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I'm sorry you're frustrated with your loss. I agree about tracking... I can never "keep it in my head" but track everything I eat. Not real hard to do when you don't eat much. Are you focusing on Protein? I find if I'm eating 60 grams of protein a day, I don't have much room for anything else. The only other things I eat are fruit, veggies and maybe half a whole wheat tortilla wrapped around some lunch meat or Beans. I usually have a piece or two of fruit a day or a small serving (few bites) of a veggie. Almonds are my best friend... Either have 14 as a snack or sometimes 28 as a "meal". Low sugar (less than 10) fat free Greek yogurt is also a staple. That can make a meal for me or the yogurt with the 14 almonds. I also agree with sharing the food diary with your NUT and/or doctor. If you're doing everything right, the weight will have to fall off. You're exercising a lot -- my NUT told me to add some carbs in when I'm heavy exercising. That's when I added in the fruit and veggies to the diet (around week 5). It's important for the quick energy you need for exercise. You don't really have the option of giving up, so stick with it and look to your support team (doctor, NUT) to help you see if there's anything they can suggest. You can do this!

I get to have a test very similar to that on Wednesday. Mine is called an esophageal motility study or manometry exam. Mine is to check for swallowing problems and check the sphincter muscles between the esophagus and stomach. I have heart burn issues so that is why this test is ordered for me. They record your swallowing Water for 10 segments. Should be a "fun time" with a ng tube and lap band and trying to swallow.

I went into the ER yesterday with extreme pain. So much that I was throwing up every 10-15 minutes. It was sudden on-set. I had no symptoms before yesterday. The ER doc ordered a CAT scan, and there was a 1.3 cm stone in my kidney. The pain was being caused by the stone blocking the tube from the kidney to the bladder. They said there is no chance of this stone leaving without assistance because it is so big. They've managed the pain, and I'm waiting to see a urologist who can take care of the stone. I also have a call into my weight management office to see if I need to come in to adjust my consumption. I've been trying so hard to follow the rules. I'm disappointed that I have to deal with this. My RnY surgery was August 28, 2014, and I've lost 105 lbs to date.

My surgery is scheduled for May 10 and is done as an outpatient. I have to be at the hospital at 5:15 am and have been told that I'll be home by noon. My friend had it done by the same doctor and she took the whole week off but was fine on her own the 2nd day. I am only taking 3 days off from work, so I'm hoping that I do as well. Good luck...

Every insurance plan is different. My annual deductible is 2,500(for the family). And then they pay 90%. I had already met the majority of the deductible so on the day of surgery I had to pay $300. And then I was billed for the 10% which was around 2,500. And then $1,200 for the nutrition and psych fee. Total I paid right around $4,000 for my surgery.

