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Your nurse and nutritionist should discuss reasonable expectations with you. It's usually a % of your EXCESS weight.

Thanks everybody for your comments they really help I just don't want to go back just want to go forward and lose weight

I had my surgery may 7 2013 but I need help I drink my protein workout 3to4 times a week I drink water I log my stuff in fitness pal I do take 1200 cal in I have gained I need help I am getting discouraged

Thanks for sharing your thoughts Missy and Cheryl...you both make some excellent points. 'Course, with this being the holiday season, it is particularly hard to avoid gaining weight. This morning, I weighed in at 143...up 3 lbs from yesterday. Oh, boy. And I don't feel any destruction. For example, I take my antibiotic first thing in the morning and I was able to have a glass of cold Water without any problem (cold water first thing in the morning always bothered me before). I guess it is time to start making use of my gym membership again :-) Thanks for listening :-)

My freind who got lap band about 1 1/2 years ago has alot of skin in her mid section. She is also planning tummy tuck for later this year. But even if she didnt do that, she is so much happier now with the weight she lost.

:faint: Just 6 years ago I wasn't good at cardio. I learned to increase my cardio y starting at 15 to 20 minutes on the treadmill. With me I have used a radio and a CD player to keep the boredom from attacking. Place in our favorite music--hopefully it's fast or a good pace. Even though I am 49, I prefer hip hop and some fast R & B music. Keeps me siinging and happy. The deal is to have me get used to the 15 to 20 minutes per day as a beginner. Of course this will be done at your 60 to 80% levels for your heart and pulse rate. I am not a doctor, so all of us will have to check with our Doctors before this program. I am not into arobics--just walking. Eventually I will move up 30, then 40 and one day hopefully within 60 days--I am at the 50 to 60 minute mark without stopping. Prior to the Katrina storm I was there. I stopped when there was no gym. Moved and had to deal with a depression-and a anti-depression medicine. I can't begin to tell you how I felt the first six months-great. Zoloft took a terrible turn on me. I had more symptoms than before I started. I could not sleep and had at least 10 more symptoms or what is called--side effects. Well, I had no gotten a weigh in and the scale looked crazy as I saw--260--from my 228 only 12 months prior. So after gaining 10 more--I stopped the medicine. Consulted my primary Dr. Found out, my kidneys were doing about a 70% Job. I was hurtig near my liver--I had developed that "fatty liver". Oh--I got on to the natural herbs and as I see it now..none of the symptoms are there. Plus my kidneys are back to 100%. Even my Dr asked--what did you take??? Water, Lemon and some herbs suggested by my little Herbal book...Now since it's been right 150 days--but my weight has been between 262 and 270--I am doing the lap band. The approval is in--but the list is long here. I am looking at March now--without a doubt. It's going to take 1 month to see Dr Weaver--then I am told--within 2 weeks--I'd get Banded.....thank God...Back to the treadmill and the weights for sure....

Best if you read this The role of leptin and ghrelin in the regulation of food intake and body weight in humans: a review. AuthorsKlok MD, et al. Show all Journal Obes Rev. 2007 Jan;8(1):21-34. Affiliation Department of Endocrinology, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Abstract Leptin and ghrelin are two hormones that have been recognized to have a major influence on energy balance. Leptin is a mediator of long-term regulation of energy balance, suppressing food intake and thereby inducing weight loss. Ghrelin on the other hand is a fast-acting hormone, seemingly playing a role in meal initiation. As a growing number of people suffer from obesity, understanding the mechanisms by which various hormones and neurotransmitters have influence on energy balance has been a subject of intensive research. In obese subjects the circulating level of the anorexigenic hormone leptin is increased, whereas surprisingly, the level of the orexigenic hormone ghrelin is decreased. It is now established that obese patients are leptin-resistant. However, the manner in which both the leptin and ghrelin systems contribute to the development or maintenance of obesity is as yet not clear. The purpose of this review is to provide background information on the leptin and ghrelin hormones, their role in food intake and body weight in humans, and their mechanism of action. Possible abnormalities in the leptin and ghrelin systems that may contribute to the development of obesity will be mentioned. In addition, the potentials of leptin and ghrelin as drug targets will be discussed. Finally, the influence of the diet on leptin and ghrelin secretion and functioning will be described. I cant word it any better than this for you

i have been jumping through hoops since july to have this surgery. 6 office visits, 2 nutrition visits, psychiatrist visit, upper gi, pulmonary function testing, surgery consult. im sure im forgetting some. so it is finally here and i am scared $hitless. i sure hope i am doing the right thing. i have lost and gained a total of 500 pounds over the last 25 years so i feel that i have no other option. thanks for all the encouragement from everyone here.

