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Hi! I started w/ a BMI of 34 and had the lap band done in June 2008. My personal weight goal is 120 (i'm only 5'2). So far I'm on average w/ 1lbs a week (lost 25lbs so far). I want to get to 2lbs a week. I workout 5days a week...1 hr a day (3 days cardio, 2 day strength). My typical meals consists of a Protein shake for breakfast(110 cal), a Lean Cusine for lunch (300cal), Snacks (150 cal), dinner (300-500 cal). And still only 1lbs a week if that! I was wondering what your goal weight was/is and how long it took you to reach your goal? What did you do to accomplish your goal?

My doc never set goals but the nutritionist (I had one compulsory visit) scoffed at me when I said at 5ft 10, I wanted to be 70kg. I pretty much told her to f..k off, yes, in those words! Rude biatch. She was really scornful and said I'd never do it. The averages lost with the lapband are due to a number of factors, nearly ALL of them within your personal control. Averages are a conglomerate of things, including people who are ill, people who are much older than you, people who dont exercise, people who got banded coz their neighbours knew a friend of a friend and it sounded like a good idea at the time, and people who are non compliant for a whole number of reasons, not to mention the growing number of people who appear to have complete idiots for doctors, who insist on doing insane things like trying to put 5mls in one single fills into a 10ml band to ah, reach good restriction quicker, and the have to unfill and start again whilst the patient recovers! You are in control of what you put in your mouth, how much you exercise and especially of how much you know about the band so that if your doctor is one of these ones that just jumped on the bandwagon so to speak and saw it as a good way to make a bit of money, YOU can tell HIM that huge fills are not a good idea or that you actually can have fills closer together than four years or whatever it is they're trying to pass off as knowledge and experience. You just have to empower yourself and then set yourself to the task. 100% of weight lost with a band is not unusual and its not a really big ask either, it just takes consistency and common sense.

I assure you that the surgery isn't that bad and If you eat right and exercise you will loose the weight. Best of luck to you.

I am 6 week post op and struggling to lose weight. Everything I eat has to much sodium. I was making cheese rolls with a piece of cheese and lunch meat. I bought the tyson chicken, again to much salt. What is everybody eating that isn't full of salt? I get the protein in but the salt is crazy, help.

I’ve never heard of 6 months of weight watchers, but most of us have had to do 3-6 months of weight management classes. How do they want you to document your WW participation?

I'm doing my 6 months thru my surgeons office I'm on month 3 of 7 I have a weight check in a week. Then onto month 4 yay it's moving by so fast. Omg like I feel like I just met with the doctor and now it's almost may I'm having surgery in September. It's happening so quickly you guys Sent from my SM-T380 using BariatricPal mobile app

I've begun the process of undergoing the gastric sleeve surgery. I have the Blue Cross Blue Shield Federal Employee Program insurance. My surgeon seems to believe that my 4 months of supervised weight loss requirement can be satisfied with a physician supervised diet that I was on in 2015 but that ended on 3/30/16. Does anyone know what the acceptable timeframe is for the supervised weight loss? I'm a little nervous that my supervised weight loss may be too old.

This is probably a good question for the lady veterans out there. Call me vain if you must but I am really worried about what losing a lot of weight over a short time will do to my face. You know every big girl has heard it, what a pretty face, well I don't want to suddenly be smaller with a wrinkled or sagging face? Any tips or products that you could suggest would be greatly appreciated . Thanks Ladies!

Pre-surgery just focus on cardio with only a light amount (or I should say intense amount in small doses) of strength training (to help minimize muscle loss while losing weight).

Protein shakes aren't magic, they're calories just like any other food. Don't worry about trying to afford them if it's too hard right now, stick to cheaper sources of protein. FWIW, I have never drunk them, I lost 120% of my excess weight and have kept it off for five years.

I was banded almost three years ago in March 2008. I initially lost about 80 lbs but have plateaued in the last year. My doctor was very impressed with my weight loss at first as I was a college student. I've recently graduated and I'm having issues with inactivity and poor diet. I really appreciate knowing I'm not alone in this! -Liz

I am 11 mos post op @my goal weight and just tested positive on a hpt. I have been on bc for 4yrs changing it once because of all the hormonal issues from loosing the excess weight. I had insulin resistance that has since been reversed along with pcos I was being treated for...the bc was for #1 prevent pregnancy for first yr and yrs to come. (I already have 4) #2 regulate crazy cycles post op. #3 help control cyst. Anyone else get surprised with a positive pregnancy while on BC? (Especially having a hard time conceiving before vgs)

Not me...I was actively trying (and used fertility treatments) but I have seen it over and over again. Increased fertility is one thing we experience as we lose weight. In addition, those wacky hormones for months post op can't help. We see folks here on all sorts of forms of BC that get pregnant without trying, especially ladies that previously had trouble getting pregnant. It can't be easy to have a surprise like that, especially when you were trying to avoid a pregnancy. Best of luck, ~Cheri

My surgeon straight up told me that if you have 100+ pounds to lose he doesn't recommend the band as average weight loss is only about 50 pounds. Since I've been in this process I have seen many on here that had terrible complications with the band since it's a foreign object in your body. Do your research- it might be right for you but it definately wasn't the choice for me.

