Search the Community

Hi Daniel, Sorry you're having such a difficult time this last month and a half. I bet the new fill will start helping. You just have to stick to the "rules of the tool", no more than 1/2-3/4 cup at a sitting, 75% protein & 25% good carbs (track your food, it's so easy to forget and over do it!), 64 ounces of water (30 min before and 1 hour after eating), at least 30 minutes of exercise a day. I kinda know what you're going through, I've been on a 6 month stall...lost 7 pounds in 6 months! It was, however because I was not following the "rules". They really are important to the weightloss process. Once I started following them again, the weight started coming off again! Good luck with everything! It can definately be a difficult lifestyle change...ya just gotta do it, for you! I'll be rooting for ya!

Hey, I was wondering if anybody would like to tell how the sleeve changed their life with PCOS. I am having my surgery somewhere between October and November and am struggling with trying to get a grip on what will happen after surgery. Is it easier or harder after surgery to lose weight with PCOS? I appreciate everything and thank you ahead of time!

Wow....it was terrific. They talked about everything we discuss on this forum from how to lose the weight to how we change as we lose it, how persecuted we are as fat people, how we use/used food to self medicate....all of it. I'm sure it's available on line if you missed it on TV. Everyone should watch it. Some of the women were banded, and some had other WLS. It didn't matter...I understood and sympathized and empathized with everything they said and what they went through.

I am 238 re-re-started.... : ( ......at 250. Curious to know how much weight I lose at first will only be water weight? Is there some formula or method of knowing what is at least close to how much you lose that is water weight? Or a basic time frame for how long the loss will be water weight?

Some band surgeons are more strict with rules. My first surgeon specifically told me never to diet again. The key is to get enough Protein along with a variety of other foods. However, my current surgeon is strict and actually wants me on a diet. He said it's typical that most patients will lose about 1/2 their weight with just the band, but in order to lose the rest we have to count calories.

You can do this. Have you had surgery yet? I felt that way when I started in January. It was very hard at first but got easier. It took work though. I am almost 4weeks post op and all my tastes have changed. What I loved for the most part doesn't even bother me seeing people eat around me. Soda was the hardest. It doesn't even cross my mind now. Every lb I lost helped too. HW 292 Preop liquid weight 263 SW 251 Today 239 Sent from my 5054N using the BariatricPal App

Today is my one month bandiversary. I had planned to update my blog here frequently so I could record my journey, but I haven’t updated it as much as I intended. Recovery My small incisions are nearly healed. I expect that those scars will disappear, much like the ones I had from the endo surgeries. My belly button incision seems ok too. But I wish they had made this incision in the same place where the prior scar was. Even if I do get small enough to wear a bikini, the only person that is going to be able to closely examine my belly button is Nick and he won’t notice it. (He will just be thrilled for me to be healthy, happy, and confident again.) My port incision is healing nicely as well. I still need to be careful of where waistbands hit my belly. This scar will likely be visible, but hopefully it will fade to a white line. One obvious scar is much better than many pounds of quivering blubber. Weight Loss I started this journey very close to 220. I was struck with the realization that 250 lbs was only a few months away, if I didn’t make a drastic change. I am now in the low 190’s and the 180’s are so close. I have hit a plateau. Although I am frustrated, logically, I know that my body has dropped a good amount of weight and is still healing from surgery. I didn’t start recording my weight until I began the pre-op diet, so I have “officially” lost 20 lbs (since the beginning of the preop diet). My scale seems stuck in the 190’s, but I do have to acknowledge a bit of progress. I was stuck fluctuating between a low of 193 and 195. After a week of stick to my plan (even during Thanksgiving and even incorporating Nick’s Egg Nog Cheesecake into my meals for three days) I am now fluctuating between a low of 191 and 193. Exercise I need to increase my activity level. I have to stop inventing excuses, getting comfortable on the couch and not thinking about activity. Nick is being so supportive. Tonight we are going out to buy a Kinect game that looks like fun and that will get our heart rates elevated. As soon as I am cleared for full exercise, I need to commit to using Mom’s gym and pool. The indoor pool will be nice. Hopefully, I will begin to enjoy swimming laps again. Clothing My clothes are fitting a lot better. I have been wearing tops that I haven’t been able to wear in almost a year. There are a few that look good from the front, but not from the back. A month ago, I would have worn them and ignored the rolls in the back. My jeans are getting loose. Soon I won’t be able to wear my “big” jeans at all. My work pants are getting too loose and too long. I need to go through the clothes in the guest room and get rid of the garbage and see what fits of the remaining clothing. My Appearance I can see a difference in my face. My chin is more defined. I also see that my boobs and butt are shrinking. Usually, my booty is the last part to slim down. I hope I can hold out on replacing pants as long as possible. I am thinking that buying cotton Capris are the best idea because they won’t drag on the ground if they get loose. Health It seems that my blood pressure is back to the normal range. It wasn’t an issue in the hospital at all, which is a huge relief. I feel more engerized. I’m not napping as much during the day (only once the whole Thanksgiving weekend). I also feel much better rested when I wake. I’m not sitting on the couch, sipping coffee and trying to wake up! I wonder if 30 lbs was enough of a loss to lessen the sleep apnea? Appetite and Diet I am doing surprisingly well at following my doctor’s protocol, even though he is stricter than most of the diet plans I see people mention on Lap Bank Talk. I am satisfied by the allowed portions of protein, but I am getting hungry before 4 to 5 hours after a meal. I also need to learn to s l o w d o w n and take small bites. I am doing ok about 75% of the time, but the 25% of the time that I am eating mindlessly may (will) cause me problems when I have a fill or two. I am so scared of getting PB’s and stuck episodes. I have one month to learn to ALWAYS be mindful when I eat before my band will begin to teach me the hard way. Going Forward I promise myself to continue my commitment to myself. I am worthy of my best efforts.

