Search the Community

yeah, agreed. ill see my sister for the first time in April 2014 since she moved to australia a year ago... she hasnt seen me since surgery and all my life she made fun of me for being bigger than her, but now she's gaining weight and im losing, it'll actually be kind of gratifying to see the look on her face. It might sound mean, but i honestly hope she's jealous...her and i have always been competative and as much as she tortured me about my weight growing up--- it'll make my day that's for sure

My husband started out the same way. But we have had a few talks about how much I need his support and he has improved. Now I am teasing my husband, who is also over weight, that if he doesn't start losing weight with me I'll get my surgeon to cut him too. I think my husband didn't take me serious at first because he had seen me start so many diets and give up that he kind of assumed I would give up on this too! Good luck and keep it up. Talking to people always helps.

I'm so glad to see this post!! mine has however been lower back pain. I was sleeved on may 13. my back pain started a couple of weeks ago and got so bad I could hardly move. I started going to my chiropractor again last week and he said with my large amount of weight loss it causes my spine and hips to recalibrate how i carry my weight so everything gets out of whack. I've been getting adjustments every other day trying to get everything back in position. I'm glad to hear some of you have seen a decrease in pain over time. I hope that's the case with me.

Here's what my dietician had me doing from Day 1 through Week 6. Day 1,2,3 - I was allowed Water, sugar free Jello, broth, sugar free popsicles, decaf tea, and liquid Protein drinks (clear not creamy drinks). I was told to consume a maximum of 2-4 oz of any of the above items at one time. Day 4,5,6,7 - In addition to the above items, I got to add V-8 juice (Not Splash version, strained thinned cream Soups w/o meat or vegetables, nonfat lowfat yogurt, preferably lite or low carb (no seeds, fruit pieces, nuts, or granola added), skim milk. You should only be consuming a maximum of 2-4 oz at a time still. Weeks 2 and 3 (Days 8-22) - I was able to add soft, moist, SOLID foods, one at a time. Avoid products like beef, pork, Pasta, & rice. It is better to eat softer foods that are easier to digest. Remember to take very small bites and chew foods 20-30 times (to baby food consistency) to avoid vomiting or stomach irritation. If you have nausea or vomiting, return to the clear liquid diet and contact your doctor. Things to add to your food items above now are: Cottage cheese (low-fat or nonfat) String Cheese eggs (any style) Tofu Refried Beans chicken (canned or thinsly sliced deli-no BBQ) Turkey (thinsly sliced deli-no BBQ) Baked Fish (soft, moist, fresh) Tuna with fat free mayo or fat free Miracle Whip. Add the following foods, in this order, ONLY if you have room: Vegetables: Well-cooked, peeled vegetables (AVOID asparagus, corn, celery, peas, lima beans, brussels sprouts, lettuce, cabbage, raw vegetables for 6 months, then CHEWED well). Fruit: Canned fruit (preferably unsweetened) Small amounts of cooking spray Small amounts of fat-free mayo, fat free Miracle Whip, butter sprays, or broth to moisten food. Drink sips of water (2 oz every 15 minutes) through the day (total 48-64 oz day). Do not drink water 30 minutes before, during and 1 hour after a meal. Protein Drinks should be counted as part of your 64 oz Fluid daily. Weeks 4 & 5 (Days 23-35) - You can now increase your range of foods, adding more texture and variety. Remember to eat solid protein first! Foods you can now add to your diet are as follows: Egg salad, tuna salad, and chicken salad, with minimal fat free mayo (no celery), pickles with no skin is ok, I used pickle relish without any problems. Nonfat lowfat cheese. Creamy Peanut Butter. Chicken breast, turkey, lean beef, lean pork - must be moist and be able to pull apart with 2 forks. Black beans, lentils, split peas, canned. Low calorie, low carb frozen meal (remember, you will not eat the whole thing). As I recall, there were days that I was able to eat the entire frozen entree such as Weight Watchers, Lean Cuisine, Healthy Choice, etc.), but not always. Foods to avoid - course or crunchy foods. Limit foods high in fat, sugar and starch. Week 6 and beyond - From this point on, food tolerances will be "trial and error" for you. Raw vegetables (peeled), raw fruit (peeled), salads, and nuts are best tolerated after 5 to 6 months. I think I tried eating salads and raw fruit after about 3 months and didn't have any problems, but just take it easy when trying this things since they can cause food to get stuck fairly easy. I stuck to the above foods and followed the above plan for the first 5 months before I started straying off "plan" and did really well in my weight loss then. I also walked 3 to 4 times a week on my treadmill. My weightloss slowed down when I found myself eating things that weren't all on the plan above such as fried chicken, candy, stuff that you really should try to eat in moderation anyway. My doctor and therapist keep reminding me this is a lifestyle change so I don't beat myself up if I have a bad day, I just get up the next day and do better. I'm still losing just not as fast as I did to begin with. My 1 year band anniversary is March 19 and to date I have lost 105 lbs, 20 of which I lost before the band. I'm very happy with my decision and hope you will be too. The plan that I just laid out above is what our dietician gave to us so if you follow it I would hope you would have minimal problems and great results like I have. If you have any questions, let me know. My email address is triggert@kc.rr.com if you'd prefer to email me instead of going thru the private messages. Hope this helps, Teri

