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So how are you planning on dealing with all of the food related temptations of Thanksgiving? I'm planning on being strict about eating the right portion sizes and focusing on protein the same as ever... and letting other stuff (total calories, carbs, etc.) slide. I figure I'm entitled to a little joy for Thanksgiving, but if I eat a light breakfast and lunch and fill my plate mostly with protein, small portions of carb and calorie heavy stuff for one meal won't kill me. I did ask my family to make fewer side dishes than usual this year, so that I won't feel the need to try as many things. And we're going to roll with just one dessert. I don't need four pies and cakes hanging out in the fridge all week taunting me. I'll have a small bit of the one dessert, but no other sweets. What are you planning?

:thumbup:Well, a week has now passed since my first appointment with Dr. Nazarian. Nicole has been great with information and keeping in touch with me. I have spoken to the Nutritionist, she was really great, and I have made my appointment for my visit for the Endoscopy for next week. As soon as I am able to have the Endoscopy and it shows normal I will be ready for surgery. I am having a hard time sleeping at night wondering if I am making the right decision. The cost involved is a lot but I do realize that my health and welfare is worth more. I almost fell out of my chair when I heard about the cost with insurance. I new that the doctor I chose was a non participating doc so I knew then that Blue Cross would only go 50%. Not bad but....... $7,500.00 is going to be the total cost which will include 5 or more fills. I was hoping for around $4,000.00 , Oh Well! My DH is great and he said that if I really want to do this we will find a way to pay for it. It sure is great to have the support! Looks like I will be banded the end of February or the first of March! I will be glad to have it done. I have a question that keeps going around and around in my mind: Is this just another one of my crazy ideas for loosing weight that will work for awhile and then Stop! Then I will be chubby again! I guess when you have tried all of the FADS for so many years this is a normal way to think! I just keep saying to myself, "Self, I Can Do This! I Can Be Thin Again and Stay That Way!" This will be a good thing. Cheryl :smile:

Congrats on your recent surgery. It is completely normal to feel hungry and want to "pig" out at this stage. Your stomach is healing and is not as swollen as it was in the beginning. Remember, you are in the beginning stages which are about healing the stomach and ensuring band placement. You have yet to get a fill and be restricted. You felt restricted before cause of the swelling and irritation to the stomach due to the surgery. Even though I don't think what you ate is considered pigging out - you must be careful not to overeat and expand your pouch at this point. You need the first 6 weeks to allow the stomach to heal and allow the band's placement site to heal too. Overeating can stretch the pouch and cause less restriction for you later on. If I recall correctly, you should be eating 2-4 oz per meal - try your hardest to stick to that. If you continued to feel hungry - wait as long as you can and then eat something like a sugar free jello, yogurt, a full liquid so it will go thru the band and not stretch it. Don't worry - you aren't alone in this stage. It is hard and you are doing fine. Do your best, that's all we can do. Good luck.:mad2:

I think I would've been okay by myself after leaving the hospital as long as I had everything I needed (i.e. medications, food, water, vitamins). I had my plenty of pain and kept taking pain meds but was able to get up, move around the house, go up and down stairs, prepare my meals, and do what I needed to do in between resting. I couldn't return to work for four weeks due to lifting restrictions. If you have a sedentary job (desk), you can probably return sooner but my job is physical.

okie dokie, so i keep reminding myself it is early and only day 2 after banding, i don't know what i was expecting... i am struggling to keep myself hydrated and moving, i wan't expecting all the soreness everywhere but my incision sites, my muscles hurt so bad in my legs and neck. i don't know how i can eat all the fluids and get the protein i need. and then i am swollen and miserable. GOD I pray i have done the right thing here, I don't know any details and things werent really explained other than the general everything went fine, and i call tomorrow for my first three week appointment and don't even know what he will do, I am reminding myself one moment at a time and each moment counts.:thumbup:

omg i have lost 8 lbs so far post op too. and the cooking thing really isn't bothering me yet...this week i have made zucchini breads and pumpkin sqares for friends and family. i think i will always question myself, though. i will look forward to the aching pain to go away then. thank u for the encouragement and i have thanked GOD for so many things in the last few months HE is probably tired of hearing frm me. i am grateful for u not making feel so crazy!!!! best to ya