I use natural flavor Protein powder, half a frozen banana (and u can use other frozen fruits or, i suppose, small amounts of frozen pumpkin - if Starbucks can sell a pumpkin lattee, why not a pumpkin shake?! Altho the idea of adding pumpking does not appeal to me." I add stevia, a natural no calorie no carb natural sweetner, I buy it organic at Trader Joe's. I add unsweetened cocoa powder sometimes, or fresh berries -- if I do berries, I might skip the stevia. I add cinnamon most of the time, sometimes ginger. sometimes I use chilled cofffee for a mocha shake -- with cocoa powder. I used to buy Optimum Nutrition whey isolate in five pound jugs that was much more affordable than the 100% organic raw whey I use now. I don't just want to lose weight. I don't want any more chemicals ingested in my body. My temple, right?! But I loved every shake I made with Optimum Nutrition mocha chocolate that I bought on amazon, which had lower prices than anywhere else I found. There is an expensive but really delicious organic protein called Tara's Whey. Her dark chocolate flavor is really really good. But at something like $32 for 12 ounces, and the artificial sweetner used in it and the chemicals -- I finally have realized just cause something says organic doesnt mean the food manufacturer doesn't add chemicals. "Organic" might only mean the main ingredient is organic. but if taste is your barometer, try Tara's Whey. It comes in all kinds of great flavors. I still have fond memories of that dark chocolate protein powder, low in carbs. Ohmy gosh it is tasty. I have been to many support groups and various meetings required by my bariatric surgery program. I hear lots of complaints about the taste of Protein drinks. I think most folks hate the taste of commercially premade drinks simply cause such drinks are loaded with chemicals. make your own with unflavored whey or whey isolate, use stevia to sweeten and you can make them taste like anything you want. And if you use half a frozen banana, which is about ten carbs, true, but if all you are doing is two Protein shakes a day, four ounces protein like turkey or fish and some vegies which is my pre surgery diet -- those ten carbs are worth the frothy almost-ice-creaminess you get. Same with adding some frozen berries -- which are low glycemic (lower in carbs) fruit. Try chocolate powder, stevia, plain protein . . .and some nut butter. A Peanut Butter chocolate shake! Yum. I try to savor them slowly. And with the natural powder, post op when you have to work to get in all the protein, you can add scoops of the natural unflavored protein to things like yogurt, majorly boosting your protein intake, or into chicken broth, etc.

