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Jennifer, I don't keep a food chart although I had to do it before the surgery. Maybe I should. I have a lot of weight to lose and that may be why it is burning off so fast. I don't expect this to keep up but when it stops I will have to focus on increasing my metabolism - exercising. I am not doing much of that right now as I have asthma and it starts to act up with a lot of exercise and I don't want to start a coughing spell. I will have less trouble with my asthma as my weight goes down - I have pounds setting on my chest right now and that doesn't allow for a full expansion of my lungs. I am just getting over the anesthesia - my asthma really acted up. Doc says about two weeks before I get my breathing back. Asthma is one of my co-morbidities. I have shortness of breath all the time so I really needed this surgery for my health. I really don't know why the weight is coming off so fast as all I have done is followed my nutritionists "rules." I am not going to complain. I have heard that if you don't eat enough "calories," your body will think you are in starvation and slow down your metabolism. We all have quite efficient bodies - the idea is really to trick the body. I think the high Protein diet does that quite well. I fully expect to hit plateaus but right now I am just going with the flow. I also take 2 Multivitamins, 2 Calcium tablets and one B complex each day at different times. I suspect the B complex may be keeping my metabolism up and running.

A couple of things to think about. What size of bite are you taking? If it happens on the first bite, some people find that a cup of warm tea before eating helps to ease that. If you are distracted while eating, like talking or stressed, that will cause the "golfball" feeling sometimes. This is one of the things bandsters learn to handle, and you have to figure out the pattern for yourself, because we are all just a little different. For me, eating too fast and too big of bites causes it. Good luck!

So ok this is my 2nd attempt at surgery .. my first i moved out of the area and my insurance changed so i thought i could tackle this beast alone .. fast forward 2 yrs later &i weigh more now then i did then .So in april '12 i go through the seminar nut classes etc only to have my Ins change AGAIN .... So my nut says"no biggie this ins is actually easier than the last" great im thinking ... i meet with surgeon have a date in Aug only to be call 5 days before and be told my current insurance is the only sector of insuranse that does not cover the SURGURY part so basically they cover the bariatric program ... but not the surgery WELL WHATS THE FRIGGIN POINT OF THAT ! grrrrrrr! so everythung is cancelled ,depression sets in etc .Fast forward to 11/12 guess what insurance change . .. again soooo im w/in my 6 month window for my nut classes to still "count" so i have to wait untill 1/13 to make a new appt with surgeon etc ...done !.....now new ins wants 6 months of nut appts (i have 4) and the dr assistant said well let me check with the "insurance girl" if u dnt hear from me on monday give me a call .... WTH!!! its wed ive called left 4 messages in the last 3 days she hasnt called me bk yet....i NEED TO KNOW WHAT GOING IN HERE PEOPLE ... my nut classes expire mid jan can i just take 2 more do i need ti start over just tell me something... grrrrrrrrrr ! im doing my part jeeze! wheeewhhhh .. sorry just need to vent !

I know what you mean, I feel tighter at different times of the day. Sometimes in the morning and sometimes at night. Remember to eat slow. I had to learn that the hard way. When I eat too fast, i get pain and 2 times I have had everything come back up.

As someone who lost and was able to keep off over 100 pounds during my 20s and most of my 30s, I can say that in my experience, it has been much harder as I have gotten older. It is my understanding that the metabolism generally slows down with age, so fewer calories are needed to maintain the same weight. That being said, I have been very happy with my progress thus far. It may not be as fast as in my younger days, but it is certainly better than what it was pre-sleeve. For me, it is all a matter of managing my expectations.

I am a little nervous about going back to work with the new diet. I really don't want to explain myself to everyone. A few folks know, but I figured since the weight won't come off fast, I won't have to do much talking. How did you handle co workers?

can't believe I am finally sleeved! Surgery was yesterday and took approximately 4 hours. My dr. said all went well. Last night was such a blur from the anesthesia and the morphine pump. Because my surgery ended so late in the day I had doctors and nurses in my room every hour last night. So I'm pretty tired. The pain hadn't been too terrible as long as I used the morphine pump and the nausea meds. I also have sea bands on and this cool little tube that smellls good and helps relieve nausea. I did spike a fever and my heart rate is a little fast. Labs this morning showed I was pretty low on magnesium this morning so they took care of that through the iv as well as a few different antibiotics. Had a ct to look for any leaks this morning and all was fine. So they finally took out the catheter and unhooked the IV, yay! I was also finally allowed to start drinking Water too and broth and Jello are on their way to my room. I'm finally getting around now too, able to go for walks which I couldn't do this morning because I was still too wiped out. All in all things are ok