Last Friday 5/8 I was banded. OH BABY!!! :ohmy: Of course that day our area was hit with a really bad storm, 17 tornados touched down in our surrounding area. Of course I had no clue, I was in lala land! They said they had to postpone my surgery till the storm passed over but I still had no clue how bad it was. A few nights later I finally was able to see the news and asked my husband, "What the hell happened"? I'm just glad our home and family/friends were ok and feel so bad for the people who had damage. Ok, now for the trip so far. I handled surgery just fine, Doc said everything went very well, was in for 40 mins surgery and 1 1/2 hrs. of recovery. I wanted to sleep instead of breathing deeply, nurses didn't like that. I feel wonderful, no nauseia, not a great deal of pain, off pain meds after the 3rd day. Doing fine on full liquids. Even made a big batch of potato salad for Mothers day and didn't even want a bite! I have not been hungery AT ALL, so far this has been a walk in the park! Knock on wood! I hear the shoulder pain from the gas is bad, but it's not happened yet! I'm 5 days out and nothing, THANKS TO GOD! So may be I'm just one of the lucky ones, the blessed ones??? Yes I'm sick of liquids but it really isn't so bad! I add a lot of ice to my slimfast and I feel like it's a milkshake. I can do this. I've been walking every day, just a little, I get worn out so easy! I see out Doc on Thursday, can't wait to see how much I've lost in water weight. I lost 10 lbs. before surgery and I know I've lost more, my feet and ankles have never been so skinny and think! this is to friggin awesome!!!

I am pre-sleeve and hoping to be on the other side by the end of the year. I've been reading a lot and something that keeps coming up is how relationships will change. I am sure that means good and bad, right? I am concerned about a few people in my life. These two particular people I won't be telling of my surgery but I do foresee some issues. I have always been bigger than both of these people but one in particular always has to be the center of attention. She's not much smaller than me now and is very unhappy with her life in general. I am wondering how others have handled this? In the past, she has been very ugly to me about my weight and I don't want to be insensitive but I would also like to be prepared if that makes sense. She's family and I do love her but I also expect a tad bit of jealousy. What has been your experience? Thanks!

Sounds like this WLS diet worked pretty good for a while. In the same place she used to be in earlier days when the diet she was on stopped working because the rewards weren't rolling in as fast as they did in the beginning (i. e. slower weight loss, stalls) and everything just seemed too hard and maybe even pointless. And you already seem to know this because you wrote: Indeed. What I did back in the days was reading what I could find about "normal eating". If you have access to counseling (and not only to these guys and dolls who'll tell you that their waiting list is at least about 1 year long) you might benefit from it. Are you? Or do you secretly wish for nothing more than getting a F*CKING break from all of this? (I can completely understand this wish.) It seems like you already went at least partly down that rabbit hole. --- I sometimes think WLS boards do more harm than good for some people. The comparing never seems to stop.

I think that you need to go with your gut feeling on what decision feels right to you. I wanted to call of the surgery as the nurse was putting the IV in my arm, but I didn't. Then, after the surgery was over, I wished I had had the guts to walk out when it didn't feel right. Now I am 10 days post op, and I am adjusting ok at this point, but I am not sure I actually "needed" the surgery. I have lost weight with the protein shakes, which I could have done without the band. I am just hoping that as time goes on it will help me to maintain the weight loss and not regain. Only time will tell if it was the right decision or not. But if I were to do it again, I probably would have canceled at this point.