Wow is this site woefully inadequate in explaining what all those settings on this blog are. I hope I got them right. I suppose I could open the help section, but like most things, I am too impatient to read instructions. Anyway to the actual blogging now. I don't know if I'll keep this up. It is my first attempt at blogging. I've resisted this before even though I am a writer bu trade. Still I am hopeful that the seriousness of this endeavor will drive me to write about it. I am still in the early stages of getting approval for the lap band operation. I am going to Cedars Sinai by the way. I trust the institution and besides, that is where I have always gone thorughout my various lives. I am still uncertain if I am giong through with this. I mean I am here because I lost the control I used to have over food. In years before I was able to diet down to either my goal weight or in the neighborhood. Why the change? I suppose it is the new level of stress in my life (which I will undoubtedly get to writing about at some point). Anyway I am over 300 pounds now and am just appalled at myself. I mean how did I get this far? It seems to have snuck up on me, despite knowing that I didn't just magically get here. My goal weight? 165. I am practically twice my proper size. I absolutely hate being this big. Not for the embarrassing appearance (although that is a big concern to me), but for the difficulty it imposes on simple tasks, simple moving around. When did just tying shoes become a challenge? And ultimately I am driven by health matters. I have sleep apnea (complex, not just obstructive so it is a problem that might not go away). I have a bad back (the stenosis is genetic however - hence the laminectomy was worsened by the weight but would have existed otherwise). I have high blood pressure. All things that are traditional for the over-weight. No not overweight, the morbidly obese. I like that term because it is uncomfortable to say and I want that discomfort. It will help drive me to action. So here I am waiting to do the next steps, which include a visit with a nutritionist and then a psychiatrist. I will have to admit to some "last meal" consciousness. I do think about the things I won't be able to eat or behaviors I will be giving up and want to indulge in them one last time. Of course I am not because I don't want to shoot up in weight now. I find that even though I am taking in fewer calories now, I am still exhibiting poor habits. Not eating every three hours. Not balancing the protein and fat and carbs. That will be a challenge for me becuase I just want to eat without a great deal of thinking. I do well with a very restricted menu, so as to not be faced with too many choices. One success of the past was a South Beach diet menu. I ate the same thing every day for six months. I liked the menu and was never really unhappy with eating it. I have no idea why I don't just do that again with a greater emphasis on staying the course once I've lost the weight. Inevitably I always stop and cave under the pressure of my world. I am an emotional and stress eater. My thing is volume though and so this is why I have high hopes for the band. Ok I am bored now so first entry over. I plan to be back but we'll see.

Am waiting for surg consult too. Had the psych consult already and am gathering medical records. I want to have everything ready when I see the surgeon. Three weeks until my appt. Feels like it might as well be three months, or three years. My BMI is 40 and I have no co-morbids so for the first time in my life I'm not trying to lose weight, but I feel so uncomfortable. Counting the days and hoping insurance will approve....

I'm very curious about this too. I've been overweight my whole life, so I'm scared it's been stretched so long that it won't want to go back!! I was banded on 4/14/11 and have lost 63 lbs so far (started at 293, currently 230). My arms seem to be a problem already, especially when I fully extend them out, by my armpit. I workout 5-6 times per week and I make sure that I do my arm exercises to help.

