Search the Community

I'm now experiencing heartburn with many foods at this heightened weight. I'm wondering if its a symptom of weight gain or age?

My doctor said the same thing, walking or stationary bicycle until six weeks, then I could do more strenuous work and weights.

Hi, I have found since the band i tend to retain fluid a lot more, i think its because the body gets less food for the muscles and likes to hold the fluid or something, lol i know im nuts! Thing is, if you dont drink enough water when you up the exercise your body retains what is has so your muscles dont cramp. I personally find it really hard to drink enough water during the day because my stomach is so small but i try for 3 litres when i do that kind of exercise. Also, depending on where you are in your weight loss you may be on a plateau. Have faith it will happen Bel

I'm a 34 year old female surgery set for June 7th as well. I'm also ready to get this over and done. My goal weight after surgery is 150 My starting weight was 280 my current weight is 255.6 Sent from my Z958 using the BariatricPal App

I have gone through the 6 month insurance requirements, nut visits, and psych eval. I am on day 5 of my pre op diet and have lost 6 pounds and cant help but think this is the dumbest thing I could do to myself. Surgery, out of work for at least 2 weeks and recovery dont seem worth it. Especially if I have to have my gallbladder removed or excess skin. I'm not going to do this! I can lose the weight on my own and keep it off. Whose to say people dont lose the weight and put it all back on eventually? There are not enough long term sleevers out there to know where we'll be in 10, 15, 20 years after our stomach is removed. I think this was a quick fix and I have realized that during this awful pre op diet. I will change my eating habits now as though it was after surgery. You can still make bad choices with the sleeve. Good luck everyone! I'm tired of reading about the leaks and life altering effects of this surgery.

So, I'm curious. After surgery, when do you generally see the weight loss start up? 1 week after? 2 weeks? I'm not sure if I'm not losing because of barely getting nutrients in, the fact that there's probably still IV fluids in me or if it's the swelling. All I'm eating are broth, Jello and popsicles. I did eat a little bit of Greek yogurt today and drank a little medicine cup full of a Protein shake.

It has been 11 months for me, sleeved 3/28/16 and on and off this site for a while now. Prior to surgery I had several bouts with eating disorders, I guess you can categorize me as EDNOS (for those of you who do not know, it means eating disorder not otherwise specified), but definitely more so on the bulimic side. Recently, I have been struggling again and it is definitely something that does not go away after surgery. You may think that just because you get sleeved, the food addiction will disappear, you will drop tons of weight and tadaa - you will be "fixed", but it really doesn't work like that. You are not on the road to recovery unless you work on your mind, as much as your body. I would definitely say therapy is beneficial, because I wouldn't want anyone to be where I am at right now! Good luck and take care.

^^What @DivaT said. I haven't started therapy, but I want to. I'm -57 lbs and at a solid 14/16, which is my normal "set" point for gain/loss. I find I'm doing some self-sabatoge habits and am thinking there's some mental block that is afraid to get lower than my "normal" goal weight in this range. I really do want to see how far I can take this sleeve journey and truly be small and healthy (want to lower my body fat percentage quite a bit,) but don't want to shoot myself the foot with bad habits halfway through my journey.

I honestly never used to understand my mother. She is a total gym rat. She goes at ike 5 am to the gym mostly every morning. I always thought she was crazy. Now I understand. While I don't go to they regular gym every day. I am addicted to kickboxing. I go 5 days a week. Occasionally doing more than one class or going twice a day. I just love it. If I have to miss it I feel awful. I am looking forward to going to Florida fro a Vet conference, but wondering how I'm going to get my workouts in while I'm away. I know I'll feel like crap if I don't and I just know I'll gain if I don't. I also go to the regular gym one day a week and go on the elliptical for an hour. I sometimes find myself really wanting to go on Tuesdays (my day off from working out) but I know you really need to have a off day from working out. In the past if I've felt kind of sick I'd take a day off, but found that I felt worse for doing so. Now I push through and go and I usually feel better after it. So I guess I'm a gym rat too now!

I will do that. I'm at work right now but I have a gazillion questions!!! You are so nice to respond! I think I may have written Troy, but all the "stuff" is going throught the Weight Loss Center in Royal Oak/Troy off Coolidge. I just had my first medical visit yesterday with Kerstyn Zalesin. She seemed nice just not a whole lot of personality going on there. I just gave blood, signed in blood and handed over a ton of money so far!!!