My dermatologist told me that whey Protein frequently exacerbates acne in those who are prone to it, and can even cause breakouts in people who've previously had clear skin. Dairy products can also worsen hormonal acne in some people, so using milk as your base can compound the risk of a breakout. Fortunately, for me I can use milk, kefir, and yogurt in shakes without fearing an eruption on my face, but it's definitely something to be mindful about. This helps to explain some of the reasons for why whey protein can lead to acne: http://www.acneeinstein.com/whey-protein-acne/ I've had better luck with plant-based Protein Shakes rather than whey. I also loved GENEPRO. It's a Protein powder that has been heavily criticized on this forum for it's "too good to be true" claims about having 30 grams of protein for a small serving of easily dissolvable, tasteless and odorless powder, and for being so processed, but it's been fantastic for me. I used it for four months without experiencing any ill effects. I only stopped using it because I was getting adequate protein from food sources once I was fully healed. My husband is a physician, and a friend of his who is an oncologist told him that some of his patients going through chemotherapy have sores in their mouth that make eating difficult, so they have used Genepro as a supplement to add in more protein to their diet. He approves of it, which made me feel a bit more confident. It's definitely not an ideal food source, or something to make as a staple for your diet, but it can be useful as a supplement when your options are more limited. It can be added to broths, hot and cold drinks, and various foods. If you look on YouTube you can find videos by a bariatric surgeon named Dr. Matthew Weiner who advocates what he calls a "set point smoothie." It's made of high-protein, low-carb Greek yogurt (such as Fage), frozen fruit, and kale or spinach. It's a bit too much for immediately post-surgery, but a week or two down the road you should be ready for it. He encourages his patients to only consume protein powders in the first few months post-surgery when they cannot yet eat better, more natural sources of protein. Vitamins and supplements can also cause breakouts. I took Biotin a couple of years ago when I was regretting a hair cut and hoping for more rapid growth, and ended up with a war zone on my face because of it. I have PCOS and am very sensitive. Excessive B-12 also lead to painful breakouts. I do not take an additional B-12 supplement because of that, but do take a Multivitamin that has it in a smaller quantity. The vitamins I've responded to the best are Garden of Life's Vitamin Code Multi-Vitamin for Women, and Flintstones with Iron (one or the other, not both). As for topical treatments, my esthetician I see for monthly facials (and can recommend to you if you happen to live in LA) as well as my dermatologist recommended La Roche Posay's products, and specifically their Effaclar System. It's usually $29 for the set, which includes a face wash, clarifying solution, and treatment, but I spotted it at CVS earlier this week for $19. If you buy it, start off slowly because it can lead to peeling if you use it too often. I wash my face with the cleanser at night, and use the solution a couple of times a week. I put a very thin layer of the treatment on spots when needed. In the morning I either use Lush's Let the Good Times Roll, or simply rose Water. This routine has definitely helped my skin. My dermatologist told me to stay away from any anti-aging products because they are way too heavy for my skin. I turned 30 last year and freaked out about it, and went overboard on products. He said that water is my best anti-aging "product." It's true that any wrinkles I have go away once I've gotten properly hydrated. If you're older, that might not be the case, but regardless of age water can help to improve your skin's clarity and tone. You might also want to be careful about any laundry detergents, shampoos, conditioners, and toothpaste you use because fragrances and ingredients like Sodium Lauryl Sulfate can trigger acne in some people. I use Seventh Generation's fragrance-free detergent for sensitive skin, and no fabric softener (white vinegar works just as well, and doesn't cause your clothes to smell like you might think it would), and I change my pillowcases three times a week. I stick with SLS-free toothpaste that doesn't have whitening ingredients (Tom's has one), and SLS-free shampoo and conditioner (Loreal has a good line). Best wishes to you!

hey sheila.. i'm an ob/gyn and when i tell my friends and family i want to have bariatric surgery most people say the same thing "you're not big enough" "just eat right and exercise". regarding the tubal at the same time of surgery, it is possible but you may end up with more incisions since the sleeve ports are in the upper abdomen. i went to the surgeon and my bmi is 40. i have bc/bs and with my insurance i have to lose 10% of my body weight. now i'm afraid that i won't qualify since my bmi will no longer be 40. i have 3 more pounds to lose. has anyone have experience with this? i have no medical problems (and i want to keep it that way).

I am soo excited but also soo nervous! I can't believe its finally here! :) *Jess*

Today was my first weigh in at the doctor's office and I lost 10 lbs! Yay! Super stoked that the hard part of the past week has paid off. Everything else is looking great and should be progressing nicely. As shy as I am to tell those not overweight that I have had the surgery, I have found comfort in meeting all the patients that had surgery in the past week at our nutrition meeting today and all the friendly, kind, motivational people I have met here online. I feel a sense of freedom I don't have around "normal" people. It's like you all get it. You know what it's like. And I'm not a failure or giving up by having the surgery. I'm making a commitment to changing my life for the better. Thanks everyone for being so awesome. It's amazing what support can do for us all! We're all in this together! A

I am exactly 10 weeks post-op... Today l hit 2 milestones... 60lbs lost since being sleeved, and 100lbs lost total... ( l lost 40lbs pre-op )..... My life has changed so much... Im a lot more active, l jog, l workout at the gym, and l do my damnest to get all of my protein in.. I feel like a million bcks, and l wouldnt change it for anything!!!

Congratulations, job well done. Can't wait until I reach that stage I'm only 10 days out.

