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Does your doctor require a pre-op liquid diet? My surgeon required a 12-week pre-op liquid diet. My dietitian (RD) was pissed off and said she would set him straight and get the diet time reduced. I dunno what occurred but the surgeon won as I expected. If so, how long are you to be on it? 12 weeks. What foods are recommended? My RD actually put me on a specific diet of Glucerna (6-7 a day), 1 serving of Sugar-Free Jello, Broth, and 3.7L of water a day, along with allowing a cup of non-starchy veggies (wouldn't even know if there are starchy vegetables) What foods are allowed and not allowed? Very simple diet.. low carb (incl. sugar), low fat, high protein diet. I have deviated substantially from the diet my RD wanted me on, sticking to the premise of the diet, having less calories and carbs than even her diet would have got me, and am still dropping weight pretty fast. My fav cheating foods during pre-op are natural peanut butter (low carb, low cal, high protein -- stuff is very watery), unsalted peanuts, and string cheese (0 carbs). I had thought pepperoni was fine but after reading more studies against processed meats during pre-op I decided against it. No matter what I drink tons of water.. doing my best to be 30+ mins before/after food. Water is very important especially during this kind of diet. Is the goal ketosis (liver shrinking)? Of course. Two aspects. Advanced liver disease can crack and bleed, causing major artery/vein hemorrhaging that's incredibly difficult to deal with. So improving liver disease and shrinking it is beneficial two-fold. Secondly, large livers or ones with fat on them can make it difficult to move out of the way. The big one is slipping. Fatty livers are more slippery. This diet, when done properly, reduces the fat around it to make the job for the surgeon easier, or in some cases, do-able. I've heard of cases where surgeon went in with laparoscopic tools, saw either too large/fatty of a liver, or too much of a damaged liver, immediately patched them up and said "no". Obviously nobody wants this to happen. I had others issues that have greatly improved since. My HBA1c has dropped to normal levels.. by my next HBA1c test I likely will be tested without meds as it will drop more than sufficiently (high was 7.9mm/180 on US glucose a year ago, recent test was 5.7mm/180 US glucose after numerous drops), the swelling around my lower legs and feet has resolved almost completely, and liver function tests have gone back to normal after a year of being highly elevated. This combined with the weight loss, as my surgeon said, shows the liver is shrinking well, but most people don't have my problems so..

In my experience, it is what you make it. While yes, your stomach is gone forever, the benefits are not forever. Most people many years out have learned to eat around the sleeve so that if they did not learn good food habits while they had restriction, they just return to their old ways. I am three months short of three years out from surgery. I hit goal in April of last year and I have maintained within 3-4 pounds. This morning I woke up a few ounces heavier than usual, so today I get to pay more attention to my food and exercise. Every single day is going to be a fight for the rest of your life, although the sleeve makes it substantially easier. I am never going to get to go on vacation for a week, eat whatever I want like those damn naturally skinny people do, and come back and have gained no weight. I could easily gain 5-8 pounds in a week if I ate sweets, which is my big "gain weight fast" food. Because I like being thin, I don't eat sweets anymore. I wake up and I weigh myself every morning. I missed a day in MyFitnessPal about 2 weeks ago and broke a 230+ day streak, so the last two weeks I haven't been recording my food intake, but really I don't need to anymore. I know what I can and cannot eat. This time three years ago I was 237-ish pounds, I could not manage to lose weight, and I was ashamed and miserable. This morning I weighed 132.8 pounds, I have a closet full of clothes that are 0-4, and I feel like a different person. The sleeve is not something that will make you thin and happy forever, but rather it is something that makes it a lot easier for you to reach and maintain a healthy weight if you are willing to make the sacrifices to do so. Where I live it is 95 degree outside already, I do NOT want to go workout, but in a little bit, I'm going to spray myself with sunscreen, whine as I get into workout clothes, and get my butt outside. I'll log my food today because I gained a bit over the weekend, I'll probably do my ab video, and I won't have any dessert at the Memorial Day party this afternoon. Sure, the sleeve made it easier to get to this size, but at this point the only thing keeping me here are my own daily decisions. So, the sleeve itself is forever, the benefits it provides are great the first year or two and then slowly drop, but you have the potential to use the tool to your advantage to achieve and maintain good health. In the end, it's entirely up to you- not what happens to be left of your stomach.