Okay. About a month ago, I wrote on here how I was having a slight problem with my band. One morning about a month ago, I woke up and everything I ate or drank hurt going down so I knew something was wrong. My doctor came in and let all my Fluid out. The following week I went for a fill under fluro for him to check out my band. He said I had a prolapse like mushroom above my band from being too tight for so long. He put a little fluid back in that day, and told me to take it easy and to come back in a few weeks. I went back last week, and he put another cc in for a total of around 3.8 cc total. I had gained 4 lbs. in that 3-4 week period in between the fluro and the fill the other day. He told me to come back as needed. I asked him about my band, and he said something about it changed shape, and that we hope it goes back to the original shape or something like that so that we don't have problems down the road and have to have it fixed. I haven't been in pain or anything since that initial problem back over a month ago, and he asked me if I had threw up any which I haven't. I do get a little sharp pain every once in awhile right under my sternum which is where it hurt initially (I guess that it is still a little swollen or something?). I am able to eat A LOT more than what I could before I had this problem. I just feel so nasty because I am eating more because I have no restriction, and I'm feeling so fat even though I only weigh 170. My question is I know I will need another fill because of the amount of food I am eating and how it seems like I'm always searching for food. Will getting more fills and getting to restriction going to hurt my band further or make my slight prolapse worse? Is there a risk in getting tighter with this problem? I worked to lose these 90+ pounds and reaching my goal before I had this problem occur, and now I am worrying about gaining more weight, which I thought I would never have to worry about after I had surgery. I was feeling so good, and I was starting to feel good about myself, and now I just feel bad because I can eat more. Any suggestions? It seems like bandster hell all over again, even though it wasn't bad for me the first go around. This time it is worse. I'm just worried that I will never get back to where I was.

I'm getting banded on May 6th. I had asked if I could work from home the following week but the doctor's assistant said it wasn't a good idea to sit for too long so I will be returning to work on the 18th. Thankfully I have short term disability that will cover my time off. Good Luck to everyone!

It's the infamous Week 3/Week 4 stall that everyone gets. Your body is adjusting from surgery to liquids to soft mushy foods. Everybody gets it. No worries, the scale will start moving again in no time.

Six weeks post op and was told yesterday that my gallbladder has to be removed now. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Wondering out loud if anyone ever tried baby food prunes? I know I am cleared for stage 1 baby food in stage three (home from hospital til two weeks) , ot sure what stage prunes are.... Sent from my SM-G900V using the BariatricPal App

I have 1/2 slice of rye toast once a week or so. No problems with it. I couldn't eat more than that, honestly. Haven't had a problem with tortillas. Am now trying to use low-carb high fiber tortillas - I don't eat them very often. Starches fill me up too much to eat my protein. Oddly enough, I don't crave bread and starches any longer, either.

It has happened all so very fast... it was only a couple of weeks ago that my wife and I attended the informational seminiar. We discovered that we were screwed by an exclusion on our insurance that will not cover any claim that has, quite literally, ANY discussion with any health care professional ANYTHING weight related, (I had to pay out of pocket for an appt for a cracked foot becuase I casually mentioned to the doc I was using SlimFast to try to loose weight so that my feet would hurt less). That wasnt about to stop us. We cleaned out our 401K and took a line of credit, and I am having my first appt with the surgeon today. Tomorrow, we have the first appt with the dietician. I woke up today with a high anxiety. It was, however, quickly over powered with a strong sence of gratitude.. ... gratitude... The mountain that proverbially stands before me is the "new me". It's cool wind that cools and refreshes me that comes down into the valley I stand is fragrent and sweet... it is the breath and words I speak in the future as to the "well done" for walking with the courage necessary to navigate a road with a measure of hope, a measure of gratitude, and a measure of child like innocence. How scary was the anticipation of your first visit, and how do you feel afterward?

That I can finally eat and tolerate protein bars! I was gagging trying to get the protein shakes/drinks down. I am 4 weeks 1 day out and I am just now starting to feel 'normal' again. Well, me new normal! Thank you to everyone on this forum for all of your support. I could never have done this without you all!

I'm glad you asked that I've been wondering that for weeks. I don't take in that much protein a day. Do you know how much we should be taking in a day?

I am scheduled for banding on Tuesday (4/29/08) and have been able to go off both my metformin and my blood pressure medications just from the weight I have lost on the five week long pre-surgery diet. I'm amazed. I've lost 21 pounds since March 18. I went off the metformin and the bp drugs about a week ago and my blood pressure was 122/74 yesterday and my glucose levels have been averaging about 95 to 110. I had about 200 average on my glucose levels on 1000 mg of metformin prior to starting the pre-surgery diet. Never been on insulin. I feel really good. Hungry - but good!!

