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Yeah...before this process my day consisted of waking up anywhere from 8-10 am and drink coffee and smoke my cigs till around 6-8 pm then have dinner. I had to get use to eating lunch and dinner. I still don't do breakfast instead I have a protein drink

i wish i had that problem for a while.i gained 18 lbs of my 62 lb wtloss over 2 months.these past 2 weeks i have been doing liquids during the day a meal in the evening.junk snacking.very angry at myself.im in a size 10 need serious help.had a fill yesterday.im ok w/liquids in the day.i get really hungry in the evening

Leena, I too went through this about 9mths ago. I am just over 2 yrs out and I had a horrible time getting in enough calories. I would consume about 600-700 calories a day and I was so weak but no matter how hard I tried I just couldn't force myself to eat. My situation lasted for about 4.5 months and I was withering down to nothing. I went and talked to my surgeon and he referred me to the nutritionist and removed about half of the fill I had. At the time I had 6cc's in a 10 cc band, I never threw up and nothing really got stuck I just couldn't eat, no appetite. I too felt like an anorexic, and that was NOT the reason I got the band. So my suggestion to you is to see your doctor and have some Fluid removed. Maybe go see a nutritionist to make up a daily eating plan for you if the fear of gaining weight back is a serious concern, it was for me. Since I started seeing the nutritionist I have since regained control over food and feel great. I have even had fluid added back to my band and have since maintained a healthy weight for myself. I hope this helps and good luck!

Way more valid than a lot of the points being made in this thread. I have a good friend who lives there and loves it. On some island I believe. Veering even further off topic, my first venture into retail back in the 60's, we used the word Charleston as our cost code for all products since it's 10 letters long and there are no repeat letters. So, if a car stereo sold for $200, and cost us $120, the code would have been HCN . Sorry, stupid comment but stupid is as stupid does

I would say that was true for my feet too - I would have had a wide fitting had they been available but they're just not common here in Australia. Now I can fit my feet into more dressy shoes than I could but they're still wide. And 5 year old Eliza's teeny little feet look like little squares too, they're just as wide and shapeless as mine. But I was a size 10 and am STILL a size 10, just can fit into more size 10's kind of thing.

My daughter is six feet and wears a 12, be glad you aren't a 12 as that's a whole new ballgame. Special order, plus she's a partial vegetarian and will not wear leather, it's not a fun day in shoe shop world! All I know is that I was a size 8 1/2 before children and supposedly you can go up a size with each child, I'm a 10 now and it's definitely the length of the foot as my width has not changed but I'm a barefoot person so they do tend to spread from what I hear. Nancy:smile:

I had a meltdown at the gym early this morning (Saturday). I'm on the treadmill listening to music and all of a sudden I started thinking about the surgery on Tuesday and I got so emotional and started crying on the treadmill. I immediately left the gym, drove across the street to this restaurant, ordered a coffee with sweet n low, a cup of grits, 1 bacon and english muffins and I ate it all. Then I went to the grocery store to finish buying all the foods I need for after I come home from the hospital and the liquids I need for the day before surgery. My 10 day pre-op diet consists of 2 Protein shakes, 2 fruits, tons of Water and 2 healthy choice/smart ones/weight watcher meals per day. I hope I didnt mess myself up by eating that piece of bacon and the english muffins. I stopped crying once I ate that food. I wonder why did that happen to me like that. It happened so suddenly.

Just needed to quote this. In the IP you tell us you can't afford to go. Yet later you tell is you can afford to go, in fact you tell us you save 10% of whatever it is you earn but you chose not to use it for your health care. Hmm. Interesting. So which is it? Can you, or can you not afford healthcare? Did you lie to us in the OP? or did you lie to us in you later post? Very interesting response. By the way, your weird and wonderful perspective on my country is very entertaining, albeit completely wrong. How many times have you visited? I have visited the US on numerous occasions along with many countries on most continents. Your observations seem to based on hastily researched google study as opposed to anything of merit of value. I say this because they are again wrong. So very, very wrong. There is actually a lot about the US to love. A lot I love on my biannual visits there. But your blinkered vision on healthcare and sociology are not one of those things.

