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Who are you going through for this surgery? Does that dietician work for your surgeon? She full of sh*t. If you're going through some ridiculous weight loss center look up bariatric surgeons in your area and go through one of them.

You are still in the very early stages of your bandster life. Just focus on eating high protein foods and getting your water in and the weight loss will come. Do you realize you can get some exercise? You just aren't suppose to "work-out" yet. Walking in the first month was essential for me. Walk every chance you get.

I can't answer your first question The Fitness & Exercise Forums are now located under the General Weight Loss Surgery Forums. Topics that are surgery specific have their own forums. Any forums that aren't surgery specific (rats and raves, the lounge, this forum etc.) are found within the General Weight Loss Surgery Forums. Hope that assists you to some degree.

I live in Houston, Tx. Thats so exciting. 15 pounds is awsome!! Since I've started eating solids, I'm sure I've gained a couple pounds, but thats expected. Not too happy about it though! One week after surgery I had lost 13 lbs.. Does your Port side still ache? Mine is very tender still.

Our bodies are pretty efficient pieces of machinery. Drop your calories too far and at some point your body will react by lowering your metabolism because it thinks you're starving and is becoming more efficient at conserving those calories. Obviously we're all different so there will be exceptions but perhaps this is what's happening to you. In the past when I'd do a low calorie diet. I'd do low cal/low fat for 3-4 days and then 2 days of normal (per normal people, not 'my' normal) eating and then back to the low cal/low fat. I'd shed more weight with that method than just a straight low cal/low fat diet. I wouldn't worry about it though. The weight will come off eventually. I've only lost 10 pounds in the 6 weeks since surgery and most of that has been since I started back on solid foods. .

So she's stated her opinion. She doesn't think you have time to devote to successful weight loss after a sleeve. Now it's your turn to state YOUR opinion. You are informed, committed, and ready to move forward. Since you know yourself considerably better than she does, your opinion is the one that matters. You got to this point with the input from your physician. How dare they second guess the both of you. Stand up strong against this woman. She's wrong and you know what you want!! Tell her and the rest of the team this is right for you.

Hi Shannon. My name is Megan and I'm 30 years old. I just had my sleeve done this past Monday after struggling with my weight my whole life. I contemplated weightloss surgery for a couple of years first thinking the band and then after enough research and reading I decided on the sleeve. The surgery itself wasn't bad. They found a hernia and repaired it at the same time. My biggest struggle thus far has been with nausea but each day is better then the one before. I can't wait to feel well enough to work out and accelerate the weightloss. One day I'd like to have children of my own and I feel confident that the sleeve will assist me in getting in the shape I want to be when I have children so that I can be very active in their lives. I wish you all the best of luck with your decision.

Hey guys here is my story so far..... Pre op i didnt do a diet because it was too short notice and on surgery date i weighed 326.2 lbs. Post op day one i kept vomiting black blood and felt awful with gas pains and i had to walk which was painful but i was told it was to prevent DVT and help the gases. I was discharged and did a 2 week clear Fluid diet which in i realised i could drink as much as i wanted which frankly scared me but my diet was Jello , New whey protien and allot of watered down Soup sachets. I felt hungry allot but it varied from day to day and meal to meal. Specially when i went on to mushies. Then came the clear fluids for a week which didnt really fill me up that much but it was better than the clears. I was gettong in about 600-900 calories a day and walking sporadically . At my 2 week visit my doctor was impressed with my weight loss but i asked him about feeling satisfied and that i had buyers remorse sometimes cause i never really hit that sweet spot and he said to wait till solids. Week 4 i was on mushies. I had my first "full" feeling with amys organic chilli blended. It was a burping oh crap kinda feeling that didnt last long and it was after 4 or 5 spoons. I was doing ok through the mushies then i cheated at the end with a kobe steak as a treat. The steak freaked me out because it was a 5 ounce steak and i had 2 pieces of dim sum with it and yeah it felt kind of uncomfertable and satisfying at the same time but then i got worried. So far a month in and first 2 days onto solids, yesterday i went out with a co worker and i had to go to a restraunt and i orderd a steak since that was the best thing between what they had and i orderd the smallest steak which was 7 ounces and i ate it slowly but with no problems. But i felt pressured cause my co worker kept pointing out i didnt eat anything. I was amazed i could eat the steak whole!! Anyway today i can hardly eat anything and im very confused. Is it normal to be able to eat that much one day and not much the next? Is steak a slider? I didnt have anything else with it i.e sauce/ sides. Im now getting 800-1200 calories and my weight is now 293lbs. The wrap up is i discoverd that i must be a compulsive eater and im dealing with that but its hard. 2nd is that i need to learn allot more about my sleeve.