I live in Shelton, just outside of Olympia. I am about 45 minutes from Olympia. I had my surgery with Dr. Neal in Olympia at Pacific Surgical and Weight Loss Center. He is incredible. He has extremely positive reviews and credetials. It was great working with him and he office is like a family! Most of them are banded as well. Check out their site at Pacific Surgical I got so tired of liquids too! I just had my first fill and had to go back to liquids for 2 days, it went fast though! Keep your chin up, it'll be over soon and you can move on to the next phase! :eek:

Today is a great day! My surgeon, Dr. Jacob, just called to tell me that I've been approved for lap-band surgery. :thumbup: He said that this is the fastest anyone he's worked with has been approved. I can hardly contain myself. Next, I have to schedule a pre-op visit at which time I will schedule my surgery. That means that I can have surgery in March, which is when I wanted to do it. Wow! My heart is beating fast and I can't stop smiling. This is a great opportunity... one I wont let slip through my fingers!

i am now almost a month post-op and I have NO problem gulping drinks or eating quickly--I am deathly afraid that this is going to cause me big problems--but I honestly JUST FORGET! I know after the first fill everything will change...but yikes!

2muchfun I agree with finding the issue but that is the thing they are giving up they are blaming it on my weight/head or other basically because they cannot pinpoint it. running_scared They have no per say tested for IBS they have given me a few IBS medications to try and see what the end result came out as. I have not done any allergy testing. I've seen I believe three specialist and many other regular physicians and the outcome is the same because they do not understand my symptoms to relate to anything they are familiar with they are giving up. I am doing my last three test this week I believe it will check my antibodies and infection which they use for lupus and a few other issues. The pain is on my lower left side consistent with how you might feel if you have a horrific kidney infection. That pain increases if I ingest caffeine or any medication and random food from time to time sometimes plain old Water makes me hurt severely. When I eat the first bite of any food I get so dizzy I have to hold myself from falling. If I eat anything that tightens up my stool even a tad I feel weighted down, heavy, dizzy, and extremely tired. I randomly have bloody clots in my stool which are completely unexplained still. Because there isn't technically anything on our left side they don't have a clue. The migraines I can tell are a side effect of the pain so its not a issue on its own to my knowledge. One of the specialist told me after pushing into my side and stomach very hard asking if I incurred pain that I had a rib issue ruptured or something. That was basically an attempt me to seek a muscular doctor but its clear that its something inside I can feel the pain and it radiates when I eat I don't know any skeletal muscle that would hurt when you eat .. lol Also, I was seeing a chiropractor for an unrelated issue and he confirmed I had no muscular issues or skeletal to his knowledge. This is the first time in my life I have to deal with doctors in this area I normally live up North and they treat people better there I would like to go up there to be treated all together but its just not an option right now. Living daily in pain with no relief from medication or direction from a doctor is hard to do. My family reminds me on a regular basis how strong I am but its like chipping at stone eventually if you don't stop chipping you may chip through it. If loosing weight is the answer then yes I will do that but I don't know that I am loosing fast enough right now. An average day consist of about 85% fresh fruits and veggies a day. 5% grains or carbs a day. 5% seafood and 5% fat a day. I don't eat anything out of a box or container I cook with fresh everything with reasonable exceptions like grains. I don't use MSG anymore. I don't use real milk. No meat. Rarely have cheese, eggs, or other animal products. hopeless!

Welcme to Bandland, John. Are you eating solids yet? At less than a month out, I was only on mushies. Not sure how Dr. Curry has his people go back to eating. Are you throwing up the liquids? this can happen right after surgery if you drink to fast. That is the reason for having to sip, sip, sip.... Your stomach can be very swollen after surgery. Be sure to get your Protein drinks in, they help with the hunger. This is a great site for support or just venting if you need that...