I think you have to decide what you consider "success" I know there is probably a minority who get to and stay at a normal BMI. a lot of them are here, and boy do they inspire me to reach for it! for me success will be defined as not being a diabetic, and being less than 160#. I want to be obviously less weight than my husband. I think my chances of achieving this and keeping this success for at the minimum 5-10 years is pretty darn good. I'm committed. if it adds a decade to my life it will be a success even if I don't stay at my goal for the rest of my life. Already this year my quality of life is so vastly improved I know it was worth my time and effort. I will just keep following the program and see where this wild ride takes me! my motivation for the surgery was to be healthier and extend my life so I can see my grandchildren grow up. If I get to anything close to normal BMI, well that will just be gravy. I don't want to rule it out, but I also don't want a number on the scale to completely define my success/failure. I posted a thread a while ago about my inspiration - my uncle's story. I believe the surgery saved his life and even though he is almost 70 and probably lost half what he could have - he is still alive with us and healthier than I remember him being. I consider him a success too. How will you choose to define success? what are your motivations for the surgery?

I agree with @@Christinamo7 and my triggers are just like @@AvaFern so I love they both responded and shared. Thank you both because I'm in the same boat and pre-op until my surgery on July 13th. I never wanted to have surgery, but I've tried every diet in the book for 25 years. Gained it all back and then some. YES I'm a statistic! When my weight started to affect my health, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, high A1C, I decided to make a change because my daughter is only 24 yrs old, I have yet to see her marry or have children and at the rate I'm getting ill, I felt I'd never see those things happen in my lifetime. I was really worried when I saw one of my blood panel results that said my heart was the same as an "86 yr old" and I'm only 49 yrs old. I'm not doing this surgery to be thin, although that part will be very nice, I'm doing it to live.. live a long healthy life and to enjoy time with my family and friends. Even if this surgery only buys me "time"...what wouldn't a person do to have more lifetime?!

Penni! Wow! Thats excellent! :confused: :clap2: And here you were posting about how you dont think you'll lose weight this week. Heck, that probably burned off 10 pounds! Now.. just dont eat until after next Sat's weigh in! LOL

This should be the least of your worries! Remember, this journey is about HEALTH not WEIGHT....if you end this journey unhealthy and thin, you have failed as much as if you were still 276 pounds. You have to stay healthy to succeed! Please take this seriously, I'm concerned for you!

Hi all I had my surgery Wednesday now it’s Sunday. When I got home from the hospital I weighed 5 lbs more than I was pre surgery. Several days later Still few lbs more than pre op. This is extremely discouraging! Is this normal ?

Hello all!! I have been pursuing these message boards for a couple of weeks now and finally decided to join. Here is a little about me...I recently turned 30 years old and am currently at 370 lbs (I'm 6', and carry my weight pretty well). Luckily I do not have a lot of medical complications due to my weight...yet! I just found out that our company is changing insurance plans next year to Medica, which will cover bariatric surgery. I've already signed up for an information session with Park Nicollet, which is next week. Currently I'm still in debating over the gastric sleeve or the RNY bypass. As I'm just starting, I'm really looking for any information that you think would be helpful. I'm not even sure if I know what questions to ask. Thank you all in advance for your support and help!

I have had wine a few times, I am almost 6 months out. I too got tipsy after 2 glasses. The big thing, I think, is the fact that alcohol is high in calories. Drinking your calories can easily cause weight gain. So I try to keep alcohol to special occasions and not too excess.

yes. You were pumped full of IV fluids in the hospital - and they contain a lot of sodium to boot. I've heard of people gaining 10 lbs or more from them. They'll work their way out in a few days. I just stayed off the scale that first week because I knew chances were good that my weight would be up, esp since I retain water when I get too much sodium!

Hi I am only 3 weeks out and getting concerned. The scale dropped like lightening the first 8 days. Since then it's barely moved and in the last 3 days I've gained. Is that normal? I am following everything to the letter so I'm not sure where and if I'm actually falling short. Please help

Hi! I am new to this site and wanted to quickly introduce myself. I live in Richmond, TX but work in Houston. My lap-band surgery is 5 weeks from today, yeah!! I am using Dr. Marvin. My starting weight is around 340 and I'd like to eventually get down to 150. I am about 5'9'' and am single. I don't have any children but I do have a pet Chihauhau named Bonita. She is the cutest! I was diagnosed with PCOS when I was in high school and have been managing the symptoms with meds but can't loose weight on my own. I have recently started taking meds for my thyroid. I am anxious to start the lap band journey becuase I know it will dramatically change my life! I hope you hear from lots of you as we go through this journey together!

Thank you for your opinion. I may have to go for the banana then. I see you've done very well since you're surgery. Congratulations on your significant weight loss. I have a lot to lose and it's encouraging to see your progress.