So Monday is my day!!! I am sooo excited but very nervous. I guess my major concern is complications. I have a 3 yr old son and he is my entire life. If anything happens I do not have family to take him in. I am doing this to get healthy so I can be there for him for years to come, It is exhausting just playing with him and I want to cherish these moments with him. But the thought of never seeing him again scares me. My mom died when I was 3 so it just brings up a lot of issues. My other concern is failing. I have about 150 lbs to lose. I have been very open about this surgery to just about anyone who will listen lol. I especially like to bring up tiffykins posts and replies when someone smarts off to me about surgery or just has a question. But I fail what will they think. I have never been small. When I was 14 I was in a size 22. I have gotten down to 160 when I was 16 but I never thought I was small. My goal is 150. I am big bones (yes I really am..not an excuse...I just know Ill never be 120 because Im not built like that) but I want try maybe 140. I would really love any advice people on here can give me in regards to losing and what worked for you. I know exercise is very important and will be doing as much of it as I can. I know that I can lose weight very quickly when motivated but I have always gained it back but can you tell me your weight loss stats at about say 5 months out? I have a wedding in June and I know that I most likely will not have lost all I have to lose but I hope to at least make a pretty good dent in it. I understand everyone is different but Im just curious.

I've suspected that my metabolic rate was lower than normal even preop from years of yo-yo dieting. Now that I'm fully recovered postop and cleared for all foods, I wanted to see what my RMR (resting metabolic rate) really is. UC Davis Sports Medicine Clinic is a little more than an hour from me. For $125 they tested my RMR and gave me a functional mobility assessment. The RMR test took about 25 minutes. I learned that my RMR is lower than normal. The exercise physiologist who did that test looked over my preop and postop intake (a period of about three months) and thinks that I've lowered it with too few calories over that period. That said, if I laid in bed all day and didn't even get up to go to the bathroom, I would still need 1290 calories a day. She suggested I not go below that figure, even though she knows I've been sleeved. If I want to get my RMR back to a more normal level, I need to increase both my calories and my activity together. This woman is a PhD in exercise physiology and works with world-class athletes as well as mere mortals like myself. I trust her advice. I say this because I got slammed a while back for following my surgeon's advice to get my intake up to 900-1200 calories each day for my "main" weight loss phase. Then I had a functional movement assessment by an MS in biomechanical engineering. It was fascinating. He had me perform seven compound movements, e.g., I was using both my upper and lower body in each of them. He measured my degree of movement, stability, and strength for each movement, and used computer software based on my results to generate an exercise prescription for a set of exercises I can to at home 4-5 times a week to improve each. I'm as out of shape as I've ever been, and have a nasty habit of doing too much, too soon, and setting myself back doing that. I now have an individualized prescription for my body and the way it works today, not anyone's guess at what will work. I plan to go back in six months or so and be tested again and see if I've raised my RMR. A super well-spent $125, as far as I'm concerned.

I don't know what the issue with it is, it was written in Comic sans size 12 there's no cursive so i'm re~posting it in Arial size 18. If you can't see I don't know what else to do no one else has said they cant read it. Sorry in advance if this is long and I ramble a bit, I just need to say something's out loud and I am hoping you all understand and don't mind me talkin' :} My surgery is scheduled for next Tuesday the 19th in Las Vegas with Dr. Thomas Umbach. I have been on my pre surgery diet for a few days now and am finally doing ok and not wanting to attack and steal crackers from a 2 y/o who was eating them as he passed me by on Sunday....lol I have been soooooooooo freaking emotional the past week, i'm sure part of it is the lack of food, caffeine, nerves about surgery and being that time of month didn't help. I have only had 1 surgery before and it was foot surgery so I know everything about this surgery is going to be very different. When I had that surgery I did not come out of the anesthesia very well made me very nauseous and I was looped out for several hours. I do have my fears that something will happen to me during surgery and I won't come thru it. But I trust my Dr and his experience with doing this surgery. I would be stupid to think there are no risks or complications (I usually see all the bad before the good has a chance to peek thru) I think my biggest fears are how will I do with the anesthesia & the "not knowing" what to expect (like how much pain I will be in, how hard it will be to drink, how i'm going to handle new things for the 1st time after my new tummy) I know I will lose weight and I have already made up my mind that I didn't get this big over night and i'm not going to lose it all over night either. My goal is to lose 10lbs a month and become a healthier better me, to get off the insulin, have less pain from my arthritis, fibro & nuropathy. I have never really been one to exercise but I have been walking as much as I can and I have already gotten things started with a personal trainer and a program once I am cleared for exercise and until i'm cleared I will continue to walk and get my stamina built up. I want to say THANK YOU to Alex Brecher for this website and for making it possible for people like us to talk to others who know where were coming from and understand our feelings. The staff here have been awesome also and to A LOT of the members here who share there journey & photo's with the rest of us. Who give us support and are willing to answer questions (even dumb ones....lol) give us a kick in the pants when we need it and the courage to keep going. I have learned so much from reading post after post, my daughter thinks i'm crazy because I "take notes". I hope at some point I will be able to help someone else out and inspire someone to keep plugging along and take the steps needed to become healthy and happy :} Thank you in advance if you read this, I do appreciate you all. I just needed to say it all out loud I guess and I only have a few supporters that I can talk to without judgement and cruel words. Thanks again, Katrina :} God bless all those who have upcoming surgeries. I will be looking out for your stories & updates.

you may want to have her attend a seminar if there is one in your area before you surgery date. inform her that the band is just a tool to assist you in the weight loss, the weight loss is still up to you. and stress that unless she has lost 100 lbs to get down to a size 3, she cannot begin to know the physical and mental stress you have always gone through, which has adverse effects on you also.

For me at nearly 40 years old it was my mother that was the most vocal critic though many people in my family were against it. They all thought I could just buckle down and do it myself like all the other times I had (then gained it back). They thought it was just laziness and a lack of will power and that sugery was some sort of cop out. My mom cried, begged, offered to pay for other things like (fat camps, hypnosis, Jenny Craig...) for her what it really boiled down to was she was scared of complications from the surgery. She still saw this as a dangerous procedure like RNY and was convinced I could die from it. I showed her several studies done on the band and invited her to come to one of the seminars as well as a support group meeting. She was never willing to give me her full "blessing" before the surgery but now 2 years out she is so proud of what I have accomplished and has actually had several friends and co-workers of her call me for advice on how to start the process of getting thier own bands. My advice - bring her to a seminar, take her to a local support group meeting where she can see and talk to people who are already banded, find the case studies that have been done for her to read. But in the end, tell her you lover her but that you need to do what you know is right for you.

You said it your self " ive lost over 100lbs several times" keeping it off is the hard part, exactly what you said was what made me make my decision to get the l/b i know from all the times i had lost weight that i cannot keep it off and im only getting older.

Keep it up! I'm in a stall myself. I didn't lose much in inches this week but I've lost over 30 inches total and I will be 12 weeks on Monday. The stall will break and the weight will go!

I think my stall might finally be lifting. Ive been fluctuating between 332 and 335 since a week ago Monday. Driving me nuts since I have been under 1000 cals and over 70 grams of Protein. But for the second day, I have posted a number under 332... 331.8 and 331 to be exact. Hopefully this will remain a downward spiral. I am 3.8 lbs away from losing 15% of my starting weight and 6lbs away from 30% of my excess weigh. I did do my measurements thou and its 21 inches overall down in less than 2 months. HW 385 SW 359 CW 331 (54lbs down!) Sleeved 10/5/16

I was excited to tell my coworkers. I work in a doctors office. I have work there for 12 years. They have been my biggest supporters through my weight loss journey. I haven't had my surgery yet, but they have always been here for me. So tell your coworkers you might be surprised how supportive they might be.

:typing:I'm one month post op and have lost 33 pounds. I know it says 28 on my ticker but I actually gained 5 pounds before I started loosing so..that's why. I'm doing good, but for 1 month I've had back and shoulder pain. It's gradually going away. They have told me now that I can go to solid food because you will lose weight faster if you are full. So I tried that. We went to dinner last night and I could hardly eat anything. Once the dinner part came I was already full. It's kind of cool, but I know that I am going to lose weight. Trying all kinds of pain meds too, tylenol doesn't cut it, nor ibuprophen. The dr gave me some other non-narcotic med for my back. Hopefully that will help. I get it today. Otherwise. I'm doing great!:clap2:

I had surgery on April 6th (or last monday), prior to surgery I was losing about 2lbs a day on the liquid diet. After surgery I was still losing about 2lbs a day...when I got up to 15lbs it seemed like it was going to start slowing down...i lost 1 more pound the following day and that has been it. I have lost a total of 16lbs...but it has stalled for 2days...i'm starting to move on to more solid foods today (scrambled eggs, baked potatoes etc.). Does this mean I have plateaued already? Or does it mean I will start gaining the weight that I lost back with the new addition of scrambled eggs? I'm happy for what I have lost and i know at some point it slows down...is this my slow down? has anyone else experienced this? (I'm sure someone has)

NOT a plateau. A plateau is a much longer period with no weight loss. Obviously, you cannot possibly continue losing 2 pounds a day. 1-2 pounds a week is what you should expect.

Same here. I think a combination of winter + weight loss is causing it, but who knows. Try to find a good moisturizing lotion and use it after you shower before drying off.

I loved this... Someone sent me the email because I don't like my photo being taken! I'm happy they forwarded it onto me. For the last 5 years or so I've put a lot of weight on and for that reason I hate the way that I look. I don't like people taking my photo. I have 2 gorgeous kids and there is only a coupe of photo's of me with them. After reading this I have a few more photo's now. I'm considering lap band surgery and have an appt to see a surgeon in 2 weeks. Fingers crossed my surgeon approves me and I can make up for all the photo's I should have taken. It's definitely worth a read. http://www.ivillage.com.au/the-mum-stays-in-the-picture/154242

Wow. I remember my post like yours almost three years ago. More than two years out from surgery and 17 months at goal weight of 21.8 BMI, I am happy with my choice. Best wishes on your journey! Lynda