<HR style="COLOR: #d1d1e1" SIZE=1> <!-- / icon and title --><!-- message --> Do Males and Females lose diffrently or react to the band in other ways? React to the band differently - not that I know of. Not physically, anyway. Lose differently - very often they do, but I don't want to make a generalization out of that. Typically the male metabolism lends itself to quicker weightloss. Particularly with "low carb" diets (which many bandsters end up following). A niggling little fear that I have is losing muscle mass, I know I will lose some becuase hopefully I will not be carrying around a 160 lbs of fat but I do not want to lose too much. Have any of you noticed a loss of muscle?:phanvan I'm sure that I have lost muscle, not it is not evident, neither in my physical abilities nor in my physical appearance. E.g. I can still flex my thigh and see the thigh muscle, just as I could before LB, but now I see a lot more definition b/c there isn't as much fat blocking my view. :cool: This question may sound a little vain:embarassed: but, has your social life improved since you have lost weight? No, BUT I have noticed a BIG difference in how I'm treated - already, and I still have a ways to go. I've been getting a LOT of attention from guys lately, almost overnight, and 120# ago I couldn't get the time of day. I have a BMI of 45 but I do not consider myself "morbid" I can get around under my own power (tying shoes suck though lol) and I work, I can do hard physical labor with few problems due to my weight. Will this hurt my chances when I go to the doctor? "Morbid" refers in part to the likelihood of life threatening complications coming about as a result of the obesity. I was morbidly obese, but I had no comorbidities, no mobility problems, no health problems, no secondary risk factors, etc. I honestly didn't expect to be approved, and had alreasy planned to self pay. I was as healthy as I could possibly be, while being 200# overweight. I was approved on the first try, I didn't have to submit any documentation other than the paperwork I gave to the program coordinator and the required medical history. I didn't have to prove a medically supervised diet. I just gave her my paperwork and then got a call that I had been approved. I was actually surprised by how easy it all was, I definitely expected that due to my relatively healthy state, I would have to fight for coverage. But that's insurance, and you asked doctor. My PCP was all for the idea. She said that the lack of physical challenges, clean bill of health, good vitals, etc. made me the ideal candidate. My surgeonasked what I'd done on my own to try and lose the weight, but did not try to "hassle" me at all about having the procedure done. Hope this helps.

Liz, Will you be a self-pay or insured pay? That would be one of the determing factors. Also, what is your height and weight because it sounds like your fine?

Brief Story: I weighed 275 when I started the 6 month Supervised Diet Visits. I got down to 262 the day of surgery which was Oct 28th. I weight 242.5 today. I have been 242.5 since Nov 18 and the scale will not move. I started tracking my Protein and calories a week ago in Sparkpeople. I get 60 to 65 grams of Protein a day. I'm drinking 50+ oz of Water a day. I'm getting 600 to 800 calories a day. I just don't know what I'm doing wrong. I exercise 30 to 45 minutes a day at least 5 days a week. I feel like the biggest failure. I've heard of 1 week stalls, maybe 2, but I'm going on a 3 week stall. Is this normal? My next doctor's appointment is Dec 18th. I can't believe that I'm failing at this too. I didn't think I would, but it feels now like I am.

Mine does it between 3 &6 months Preop weight 389 current weight 314...that's 75 lbs lost since RNY 6/11/13

I'm almost as your measurements I'm 5' 2.5" and I weight 211# my BMI is 38 I'm a stress and a sweets eater I'm a plastic surgeon and my figure is very important for me and my clients I hv been obeese my whole life This year I got hypertension and knee pain and decided that enough is enough My surgeon who is a colleague recommended mini gastric bypass obviously bcs I'm a sweet and stress eater But I totally refused it I'm a surgeon and I know that is it a malanatomical procedure and I can't handle malabsorption syndrome or dumping syndrome!! My friend had 3 car accidents due to damping syndrome and almost died So I promised myself and him that I will control myself post op and I hope I can control the cravings after I start loosing weight and seeing results Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

That is awesome! I was feeling the same way you do. There are so many people who think that Lap-Band is a cure, and that you don't have to work at weight loss anymore.. Little do they know, they are WRONG! I have come to the attitude of, "Until you have lived it, and know what it's like, keep your mouth shut!" Anyone can make a judgment, but most of the ones that are judging have NO idea what they are talking about, and have no idea how the person feels that they are judging! Way to go! You should be proud of yourself! 67lbs is a lot to lose, and you are doing it, with the help of an amazing tool!!! Keep on truckin' down that road, I am with you!!! When I start exercising, I have to tell myself to keep on truckin', its almost a new thing to live by. I tell myself to do that, when I 'get off track' or when someone has a rude comment to say, etc. I just keep on going, because this is my life, my body, and I will live it how I want to! Have a great day! beccao

I start mine on Saturday and I am terrified. 2 weeks seems like such a long time. I will be focused though - I dont want to carry this weight anymore!

My surgery was June 25th, I had the RNY. I probably would lost more but I gained 8 pounds when I started soft foods and I stalled for 2 weeks. Just in the last week I have lost 16 pounds. I have lost a bunch of inches not sure how many. I went from a size 26 to 18/20 in 3 weeks. As for feeling smaller, I still see myself as the size I started. It's weird.