Congrats on your progress!! One shouldn't expect to lose any weight that one doesn't work to lose. Ones fills do not make one lose weight. One eating right and exercising makes ones lose the weight.

i disagree strongly with this statement. the stress and health impact of high amounts of credit card debt is intense. sure, money is just money, but if you have a family that relies on you then you have to be smart. taking care of your weight is a fantastic move, but saddling your family with debt to do so can have serious consequences. if you are up to date on your bills and can handle the minimum payments and a small "debt snowball" then go for it. otherwise get your finances in order before you do it. for what it's worth, i have 2 kids in an expensive private school which precludes my ability to self pay. i was interested in surgery a few years ago but it wasn't covered by my insurer. i changed employers and, again, it wasn't covered. after another change in employers it's covered 100% and i'm currently waiting on approval. if i had paid out of pocket or run up my credit card then it would impact my ability to care for the kids. i'm not saying don't do it - i'm saying you should evaluate your options, run the numbers, and see if it makes sense right now.

I'm one month post-op today. I've taken some time to reflect on the experience to date, and thought I would share my thoughts for those of you that are interested (it's going to be fairly long): First, the stats: HW: 333 (February 9th, 2016) SW: 287 (March 21st, 2016) CW: 262 (April 21st, 2016) Experience: 1) This is a full time job. I'm surprised at how much of my day is consumed with planning and counting calories, making sure to be constantly drinking to meet liquids goals, and eating even small amounts takes a LONG time. If you are not completely focused on the task it can be hard to get your required Protein and fluids. 2) I do not enjoy eating at all. Adjusting to eating has been a roller coaster. When I first started on actual food (for me it was soft dairy, then eggs & Beans, then fish and nuts and finally chicken (not there yet)) I felt no restriction. I was very confused on how much I should eat (my surgeon does not provide quantity guidelines as he feels everyone is different, and you should listen to your body). All well and good, but my body wasn't telling me anything! Based on what I learned from you guys at BP, I tried to limit myself to more than 4oz, or 1 cup at any meal. I had no problem with these portions. Then after about two weeks, everything changed. I have MASSIVE restriction. I ate less than an ounce of fish, was in massive pain and vomited. I had about 3-4 TBSP of bean Soup and had the same reaction. I have had to re-learn how to eat. I take extremely small bites, chew very well, and wait between each bite of food. It took my almost 40 minutes to eat a single scallop (a little under an oz) the other night. 3) I'm never hungry. In the last month I have had not one sensation of hunger. It's weird. 4) The first stall sucked. My stall started just about two weeks after surgery and lasted for 14 days. It was really frustrating to be following every instruction to the letter, and not see the scale move. I know many people say to stay off the scale, but to me, getting on the scale after a week and seeing no movement would be devastating. The small disappointment everyday was easier to handle than a massive disappointment every week. I suppose if you had the self control to only get on the scale once a month or once a quarter, you would never know you had a stall. I'm a data guy and I just don't have that kind of self control! 5) The first stall was rewarding. Yes, it was hard mentally; however, it's true what people say, your body is adjusting, I dropped a pant size and a shirt size while I was "not losing weight". I'm not sure exactly what my body was doing, but it was doing something. More importantly, probably most important of all, I got through it. I would never have gotten through that on a normal diet. I would have been overcome with frustration, decided it wasn't worth starving myself, and gone back to old habits. I would now be well back to gaining all the weight I lost (and more probably). That wasn't an option this time. So instead of gaining weight, I'm through the stall and down another 7 lbs. I can not stress enough how life changing this is. This is why I had this surgery. 6) I truly believe my pre-op diet and weight loss has helped me tremendously. I had been eating very healthy and had lost 45 lbs in 6 weeks prior to surgery. Many of the addictions to carbs, sugar, etc had been broken prior to surgery. I really don't have many cravings, and I believe it's made the adjustment easier. Plus, how cool is it that I'm not "wasting time" losing those 45 lbs, but am so far ahead of the game. And I'm not sure that the pre-op loss has slowed my post-op loss much. I've lost 25 lbs in a month, and that was with a 14 day stall. Big Victories: I was taking 100-25 of Losartan HCL and 10mg of Amlodopine to control my blood pressure. I am now down to 5mg of Amlodopine, and my BP is around 120/70. I am confident with a little more weight loss and exercise I will be completely off meds (except my PPI which is prescribed post surgery for some duration, and Vitamins of course) I can shop in normal stores. For the first time in many, many, many years, I can walk into a regular store and buy clothes. Granted, it's still 2XL shirts and XL shorts/pant (wearing 44s, but they are a bit lose, probably about ready for 42s), but they are there and available. This is huge. I am also shocked at how cheap things are. I can get name brand (Polo, Calvin Klein, Izod) casual button downs for around $20. As compared to DXL brand for $60. I am no longer morbidly obese. As of this morning, I have a BMI of 39.9. I am "only" severely obese for the first time in probably close to 20 years. In summary, life is better now that I've lost 71lbs. I still have a long way to go to goal (77lbs), but I am highly confident I'm going to make it. Of course I have longer term concerns about maintenance, but I will cross that bridge when I get to it. I plan on making the most of this opportunity, and am adamant about making healthy food choices. It's easy now, but my hope is that by the time I get to maintenance it's a habit (I started making extremely healthy choices over 2.5 months ago, so I am well on my way). This site has been an incredible wealth of information, and for the most part people are extremely supportive and encouraging. I appreciate all the information and feedback along the way, it has been invaluable to my success thus far.