Hey Becky! Welcome to LBT :eek: I am like you - a food addict, compulsive overeater, and binger. I've been that way since I was very young. When I was in middle school, after my parents would go to sleep, I would horde food in our play room (my parents transformed our basement into a play room/entertainment area for us...so there was a couch and a tv...perfect for secluded binging) and sit down there all night watching tv and sneaking food. If I thought I heard someone coming I'd stuff the food under pillows or in the couch cushions. I remember when I went to college feeling a sense of freedom because I could eat as much as I wanted without having to hide from my parents. I also get very particular food obsessions. There was 4-5 months where I was pretty much only eating cold peanut noodles. Then I went through a phase where I would have to eat 3-4 mushroom mozzarella panini from Panera everyday. At one point I felt like I had to go to Friday's everyday and get fried fish with a mashed potato appetizer. This particular obsessive compulsive food-associated behaviors are not unusual for people with eating disorders (both bulimia and compulsive overeating disorders). Anyhow, the band has helped me in many many ways but I also have had/need to work on myself and my head issues. I certainly can't binge the way that I had before, and I don't really want to, but sometimes I will dive into food too fast (the old way) and then it gets stuck. I have struggled with knowing when to stop, since my previous eating habits were to just eat until I couldn't function. I have been getting much better with being content with not eating until I have to throw up. I repeat to myself on a daily basis (sometimes hourly) that there will be food for me to eat on a daily basis everyday for the rest of my life and its not necessary for me to eat EVERYTHING that comes to my mind (or within my eyesite) in one day/sitting and surprisingly this has helped me with my compulsion to eat. Food logs and calorie counting has been invaluable. When I am not food logging (or participating in this site and blogging for that matter) I find myself straying. I have also become structured about my meals. I plan my meals a week (or at least 4-5 days) in advance. That way, when I go to the supermarket, I know what Im there to get and I don't browse the aisle's picking up anything that looks good. I shop at whole foods and there are always samples. The fact that I log everything that goes in my mouth, prevents me from staying in the market and eating 800 calories worth of samples. I will say that about 5-6 months in I completely fell off the wagon and went back to my old eating habits, except instead of sandwiches and other foods that would get stuck, I would order 5 extra large, extra thick milkshakes everyday. Or I'd eat 2 containers of Haagen Daaz ice cream (at over 1000 calories each). So I replaced my binge food with slider food. For some reason mac and cheese was a slider food for me and I'd eat it everyday. I gained 50 of the 80 pounds I had lost back doing that. I've now lose 40 of the 50 pounds I regained. Although I wish I didn't back track like that, its been an invaluable learning experience for me. I have become even more aware of my compulsive eating habits than I ever have which makes me more effective at what I'm trying to do with this band. So I don't completely regret the setback. The band is a great tool, but for compulsive eaters (which many of us are/were) it take a tremendous amount of mental/emotional work too. So if you're prepared to put in the emotional work, the band can be a great tool for you! But if you're not ready, you may not get the results you are hoping for. Feel free to send me a message if you want to talk!

WOW! You are fast! I guess i was seeing what else it does that a blender could not! Pureed stage - it sounds like it could be very helpful! THANK YOU!

I know that you're really wanting to lose a lot of weight quickly, but I'm worried you're going to beat yourself up and be very negative and frustrated if your weight loss is closer to "normal" than "fast". That being said, I have lost 19.5 in the month since my surgery so I guess that puts me right around the loss range you're wanting. I can tell you what I eat now, but I think the big difference is 1) I didn't have to do any liquid diets pre-op and 2) my diet now is very different than what I used to eat. I don't do eggs so most of the time my breakfast is 1/2 cup of Chobani vanilla Greek yogurt and 1/4 c to 1/2 of Kashi GoLean Cereal (high Protein, high fiber) mixed together. I have tea before that to help open me up and take my meds. For lunch I'll do 3 oz. of canned chicken and a tablespoon or two of low fat mayo mixed together with some spices, and I eat it with 6 or so celery sticks to scoop it up and get that crunch. dinner, I'll measure out 4 oz. of whatever meat my family is having and I'll add a side of veggies. Honestly I'm not a big veggie fan so my veggie intake is pretty limited to salad, celery, fresh salsa, etc. If I'm hungry between meals and can't handle it I'll have a low fat cheese stick. If I want something sweet after dinner I have some Jello Temptations that are 100 calories but usually I'll try to just have a cup of tea or a piece of gum instead. I'm not a person who needs a lot of variety in my menu. I could probably eat the same 5 or 6 meals for a whole week and not really mind. Am I hungry? Heck yes I am. I'm in bandster hell and running on fumes, but each time I get hunger pains I drink a big glass of Water and usually it staves it off a bit.

it's all the fluid they pumped into you don't worry it will leave fast enough you will do great