Since everyone else gave you the pep talk version of advice, I'm going to give you the opposite version. Embrace the misery. food tastes terrible and you don't want to eat? Good!! That's how you lose weight! You're unhappy and don't want to go out? Good! That means you're not tempted by booze and food you shouldn't be eating. You have a slim window of opportunity to lose the most weight as possible and being unhappy and hating food is a really great way to maximize on that time. I read a book once and it said that most people don't lose weight because they haven't gotten quite miserable enough. No one has been mean enough to them, they haven't been hurt quite enough yet to really motivate them to do what needs to be done. At the time I thought, umm, well that's mean, but in hindsight it's true. I don't lose weight when I'm happy, but rather when I feel like a worthless loser that no one loves. The trick though is to not be sad and stuff your face to feel better, which it sounds like isn't your problem. So, while yes, you're probably depressed, use it to your advantage. If you had to have a time in life where food disgusts you and you don't have much of a desire to socialize, immediately after the sleeve when you have the best chance to lose the most weight is pretty great timing.

when you lose a lot of weight the fat cells also release hormones which cause a very up and down roller coaster effect. Everyone goes through some kind of hormonal changes when losing weight. Just think before you speak and take advantage of the food not tasting good as it can cause you to lose somewhat faster. But exercise can help relief this too, so I recommend getting to the gym and on a treadmill.

Did you weigh yourself when you came home from hospital? I actually gained 11lbs in hospital from all the fluids. It took 4 days to lose that. Then I started losing.

So I had my surgery on 6/29, after being a Lap Band patient from 9 years ago. I have lost so far 21lbs. I find myself on the scale everyday, just to be sure that I am not going in the wrong direction, which I probably need to stop doing. I just came back to work this past Monday, and it seems that I am moving round more but I haven't lost a pound. Again, being that I have been down this road, I want to be sure that we have as many WINS as we can. I just want to be sure that I am doing okay ya'll. I go for my 4 week follow up with my doctor tomorrow. Ya'll know I am over the shakes, but I still drink at least one every morning, and try to get the rest of my Protein through my food, and if anyone knows of another one that's a little easier to deal with or other ways to get my protein in besides Celebrate? I've heard about gummies and other stuff , but I just want a little more input. Of course I get full quickly, so I stopped adding almond milk to my shakes because it makes it to much. I am literally trying to get in the 4 oz. per hour. So now I'm just mixing it with Water, which isn't too bad. Any suggestions of anything more that I can or should be doing? I'm watching how my body reacts to anything that I eat, which is a job in itself. Some of ya'll have had great successes, and I want to be successful too!! I am open and very receptive!!

I've got a really good treadmill, and a 30kg adjustable barbell set, assorted dumbells between 1 and 5kg, a set of boxing mitts and focus pads, resitance bands (never use them, too easy), an ab roller, a yoga mat. We only have a small house, it takes up half our family room in what was once our casual eating area. I use these things to do a circuit 3 x a week, Doug and I often do it together. On the other days I prefer to leave the house and run outside, but sometimes I just run or walk on the treadmill. We do need a better weights set up, at the very least a bench but we have nowhere to put it, we just cant fit it in in this house, and we wont be moving for another year or two.

Ok so I'm wondering if I have enough to go into a doctor and ask about getting tested for PCOS. I do have diabetes in my family so I just want to make sure all my hormone levels are alright. I have very greasy hair and skin, acne, excess hair growth(facial and body), my periods (before BC) were always every 28 days but lasted a full seven days and they were pretty heavy and then sometimes they'd be really light. I'm not sure what they are now since I'm BC and all (will this affect if they need to do a blood test or can they take that into account?) I don't have darkening of the skin really though I do have a few random skin tags which I read can be common. I also have anxiety and depression problems. I'm currently Mood Disorder NOS because they aren't sure yet what I have but I have mood swings...and obviously I have weight problems. And I was just diagnosed with hypothyroidism as well earlier this year. This sound like enough to warrent a hormone blood test? I tried asking my general doc about testing to make sure my acne wasn't hormonal, and he brushed it off and said "You might think that, but that's usually not the case" So...yeah...i would try and see a gyno or some other doc...

Just great, I have osteoarthritis in both knees, and being off NSAIDS before surgery has made it very difficult to walk. I can't imagine it getting worst. I thought WLS was supported to magically make our knee pain go away, because we won't be carrying around excess weight.

Caaattt, me to, but my date got change from May 28 to june 18 now. My thinking, just gives me more time to loss more weight.

It is possibe to not lose weight if you are too tight. If solid protein is giving you trouble, you are probably eating softer foods, which means you are not staying full long and you may even be getting to many calories with the softer food. My doctor calls it 'soft food syndrome'.