OK...I read this and had to try it immediately. I used chia seeds and added 1/4 tsp baking powder for a little umph. I also used 1/4 cup 2% milk which will change the nutrition info slightly. YUM!! Using the chia seeds and letting it rest for about 10 minutes tightened up the batter a little, and I definitely had to cook it a little longer than 30-40 seconds before I could flip it. That being said, AWESOME!!! I am 18 months post-op and am able to eat more than I could at first although I still have good restriction. But...my sleeve would only tolerate about 1/3 of this at first sitting. What a delicious and filling meal. My daughter really misses pancakes since her sleeve as she gets hypoglycemic after eating some carbs. I think she will like this, and hopefully I will be able to sneak this my by great grandson. He loves waffles for Breakfast when he spends this night with me and I will try the waffle Iron next time too. I will probably get able to get 2 or 3 waffles out of this batter. Thanks, Ljp

My insurance required me to lose 10% of my starting weight in a 12 month period, take a weight management course, and have psychological counseling. I would have loved only a 6 month diet. The day I mentioned that I wanted the LapBand (July 2, 2010) my doctor weighed me and I had to come see her once a month for a year to be weighed and have a little chat session with her about my diet, exercise and what all I was doing. I finally hit the mark and got all of the other requirements done at the end of August 2011. At the seminar they had told me that my insurance took 12 to 16 weeks to make their decision; it was a week and a half before I got my approval. I am on day 9 of the pre-op diet and I am scheduled for surgery on October 17th! I too thought that a whole year was a really long time, but really with how busy we all are these days time flies by. Hang in there, you will be banded before you know it. Debora

This is a great topic, thanks all for sharing. I'm sleeved on 5/19 and struggling some with the transitions from liquids, letting my brain dictate how much to eat and then throwing up, etc.. I was lucky not to have any real complications post op except for dehydration, so that went well. I'm having some of the mental issues, but I'm looking for my solution to dealing with them. I don't regret my sleeve decision, but I grieve for its necessity. But my weight was killing me at 394 lbs. I look at it this way, if I had had stomach cancer, and the way to save my life was to under go this surgery, would I have made any other choice? No. This surgery for many of us is about saving our lives. You may be young, you may not have had the comorbidities yet ( but they were coming, I assure you). I had them all and I was expecting not to be alive in 5 years from 47.. So, once I get through denial, I can get angry and kick my own ass back into the gym. So, I will pull up my big girl panties ( which seem to fit looser now), and figure out how to make this work so I can live... food is fuel @stephenhud.. 3 weeks post op, 356 lbs..

I didn't wear one immediately post op but I'm a RN and went back to work 10 days post op. It saved me while working! I only wore it at work for about 2 weeks after going back.

He briefly looked at the incisions at week two and said fine to swim. I'm really thinking it was too soon. I used to do a mile well under 19 minutes but these days it's more like 30. I've been swimming 60/70 minutes straight no beaks. Plus I walk my dog a lot. I have an appt in the am but I'm pretty sure if I go he'll say it's fine and I'll have wasted my time. I'll decide in the am.