Thanks! I am just going to try to get through the next 15 days eating healthy until I can get my fill and have restriction. Was just hoping I would keep losing weight:(

Hello, I am getting the bypass on 12/28. Once I am healed and get cleared to workout again, is there any tips on having enough to workout? Like I play competitive B Ball for hours at a time on Fridays, is there anything to help me as far as energy? Will it be harder to lift weights? Any suggestions?

Well the procedure has been around a while, just not used for weight loss so much. It was used to treat ulcers (or so I was told).

My advice is to stay off the scale for the first month post-op. Your body will be going through all kinds of changes and thus the first month is very hard to make any claims one way or the other regarding weight loss.

I would suggest staying away from the scale too. My first month, I did not step on the scale. It was also because I was having a horrible recovery and did not care if I lost weight.

im gaining also and not evn on mushies yet! I feel your pain sisters!

I sympathise. I also have zero restriction and can eat whatever I like. My first fill is on the 8th November and I can't wait. I am too scared to get on the scales incase I have put on weight. Its just too easy to eat - not what I expected :thumbup:

Get an unfill!! I made myself suffer for 2 months and never thought I would do that. I thought it would get better. I went in two days ago, had .4cc taken out and what a difference it is! I was at a stand still on losing weight for the last 3 weeks, and in 2 days, b/c I am eating again, I've lost 3 lbs! You should never be miserable during this journey!!

The plication can give you added assurance or help in losing your weight. Some people who have the plication never need a fill or need very few fills to be successful with there weight loss. This procudure miminics the gastric sleeve like Grammy stated but without actually having to have half your stomach removed. People who have this proceure generally lose all there weight, with lap band alone the statistics only state about 50/60% total weight loss. Losing to a healthy BMI and normal body weight with lap band alone is not typical without a lot of hard work.

40 pounds in that amount of time is a HUGE amount. Your body NEEDS a stall to catch up. Good grief. Give it the time it needs to play catch up. It's part of the system. What is a stall? How long does it last and how do I break it? A stall is a point at which the scale stops moving for a period of time. The length of the stall varies from a few days to a few weeks and sometimes a few months. Non VSG’ers typically call it a plateau. Stalls are perfectly normal and to be expected. As we lose weight so dramatically, our bodies need time to catch up physically - this typically happens during a stall. While the scale may not be moving, you may notice an increase in compliments. This is because while the number on the scale isn’t getting any smaller, you are physically getting smaller. There are many tips and tricks for breaking a stall (increase your fluids and Protein, increase your activity, up your calories…) but the reality is it will break on its own.

I'm coming up on 6 months and I've only lost 30 pounds. That would be great, except the first 20 came off in the first 2 months and the next 5 came off in month 3 and 4. I haven't lost a pound in two months. I work out five days a week. I take in about 1200 calories a day. Every week I try to break things up by having a cheat day. I'll also try to have days where I only take in about 900 to 1000 calories to see if I can make the scale budge (I weigh every morning before I eat). Inches were coming off at first, but now even those have slowed drastically. This week I didn't lose any inches at all (I measure waist, bust, hips, tummy, arms, and legs every Friday morning). I started at 231 and am about 201 (on a weekly basis my weight fluctuates between 205 and 201). I'm so tired and frustrated and worried that I'm going to be stuck here forever. Has anyone experienced this kind of stall? If so, how did you break it? My nut hasn't been particularly helpful.