You have to be sure you want the band and know what you are getting into, the band is WORK. All weight loss surgeries are but the band is especially. For the most part we still have to make good food choices and "diet" and work out and be careful to not "eat around our band" by eating junk food, because that stuff certainly goes down like butter.. We have to be patient, coming out of surgery you may not have restriction for months, it can take one or several fills before you feel any difference. I mean believe me, it works and helps ALOT, but it takes time and patience for most of us. You won't see results as fast as you would with the sleeve. I'm not saying you don't know what you are getting into, because I don't know what you've researched or been told. But, I find that ALOT of new banders have no idea that it involves work and patience, alot of newbies just think the weight is magically going to fall off right away in large amounts, that isn't always the case. You have to be prepared for every possible out come. This is life changing, just be sure that it is the right thing for you and that you WANT it, not just "guess" that it's what you're getting because they told you to. I have a realize band, some will say the lap band is better some say realize is better. I really don't know what the difference is honestly or if one is really that much better than the other. I let my doctor choose which he thought was best for me. You'll see that many people have lost 100lbs with the band, some less, others have lost even more than 100lbs, so it is definitely possible. I have (a total) of well over 100lbs to lose. I've lost 62 so far, and I still have about 90lbs to go to get down to an actual "normal" weight, but honestly I will be happy with a loss of another 60 or 70lbs. I try not to focus on numbers so much, I just want to look "normal" and I'll know when I get there. My doctors also thought (and still think) I will do well with the band because of my age and also because I know how to eat right. I've lost weight tons of times, I just haven't ever been able to keep it off. So I guess all those years of practicing eating right are finally paying off. I'm a slow loser, I've lost alot less than what most people here lose within their first year but that's also because I have PCOS, this makes it even more difficult to lose weight. I'm happy with my progress and I'm actually happy that it's coming off slowly. It's giving me time to live and eat realisticly. If I was perfect at my eating and worked out 6 days a week, sure I'd be losing faster but I also know that that is not how I will live my life forever. Being gung-ho about excersing and eating rabbit food is just never a lasting thing for me and never will be, that's what got me so fat in the first place. So I do everything in moderation, I work out when I can and eat well 90% of the time. So I have to lose slower than most, so be it, I'm still losing. I think when doctors say that younger patients will do well with the band it is because younger people seem to be able to adapt to new things and change their habits a little easier, they also find it easier to be more active. Not to say that older patients don't, because many of them do well too. You can do this too, and it can be right for you. You just have to be determined and don't get caught up on how everyone else did, or is doing. It's possible to lose the amount you need to lose, you just have to want it. I wish you the best of luck!

be careful and take care- good luck with those those last one fall fast for you!!!

I understand how you feel. Once I made my decision I couldn't leave fast enough. I was so depressed and self loathing. I hated myself for not having any clothes left to wear. I was borrowing clothes because I refused to go buy anything bigger than I had available. I still hide in clothes that are too big for me, but I feel so amazing because I am eating so healthy now and know I'm well on my way to a better me Good luck and keep your chin up. It's going to get a lot better from here on out

:welcome: ivyrose325, Congratulations on your weight loss so far. Don't try to lose the weight too fast - it is tough to take it slow but always best for your body. Keep in touch and good luck with the rest of your journey.

Lisa Marie.. Same thing happened to me with the drinking too fast. That is a horriable feeling, but I did feel better once I slowed down a bit. Just remember not to compare yourself to other people or your sister. We are all different. What happens to one person wont happen to another....Just take your time and do whats best for you~Isn't Isopure a Protein drink??? They come from GNC, they are fruity flavors? They have a ton of protein in em.................I did not like em! Left a huge lump in my throat...like all the whey protein couldn't make it down....gross. Okay...glad you both are doing good! TTYL

Hey you... Dr. Kwon apparently feels I am drinking too fast which is causing my band to spasm. So I am slowing it down and I will see how that goes. I am on another week of liquids. (Isopure) Kristen is doing fantastic! Dr. Kwon put her on 2 weeks of Protein shakes. I am a little bummed today because I was expecting to feel better than I do. I am trying to keep a positive attitude though... I am glad I have Kristen and all of you at support to go through this with. I will talk with you soon... Have a good day! Lisa Marie

Sure, PBing is productive burp. Its different than throwing up. For me, if I eat too fast or something get stuck...it take about 5 minutes before I PB. Its almost like your slobber cant go down, and it starts filling up your throat until you "produce" it back up...usually in a slimy foamy form thats really stretchy! Gross huh? Up towards the top of the screen is a link to the FAQ's. There is a dictionary of terms you will read on here. That helped me when I was first starting! I asked my doc if he had a theory about people saying they are tighter in the morning. He says he hears that a lot but does not have a medical explanation. Hope that helps.. Amy

Hi! Been dreaming for years about how am I to afford WLS. Almost over forty, diabetic, hypertensive, sleep apnea, arthritis, and asthma, incontinent is not my idea of healthy. So now I am insured, I aim to take action!!! I decided on the sleeve after years of research. I can do this! I can loose weight! However loosing 10 lbs a year is not going to reverse my other diseases fast enough to possibly save my life. Maybe post surgery I will feel more confident in keeping it off with the sleeve! Have numbers for the Nutritionist, Cardiologist and Surgeon. Have appointments with the PCP, Pulminary, and Phsych. for this month. Just got insurance effective last week! I am soooooo excited!!! Any tips on how to go forward, PLEASE SHARE!!!

Restriction is such an awesome thing! Just got another fill after a 4 month plateau and 7 pound gain..and i've lost 8 pounds in less than a week..I know that is fast but I think I needed to shock my body...come on size 10!