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Agree with @Bufflehead. Listen to your medical team. At this point you should be moving around. Sounds like you may be overdoing it a bit, but if you feel fine then definitely take rest breaks. I wasn't allowed to bend down until 2 weeks out. Just stroll around to get moving and add a bit more time when you feel ready. You are still healing at this point and you need the rest also to heal. Good luck!!

Sleeve Gastrectomy is an awesome “tool” that has helped me lose weight and not starve!!! I’m an overwater as well but having the Sleeve prevents me from doing that because 1. The hormone Ghrelin that makes you hungry doesn’t exist or is greatly subdued due to a smaller stomach pouch. 2. If you try to eat more than 2-3 ounces of food at a meal you will be extremely uncomfortable! Like pain! 3. You can only hold small meals but you eat 3-4 so you graze and don’t get hungry at all. Remember though, this is a life style change! If you don’t have the desire to make changes necessary to be healthy and at a healthy weight, you won’t be successful and can get heavy again.

I was banded on Jan. 11th and I'm wondering how everyone else is doing. I have had one fill since surgery and had to have half of it taken out because it was too much. I have an appt. for June 1st for another fill. I'm bummed because I seem to be at a plateau since my fill. I do water aerobics 5 days a week and have added strength training 2 days a week and still nothing happening on the scale. Other than a tiny piece of birthday cake and some potato salad on Easter I have been doing high protein low carb. I can eat more than I did when I was first banded but I have not been eating huge amounts or anything like that. I stopped the protein shakes for a week and it didn't make a difference so I added them back in as they are my breakfast before going to the Y. I've decided to try doing the liquid diet for a week to see if that helps. If anyone has any advice or ideas PLEASE pass them on to me.

Totally agree ... well, maybe not the exploding part! But, you do need to give your tummy time to heal. This past Sunday (2 days prior to 3 months) I had my first Pepsi Max. It took 4 hours to finish, but it was soooooo delicious. :redface1: Prior to that time, I had a few sips here & there, but it didn't taste that good to me. Just give it time.

Thabk you for the replies. It really makes a diff talking to others. I think i will only weigh once a week and start that sunday!

One question I have is did you doctor give you requirements for the Protein shakes? Are you making your own or buying ready to drink? The whey isolate powder that I use ranges from 110-120 cal, 2-3 g cabs, 24-28 g Protein, 1-2 g fat. Some protein powers have a lot more cal and or fat for the same amount of protein. Depending on your powder if you make the shake with milk the calories can vary a great deal. I would look for shakes made with milk to be at around 200 cal. I also use Premier ready to drink which is 160 cal for 30 g of protein. Also the thicker Soups are they a low cal/fat variety? Yes this period is largely about healing, but eating cream based soups are going to be high in calories. I personaly liked tomato, or sweet red pepper puree soups; to which I would add Mrs Dash non salt flavorings (add before heating so the spices reconstitute).

So so far I've lost 27kg since may 15th and dr said I am behind! I watch what I eat, have proton shakes in the am. An had salad afternoon, fruit for snacks and water no juice or pop ever! And was in a stall for awhile.

That would be almost 60 lbs in 3 months. That does not seem behind to me. I don't think I will be down 60 lbs in 3 months.

I'm 3 weeks post-op sleeve .. I had to have my gallbladder removed Friday...now I can't eat anything with out getting acid reflux. Iv never had this problem. But I get it with anything I drink or eat. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated

Anyone drinking Isopure protein drinks from GNC and experiencing a dry / cotton mouth feel afterwards. Been drinking them for three weeks ( about one a day ) and get funny feel in my mouth- like the enamel on my teeth are eating away.

You don't say how far out you are that you are only consuming 600 calories. If you are in the fist couple of months that is totally normal and the only way you will get your calories in. If you are past 3 months and only getting in 600 calories, that is not enough. As far as the eating small meals all day long. . .I am still doing that at almost 5 months out to get in the 1200 calories I need to have.

Hello~ My surgery is on July 8th also, my doctor told me to start a liquid diet on the 1st, so I will be on it for 1 week before the surgery. I am able to drink protein shakes, water, broth, the liquid from soups, & juice. I see your from Northridge, I live in Ventura & will have my surgery done in Huntington Beach. Good luck with your surgery!