Hey. My story is a little different but more personal but I don't mind sharing it. I grew up in a very abusive household. My dad was obsessive about fat. He made me start dieting at the age of four. I was drinking slim fast around the age of four or five and he would make me get up at five a.m. to exercise everyday. I was on dexatrim at seven. He was always merciless and it got worse as I got older. Looking back at older pictures of myself I realized I wasn't even big. I had gotten body dismorphia. I believe I was so stressed about being thin that I actually begin to binge and diet on a regular. By the time I was 14 I had gotten up to 245 pounds and was wearing 20 and 22 sizes. I got on ww and lost 100 pounds in high school but the cycle continued through my adult life after I had kids especially. Well my father and I got our relationship together and I forgave him and shortly after we mended our relationship, he was murdered. This was four years ago. I went through a majorly low depression, got involved with an abusive man, and my weight shot up in 2014 to 345 pounds. It was the biggest I had ever been in my life. And I decided to take my life back. I got on ww again and lost 30 pounds but couldn't lose anymore. And I remember crying out of frustration and praying about it and I said I'm going to do the sleeve surgery. (I had already researched it years before but didn't go through with the requirements) . So had to do a six month supervised diet and ended up losing almost 60 more pounds. So I've lost almost 100 before surgery. I just knew I had to do it for myself. I stopped smoking, dropped that loser I was with, and renewed my relationship with Jesus Christ. As far as my family I only told two people in my immediate family. I'm not telling anyone else.

Im completely stressed out and so nervous. .. I cant believe in just 6 days I will be a tru sleever. I recently broke up with my now ex boyfriend a few days after valentine's day. To get back with my ex husband who hold my heart but it pains me to hurt some1 . But his feelings for my surgery was fake support and he already started smothering ne after losing a little more the 20 pounds.. knowing that my surgery was 2 weeks away he bought me a bunch of different cakes n brownie n Cookies n ice cream n got mad when I said I cant eat it. He stole my fone to check it kuz he thought I was talking to some1 behind his back. All this because im losing weight I had to leave quick. My ex husband and I had always been friends n about a week ago we talked about giving us another shot. He knows about my surgery n he is ex military n he is willing to help me thru everything. N help train with him to get back in shape. Tho there are things we have to work out n figure where this is truly going weather it works or not he is still willing to be by my side and help me thru my journey. Im so excited yet scared. Cant wait till I can come on here with a post-op story so excited [ATTACH]41903[/ATTACH]

Hello fellow sleevers! These forums have really been helpful for me to find answers in addition to a lot of reading on WLS (pre-op and post-op) from Amazon and the local library. Now I would like to start posting a few questions. Perhaps others will gain something out of my post of others that respond. In the past couple of weeks, I have been getting a sharp jabbing pain on my right side below the rib cage. It feels pretty deep and kind of pulses. It is usually temporarily and goes away within 20 minutes. However, the intensity as well as the frequency has been frequency so it is starting to concern me. My wife keeps saying that it is incision pain (and it is close to an incision), but it feels different from other incision pain, deeper. Incision pain is usually on the surface and feels like, well, a incision pain. Sorry, I don't know how else to explain it. I haven't been taking any prescriptions for the gallbladder as some have suggested, but I take just about every other type of post-op Vitamin under the sun as well as prilosec for the acid. I haven't had acid yet so am glad about that. I do throw up perhaps once a day, but it mostly my own fault because I have a bad habit of eating too fast and sometimes too much. Even a bite or two over my 3 oz of Protein will give me a stuffed up feeling in the throat where it definately feels like it will come up in the form of slimes or just food. I know this is my fault and am working on it. Diet is very conservative and has served me well since the surgery. I have lost 80 lbs in 2 months. I eat most protein at around 100 grams and also over 100 oz of some kind of liquid which is usually flavored. I used to drown myself in tap Water every day before the surgery because it tasted fine. Now I can't stand it because of heavy mineral taste. Also water like Desani does this to me also- what gives? Some bottled water is fine. I can't do milk due to lactose intolerance introduced after surgery so am on soy now. I don't eat carbs unless it is part of the protein I am eating and am hardly eating any vegatables because full after protein (sometimes each with dinner meal). Instead I eat a scoop of a veggy shake product that is low carlory and low carb. I tell me wife it tastes like hay! I don't really care as long as it is going to keep me healthy over the long run. If anyone has advice on the jabbing pain, that would be great. It is not really a huge issue yet, but don't want to end up on the surgery bed due to an emergency gall bladder surgery. I am thinking about visiting my Primary Care Physician as I have not done this since my surgery two months ago from yesterday (July 2nd). Thanks for advice everyone! I appreciate it.