I think what you are really freaking out about is the fact that you never thought anyone at your age was really at risk of dying from something we generally think of as an older persons problem. This is probably the first time you have had to face mortality in a young person and you are realizing that you too could very much be at risk. It happens to all of us at different stages in our lives. The very reason I finally had the umph to have WLS was losing my Dad to a stoke from his High blood pressure. It got me to thinking about my blood pressure and weight and other diseases right around the corner if I did not lose the weight. I wish I had the ability and desire to have done something in my 20's like you, that is wonderful you took control. If you are really worried about your low heart rate go and get a work up, it can't hurt right? It is the unknown that harms.

I am now three years post op. Man has alot changed in three years. I cant believe how fast time flies. It really is crazy. I was banded on April 11, 2003. I weighed 235-240 I did awesome listening to the band and working with it. I lost down to 160 and i was feeling awesome! I started dating, met my husband and life was wonderful. I dont know where i started to slide. I started trying to eat more when we went to dinner. I started drinking with my meals and figured out if i drink with them i can eat more. I dont know what happend. I just really wanted to be normal. My husband and i were working out on a very regular basis. Dieting good. (he is into bodybuilding... so he had me eating like i was an athelete...lol) I realized that i was gonna hurt myself and my band if i continuted this way, so i went to the doctor and told them that i really wanted to try it on my own for awhile. Well it took a few minutes of convincing her to do it but finally she did. I ended up moving to Memphis shortly after that. So i was about 5-6 hours away from the doctor. So i didnt go back much. With the move we werent working out like we were. We were eating ALOT of fast food because we were tired and it was easy. I ended up gaining about 35 pounds, from when i had the band loosened... My lowest weight was 160 but after we started working out i gained 10 pounds and i was 170... after my pouch packing and drinking with meals i gained 5... so i was about 175..) So my weight now is 205 ish... I think that in the last few days i have been really reading my old journals and reading everyone elses post and i started following the rules again i am down to 200 now. WOO HOO!! We had a problem getting my adjustment right... I went for three adjustments and she wouldnt put me back where i was so we had to start over adding a little at a time. So I couldn't understand when i was supposed to have a 2.5 fill and i could still eat a WHOLE value meal... So i went back well somewhere along the line there was a mix up and i only had about 1.3cc's in my band. She said my tubing was never accounted for. So we filled that puppy up! LOL it is great now. I feel like i did in the beginning. I am doing well not drinking with my meals. It is just gonna be breaking the habit. I still reach for my drink and i have to stop myself. But things are going GREAT!! I am so excited to finally have the passion and drive that i had when i first had the surgery!

Hi Daniellfay and welcome to Bariatricpal. What type of surgery are you planning to have? If you provide some more information on what fears you have regarding psychological effects of the surgery, many members may be able to help you. A couple of things I can tell you that apply regardless of the type of surgery you are planning to have is you will need to make permanent changes in your lifestyle and eating habits in order to be successful. It is not an automatic guarantee or magic wand that you will lose weight, and keep it off permanently, if you don't make changes. I had a lapband, but had to have it removed. In October I had sleeve surgery performed.

When I had my band in 2009, this is the part that kicked my butt and NO ONE had prepared me for it. I mourned food. I lost my best friend. I was an emotional mess for a month. There is a HUGE psychological component to bariatric surgery and weight loss...there's no easy way through it. Just know that to be successful you are going to have to be honest with yourself and face your food demons and for a while, frankly, it is going to suck . But it does get better. As you learn new habits and start to feel better physically and emotionally t gets so much easier. You can do this, but it takes some work! Congrats on making the decision to take charge of your life and health. Listen to every word they have to say at your meetings, they've got a lot to share. GOOD LUCK!!!!!!

Hey guys- So, like I said, I'm scheduled for my pre-op, in oh, 2 hours. And I'm thinking that I'm not ready for this- I want to do the lapband but I think I want some more time to get ready. Like January. I realize that I haven't really tried to lose weight for awhile and feel that I need to do that first. Am I just being a whimp or what? AGGGH Thanks

I had the sleeve surgery in Mexico on 11/3/14, one week before my 29th birthday. I'm 5'7, my highest weight is 290 and my weight when I decided to get surgery was 261. I have PCOS and have always fought for every single pound I lost. It seemed like I could follow my diet perfectly 95% of the time and workout but that 5% would set me back every single time. I used to joke that I could look at a potato and gain 5 pounds. It's kinda true. Since I decided to get surgery I'm down over 50 pounds and over 80 since my heaviest weight. The biggest piece of advice I have for you is to follow a low carb diet as much as possible after surgery. This can make you or break you with PCOS and insulin resistance. Also, my periods have started back, although I forgot how bad cramps can be and now I miss not having one! I work at a bank so I just told my boss I needed a loan and I was approved on the spot. I didn't go through A Lighter Me or Dr. Kelly so no advice there.