Hi @Dragonrider. Welcome to the forum and congrats on your upcoming surgery. As you can see by my forum name, it was all about walking without pain for me. I had horrible knees and every step was torturous. Can I suggest rather than walking, swim laps if you have access to a pool. Anything you do in the Water is easier on your joints than out of the water. I still exercise in the water even with the enormous weight loss. As far as feeling better...if your knees are not shot, you will feel better the smaller you get. If the damage is done however, you may need to have surgical intervention but that's a conversation you will have with your orthopedist at some point if necessary. I needed replacement and my doctor said without a 70 lb. weight loss, I'd have a poor outcome even with surgery. I lost the weight, had the surgery, lost more weight, and now I'm nearly back to normal. When you can't walk, you don't take it for granted when you can. And I can. Good luck to you!

Well I finally got my date of surgery for May 6th. My knees are killing me. I have been doing a lot of walking to start my weight loss before surgery, have any of you guys had knee problems prior to surgery and did they improve after weight loss ? what can I expect when the weight starts to come off and what can I do for exercise that will help with my weight loss, until hopefully my knees start to feel better.

Well, I must be in Bandster's Hell!! I wish that only 2 oz would fill me!! I'm keeping my weight down since I lost it from surgery. (about 13-15 lbs) However, I am making sure that I walk. My son & I even rode our bikes on Sunday!! Lots of will power here going on!! I did call my Dr & he even suggested for me to take some Adipex!! I was like, WHAT?? He said that it was to help until I get my 1st fill. Which is Feb 5th. So, I haven't filled the Rx yet, I'm trying the will power.. I do miss the "pressure" feeling that told me to hold off.. But, the good news is that I have lost 3 inches!! I am going to take my pic this weekend - my one month pic. I know that I have lost a size!! (I can pull off my jeans without unzipping them!!) :thumbup: Funny thing, my friends husband said that my eyes don't look as "puffy". :eek: My husband has been out of town the past week, he said that I am looking good. :blushing: The girls at work have been so supportive!! They make sure I don't over-do myself with the large dogs that come in. Also, they are starting to ask questions. At first, the reason why I didnt want to tell them - is because of the questions, "I thought that you can't eat that.. or How much have you lost??" But, when they ask me questions, it's more of... "how are you doing?? you seem to be doing very well- I wish that I had your will-power!!" I guess with all of my other "diets" - I always end up saying to myself.. Oh well, I'm already fat- what will one more "..." do?? LOL Now, it's like - I went through the 6 months nutrition, the psych eval, been through 5 yrs of overweight, PCOS, high cholesterol, borderline of being a diabetic (my mom is now), and everything else that Cigna required & had approved.. :thumbup: I can do it!! I am looking forward for a wonderful year - a new life!!