Hi Everyone, A little bird told me this was a very good site to find information and support for the banding procedure! I'm 36, married with one dear daughter and am just starting the process towards having WLS. I should be scheduling an appointment with Dr. Chua in April and will be hoping that my insurance isn't one that considers the Lap Band experimental as I really can't imagine doing the RNY. I've been overweight most of my life and am so hoping to be able to join the banded ranks so that I can have a tool that will not only help me lose but also keep the weight off. There is so much of life that I am missing. Heading for Health Darcy

...another rough night, up most of the night with acid reflux and a swollen throat (that felt like it was closing up). I took more drugs than I care to mention. I finally turned the corner after I took some liquid Tylenol (I dunno, maybe it helped the swelling go down?) and forced myself to use my wedge pillow. The wedge pillow definitely helps a lot with preventing more reflux (although obviously it does nothing if I'm already raw and swollen). The problem is it's too tall; it's got a 12" rise and I feel like I'm sitting up, not lying down, and have a hard time getting comfortable. I've ordered another one from Amazon that got rave reviews from folks with reflux, and it's only got a 7" rise. Hopefully I can begin regularly sleeping on that one and "heal" my reflux. It's still a major pain trying to juggle all these meds and treatments -- omeprazole, Carafate, Mylanta, hot tea, heating pad... They all have their own limitations and restrictions, none seems to be 100% effective. I just can't wait until I'm out of this burning, choking acid phase. It's really for the birds. When I'm not troubled by acid, I feel great! And I'm losing weight fast. It's just that when the reflux flares up I'm MISERABLE and panicky and can't sleep.

I was told to wait till 10wks out to do any ab / weight training. I still get wigged out doing abs thinking I feel my port moving around. Lu

I never thought I'd ask this question and please don't fuss at me... How do I stop losing weight. I'm 100 pounds down, from an 18 to a 4, 5'3" tall, 130 pounds, 6 1/2 months from sleeve surgery. I really feel like I've lost enough so how do I stop losing?

I osted in the bodybugg thread in the fitness forum, but it's been a few days and no one has responded. Does anyone have one of these? Is it worth it? Does it tell you if you need to eat more to lose weight, or what? Do you wear it under your sleeve? If I got one I would not want people to see it at work and stuff. I currently have a Polar heart rate monitor that I wear when I go to the gym and kickboxing, but maybe it would be cool to see how much I burn the rtest of the day, since I have a physical job. Any info would be greatly appreciated

Sorry everyone, I haven't checked this forum as often as I should have. Since coming back I have been swamped by people on facebook asking questions lol here are the answers to your questions you asked Robbdtn... I have not heard of anyone have a bad or negative experience at anytime down there in Juarez and I have talked to A LOT of people. I even talked to a lady that went their the week after I cam home and talked her through every experience she had. She had lots of pain (more than I had) but we never could figure out why. The pre-op diet I was on lasted for 2 weeks. I started 3 days early just to give myself a chance to get used to it in case I slipped up. I thought I would totally blow it, but I never did. Come to find out, even if you do mess up on the diet, the Dr. Rod will still go ahead with the surgery. I was told by my facilitator that they have never turned anyone away, pre-op diet or not. The diet is just to help shrink your liver so there is less bleeding, but they are experienced enough to deal with a fatty bleeding liver though. Try to stick to the diet as best as possible though, the pre-op diet is easy peasy anyway, just gotta set your mind to do it. Lots of Water, lots of meat. That's about it lol if you love steak, it's the best diet ever! After surgery, I got nauseous twice in the hospital but as long as you keep a cottonball soaked in rubbing alcohol nearby to sniff when your mouth waters, you'll be fine. As far as pain goes. It was absolutely manageable with pain medicine. Even if you don't feel pain, if the nurses offer it...take it. Better safe than sorry lol as soon as you can stand up and walk, WALK. They want you to walk twice and hour, but I walked once ever few hours because I liked sleeping more. The breathing treatments hurt at first, but you have to keep blowing that damn tiny tuba until your diaphragm resets itself. But honestly, for me....at no point in time was the pain unbearable. Towards the end, the only pain I really complained about was my headache from sleeping too much. I am a full time student and don't work, but I returned to class exactly 5 days after surgery (3 days home) and just took it easy and wore loose fitting clothes and kept a small pillow with me for my back. Today marks 3 weeks after my surgery and I have lost 22 pounds since then. It's not a whole lot, but in the past 3 weeks my double chin is now gone. I have not been doing any exercising other than a few minutes of walking a day. My clothes are more loose and I can see considerable shrinkage all over. Remember, with all the Protein we take in, we are building muscle right now so weight loss might be slow, but we are still losing inches! The only thing I would do differently is packed lighter and not taken a bus across Texas LOL. All you really need to pack is pajamas, toiletries, cell phone/charger. You can go home in the clothes you came in as long as you don't sweat profusely! If you need anything else, feel free to message me directly Lastly, Mattr2...cute profile pic