I felt amazing 10 weeks after surgery! You should he just fine. Just continue to follow your doctors orders and by week 10 you should be ready for your trip.

I felt great 10 weeks post-surgery. I'm sure you'll be fine. Happy travels.

I've started my pre-surgery diet a wee bit early. I'm supposed to start it 3 weeks prior, but I've started it about 6 weeks early. I've lost 12 pounds so far and I feel great! I'm a bit hungry, but that's okay. Nothing tastes as good as thin feels, right?! My pre-surgery diet, from my nutritionist, is a Slim Fast shake for breakfast, a Lean Cuisine for lunch and a Lean Cuisine for dinner (or variations on that theme). I can have Jell-O pudding (low/no sugar) and low-fat yogurt as a snack. Plus I have a no sugar fruit popsicle for dessert. I'm drinking a TON of water and Crystal Light Iced Tea every day. I'm constantly in the bathroom, but that's okay. I get a lot of exercise getting up from my desk and walking down the hall. I'm eating apples and bananas too and every now and then I eat a salad (with regular dressing - gasp/horror!). I can't go completely off the deep end! LOL Basically, I've stopped drinking diet soda and eating out. I'm limiting my carbs (no bread, rice, potatoes, tortilla's) and cheese intake (sigh - I miss cheese). My goal is to lose 10-15 pounds before my May 13th surgery (found out today at my pre-anestesia appointment that my surgery was bumped up by two days! I'm at 300 now (ugh), but the realization that soon I'll have a "2" as my starting number of my weight has me giddy. The other realization is that I'll never, ever be over 300 lbs again. Oh my god...I could cry. I am so happy.

Can you switch from Effexor to a different anti-depressant? I was on Effexor for awhile and hated it! I gained weight and suffered from such serious constipation that I usually felt like I was giving birth whenever I was finally able to deliver. And oh, the pain! Now, I am one of those people who never, ever gets constipated, not even when I am on major pain meds. And my normally good blood pressure shot up. I had to take meds for that. I suffer from major depression. I am now on a cocktail of meds and am doing well without the horrid side effects of Effexor. These are as follows: Wellbutrin, Selexa, Topomax. My blood pressure is now fine again, I am no longer taking meds for this, and I can poop regularly and without pain. And even though my band has been defilled since last August I am still wearing size 10 jeans. Sorry about all the poop info but it came to be a real obsession of mine while I was on Effexor.

After struggling and yoyo dieting for years, I finally decided to get the sleeve. I thoroughly researched the surgery and my surgeon before doing it and I am SO glad I did! I can't believe the energy I have now! I think getting your mind prepared is most important! I think that if I wouldn't have made sure that I really committed to changing my lifestyle, I wouldn't have been so successful so far! For those of you that decide on this surgery, you must be compliant or you just won't see the results! Rule of thumb...don't try to eat bad foods. Just assume you can't and DON'T!

Thanks Zeus. I have actually tried to cut back on the almonds lately but I have been eating the wasabi & soy flavor by Blue Diamond. They have 170 cal per 28 nuts. Not sure of the fat but I will def switch to raw from now on. Being stuck at 163 for 2 months is disheartening because I have been doing all the right things and im less than 10 lbs from goal. Im just getting scared that I'm going to gain all my weight back. This journey us just an emotional roller coaster! Lol!

Wow 20 lbs! My doctor gave me a limit of 10 lbs for the first 6 weeks. I would call your doctor since you are having new pain. They may be able to just ease your mind

I view my lap band as a little cop in my tummy. She stops me when I eat too fast, forces me to slow down, and firmly tells me "That's enough" when I'm full. If I don't listen to her, there are unpleasant consequences. Whereas before, I was a fast eater and it takes a good 20 minutes for the brain to register satiety. So I would eat a lot, very fast, and overfill my stomach. I've always been fine with eating the "right" foods - my problem was volume. The band prevents ~90% of my overeating. The other 10% consists of pure sweets and high-calorie liquids which I find easy enough to avoid so it's been working well for me.