I just had the exact same thing done last Tuesday!! I gained back 30 pounds after my bad slipped and my doctor (Dr. Billy) recommended it. I'm still on liquids but I'm so excited!! I think this may be the solution. I have another five days of liquids then I get soft foods. How are you feeling? Do you have restriction? This procedure has also eliminated my heart burn which was horrible before! Goo luck!!

Wow where to being... I would say that to truly dig back into myself my slide to my current weight (375 at the time of this writing) would stem from my college days. Although I was always the bigger kid in high school, I always hovered around the 220's. My first 2 years in college I completely destroyed my eating habits, late nights studying or just going out, crazy hours, long commutes, etc. I went from 220 to about 280 in what felt like overnight. As I bought new outfit after new outfit, I finally said "enough!" I hopped on weight watchers (which I had used in the past to some success). I enjoyed the freedom of the points program and how I could bank points for a cheat day and work out to bank some points or just use it as some extra weight taken off that week. I managed to lose 70 pounds and get back to 230 over the course of a year. Then my last year of college hit me like a ton of bricks. The class intensity was upped and I took on extra courses because I wanted to add minors into my program. I also met my lovely, darling, beautiful future wife at this point. Although some of the best times of my life happened over the next 2 years (I took an extra year to finish college with all the additional courses) I ended up dropping out of weight watchers and watched my weight skyrocket. After getting my Bachelor's, starting my Master's, getting a full time job, getting married, losing a close loved one, buying a house, having a child, my life became about everything else and all the focus I once placed on myself and my health faded to nothing. Over those 9 years, I would put on over 145 lbs. My shame knows no limits. I tried all the usual tricks: back on Weight Watchers, switched to Jenny Craig, tried Nutrisystem, back to Weight Watchers (which is where I am still at) and nothing worked, mostly because I lost the will to care about myself. It is not really in a negative way that I lost this will. I am not depressed. I don't emotional eat, in fact tough days I tend to eat little to nothing now, and crying just makes me sick to my stomach. Basically, I have dragged any sort of focus I once had for myself onto everything and everyone around me. I now know that I need balance in my life. I also need a kick in pants to get me started. So, September 9th, 2013, I am off to see the Wizard, the wonderful Wizard of weight loss surgeries. We discuss the choices that I want to get more information about, the Lap Band surgery and the Gastric Sleeve surgery. Both he says are good options. Due to my age (under 30), and the fact that I don't have any debilitating weight related health issues yet, like diabetes, damaged knee caps, painful lower back (though it's getting there), etc., he says that Lap Band can be a good option as it is reversible once I lose the weight. I like the sound of that, but in the back of my mind, I am thinking of my college days were I did great to lose 70 pounds, only to put back on double that weight. So we discuss option 2, the Gastric Sleeve. Although scary to think about at first, it does seem like the better option. After discussing things with my family and friends, I decided on the Gastric Sleeve. Now the fun begins. Tests, endoscopy, paperwork upon paperwork, letters, issues with insurance, disability forms (just in case) and finally! Sweet, sweet approval! I went to see the nutritionist and behavioral psychologist, learned a lot about myself and the process. I do regret not preparing as well as I should have for the surgery. I have been trying to slow down eating my meals but haven't gotten into a good rhythm. I am still struggling with not drinking with meals and my