Right before I made my final decision to go through with the RNY, I had a fear that I might lose too much weight. I thought, what if I lose the 110 lbs I need to lose but I can't stop after that? What if I keep losing and i look like a walking skeleton? No no no this is too risky. It's not for me! It's really silly now that I think about it. I'm only 7 weeks post-op, but I'm confident of how much I will lose and where I WILL stop. ????

Thanks for all the great answers! A lot of us seem to still have some doubts, but I think that is perfectly healthy. Being overconfident can just lead to letting down your guard and making mistakes. @@Valentina, LOL!! I often feel the same way myself. I’m not sure any of us are ever completely sure of ourselves all the time, and we’re all a work in progress. @, I am glad you did not let your fear of losing too much weight stop you from getting surgery. As you lose weight over the coming months and you get closer to goal weight, I think it will be important to think about what your long-term maintenance diet will be like and how you will transition to it as the time approaches. @@Nurse_Lenora, It’s great to see your confidence and hard work paying off, and wonderful that you have a supportive partner making the whole thing easier.

GPS is a very hot topic in the bariatric surgery community and growing every day. I am now starting to train other surgeons on the procedure and the demand for this is increasing as patients request GPS and surgeons want to learn how to do it. I have visited several U.S. surgeons that also do GPS for the benefit of sharing information and maximizing our collective knowledge about a new procedure. We share information on a regular basis for the benefit of our patients. Last week I visited a prestigious academic center that has started offering plication as well. When we first started, our patients were having a hard time pronouncing and remembering terms like imbrication and plication so I asked my wife what we should call it and she suggested GPS for Gastric Plication Surgery because it was easy to remember. This term seems to have caught on and now I see even international surgeons use the term. There does not seem to be agreement about the bougie size (bougie being a soft rubber tube used to size the new stomach sleeve). I have a strong opinion that the sutures (stitches) should be interrupted (individual stitches with a knot tied at each location) as opposed to a running stitch (knot tied at each end of a long stitch taking many "bites" along the way much like sewing. With interrupted stitches, the tension is controlled at each knot. With a running stitch, the tension is not controlled and can get too tight and lead to stomach tissue necrosis and/or perforation which we have all read about on this board. Another part of this is not to place the suture too deeply. In surgeonspeak, the suture should be seromuscular, not full-thickness. I also have a strong opinion that the ideal stitch is 2-O Ethibond. This is a third generation silk that actually causes a bit of scar tissue (favorable) which makes the bond stronger than just the stitch itself. Ethibond has been around for many years plicating the stomach for other reasons and it holds really well. I have seen Prolene used which is a monofilament suture and causes no reaction and actually doesn't hold its knots as well (poor suture memory as we call it) which means the knots can come undone. I think Prolene is at too high of a risk for prolapse where the whole thing resorts back to the normal stomach size or even worse where only one section is herniated out and could cause problems. I also feel strongly that the sutures should be no more than 2-3 centimeters apart from one another. I've seen surgeons place their stitches much further apart and I think this again increases the risk for prolapse or the stomach herniated back out between the stitches. We've learned from doing thousands of band surgeries for the last 9 years the importance of a two week liquid Protein diet prior to surgery to reduce the size of the liver and improve the ease of the operation. The first weight you lose comes out of the liver. I also think it is important to eradicate the known stomach bacteria, Helicobacter pylori because it is ubiquitous, most of us have it in our stomach lining and it can cause ulceration, inflammation or swelling when surgery is done on the stomach. This is easily eradicated with a two week antibiotic regimen pre-op. I think it's important to stay on a liquid diet (pureed Soups, applesauce, Jello, pudding, yogurt) for the first week and soft mushy foods for weeks two and three. Carbonation is a bad idea in any stomach surgery for weight loss because it dilates our work. (Have you ever opened a dropped can of Coke?) The best weight loss is acheived when you avoid drinking liquids for an hour after a meal. This allows you to be fuller sooner and longer and really makes the tool of GPS more effective. We have found that Levsin (hycosamine) 0.125mg SL (sublingual - under the tongue) given pre-op and continued three times daily post-op dramatically reduces the crampy abdominal pain after GPS. This has really improved the patient experience with this surgery. I also use lots of numbing medicine (local anesthetic) during the surgery which dramatically decreases pain after surgery. I always scope the stomach during the operation to make sure we're not missing an ulcer or polyp or any other important pathology. I do this in the operating room because it saves doing it as a separate procedure and also the scope is the ideal bougie size so I leave it in for the sizing catheter and this allows me to look at the perfect sleeve I just created when we're done with the procedure. Many surgeons don't do a stomach scope and I worry about doing this with no knowledge of the stomach lining. There is a lot of debate about stapled sleeve gastrectomy vs GPS. One item of consideration I think is important is that stapled sleeve patients have a 9% incidence of Vitamin B12 deficiency. The stomach makes something called intrinsic factor that aids in the absorption of Vitamin B12. A distinct advantage to GPS is that no stomach is removed and the intrinsic factor levels are not disturbed so you would expect that GPS patients would not have such a high incidence of vitamin deficiency. Stapled sleeve patients are also deficient in several other Vitamins such as Iron, folate and Vitamin D. (Ref: Obesity Surgery 2011, Feb 21(2):207-11.) I think there are many advantages to leaving the stomach in the body - just making it smaller as a powerful weight loss tool. Ghrelin gets a lot of press but it is important to realize that you reduce ghrelin with pressure (food in a smaller stomach). Ghrelin is a feedback hormone so physically removing stomach doesn't eliminate ghrelin. You guys have seen me rant about hiatal hernias on this board and I continue to feel strongly about repairing this during the surgery. What I've learned is that if you are overweight, there is nearly a 100% chance that you have a hiatal hernia and even if this is small it should be repaired at the time of surgery. Otherwise, you will have terrible heartburn when your stomach is made smaller. I get calls from patients that had GPS elsewhere and they have terrible heartburn and their hiatal hernia was not addressed at the time of surgery and they are pretty miserable. This is avoidable. Hiatal hernias are really easy to fix at the time of surgery so my opinion is that there is little excuse for ignoring this principle. The latter part of this month, I have a major annual surgical conference and plication is now on the agenda of this meeting. All this to say, I think that GPS is here to stay and gaining in popularity. One of my GPS patients came in the office last week having lost over 70 pounds in less than six months and he is quite thrilled as am I. That is all the good stuff. To me, the main downside is that the procedure is still new and we don't have long-term data. Two year data out of Europe looks good but we don't have two year U.S. data yet. There is some interesting data from Germany showing dilations ten years after stapled sleeve gastrectomy and I think the GPS can do this as well. We know from other operations that the key to preventing dilation is to avoid carbonation and avoid eating to the point of regurgitation after the stomach is smaller. Whenever something new comes up with GPS I will post it on this board. I also thank you for teaching me. Your experiences that you post here educate all of us. Keep up the great work. I wish you all the very best of success in your weight loss journey. Don't forget to buy yourself a substantial present when you reach your goal. Brad Watkins MD