This past Monday was my 10 week mark. Between that point and the last time I blogged, I lost 15 pounds. I realize that is abnormal for such a short period of time but I contribute it (at least in part) to finally curing myself of the constant constipation I've been dealing with since I had the surgery. This now puts my BMI in the high 20's (29.2). Now, I plan to get more serious about my sculpting goals although I still want to shed about 25 more pounds of fat. This week, the internet was flooded with a video of an anchorwoman who had received an e-mail from a man who said he rarely watched addressing her appearance (weight). Based on the letter, the man's approach was coming from one of concern with a mix of overstepping but it obviously bothered the anchorwoman enough to address it on the show. The video has now gone viral. The anchorwoman said a lot but she drew it back to bullying and letting children know that they should not let the opinions of other affect their self-worth. Most people say she ethered the anonymous man and I do think that it was clever to use her platform to address him....since she cared. In general, I thought the speech was ok. Do I think he bullied her? Not at all. An e-mail telling you that you should lose weight is not enough for me to say that the person is being bullied; especially amongst adults. I feel she did herself a disservice by acting as if she was bullied by this stranger. The facts are, had she just deleted his e-mail, we would never know about it. Now, we all know this guy's name and he has made further statements in the media since this video went viral. He's an attorney who has now gotten free advertising. His picture is up everywhere and he has "offered" to "help" her with her weight (sounds like a personal training business plug). Now, she's reading and hearing the comments from the general public that are waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay worse than what the man said to her through e-mail. The anchorwoman and her husband went on GMA and her husband noted she has a thyroid problem. The anchorwoman stated that, "It's not about him anymore." The problem is that she was the one who made it about him. Anyone who has experience with a real bully knows that the worst thing you can give them is attention because they live off of it. Yet, this man never shared what he said to her in the media at all. It was her. I can only hope that as an adult, she is past the point of internalizing the unwanted comments of strangers (although doing a segment about it may mean she's not). If it weren't for her, this man would be a non-factor that very few of us even know exists. As wrong as it may be, it is a fact of life that everyone will not like you, be nice to you, find you attractive, think you are smart, or any other subjective measure. I feel that her activism would have been more productive by doing speeches in her local community at schools about bullying. Someone in her position could do a world of good by mentoring girls or young women who wish to go into the media arts and may be unsure about themselves. The way this played out seems like she was someone else resigning themselves to victimhood and it invited people to either pity her or lambaste her further; neither of those is preferable. Now, she's ready to move on and the rest of the people are still talking about her, him and it. Deepak Chopra said something that equates to this: what other people think of you is none of your business and when you try to make it your business, you'll perpetually be miserable (paraphrase). I think that applies to this situation.

I'm a side sleeper too and have been able to sleep on one side, i.e., rt side, but the left side had my drain. The drain was removed yesterday!!! so last night I was able to start on the left, then move to the right. We are creatures of habit! My incisions are starting to heal now. I have the tapes on them and the stitches will dissolve naturally. The hole where the drain was didn't get taped or stitched, just gauzed and the dr said that it should heal in 24-48 house, but I could take a shower now (I hope he wasn't insinuating anything!). I've had a hard time with the liquids/proteins. I would start really early in the morning, i.e., 5 AM, get as much as I could in, but around 4 PM, I wasn't interested in anymore liquids/protein. It was much more painful, so I stopped at that point. I think the entrance to the stomach would swell after so much abuse and refuse to take anymore. At 7 days post-op, it is getting better. Just make sure you stay hydrated as much as possible. Yesterday the surgeon told me that we should pee about 1 liter a day. If it gets less than that, I will need to go to his office and get an IV for fluids. How I'm going to measure that is anyone's guess, unless I go buy a toilet hat? But, I can see how often I'm going then look at the color, to determine if I am dehydrated. Surgery date 6/10/10, lost 12 pounds...every day is better and better with Protein and Water... Terrie

Hey everybody! My first post-op appointment was today. I started the pre-op diet on March 19. Since then, which has been 20 days, I lost 18 lbs! I looked at some notes from a year ago, and saw that it took me 17 days to lose 5.8 lbs. I'm ecstatic that I had this surgery!!!! They gave me the soft/mushies food stage today, which will last two weeks before I go back to the doctor and get the next food stage. Tonight I had a half pita, split in half. On top of it, appx 2 oz of lean meat and reduced fat shredded cheese. I put the pita in the pan (deli meat and cheese on top) and heated it up in lemon juice until the cheese melted. Afterwards, I topped the fake half sandwich with 2 Tbsp of salsa. It had a good taste. I'm surpised it filled me up. Never would have thought....

I am Bea as well, except my Mom was really my Step Father. I was constantly "derided" when it came to food... to the point where I would be physically mocked to show what I looked like as I was sitting on the couch. He would puff his cheeks out and hold his arms out around his belly to make it look like I was THAT fat. I wasn't. I was MAYBE 10 Lbs over weight. Anyway, here I am 30 years later with severe emotional problems tied to food. Parents, PLEASE don't do this to your children.

So my surg was mon 3/19 and since i've been home im fine gettin in fluids and protein but have had some serious bowel issues. I can not stop going and its super loose(trying to save u from graphics but ultra mud water)...im not dehydrated. All mucus membranes are moist and I urinate fine. Should I worry now or later?