soda craving has been hard to curb. But I finally feel I am nearly ready. I have made plenty of puree Soups for post-surgery, my favorite of which is the butternut squash Soup, a great meal during the 2 week liquid diet portion post-surgery. I have devised a plan to make sure I am getting all my Protein in during the first two weeks until better sources can be added after the liquid diet phase. I ordered a Nurtibullet in the hopes that I will completely be over soda by being able to grind up fresh fruit / vegetables for delicious smoothies. For now, everything is coming together, but there is still a lot to do as well. I was told to watch my weight gain pre surgery and even to try and lose some before going in (though my insurance doesn't require it). I was able to knock off 10 pounds, but put it back on, and again managed it off, so I might be near 365 pre surgery, but I know that final result on Sunday night. I was also told not to blow it by going all out as a "last hooray". Though I must say I have been somewhat holding to that, I am making a trip this weekend to my favorite buffet in Atlantic City. But I have been good leading up to it know that I am going there, so hopefully I don't ruin my work over the last couple weeks! But I don't think of the surgery as a end to my eating out, and you really can't otherwise none of us would do it. In this case, I just want a weekend getaway pre surgery, and if there happens to be my favorite buffet there I might as well partake. So this is it, surgery is scheduled for March 3rd, 2014. I am ready as I'll ever be. I have told most of my family and most of my friends. That is a completely personal issue that I feel each individual must decide who to tell and when to tell them on their own. I made the mistake of telling my boss, which at first was all fine and dandy, but now as the surgery approaches I keep getting questions like, "when will you be 100%" and "will you ever be able to do X, Y or Z again at work" and "will you be calling out often due to issues with it?" and so on. My suggestion for work is to not tell them. At first I didn't think much of it, but now it is coming back to haunt me a bit. You don't have to lie as the law protects anyone having surgery to not have to tell their employer why they are doing it, but I would definitely not tell them why if you can help it. As for the family/friends, some I just didn't tell pre surgery because I didn't want them to worry about the surgery itself. Unfortunately, my parents had to know since they are going to help watch my son that day and take me to the hospital and all that. They are scared about the surgery going wrong, even though I assured them of the routineness of it nowadays. Heck, it is same day surgery! But of course I understand why they are scared, since it is still surgery. All my affairs are in order though, and I am ready for anything should it come my way. I am so excited for the surgery and I can't wait to be able to finally shed some real pounds. Everything that I am doing can also help my wife and son as all of us will be eating better at home. No more late night fast food runs, no more high calorie / sugar soda in the house, the ability to actually cook meals (i never cooked a day in my life until last month and now I can make some basic, healthy meals!), being able to do more outdoor / physical activities as a family. I am also so excited to finally wear things that have been sitting in my closet for years. Clothes that have never even had the chance to see the light of day. I am also excited to not have the seat of my pants rip out of pants while I am wearing them (3 times it happened, I must say stay away from St. John's Bay clothes). And the Pièce de résistance, I can finally wear shoes that aren't loafers! I wish all of those on this wonderful journey with me the best of luck and I look forward to making new friends in this process too. I am excited for the advice that I can give one day to newcomers and the advice I can receive from the veterans. Good luck to all!