That's great! I found the first 2-4 days to be so difficult. I was plagued with headaches on those first few days. If you are doing well so far, it will only get easier! By the end of the two weeks, I was feeling great. Good luck to you! What an exciting time. So much to look forward to!

The last thing I needed to get my surgery date was a CPAP machine. I decided to go through the VA for this, because they appeared to be pricy. They scheduled me an appointment after I sent my primary physician the results of my at home sleep study conducted through SNAP diagnostic. I paid $375 for the sleep study test which was done over the course of three nights. The VA scheduled me an appointment date that I thought was fairly far out, when I asked about getting an appointment sooner, they advised I had to have a physician appointment in order to receive the equipment. So, I am excited about getting this last little bit done, but I can wait. I get to my appointment and the guy in front of me is asleep, in a wheel chair, and on oxygen. I go to the counter and make sure he is checked in before I check in. As I am waiting in the lobby I witness every other person checking in do the same thing I did. I am feeling good about people and my fellow vets taking care of each other. The nurse (LVN) calls me back for vitals and the standard questions start. I interrupt her and ask, do you really have to ask the same questions for every single visit? She said they have to because so many vets commit suicide. So I answer all her questions without her asking them. No, I am not depressed, suicidal, having trouble at home, in an abusive relationship, or homeless. Next stop Doctor right? Nope, it is another nurse (I think nurse practitioner, but the fine print was too small to read). He spends 10 minutes advising me why SNAP Diagnostics isn't really very good and that their algorithm for determining pressure is outdated. Why they are going to go ahead and provide a VA CPAP even though the VA in-house sleep study is so much better. He then tells me how dangerous it was for my oxygen to go down to 77% for 20 minutes and how I stopped breathing 22 times. I am thinking, I read the report before I gave it to you, I want the machine, you don't have to talk me into it. He then describes how the new machines works and it is pretty cool, they calibrate automatically based on your breathing. Then I am thinking why did you spend all that time telling me about the math problem SNAP uses to calibrate pressure if the machine is going to do it automatically anyway. Then he says, we will see you back in a month or so to get you fitted for your CPAP. Wait, what about my dangerously low oxygen? I really wanted to go off, but instead stated, I thought the reason I had to wait so long was for a physician appointment in order to receive a CPAP. He then advised that this is my physician appointment. I really don't care if they count a nurse practitioner appointment as a physician appointment, but I am thinking to myself I can read and your badge and it does not say Doctor, so someone is lying to me. But alas, I know if I don't stay calm I will not achieve my objectives. So, I explain to him that I will have to pay out of pocket again to re-do labs if I do not receive this CPAP machine. I also tell him that I know I can buy one on amazon or go through the medical supply store that SNAP recommended. He starts telling me why those are both bad ideas and I tell him I have to do what I have to do. He then says he will see if he can get them to double book so I can see the Doctor today. Then he has the gall to say that my appointment will cause other 100% disabled and service connected vets to have to wait longer. So, I sit back out in the lobby feeling a little guilty, when I get called back sooner than expected by a tech who fits me for the machine and goes over all the instructions in less than ten minutes. She was super nice and wished me luck on my surgery. I thanked her for squeezing me in and told her how much money she saved me. So, I will have my surgery date by next week. Since I am not officially on a pre-op diet I am going to have a 97 calorie shot of vodka later to celebrate not losing my sh** at the VA.

Well I went for surger on the 30th of May. I had some complications, ended up having to be an open surgery. I have been on a liquid diet, clear fluids for a month, and then mushies for a week. Now that I am back on full foods I have changed my lifestyle. It is really crazy, we are being so much more concious of what we eat and what we cook and what we keep in our house. It has been a great transformation for me and I see this working for me in the long term. So to keep me accountable I started a food diary!!! That was so great to read, because it helps me so much, and keeps me accountable for what I eat. I actually enjoy writing down what I eat because it isn't crap anymore. And I am so exctied to look back day to day what I ate. Also because I am a nurse and work night shifts and day shifts it was really important to me to be able to see what I eat during these days. I mean nights at work, I used to binge eat because I was bored and thought I was hungry. Now seeing how little I eat or the healthy things I choose make me so happy. It also works as a great incentive. I am going away in September and will be on a beach if only for a few days, but I am gonna enjoy some tasty sea food and maybe dessert! Best thing I ever did. Thanks for posting about it. PS mine is a self made scrap paper pieces stapled togther. It looks ratehr sad but does the job! And I always right down right after I eat! Thanks again!!

