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Can only speak from my experience and what I've read .... Basically the thinner you get the harder you have to work to get it off. I was a relative lightweight (about 209) when I started pre op diet in Feb and I'm now 169. The biggest slab of weight came off during the 4-5week pre-op diet (about 20lbs). Now I'm struggling to lose a pound a week. It kind of goes up and down. My exercise has petered out a bit so I need to move more. If you're a bit heavier to begin with you'll find the weight will fly off (apparently) in big chunks....as you get smaller the weightloss will slow down. It must come down to calories....smaller people need less calories to maintain than bigger ones....hence it's harder to lose weight! I hope that explains it. Someone else might be able to explain it better!

okay ladies so maybe its me but i figured i would throw this topic out and see if anyone can relate. Ever since my surgery right around my period week i have been getting really strange almost weird dreams that leave me in a confused state when i wake up. They are very vivid and i can remember almost all of them like it actually happened in real life. i know they didnt happen tho because they are just too weird for real life. Last night i dreamed that some guy came up to my fiance and cut him in the face with a razor blade so i slapped the guy in the face with a bag full of sauce and meatballs. the night before was my mom and i running this long path with a pool at the end but instead of jumping into the pool we jumped into the air and started flying but then my mom was hit in the face with a goose and she goes "that dang goose bump" then i woke up. and when i wake up i feel so confused and dazed. anyone else going though this or is it just me??

Hmmm....my psych eval was about a week and a half ago. I had a test to take...about 800 true/false questions. Then the psychiatrist spoke with me. He asked me about any bouts with depression, suicidal thoughts and my relationship with my parents. He asked me to describe how VSG is performed and if I knew the risks involved. He also asked who would be my main support at home. It was pretty quick. Have not heard anythiung back yet. I was with him a total of 20 minutes. Good luck to you! Sent from my SM-G955U using BariatricPal mobile app

I'm pretty new to this board, I posted only once before, and now I forgot how to do it, hopefully I'm posting in the right board, I just couldn't figure out how to start a thread to ask this question: I'm eating now between 1200-1350 for the past two weeks, before I was doiong 1500-1600 and I was in a long plateau, I broke it after my last fill, but I'm concerned that I may still be eating too many calories? Can you tell you how many are you eating? any advises please? I weight 249 now, I walk 30-45 min per day. Thank you for your help. Elena:help:

i dont think i actually really felt like doing anything requiring energy for about 10 days. i started my soft proteins on the 4th day from surgery. i am about 3 weeks post op and pretty much feel normal. hang in there, it will get better!!!

I would ask your doctor but for me I was on solids pretty quickly. I think it was 3 weeks or so. I would start solids before you have a fill. With a few patients they find that sometimes you don't even need one. Good luck.

Well i 've been trying to get the weight loss surgery for about 3 ys now i got approved about two weeks ago.I have been over weight for my whole life and i reached 320lbs and figured that it is time for a change...never to late to change so here i am counting down the days...

Hi, I just joined today. I had my consult last week. Now have to meet with nutritionist and psych. I want to lose 20 lbs before surgery. My surgeon is Dr. Larson in Lake Worth, Florida. He doesn't require weight loss, but says it is easier on your lungs if you do. I will try. I want to know if you lose your appetite, and how fast larger people lose weight. Also does anyone prefer one band over another: Realize or lap band? How is energy level after surgery? Thank you, Louisa

I started at 260 and am to whatever my ticker says now over about a month. I did a low calorie diet for two weeks, then a pseudo liquid diet for two weeks prior to surgery (most days was two protein shakes, one protein bar, and two yogurts). I did have three normal meals during my pseudo liquid, but maintained a diet mentality so did not pig out like I would have in the past. since surgery on the 20th, I have done pureed soups, sugar free pudding, protein shakes, and yogurts. Tonight I had some soft noodles because I flew into another state for a work conference and there weren't any soups at the buffet dinner.

I really need a motivator--and a fill! I just really don't like exercise and just the other night I ate 5 pieces of pizza--yes you read that right 5 pieces :confused:! I am 28 going on 29 in Aug. and just really want this to work and want to be healthy but am so scared of failure that I really haven't begun to try! I have (somehow) maintained my weight-loss, but I need help! 1 week till fill #2

Jdillon congrats I like your attitude and the way you count, I have 5 weeks and counting.

I am on mine now and is the same as inner surfer girl Arkin's low carb (30 grams or less daily), high Protein (minimum 60-70 grams daily), for two weeks I am so happy is not a clear liquids I would have not made it this far.. 5 more days!!

I was given the green light to do a Water aerobics class after 4 weeks. Every doctor's orders are different, though, so I would just give your doc's office a call and get clarification.