I am so sorry you are having a hard time and are feeling frustrated. ((GIANT HUGS)) I had a 2 month period where I gained and lost the same few pounds as well. It can be VERY frustrating. Unlike you though I didn't have any restriction until my last fill which finally has me losing again. So hang in there!! When you are looser at night do you still restrict your amounts and measure out what you eat? If you are eating the right foods, but too much... try using a measuring cup you may be surprised. I know you say you are pretty tight, maybe just a scooth more will do the trick. Did you ask your Dr? Are you avoiding slider foods? I know it is frustrating at times but hang in there. As hard as it is... you cannot compare your weighloss to others. Everyone is built differently, some people have a substantial amount to lose (like me) so it comes off quicker initially.

Vegaswildflower........I asked my pharmacist about this ( he is also my son lol) and here is the email he sent back to me. Hope it helps. well the first five ingredients are different kinds Vitamin b's. Iodine surprises me because that is very hard to find either otc or rx caffeine is good to get you going if this is suppose to increase energy and weight loss grape fruit extract - there are a lot of drug interactions with this one so be careful if you are on a lot of drugs - most important, either consistently take this or not, not for as needed use 5-HTP (for short) is the ingredient found in turkey that makes you drowsy - not sure why it would be in this the rest I have never heard of or are basic building blocks that your muscles need to grow and function RAE

we don't really have a "prime" time to lose weight. Part of the beauty of the band. And 40 in 4 is damn good. 100 pounds in a year may be setting yourself up for disapointment. I don't know what your starting weight was/is, but if you are a really high BMI person, this is more do-able than if you are closer to 40 or less. I just don't want you to set an unrealistic goal, then feel like a failure when you've already done such good work.

I started out in October at about the same weight as you. I will be very pleased to have lost 46 pounds in 7 months! You are doing great.

My doctor told me right away that once my weight gets under 190-200 pounds, the weight will come off slower. That I will just need to make sure to keep doing exactly what I've been told to do and it will come off just not as fast as it did before. HW: 331 SW: 11/26/12 319lbs CW: 219 05/26/13 GW: 157

Are you watching your simple carbs? They are a huge culprit of head hunger for me. I do eat the good carbs fruit, green veggies, milk and limited whole grains. But I won't touch the strachy high glycemic ones like potato, corn, Pasta, rice, white flour and sugar. Just a little and my head hunger goes wild. The best cure for boredom, weight loss AND head hunger is physical activity. I don't sit and watch TV anymore--other than dinnertime I don't sit still period. I exercise, go for a walk or start a project around the house. I have stopped watching TV so much and keep as active as possible in the evenings And I have gotten so much accomplished! I come home from work, go for a walk or do my workout, get dinner out of the way then start a project. I am so tired by bedtime that I just want to go to sleep. During the warm months I got all kinds of gardening projects done in the yard, remodeled my patio and organized the garage and tool shed, painted the shutters... Now that the weather is colder, I am working inside going room by room and completely organizing, cleaning closets and organizing drawers, painting ceilings and walls, organizing, cleaining carpets waxing floors...the whole nine yards. The only TV watching I get is in the background while I am keeping busy. I rarely think about food in between meals like I used to and I credit that to watching my carbs and keeping busy.

I will give you the opposite side since I see my clinic as more conservative than most I see here. We are told that we should ALWAYS follow the 30/30/30 rule. That rule is no drinking 30 minutes before eating, chew every bite 30 times, and no drinking for 30 minutes after finishing eating. Drinking while eating allows you to eat more since it pushes the food through your pouch. Stopping drinking and waiting to drink is making use of the tool that RNY is. Not following his rule most believe will lead to weight gain over time. As for eating carbs... We should always eat our Protein first. We must also make our protein goal. Once those are met adding in some carbs is fine. I have had potatoes, rice, crackers, and bread. The one thing that my NUT told me I should not go back to is Cereal for Breakfast. I always enjoyed oatmeal for breakfast. There is simply not enough protein in any of the cereals to make the daily protein goal. It's different for each of us, but I hope this helps. Good luck!!

I had my revision all in one surgery on July 14th. Did good the first ten days out, lost 15. Then the hunger set in. After reading on here about an acid blocker, I went back on the one sent home with me after surgery, didn't help. Moved on to nexium, nope no luck, am now on to OTC proposed, two pills, totally 40mg a day. Am still feeling the knowing feeling in my stomach. You know like how iy feels when you realize you've gone too long without eating.I have to stay under 1000 calories a day and still no weight loss, I can go for about a week before breaking down and just eating. That's the other problem too, I am feeling no restriction what so ever. This is my second was surgery and I feel like such a failure.

Your anxiety is TOTALLY normal! I'm a mom, I get it. I was pretty terrified too. But I am now 10 months post op and have NO REGRETS! You will get through this! I want to piggy back on the person who said there is no safer place than an OR table. I agree. If your surgeon thought there was a reason why you might not make it, and that the risk was greater than having a successful outcome, they wouldn't let you have surgery. I know you are scared...but do it anyway. Conquer the fear! You're going to learn so much about yourself and your capabilities after this surgery. It's as much a self love adventure as it is a weight loss one!