on the beginning. Don't get discouraged. It will be ok. I am 12 weeks out and am now down 56lbs (including pre op diet) and losing quickly now. Maybe the slower loss will help with loose skin. Hang in there, it gets better.

There are some great threads on here about what to eat.. I think one of them is titled 'what did you eat today?'. I'm a moderate pace loser: I had my surgery 7 weeks ago and have lost 21 lbs since then. I calculated by daily calorie burn based upon my weight and moderate activity level as 2400 calories per day, so my goal is to be negative by 1000 calories per day (intake thus 1400 cals). This should equate to a loss of 2 lbs per week and I'm just about on target (weight loss was greater in the very beginning when on liquids). Typical day: Breakfast is yogurt or oatmeal and a soy latte lunch is a Lean Cuisine Snack is either an Odwalla Protein drink, another yogurt, or a little Dole fruit cup dinner is meat and a vegetable Evening snack is a handful of nuts I've gotten some great ideas for meals on this site. One of my favorites was 'crustless pizza': I would take italian sausage and pepperoni and put it in a container with sauce and LF mozzarella cheese and heat. Delicious! Also do burritos without the tortilla by mixing Beans, some meat, salsa, a little cheese, and guacamole. Very satisfying. In this stage, before you have restriction, it's sort of like being on a diet in that you will be hungry and it does require will power. The good news is you can look forward to your first fill taking over some of the work. Best wishes and congrats on the 15lbs!

Of course you can lose on very low calorie; aside from bypass patients (or other WLS patients, other than banding) think of prisoners of war, or concentration camp victims. Your body may temporarily try to not lose but it is GOING to happen if you don't get fuel. "Starvation mode" is bandied about quite a bit on weight loss sites but if you consistently eat very low calories (below what your body needs to just survive) you WILL lose. Of course, not eating (or consuming only very low calories) isn't healthy, and your energy level may be low, but you WILL lose weight.

This isnt really right. Tricking your body into satiety like a band does doesnt negate the fact that you're underfeeding it. It still has to learn to be VERY efficient with what it is fed. Starvation mode is a contentious issue, and not everyone agrees it exits, but for some people super duper low calories dont result in much weight lost - although over time it HAS to. But the sad fact is for ALL of us who have lost weight, they dont remove the band at the end because in the process of losing we have all taught our bodies to become remarkably efficient and most of us can probably never again eat the calories that a person of our weight who had never been fat could eat. We will always have to undereat to maintain our losses. It may not be by much, but even an excess of 100 calories a day does result in a lot of weight over say a decade. Moderate calories and slower weight loss is better. Most women cant really achieve adequate nutrition under 1000 calories a day and honestly, a band that restricts you to 700 or so is probably too tight (apart from in the post op phase). If you eat too little, you will lose a lot of lean body tissue as well as fat and that compounds the metabolism slowing problem doubly - since muscle is metabolically active and the more of it you have, the more you can eat. I had a good example of this the other day. As a 5ft 10 150lb woman, who is very fit, I can eat quite normally - about 1800 calories a day to maintain my weight. That's fantastic. But to do that, I have to run for an hour most days and do some good honest heavy strength training on a regular basis. My pals at uni were incredulous, being 20 somethings who had never been fat - most of them ate much more calories than me - because being that age, there was a fair bit of alcohol and fast food in there - and never exercised. They stay THINNER than I am and were generally much smaller too (I'm very tall) so the calorie disparity is really obvious. I dont care, 1800 a day to me is generous, satisfying and allows for a very normal diet. But it illustrates a point.

I am also so sorry for your loss. I hope your husband is able to come home soon to comfort you. I would agree with the other posting regarding the workout to relieve some stress. Often times I would rather not exercise, but after I do it, I feel better. Mo