That's true I remember telling my husband a few weeks before surgery "I shouldn't be in too much pain I'll probably be back to my old self in no time" I ended up being super sick and in pain. Not intolerable pain so I won't complain! I can't wait for next year at this time!! Thank you everyone for your responses.

Starting phase two of liquid diet. I get to eat tomato soup and other cream soups today. I found butternut squash soup, low sodium tomato, and I made some thinned out pureed pinto beans, too. I can barely eat a cup of thinned out soup and I am full which I wasn't really expecting. I figured it would go right through. Next week: cream of wheat and soft scrambled eggs!

I read up on the raynauds disease. I'm seeing a rheumatologist in 3 days about it. While I was reading they were saying something about lupus as well.

Me too. I've been thinking about mine on December 4th. Plus I have a 3 hour or so drive on the way home and that scares me.

I'm curious if you guys have all been tracking your weight weekly since your surgery. I've been keeping a spreadsheet where I track my weight every Monday morning (my surgery was on a Monday) and I find it fascinating to see the differences in how much weight I've lost each week, even though I'm only 4 weeks out so far. I would LOVE to see some of your stats if you are willing to share them so I can see how much variance there is in the week-to-week losses further out from surgery than I am. So, if you have been tracking your weight weekly, please post all the weekly stats here! Here's mine so far: Surgery: 235.6 Week 1: 228.6 (-7.0) Week 2: 228.2 (-0.4) Week 3: 224.4 (-3.8) Week 4: 221.8 (-2.6) Looking forward to seeing yours!

It really depends on your doctor's restrictions. At two weeks, I was on soft Proteins only. I would not likely have had any difficulty with "regular" foods, in terms of getting stuck---but they were completely contrary to my doctor's plan. There are as many postop eating plans, it seems, as there are doctors/nutritionists. I'd give your doctor a call to see what his/her postop "rules" are. It's great that you're planning ahead--and that the venue seems very receptive to meeting your needs! (It might be a good idea to pack a pouch of Inspire Protein powder or something similar; I suggest Inspire not only because it tastes better than anything I've tried, but also because (a) it packs easily, and (:thumbup: it dissolves easily in just 4 oz. water---you won't need a blender or shaker cup, or anything special at all.)

Seven weeks until my surgery...so may questions. I enjoy a glass of wine occasionally, say 1 or 2 glasses a month. Is drinking alcohol any different post banding?:confused:

Hey how are you i know how you feel with this process it has been a hard one for me also since i am part of a study and i was also 17 ...there was back and forth to the doctors office for a year i started in jan 08 they said i had to start a six month diet also with that i thought taking blood and doing all theses other things i would be able to get my lap band after six months. When the six months where over my doctor said oh you need a sleep study and after that oh you this oh you need that after all of that i finally got my day (apr 15) after a yr and 4 mons my insurance approved it with in two weeks because i had everything at once so with that i know how you feel and it can be hard sometime but just keep hope alive

That sounds almost exactly where I am. I can't drink very quickly or I get that "ball in the throat" thing. I can only eat between 3-5 bites of anything before I have to walk away (and in the morning it's only 1-2 bites). I know I'm on the edge of being too full, but I personally like it that way. I can't eat anything, but then, to me, that was kind of the point :-) But, I know that many people would not like it. I know that this fill is exactly where I want to be. I'm not going to die of hunger, I can drink what I need to, and I'm losing weight. It's not always fun, but very effective. I would suggest you decide what the maximum is that you can live with and try to find that balance. If you can't live with this fill, then get a slight unfill. But, if you can, then do it an enjoy the ride, however bumpy it may be :-)