Wow, I totally just realized reading your post that I already reached my original goal weight of 155lbs (from 263). Nearing the end, I had extended it, but didn't really register the fact that when I started this journey, my goal was 155. Now my goal is like... 130. We'll see, lol! I weigh myself everyday. When I'm on an "off-time" and eating poorly, I may not. And yes, I have put weight back on.... since the beginning of the year, I put on 10lbs (stress from covering someone's maternity leave and doubling my responsibilities at work). In the past week, I've taken off 9lbs of that. I'll lose the next pound and then continue on with losing weight. I try to be better, become healthier, and lose more weight (even though people tell me I shouldn't).... but I feel good now. I hit a point where I became very confident and outgoing - I felt attractive (and boy has there been a response to that). Since I put on weight, I lost that a bit, and I'm trying to re-gain it. We always worry about those small little pounds and how quickly we want them gone, especially when you've reached or gotten close to your goal weight. The thing that always grounds me is that I still have the rest of my life to improve myself. I'm only 29 years old. In one month, I will have been banded 3 years. And in that time, I've lost 110lbs.... which is great and incredible! But if you were to break it down and figure out how much weekly weight loss I had.....less than a pound a week spread out. Sometimes it was more, sometimes less, sometimes none, and sometimes I gained. But in the end, I'm no longer overweight.

Hello fellow "newbee"....I have been banded for 10 days now. And I can relate to you as far as what to eat....dont be nervous about that because I was too before my surgery. And it just comes to you. The first 2 or 3 days your not gonna want anything to "eat". So I have been eating or drinking I should say.....chicken broth (i dont like beef broth) sugerfree popcicles,sugarfree jello,lots of water or crystal light ice tea. I have had some hot tea with a teaspoon of honey. That was the first week. And stating the second week, I added liquid yogart, protein shake made with skim milk, tomato soup made with skim milk, and I been having a teaspoon of peanut butter. Kinda get it nice and wet in your mouth, if you can imagine "chewing" creamy peanut butter. Then starting my third week which is this coming weds. I am going to add cottage cheese, apple sauce, cream of wheat, mashed sweet potatoes...muchie foods. Really thoughtm dont be nervous, it all comes to you. And dont be afraid at all. I was operated on weds oct 24th and I was home and walking my local Mall 4 days later on Sunday!!!!! Good luck, TONI

I take OTC Prilosec twice a day. I was only taking it once a day, but the 2nd week post op I was waking with Reflux and was told to take 2 a day for the first few months. Taking them twice a day works perfectly... I don't have any problems at all with heartburn or reflux now.

I was sleeved March 11. That first week and the 2nd I was having terrible headaches. They have subsided now in my 3rd week thank heavens! Sent from my SM-N950U using BariatricPal mobile app

Are you seeing a therapist? I highly recommend it if you aren't. Eating raw oysters less than 2 weeks out is dangerous and I would think that choice alone verges on self-harm. I had to have several months of sessions with my therapist to learn to deal with self-sabotaging behavior.

I'm trying to figure that out too, IndioGirl. I had 74 lbs to lose, have lost 45 and have 29 to go. GREAT JOB with your weight loss! Only 2 fills too--wow! I think I just had my 6th fill? Or maybe 7...I've had good restriction since my 3rd fill, but it loosens up as I lose weight. I've been getting the 0.2cc fills for months now! But I can't complain. This week I got size 10 jeans and I'm so stoked about it, I can't even tell you. But I also think that it will take me at least another year to lose these last 29 lbs, especially since I'm starting grad school next month. I'm trying to be cool about it...it's not a race, right? My surgeon is pleased with the rate of my weight loss, so I'm pretty cool with it now. Anyway, I don't know where I belong either...this group or the 50-100lb group. Hmmm....