You probably could really benefit from some psychological support Wires, about your body image and worth prior to surgery and following surgery. Before I had the surgery, my husband kept me feeling good about myself and now, even better. Your husband obviously loves you, and when is the last time you really sat down and told him how you feel, and had a real conversation about it.? If you are not ready for that, begin your search for someone professional to talk to. Losing weight will not take those issues away, seek help. Best wishes, Linda

I had mine on jan 3rd. So far down 73 lbs. I have had my blood pressure meds reduced from 20 mg to 5 mg. I go to the gym three nights a week and do about an hour on the treadmill. Currently eating between 600-800 calories a day with between 70-100g of protein. I realized that making sure I get enough protein and drinking water all day has helped when the weight loss slows down or stalls.

I used a couple of benchmarks since BMI does not account for body composition. First goal was to get to a normal BMI, then I set a body fat goal, from there I set a weight goal. Sound complicated but it's not: a normal BMI for me is 145 lbs or less. A healthy body fat percentage for me was 24-28%. Combined, that keeps me at about 130-140 lbs.

I'm one of those people who have chosen to NOT nominate a set weight. When sleeved, I was a big boy... BIG!! So my aim is for functional, healthy, fit and active... Also, with the addition of muscle mass and the huuuuuge 'apron' that will be around my formerly fat belly, a goal weight will be difficult to judge... Oh ok, I'd like to be a fit, healthy, reasonably muscular 110kg (240-ish pounds) There, I've said it!!! I can dream can't I??

I picked 150 lbs because that is a nice even 100 lb loss for me. 140 is my ideal, but anything under 150 puts me at a normal BMI and at a healthy weight.

Hi all. I had my sleeve surgery on 8/13. I've had no real complications (minus constipation). I did hit a major stall (17 days) about 10 days post op. Since then I've lost about another 4lbs, making for a total of 23lbs lost in 5 1/2 weeks. I'm stalled again. I did have a surgeon's appointment and before I even brought up the stalls he said he wanted to mention something to me. He asked if I had been diagnosed with Metabolic Syndrome. I said no and he said that when he saw inside of my body my fat distribution was consistent with those with Metabolic Syndrome and said he has no doubt that I would have been diagnosed soon without surgery. I asked him what that even meant. He said I would probably lose weight more slowly because it was resilient fat that did NOT want to come off, but once it came off the other fat would start "melting off". When I got home I looked up Metabolic Syndrome. I do sometimes have high blood pressure if I eat high sodium foods, but have never had high blood sugar or triglycerides or any other risk factor. Wondering if anyone else has been diagnosed with this and how slow is slow on weight loss? I don't want to make an excuse for slow weight loss or all these stalls and get complacent. Is it possible this surgery will fail because of this? I'm so nervous now and have a million questions I never thought to ask.

I got banbed on 9/21/12 iv lost 24lbs since then i very proud about it however i feel like ive come to a stand still the last week and a have no weight loss:( I go for my first adjustment on Saturday but im feeling like i have not lost enough weight im feeling very discouraged. Anyone else experience this??