Thanks for offering to send me the letter. I have contacted two of my doctors now and haven't run into any problems w/the process so far. One of my docs, just had a form to fill out on his site. The other I just called and she said I could come in to fill out their form or fax in a signed request. So, looks like getting the info is pretty easy. And, I'm having it all sent to myself just so I know what it is and then we can just send the best weights to insurance. Who would've ever thought my 'best' weights would be the highest ones. Or, that I wish I could be just one inch shorter. LOL

Congratulations on your amazing progress! You should be SO proud of yourself! I am in a similar quandary, and am meeting with a new nutritionist next week to get some guidance. I work out hard (triathlon and strength training) a minimum of 6 days per week, and twice per day on most days. I take in about 1000-1300 calories per day, and my target split is 30% Protein, 35% fat, 35% carbs. I had surgery 14 months ago and I'm just 1.8 pounds away from my goal, but feel like I'm overdue for switching from bariatric-weight-loss mode of eating into athlete-fueling mode. I tried to talk this through with the nutritionist on my bariatric team and she didn't have a clue how to advise me. Thus, I'm meeting with a sports nutritionist next Thursday. I'll let you know what I learn!

Might i as why you are only eating 300 cal. a day? Just like with any other diet, you are throwing your self into "starvation" mode.... your body is storing. I found when i ate a more "balanced" meal...and had my lite Snacks... i lost better then the days i ate less cals. So maybe eat more Protein and see how that works. Log in what you eat this way you will have it in writing what worked and what didn't. don't beat your self up over this.... my weight loss was slow, i was worried at first that i had failed again.... but then i started exercising and i started losing inches and building muscle..... Have you started exercising? If not, start slow with walking and or a class like Zumba. That's what i did, then i worked up to the elliptical (aka the devil) and then weights.... Oh.... and stop weighing your self everyday... Good luck and think positive.

To actually gain a whole pound it takes eating 3500 calories more than you burn, which is basically impossible in my body right now... But that doesn't mean I don't have Water gain!! When I flex "up", it's because of carbs and hormones. Your body has to retain more water to balance out carbs, so eating a lot of carbs means retaining more water. I am also breastfeeding (STILL...) - so some days I have more milk than others. I usually retain some weight right after my cycle ends (and my chest measures a little bigger), and then lose like crazy for a week or 2 right after I ovulate, then stabilize or flex up a little for a week, then lose again..... It's very very hard to actually put fat back onto your frame. You'll have to eat too many calories over the course of a week or more to add up to a pound "gained". But you "flex" a little throughout the day/week based on hormones and water intake and carbs and such. Go back to basics and take a half-hour walk.

I am just coming off of three weeks where I lost no weight and in fact went up three pounds. It was really frustrating because I was eating 100% on plan. I weigh or measure everything -- every gram of salad dressing is assessed and accounted for on MFP. How can you gain weight on under 800 calories per day? But I figure it must have been hormonal weirdness and water weight. Those three weeks where I was stalled/gaining were the same three weeks that my period was late. So maybe my body just bloated up like it usually does pre-period, and then when no period arrived, it kept on going in pre-period mode? I finally got my period on Friday night and when I weighed in Saturday morning I was down 2 lbs from the week before. Hopefully things keep going in this direction. This is the only time I've gained weight since being sleeved 11 months ago. I don't know if you'll find this helpful . . . I hope so!