I just had one of the best workouts of my life today. During the black Friday sale, I picked up a Dance Dance Revolution game for our Playstation at Best Buy. It's the videogame where you have a dance pad and you follow the arrows with your feet. I have always thought it looked like fun. If any of you have Playstations and like to dance, I suggest that you go out and buy this. It's a ton of fun. I finally stopped playing after about 1 1/2 hours (only because I no longer had energy to move my legs!) It also has a workout mode where you can track your workouts and it tells you how many calories you are burning, etc. It's kinda hard to explain,but here is a description that I found online: Dance Dance Revolution, or DDR (known as Dancing Stage in Europe), is a music video game series produced by Konami. It was introduced to Japanese video arcades in 1998, after being shown at the Tokyo Game Show earlier that year. Since then, the game has gained significant popularity elsewhere in the world, including large portions of North America and Europe. As of 2005, over 90 official versions have been produced, including those for home video game consoles. The Dance Dance Revolution series is a subset of the larger Bemani series of music games. The game is typically played on a dance pad with four arrow panels: up, down, left, and right. These panels are pressed using the player's feet, in response to arrows that appear on the screen in front of the player. The arrows are synchronized to the general rhythm or beat of a chosen song, and success is dependent on the player's ability to time his or her steps accordingly.

Guys I am a gym rat by obligation. I go and my comfort zone is the treadmill. Run 35 mins at 6.0-7.0 mph and I do 9 min miles. I lift weights as well, but that is when I get anxious. There is this weird anxiety that takes over me and I see everyone around being so pro it bothers me. I tried doing a trainer and spent thousands of dollars with little results. I travel a lot and I am not accustomed to extreme effort. My body shuts down. I lift, but I am afraid I am too comfy on my lifting and it just does not motivate me. After 3 years I am burnt out of spinning and running and the half ass lifting that I do and I am a bit out of hope. I do it and keep doing it. But I hate it. It just seems like the flab doesnt go away ever. I need encouragement, because I am a gym rat. But by mental mandate not by enjoyment.

Woo boo. I lost 20 lbs for mypreop weightloss. I see nurse practioner on Tuesday for final pre op visit. Just need insurance approval and a date!!! So excited today.

Reversals are actually done a lot more often than you would think. I may be doing this by the end of the year. There are Facebook groups for gastric bypass takedowns and support. Lots of people have had mechanical issues and needed reversals. They are definitely high risk, however if they can take you apart, they can put you back together, although I wouldn't go to just anyone that's for sure!. I'm personally experiencing malnutrition, and severe weight loss (and no, none of this is my doing. I did all that I was supposed to over the last 16 years). Had a revision in September, and still having complications. Seeing my doctor again next week to discuss next step, which is most likely the takedown. They also do them on those who continue to get ulcers, or severe dumping (which I also get from everything I eat). In regard to weight gain from the reversal, it's one's choice to eat badly and put the weight back on, just like you can start making bad choices with rny and never expect to stretch your stomach. It happens in most cases. I learned a lot about eating well, healthy/organic, locally grown as often as possible. (wish I knew then what I know now, I regret my surgery a lot) I would actually give anything to eat a salad or a piece of fish right now, instead I am getting tpn through a picc line. So even though you follow the plan, like I did it doesn't mean you wont have issues.

focus on healing, this part of the weight loss journey will soon just be a memory. You can make it through this, just face the diet one day at a time. You can make it one day. Then the same for the next day. Giving in to your wants put you in a really bad place as far as your weight is concerned. Follow the plan as your doctor h as set forth for you and you will be more successful. Good luck on your weight loss.

I had a stall for a few weeks and then lost 2 3/4 pounds, stall over! I have a gym membership to Planet Fitness and before I moved I was there 3or 4 times a week. Now I don't live close to the gym and have barely gone, my fault sort of. Since I moved my knees have been bothering me so much more than before. Tomorrow I start my Synvisc injections and I pray to god they work so I can put off double knee replacement surgery. In the hopes that all goes well, I bought a really nice recumbent bike to use at home. I rode it tonight for 30 minutes and my knees were clicking the majority of the time and now I'm hurting pretty good. Hopefully this pain is worth the effort. Surgery date: 1/8/15 Weight lost: 60 pounds