I'm like 8-9 months out of surgery and i have hit the biggest stalls i cant go under 240 after losing 120 pounds or so i used to weight 362 I'm at 241-244 and i just can't seem for like a 6 weeks now to get over this stall, usually my stalls would be 1 week or 2 and id randomly lose like 4 pounds all of a sudden but now nothing. I think my problem is not enough protein and calorie intake

Hi Rolosmom. I was just going to post the exact issue. Here are my stats: SW 221 on 9/16/16 CW 180 So 41 pounds in 4 months, great! But, I literally only lost 2 pounds in the past 5 weeks. I feel so anxious about this. Sent from my SM-N920P using the BariatricPal App

Yes. It fluctuates a pound or so either direction but stuck at 245. 4 month stall? I know 3 week stall is common.

Hurray for you all! Nice NSV's. They are the best! My son started at tight 46 and triple x shirts, he is now in L shirts and 36/38 pants. He is very proud and looking good in Spain where he took his wife this week. Best wishes to all you guys and gals having to shop!!! Karen

Also staying fully hydrated helps you pass things through your pouch and makes it "less sticky-ish." That was from Dr. Alvarez the bariatric surgeon. If you are at all dehydrated, it may take a couple of days to really replenish your fluid levels. To me, it makes all the diff in how I handle food and post prandial nausea. Also, if you're having issues with protein, use meat lube (low fat, low cal, low carb gravies, soupy stewpy things like your chili and for god's sake, don't overcook eggs! LOL.) Also soft cooked white flaky mild fish is usually pretty easy for most people, as can be soft scrambled eggs with yogurt or lite sour cream mixed in to make them creamy. Beans and cheese, or canned beans mashed with some yogurt or cheese go down easy. If it were me, I'd stay away from the obvious slider culprits. You're losing well now, but that habit is hard to shake and your weight loss WILL level off and you could potentially stall out. Sorry you are struggling.

This may be off topic, but I don't know which area to ask this question. My pants are a waist size 46. For about two weeks, they have been so loose that they fall off and I don't unbotton them anymore. My belt, which had always been on the loosest hole got too big and I had to buy a new belt. The last hole on the old belt was too loose. So anyway, I just measured my waist for the first time, and it was 46. So what gives? I KNOW I've lost inches!

About eight months ago my weight hung around three hundred pounds like un wanted company. I checked my food intake, looked at my card to see if I was green. I had my last fill in Feb. 2008. I had great restriction and felt like I finally hit my sweet spot. Long spaces of time between meals, not even thinking about food, obsessing about food is more like it. That was gone. Drinking my meals, gone. Gulping food, gone. I had retrained myself successfully but each time I tried to do the rest of it, the working the body to strengthen it I got nothing but pain. The more weight I lost, the greater the pain. This wasn't part of the bargain, sure, my knees stopped hurting, my feet stopped hurting, no more diabetes medication, no more snoring. This part I had hoped for but the pain. It radiated down my spine. It shot down my right leg. I felt stabbing pains in my groin and lower stomach. The more I walked the worse it got. The only thing that gave it remedy was bed rest. My life was work and then going to bed. It was easy to see why my weight had slowed up. It took getting caught at work not being where I should have been because the distance required walking was too much, and having my boss sit me down and confronting me to force me to confront the pain. What the truth was and is remains. That I have lost over eighty pounds, over fifty since being banded, and despite have good restriction and food control I am unable to walk any distance or stand longer than five minutes. I stepped back from focusing on the scale and focused on cause. I started with my doctor who ordered an MRI of the area most disturbing. It came back and there was part of it: arthristis, bulging disc, compressed vertabrae, scoliosis. My lower spine was a mess. To keep me working, I cannot afford to stop working, I was placed on morphine and it helped slightly. In late November I went to the Cleveland Clinic in Weston, Florida. A second MRI was done, a CT Scan of my abdomen, revealed the beautiful band Dr. Kirshenbaum had inserted was exactly where it was suppose to be. My band was fine. I had a hiatel hernia though. I had a hernia filled with fat in my stomach near my navel. This will need to be repaired when they do the surgery to remove the skin that is becoming part of the problem. I will need a lower body lift. My stomach had gotten so large and now that it was shrinking, my body was redistributing the weight and it was pulling higher up on my spine. In that location where I had the most stress from my stomach, the spine slides out of place. The nickname is SPONDY and the long name is two other versions of SPONDY that I was diagnosed with also in my cervical spine. The next test will be a CT Scan of my entire spine. Now that they found one, two maybe three or four sources of the pain, no one is stopping the doctors. This next year will be filled with rehab. Physical and Occupational. When I get over this hump I have the vision of a better life, the same vision that got me started. Onward I go...