I'm currently on my pre-op diet which is a 1000 calorie a day mostly liquid diet. I am allowed to have shakes (Muscle Milk Lite), which is absolutely atrocious because of the after taste. I was convinced it was not bad and I bought $150 worth of it to last me the 2 weeks. Also I am allowed to have 2cups of vegetables a day which is my splurge of a iceberg lettuce for dinner. It's day 2 and I'm down from 373lbs to 363lbs, 10 pounds in 2 days, I don't know if it's bad to lose that much weight or is it normal. It's very sad but I can't wait for my surgery and I can't wait till I'm able to eat some scrambled eggs when I get eat soft food....

Things to pay attention to: - Your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate), this is the amount of calories your body needs in a day just to exist (think in a coma, alive but not moving). BMR drops as we lose weight and as we get older. So it's something that should be calculated and monitored with WLS. https://www.active.com/fitness/calculators/bmr - Your water intake, you stated that you try to hit your protein targets, which is great, but your body just cannot break down fat if there isn't enough water. - 3.5 miles 2x a week isn't near enough. The minimum basic goal is 30 mins of targeted physical activity EVERY DAY, for WLS, it really should be 60+. Also, running is great, but running will **ONLY** lean out muscle, if you want to burn more fat minute to minute, you need to be building muscle mass. - Without seeing (or being a doctor specifying in plastics) It's entirely possible to have 20 lbs of excess skin - Have you had your body fat measured? I'd be interested to see what your lean mass to fat mass numbers are. I'm 5'9 currently at 258.9, 37.2% body fat, My scale calculates that I have 162.7 lbs of lean muscle and 96.2 lbs of fat. I'm shooting for 200 lbs, so if I do make it to 200, I'll still have 37.3 lbs of fat that *could* be worked off if I really wanted to, this doesn't count skin weight though. If you are really stuck/stalled and frustrated, try re-doing the pre-surgical diet to "reset" things. I also highly suggest starting to track your intake and burn again, if you are burning more than you are taking in, you *WILL* lose weight.

The cold feeling happens with weight loss in general. You lose insulation which = cold feeling. I love the cold feeling as i get hot easily now. It's kind of a type of trade off. There are pros and cons to each. But I would rather have a useless piece of stomach cut out than run the risk of an infection or ulcer in the fold. That just my opinion though.

There is this one guy in my office that makes me blush. You know the one; ultra good looking, nice, suave, the whole package. Anyway, he's been commenting on my weight loss for the last couple of weeks. Well yesterday, I was walking in a door as he was walking out. He stopped as he was walking out and was like 'Hi Julia' as I was walking away to my desk. He didn't just walk out quickly, he paused for a minute. I think he was checking out my fanny :blushing: I just said hi and kept walking. It's nice to have the fellas take notice again. J.

Thank you ladies so much I look at this as my New Years resolution and yes getting approved is the best Christmas gift. I was worried after reading others post about being denied for gaining weight because I had gained 10lbs but for my last nut visit my Dr. Office said I may not be a good candidate for surgery because I gained weight I hurry up and lost the weight the they decided to go on ahead with me.

Sex is so much fun. My husband can't keep his hands off of me. I lost 30 pounds in about 4weeks thats alot a weight to him. I told him wait till I drop another 30

Good for you! Twice I've had people stop me in stores who said they've seen me at the gym and wanted to tell me how proud they were of my weight loss. Definately makes your day.

breakfast - 1 hard boiled egg lunch - cucumber and dill hummas with cucumber slices, honey roasted turkey meat snack - vanilla low fat ice cream with caramel sauce dinner - beef fried rice I AM NAUGHTY MCNAUGHTYNAUGHTY! i have no trouble eating ANYTHING. that knowledge is very dangerous. i emailed TODAY and requested a fill appointment. i WILL NOT gain this weight back!!!

Since I started out here as a potential lapbander I thought I would share with ya'll. I have a date for surgery! 8/7/06! I am having RNY just because I figure this is my only shot at weight loss , being a Medicare patient and figuring they wouldn't go for a revision if the band didn't work for me and knowing myself I am afraid I would have a problem with the idea of the port and having to drive 90 miles for a fill or unfill...just weighing all the pros and cons I decided on the RNY. I am nervous and excited. I will have my EGD on 7/20 and then the surgery on 8/7. Can you say YAAAAAY? :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: