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Been lucking around and finally got the courage to post my story and ask my questions So i finally decided to take control of my life I'm hopping this surgery all works out for me I've been on the yo yo diet since jr high at my most I was 5'5 330 lbs 1.5yrs ago but finally opened my eyes when I could not fit in the Disney rocket ride with my 1 yr old and I knew I had to do something about my weight or I would not be around for my family, that same week i was passed on a promotion at work and found out from co workers that our boss didnt think i would be able to "fit" in the sewers ( i work in sewer rehab construction ) as of today I'm 232lbs Ok so I have my surgery scheduled for 3/18 with Dr Ortiz and Dr Lopez, any way I have to go on a pre op diet of Protein Shake for Bfast small fruit for snack, Protein shake for lunch and for dinner chicken breast grilled, then 3 days b4 the 18th I need to do an all clear liquid diet along with a cleanseing. So my question is did you guys have a last hurrah and if so what did you have? I so want to have a last hurrah but I just don't know if I should since that's really what got me here in the first place. All comments are welcome, sorry if I'm posting in the wrong section

I guess just reading thur these posts I am hearing so much of people get no fill's or just one and are good to go. They are changing there way of thinking about food and changes your way of life around food. I guess my though is you can only go so tight so if I keep losing weight at this size, down the road when I hit a time I am not losing I will then get another fill. I do not know really what will happen. Just reading and learning about all this stuff. I am drinking the Protein drinks now. Tomorrow I will be back on soft food so maybe I will feel a little more "peppy" Cid

So, I am sitting here looking at my chewable aspirin, my chewable calcium supplements, my chewable Gas-X and my Benefiber. I went shopping yesterday for some of the things I know I will need. I am currently a functioning Carb Nazi - I stive to erradicate carbs from the face of the earth. So far, I am doing well on that - but having just a smidge of trouble with the fat thing. South Beach is harder for me than Atkins was. On Atkins, I would eat all the cheese I wanted. I was good a finding delicious low-carb cheese that I could eat plenty of and stay within my 20 gram carb limit. This fat monitoring business is a pain the ass. I can live without sour cream. I can live with less Mayo (I mean if you can't make sandwiches, it has limited usage, doesn't it?) but the cheese thing is rough. So I am already breaking the diet... sort of. I guess I am doing Atkins instead of South Beach. SB allows Beans and stuff - It's way more complicated than Atkins. You have to think about it too much - so I just won't, I guess. I will just do a lower fat version of Atkins - Ketosis is ok, for right now. I mean, the point is to get the liver to suck all the fat out of itsself, right? After the surgery, I will eat "normally" again eventually - and ketosis can't be any harder on my liver than anything else I have done to it, over the years of eating every rich creamy delicious thing that brought me to weigh well over 300 lbs... :mad: Can you say "Total lack of self control?" Sure y' can... DH surprised me yesterday. We were talking about him studying the doc's info so he could prepare appropriate meals and he said maybe if he were going to get the surgery, he would read up on the stuff. In one sense, it just means his ass is too lazy to read the stuff, (he wants me to just tell him what to cook) but in another sense, it means that somewhere in the depths of his psyche - he has actually considered doing it. That is good news. DH also tops 300 lbs - and although he is much taller than me - and weighs LESS - he is still MO and Diabetic. I am hoping that if I do well and have few complications, he might actually consider it in his conscious mind. He is ten years older than me - and I worry about him almost as much as I have worried about myself. How cool would it be if the surgery did for his Diabetes what it has done for others. I guess I will just have to be a model bandster, a rabbit, and make it look easy while I am doing it. (um, yeah. sure. whatever.):paranoid I am in that Obsession phase of my weight loss journey. That's good. But that is also a standard pattern for me. Here's the pattern: 1) Irene freaks out about being MO and decides it's time to finally do something (for about the 50th time - but we won't go into that now). 2) Irene finds the diet du-jour and begins to follow it with fervor - the model, nay the very icon of the plan (whatever it is). Obsessing over every calorie, carb and fat gram, exercising, and actually losing weight. 3) After two-three months (MAX) Irene get's bored? Gets tired? Get's afraid of being thin? I still don't know exactly what it is that causes it - but that is when I start to lose it. Maybe that's when my natural OCD tendencies have just run their course? It just seems like so much WORK to keep it up. Of course, that's usually when the weight loss slows down - so maybe it's a reward issue. Once the rate of weightloss gets dramatically lower, what is the pay-off for all this work? Hmmm. My hope is that with the band - this cycle will be changed. Well, it will practically have to change. My own fervor will carry me through the liquid phase and all the healing. By the time I start to get discouraged, it should be time for my fills to begin - and Doctor Fox seems like he won't be shy about giving them. Besides - I won't be able to eat the volumes that I have eaten with the band. It's not like I will be able to suck down half a pizza in a sitting. (Like I can EASILY do now...) Besides I will have all the LBT folk to keep me sane. I really will have NO excuse for becoming a drama queen about all this stuff. I have absorbed a whole boatload of info over the last several months. I know I will suffer some post op depression, I know that I will have food mourning issues, I know all that stuff - But I suppose knowing it won't make it any easier. :rolleyes Of course, my biggest fear is that I will slip or erode or something. I guess it's just the luck of the draw on that stuff. I am going to have to just suck it up and count on the Luck o' the Irene that has carried me this far. Good Karma pays off. I guess I had better get out there and spread some more good vibes. I will need them back, say in about 3 months! 8 days to lift off.....

I never exercised before the band. I started out walking on a treadmill at the gym then went to the elliptical. I just changed gyms a couple of months ago because I got bored with it and there were no classes offered at the hospitals fitness center. Now I do all sorts of things. Zumba, Body Pump, Water Aerobics and the elliptical still sometimes. On the average I do about 7 hr's of cardio a week and I will say it has, without a doubt, helped in my weight loss.

I am going to get my VSG today too. I'm weak and miserable from just the 1 day of liquid diet yesterday :-( What a wimp ! This is exciting and scary and I still can't believe that I will lose weight but, we shall see :-) Best of luck to all fellow Feb. 13ers !

Lipedema, also called lipoedema is a disproportionate fat build up in the legs..It is not NORMAL fat and often it will not release even if you are starving. It's very possible you will never be able to lose all the weight in your legs. (I'm in the same boat) I started out with a 25.5" calf when I was 360... at 254 my calf is 22.5 not really much of a difference given more than a hundred pound weight loss but I'm hopeful that after I've lost all the excess everywhere else my body will release at least SOME of my calf fat! There is a doctor in Germany who is having good results with liposuction of the lower legs though and he specializes in lipedema patients.. so I guess there is hope for us yet! BTW don't confuse lipoedema with LYMPHedema.. lymphedema is swelling from Fluid.. lipedema is abnormal FAT.

I can relate. I had a dream after my surgery that I did the exact same thing with a coke. I had drank it without thinking. I didn't go as far as dreaming I went to the emergency room but I woke up with feelings of panic. I had all the same reservations that you did and I even postponed my surgery for over a year and watched myself gain while I thought I could lose weight "the natural way". My parents even forbid me to have the surgery... Now let me ask you this... Have you ever had a dream that you were dying of a heart attack but the paramedics couldn't get you onto the stretcher to save your life? Or that your caskett was carried by 10 people because you were so heavy? Have you ever had dreams about your 5 year old finding you dead in your bed because you had a heart attack or stroke in your sleep? I know it sounds horrible and I'm honestly not trying to be mean... but I'm 29 years old and I have had all of those dreams I just mentioned above. I cried to many times because of them because I was depressed, had given up, and thought there was no hope for someone like me. I'm 91 pounds down today and I would rather dream about cokes.

Karmen081020 welcome to the neighborhood!!! 'we're" having a special for NEWBIES this month!!! you can drink all the Water and Protein drinks allllll month long doing a liquid diet will help jump start your weight loss but.........you will have to continue on Clear liquids, and then full liquids after surgery for a bit too!! put your mind to it - keep drinking ALL day - PO, you need to drink 64 oz a day start your moderation eating now - veryyyy little food caloric intake i have confidence in you i know you can do this!!!! you will need all your positive strengths to proceed with the sleeve you have to get into the "mood"/mindset for following rules, eating and drinking to lose weight might as well start now preparing for WLS good luck

I am struggling with the same question today. I was banded on 3/18/11--5 months ago. I have lost 47 lbs (about 35lbs since surgery). I feel great but am about 50lbs away from my goal weight. I have an appointment tomorrow. I am not having any trouble with foods going down, etc. I do get hungry 2-3 hours after I eat. I think I have about 2.5cc in my band. I had a little put in at surgery and then two fills, so I may ask for another fill tomorrow. I don't want to be over-filled either. It is so hard because you don't know how your body will respond. Maybe see what .2 or .3 will do. It may give you the push you need. Good Luck!

Hi everyone - so glad I found this site. I started this process last year but could not get the surgery because no insurance coverage. I'm now using my bonus to self-pay, so I'm worried about spending so much money and not being happy with the results. I was suprised when I went in to re-start the process and they scheduled me for surgery on May 1!!! I'm so happy I get to do it soon but also I feel like it's happening so quickly (I think the latter is just nerves). I'm so ready for a life change - I gain so much weight during my two pregnancies and have not been able to loose any of it. One of the things I'm concerned about is a social life. I'm frequently invited to parties, happy hours, "hang out and drink beer" events. I don't want to broastcast to the world that I've had surgery, but I know that this is going to be a life change. How do you politely turn down invitations or, if you do go to an event, are you able to enjoy it? Can you still have a social life?

No, I don't think they will. The 3 or 6 month diet required does not affect your eligibility. They will always go by the weight you recorded at your first visit. However, they do want to see that you are committed to a healthier lifestyle and to weight loss. I would really try not to gain a lot of weight during your supervised diet.

I got so sick of hearing skinny people complaining that they couldn't lose that 10-20 lbs they needed to lose. Big f------- deal. I've got over 100 lbs to lose. Let me tell you, the first 104 were easy compared to the last 15! In the past 2 1/2 yrs, I've gone down from 248 to 144 right before getting married in Dec. In the past 4 mths, I've managed to gain about 6 lbs, making me 150. The scales move up and down everyday by a pound or 2.The last 15 lbs (my goal is 135) are so hard to get rid of. I know I need to step up the exercise some to get me off my plateau. Now I know exactly how those people who just need to lose 10-20 lbs feel. They are truly a b---- to get off!!! My goal is to be in a size 5/6 by my birthday (June 23). Guess I need to get back to basics.... Marci

I've always had thick lower legs. Those of you that have had this problem too, did you notice a significant change in your legs after your weight loss? I'm sure hoping I lose proportionately!

So, tomorrow is my big day. I have been thinking a great deal about my dysfunctional lifelong relationship with food and struggle with my weight. I am extremely happy about having taken this step, but approach tomorrow with great trepidation, mixed with a significant amount of relief. My surgery will be on an outpatient basis. Today is actually the first day that I am fasting, as my (highly experienced) surgeon does not espouse the two week pre-op fast. I just pray that everything goes well, that there are no complications and that I do not experience excessive nausea or pain. Your encouragement, suggestions and recommendations would be most welcome. I am glad that I have found this forum, which is very helpful to me. Thank you, all.

I had Lap-band in 2006 and lost a max of 110 lbs before i gained some back and maintained abt 70 lbs. since. I had lapband removed and gastric sleeve done Weds. Any ideas why some things kick back really foamy?!?

I havent needed to have fill removed. There's a couple of reasons for that. The main one is as I continued to lose ever so slowly from my final fill, the band got looser as is normal. It just happened over a much longer time period than it did at the start. Eventually the weight loss kind of petered out, so I never hit "goal" with a bang, I just kind of trickled into a situation where I thought "well, this is obviously where its going to stay". Luckily that was at a low enough BMI to make me happy. The second reason, and this is important to remember, is that I think the biggest problem with the band is that it tends to make you over time prefer less healthy foods. The effort taken to eat fibrous wholesome foods (like a wholegrain salad sandwich for instance) just makes those foods not seem quite so appealing. I know that I pack more calories in with slider foods these days, even in preference to meals when I'm busy. So the calories have crept up a little even without lessening my restriction.

Yeah it is fine, your body is going to decide when your weight loss slows down, not you. Plus you are a man, enjoy the fast weight loss.

Alan, If you've ever tried to drink an old beer (Like from last night's party), you'll know why beer has to have carbonation. Carbon dioxide gives beer it's distinctive taste. Without it it's pretty awful. We work hard to get enough CO2 in beer. If you want to drink alcohol, they make very good wines these days;^). I'm selling all my beer stuff and DW thinks she's going to move her sewing stuff in my brewery. I'm in ham radio and I think it might become a radio room. Today we bought some Quinoa and sugarless stuff. I'm getting ready for my year in hell. I can lose weight readily, keeping it off is the problem. If you guys ever really want to learn beermaking, let me know. I have all the information you can use.

Your body goes into shock after the surgery & a lot of the hormones that regulate certain functions go haywire making your levels go up or down. Then some hormones, like oestrogen, are stored in your fat & as you lose weight they are released into your blood stream & cause issues like mess up your menstrual cycle. You may find your cholesterol goes up too & your liver function is off too. They all settle eventually & many, like your sugar & cholesterol, will be much lower.

Almost 8 months too, and suddenly noticing the same larger capacity for food. Very scary as I still have a lot of weight left to lose! I still want to lose another 123 lbs to get to 150. I am hoping it is still achievable.

I am still in the process of learning with my band. I was done on Jan 10th and have had two fills. Including pre-surgery, I am down 30 pounds. I feel a little disappointment in the amount of weight, but also happy that it is happening. I haven't hit the sweet spot yet I guess with my fills. I am not really feeling much restriction after a few days of the fill and find that I am forcing myself to only eat a certain amount but feel I could easily eat more. My stomach still growls at me almost constantly. I did have one stuck episode with a small piece of chicken and it was no fun at all. I guess I had hoped to feel restriction to the point I could only eat a certain amount, but I have found it is still more willpower and discipline than actual restriction. That's my 2 cents worth.

Thank heavens my doctors never uttered the word "goal" in my hearing! I'd have been finished before I started if I had ever been told weighing 150 was the only way I'd be a success. As for having your charts changed, what's the difference? Those charts aren't what measure your success. They only measure the doctor's version of success, for his statistical records. YOU make your own chart--use fitday.com or something like that--and put in what YOU think is a realistic, achievable, and MAINTAINABLE goal. Whether it's a size or a measurement or a weight, whatever YOU think is your objective is all that matters. My objective was to get healthier and have more energy and be more comfortable in the world PERMANENTLY. That I've done and am doing. Under no circumstances would it be helpful to be told I still have miles to go after losing 120 lbs. According to those absurd charts I'm still a good 60-75 lbs from a "goal" weight, but I know what is meaningful to me. And that's not it.

Heather, I'm having the same problem. I just had my first fill about 2 weeks ago, and I don't feel much different from before. Sure, the first couple of days I wasn't really hungry, but I have not reached a point after swelling has gone down where 1/2 c of food (as recommended by my dr) is enough to keep me full for 4 hours. I have had no problems eating anything, and I think that's gotten me in trouble this week. Sure, I still feel like I get fuller quicker than I did preband, but there are very few foods I've eaten where I'm full after a few bites, and most of those foods aren't pure protein. I've actually gained weight since this last fill, which is very discouraging. I don't want to be to the point where I'm sliming or PB, but I would love to know what true restriction feels like. My dr said if after 3 weeks I wasn't noticing a difference then to come back for another fill; I'm afraid I might have to. Trying to remain positive, but kind of feeling like this was a waste of money at the moment if this is all going to rely on my willpower...

I was August 2nd, yesterday! I can say that all the worry and nervousness is unnecessary now that I'm on this side of it. The gas pain is all but gone already. What they say about walking it out is exactly right on. Obviously, my incisions are a little sore, but nothing bad. I think the most annoying thing for me is that the little incision the did in my navel keeps rebleeding every time I bend at the weight or sit up straight. I just it is just pressure on it. Ruined a shirt cuz I didn't realize it at first. All that to say it was not near as bad as I worked it up in my brain to be