So I finally scheduled my first fill, one week ago on Wed. I'd gained 5lbs in the past month b/c I truly could eat anything and did. I think I was mourning food - so afraid I'd never be able to enjoy eating again. The fill was very easy, I'm using fill center usa and used the same weight loss doctor that I've been going to for years. She used a needle to numb the area up and after a few misses (you could feel and her slipping off the plastic side of the port a few times) she hit it. I was relieved only b/c I really and truly thought I had flipped my port (see episode of a pop and burning sensation about 6 weeks after surgery that must have turned out to be scar tissure after all!) Anyway, she would put a little liquid in, pull some out. When she put too much in, I could feel my throat closing. It was like that feeling you get when something gets stuck. Its kind of a panic filled feeling b/c when you get something stuck you know the misery that comes next. She would barely pull a tiny bit of fluid out and it would go away. All the while I was drinking a cold, cold bottle of water so I could tell if the water rushed down or not. Well, in the end I ended up with 1.8 cc in my 4cc capacity band. I thought that was a lot! She said everyone is just different and that testing using the water is the best indicator. Great experience at the dr, no problems, etc. Well, I followed instructions, drank protien shakes the first day, mushy food the next. WELL, when I tried to eat solids that's when I got scared. I ate some salsa and one bite of fajita chicken on the 3rd day at lunch and it was horrible. I had to ask the friend who drove me twice to pull over on the way back to the office b/c I was salivating so badly and had to spit. I actually threw up once on the side of the road. I felt like such an idiot - they don't know I had the band and they MUST have thought I had the swine flu! Anyway - I couldn't swallow, foam-like spit came up and it felt like I had to burp but couldn't burp or swallow. And that Pain in my throat -UGH! THAT's precisely when I thought - did I do the right thing? Is this what its going to be like for the rest of my life? Is this what it feels like to be too tight? I was really questioning myself - I WANT to eat, enjoy, savor, cook, experience food - I just want to eat LESS! NOT feel like this!! I thought to myself - I PAID for this myself - what did I DO?? Well, I had to tell myself that I'm learning. I probably ate something too soon, didn't chew enough and I need let my body calm down from the fill - just like I had to allow it to settle in and calm down after the band itself. What I AM learning about this whole process is that I have to be kind to my body - allow it to heal and accept these changes at a slow pace. My job and my personality means I rush, rush, rush! Well, when I rush through eating - eat a large mouthfull and don't concentrate on really chewing the food. I'm going to pay the price. And THAT IS what I paid for. It is at just those times, that I overeat, eat too fast, eat the wrong things. So, I've had a few more similar episodes since - from eating one too many sweedish meatballs at IKEA to going to a mongolian grill with my husband and eating one piece of pinapple and excusing myself to the restroom to spit up foamy spit for 30 mins. I know that's my body trying to get that food un-stuck! I'm learning - I'm learning! And I've lost 3 lbs in the week since the fill! Finally the scale is moving again!

That is such good NEWS!!! That happened to me I was moved up!! We had the same original first date how cool. I am now two weeks Post Op. I feel great today. Very exciting, and best wishes this is the best decision I have ever made. Good Luck imaluckydog Kathy

I didn't see the psych post op. I am 7 weeks out and I still like to snack and pick...I don't know if it will ever go away, but I concentrate on drinking sugar free drinks and SF popcycles at night to help with the need to have "something". I eat pumplkin seeds (break them out of the shell), I can't eat too many of them so it doesn't impact my weight loss, but the activity of shelling them helps with hand to mouth fixation... I am suprised more people don't have something to say about the mental eating...I am sure so many of us must be dealing with it in some way.

Im on my own for dinner tonight and I have quite a few leftovers to choose from. In the past I would have heated them all and had a smörgåsbord. I've been good about packing away the leftovers in meal size portions so If I need to grab something I don't have to think. This is working REALLY well for me. I've been breaking down the grocery's too when I get home. Crackers, carrots, beef jerkey in little ziploc bags pre-measured. I've been buying tuna in the single serve cans- a bit more expensive but worth it. So as I wrote over on the March thread. "This is the first week that I feel great, really super. No doubts. Controlling my hunger with my food choices. I have a ton of energy. And best of all "Spring really becomes you. Your cheeks are rosy, and you're looking radiant" from a coworker. What a difference a few lbs make. When I make goal I'm going to be a whole new person!!!":thumbup::thumbup:(I hope I like me) TTFN comments always welcome:wink2:

I love this. So true. And if I hear easy way out one mo time, I will strangle that person. Pre-op had, but sticking with it...no cheating here! Oh..for those easy way out people..how about liquids for 2 weeks, pureed for 4 weeks soft good for 3 weeks. Then living with a few bites of food at a time. Oh yea, we are taking the easy way out! Please!