Like Anwyn said, the trapped burp sensation is way different than the restriction. When I need to burp, I get a lot of annoying gurgles (gross) and bubbles. Sometimes if I stop eating for about 5-10 minutes, I'll suddenly hear/feel a bubble going down from my pouch (the gas moving through) and then I'll feel relief. And like I said, if I burp myself (by gagging), I feel relief. There are times where I don't get this, and once my restriction hits, I notice a very different feeling in my stomach, and I feel full and don't want to eat any more, and remain full for hours. I've tried a lot of different things, and the only thing that works is gagging myself. I've tried taking really tiny bites, twisting, turning walking around, chewing everything super super thouroughly... Oh well.

With my recent loss of 98 pounds, nothing fits me anymore - hooray, this is a good thing! So I went out and bought all new clothes, 10 sizes smaller in pants and dresses. I am down to a medium-large top. So my husband and I went out shopping, and the first place I went to was the plus-size department -that is where I went for so many years, so naturally I went there. So I began to take clothes off the rack and hold them up to me - and I had this weird expression on my face. My husband asked what's wrong? With a tear running down my cheek, I said everything is too big here! When I held the clothes up to me, I was lost behind them - you could not see me! My husband said you are in the plus sizes - this is not your department any more. So I went over to the regular size department and I pulled out a size 14 pants and a medium top and went to the dressing room to try them on. My husband and everyone around the dressing room heard this loud thump - that was me falling against the wall with sheer amazement about what I saw in the mirror. "Is that really me?" I walked out of the dressing room parading my new look to my husband, who was smiling and laughing and said "way to go!" I left the store with my new clothes, and for several hours I was smiling in disbelief that I was in a size 14. Yesterday, I decided it was time for a new look - a makeover to go with my new body, so I went to the hairdresser. I had my hair lightened - I am now a light auburn - and I had a major cut and style. I wanted my hair cut to frame my face instead of hiding it. I had my eyebrows shaped and lightened. I wore no makeup to the hairdresser so it would not run from the heat and the hair dye. So when I first sat down in the chair, my face looked a little drawn and tired looking. When I was finished with my makeover, It had taken at least 10 years off of my face - my face had a more perky look -I could not stop looking at myself - LOL! My husband told me I look like a million dollars! For those of you don't think the LAP-BAND works - think again! For those of you who had LAP-BAND surgery and are at a plateau and are not seeing the scale move much lately - hang in there! Yes there where times when I felt that I could not do this, or looking at all the total weight I needed to lose. And even seeing the scale stop moving for a while. I just hung in there and never gave up hope. So this is why I say- please hang in there.. So this makeover for me has done wonders - I'm feeling better and looking better. Even other people can see the difference in the way I walk and in the way I interact with others - its a brand new me! I'm getting a lot more stares now - but in a good way. No longer do they say, "look at the fat girl" or "she has a pretty face"- and we all know what that means LOL. I still have 30 pounds to go to reach my goal weight, and I'm sure I'll do that by October 26 - which is one year in.:smile2: CHECK OUT MY BLOG FOR MORE ABOUT MY JOURNEY. http://life-after-lap-band.blogspot.com/

I know that no one will believe this but .............. My Realize band has to be totally replaced! I went to see Dr. Feiz yesterday for my first real fill after reconnection of my port (6-19-09) and low and behold....it still will not fill. I also had a very large hematoma which had to be drained but I was told these are normal. There is a call into the Realize Representative to find out if this has ever happened before, it kinda looks like I have a faulty Band. There is still a leak somewhere in the line, but not knowing where, Dr. Feiz has pretty much decided to removed this band and put in a brand spanking new one! Yippy! The poor Dr. is so frustrated at this point. Me, I am not sure what I am! Here I go again 3 surgeries in less then 4 months. This one I am not really looking forward to because it will be a little bit bigger then the original surgery (3-26-09) by that I mean the old band has to be taken out and the new one put in, it will take a little more time I am sure. I am still loosing weight but not much. I guess we could say then that I have never really had a good adjustment or fill. They last only a couple of days then not much restriction after that. I am amazed though that thru all of this 43 pounds are gone. This proves that without any restriction the band still helps to lose weight! This is very good! Surgery could be tomorrow, Friday, or it will have to wait until next Friday. I will keep my Blog posted. If anyone has had this same thing happen please get in touch with me. I am not real sure as to what to do about the cost of all of this! I do not know if the manufacturer of the Realize Band should have to pay for all my extra surgeries. Please give me your thoughts. Thanks, Cheryl