It's good to feel good!! Started exercising on the 5th, walked in the evening, added exercise bike the next day 5 min in the am then 10 the next morning and 5 that evening - gets a bit pushy on the port site so will have to raise the seat right up. Hope the cold gets better D - couldn't imagine having to sneeze and cough too much yet, let us know your first weigh in results Slim

I was banded on 4/2 and started walking last evening (1 mile) then (2 miles) tonight. Still having some port site discomfort, but only needed pain med twice today. I won't go back to work until the 23rd. Since I am unable to work with any weight restrictions (I'm a nurse), my surgeon won't lift my 10# weight restriction for at least 3 weeks. So far I have lost 12# with absolutely no hunger!!! I did have cravings tonight when my husband was grilling hamburgers, I asked for a small piece of one, chewed it and spit it out just to have the flavor. That actually satisfied my craving.

I agree with you Elisabeth and I have pretty much set the same mini goals - 10 lbs a week and I'll be thrilled. As of this morning, I am down 13.6 and surgery was a week from yesterday. I know once I start on real food, that the weight loss will probably slow down a bit; however I intend to take full advantage of it for as long as I can. I'm starting my walking regime today and will be glad when I can start on weight resistance and other exercises.:001_smile: Keep up the good work both of you. :thumbup:

I am very happy to be here and have enjoyed reading this site over the past few weeks. I would love to get down some of my thoughts and hear any feedback anyone has for me. I tend to write essays so I apologize for the length. I am scheduled to meet with a surgeon in two weeks. I also have the psych eval and nutritionist appointment as well as some medical tests that day. The hospital is almost two hours away so I'm packing as much as I can into each trip. I have bcbs fep so still have the 3 months supervised program which has not started. I weigh 278 and have been around this weight or higher (highest around 300) for at least 10 years. I am 35, normal weight as a young child but as soon as I hit puberty quickly became obese. I am not saying it is all genetic, but I know that is part of it. My parents and brother all suffered with obesity or morbid obesity. My brother had gastric bypass surgery several years ago, and to make a long story short he had complications, and died two years after the surgery at age 30. This was not from the surgery but was medically fragile since the surgery. My parents blame the surgery although I do not. They have made it clear that they would be very, very upset if I chose bariatric surgery. Despite this, I have considered this for years. I try to base most of my major decisions on good data. I know that long term weight loss in significant amounts (like, 100 lbs) is quite statistically improbable. I have successfully kept 20-30 lbs (back and forth in this range) off for 6 years. Despite that I am concerned about my health. I have high blood pressure and take three medications to maintain this. I am in the prediabetic range for blood sugar. I see my dad with worsening neuropathy from diabetes type 2 despite really hard work on a very low carb diet. My paternal grandpa lost 3 of his limbs from this disease before he died. Despite being fairly young my knees are starting to hurt when using stairs. I worry that I won't have very long ahead of me. I honestly have come to terms with how I look and while being thinner would be nice, that is not a major motivation for me. Sickness and early death from health consequences of morbid obesity terrifies me. I work full time as a clinical psychologist at a Veterans Affairs. The work is my passion and I would not want to do anything else. However it can be very stressful. It is also very cognitively and emotionally demanding and therefore exhausting while being super sendentary. My salary also supports my family (son and sahd husband). I have recurrent major depression. I am doing very well, taking medication and when needed connect back with therapy. I always live with the fear of depression relapse due to fear not being able to keep up at work and how hard the last one was on me and my family (4 years ago). Fears: will such low amounts of calories allow me to have sufficient cognitive energy to do my job well? Will the mood effects bring on another episode of depression? Should I hide having surgery to my parents, which feels dishonest, or tell them the truth and live with their anger and fear of losing their only remaining child? Will I be able to regularly engage in moderate exercise which honestly I haven't done since my early 20's? If you made it to the end, thank you. I don't expect answers to the above questions but feels good to tell them to people who might relate. Any thoughts welcome. Any experiences of going through this while maintaining a demanding job are appreciated.