Hello all! My lunch date went great. Very cool Parents, I kept my meal simple and had a quiche with Soup... Before I started my liquid diet I was around 275... This morning I was 268.8. Sugar cravings still hit. I ate 10 smarties (Canadian) worth 50 calories today . I am only human! At least it wasn't an entire box right? I'm still feeling pretty tired... Hoping this passes soon and energy starts increasing again. How's everyone else doing this week?

I had my surgery January 9th and i am having a difficult time.i am randomly nauseous, I haven’t reached my fluid requirements, I can only mussel through 2 protein shakes,my vitamins make me cry 10 mins after I take them I feel like vomiting, I can’t even walk around Walmart without getting tired .is this normal? What do I do?

I am one week away also. My surgery is 10/27/2009. I start the liquids today for one week. My wife and I go for nutrition counseling today. I am very anxious to get going. Today's weight: 292 Goal weight: 155 Wish me luck! Dave0453

Jamie - I will be banded the same day 10/26 - less than a week away. The liquid diet is SOOOOO hard, my stomach is constantly all gurggly ughh. I am freaking out a bit about being put under anesthesia - and not waking up ever again.... those are my most irrational fears. But can't wait to start this journey and know that it's a permanent not temporary solution. Good luck next week... Keep me posted on how you are doing! Pam

I am leaving tomorrow for TJ. I fly into San Deigo in the evening and I will get to the hotel late. I know there are lots of people that would like more feedback on Dr. Lopez, so when I get back I will post a detailed account of my surgery with Dr. Lopez. I would have liked more feedback when I was doing my research. (But I didn't find any negative). I also confirmed that he was a Lic. Surgeon in Mexico. I'm on day two of his required pre op fast and doing well. Yesterday was challenging. I think tomorrow I will be too busy and nervous to care about food! I also did 10 days of a pre op diet and so far I am down 9 pounds! Yay! I'm excited, I'm nervous, I'm second guessing myself but I am sure I need to do this!

I do still buy certain thing’s although not often. Some people do find them handy for work lunches. The creamy chicken pasta is pretty good. I actually had it on purée just cooked very soft since it’s easy to chew to purée. I couldn’t tolerate normal purée foods. . I like their protein pancakes. I did try some of their protein chips. As I’m supposed to be doing more normal foods. I had half a small bag with two soft boiled eggs. As you advance you can get more creative with your work lunches. in the early stages try things like chia pudding I bought their protein mashed potato mix and I make that sometimes with a small veggie burger. Ie. Boca turky burger 2.5 oz 70 calories, 11 grams protein. I liked it with dr Praeger’s black bean chipotle pollock burger, 2.5 oz 90 calories 10 grams protein but my store stopped selling them. It took me longer than most to eat normal foods. I’m still eating fairly soft foods. my head is tired. But I’m sure there’s lots of ideas. Some people prepare their own meals fresh. I don’t have energy for it. I do a mix of buying a few things from BariatricPal, I buy things like veggie burgers, veggie sausage, if they come in small portion right calories, Egglands Best eggs, plain Greek yogurt or TwoGood yogurt, I mix PEScience select protein powder in yogurt. That helped a lot during purée. As did good culture cottage cheese cups. I admit I treat myself to a little land o lakes whipped topping (sugar free) on my yogurt. and evening coffee. BariatricPal does have protein coffee with vitamins and protein hot cocoa with marshmallows that’s pretty decent. i love using ripple milk unsweetened plain , they also have unsweetened vanilla. It’s plant protein. sorry for rambling.