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So I had my first fill yesterday and boy do I feel it. I am having trouble not getting stuck. I had 3 cc's, the doctor tried 4 but I couldn't handle that. I am hoping this help me get on my road to weight loss. I know I still have a waise to go before I find the "sweet spot". If anyone has advice on what to eat for a few days after the fill that would be great. I am trying to stay on soft/liquids for a few days. But also want to avoid the burping and getting stuck part if possible.

Very few people lose much weight during the mushy stage. Mushies are by their very nature carbs.... so yes, they do add up, but this is not the time to worry about weight - it's the time to heal. (which does not mean pig out....just use common sense!). Your weight lose will get in gear after you heal and after you can begin balancing your diet out with some nice normal foods. Don't be beating yourself up.....just do what you were told and relax. It's also a good time to experiment with shakes, sample different ones, find some you love - they'll mke post op life much easier and much healthier.

The eating guidelines are there for a purpose.....not just to torment you!! They are not designed to help you lose weight....they are designed to protect your surgery, to give you time to heal, to keep from ripping out the stitches with solid or rough food chunks. And, like many other things in life and many other things associated with this surgery, JUST BECAUSE YOU CAN DOES NOT MEAN YOU SHOULD!! You can do damage that you will not recognize until months later when your pouch is dilated or you have a slippage and you puke and hurt and have acid reflux and have to have your band replaced or have a revision. But back to your question.....should you go back to mushies? YES!!!:biggrin: Or better yet, liquids.

For mushy ideas, I ate lots of homemade lentil Soup and refried Beans blended with chicken broth and a little melted cheese. It was high in Protein and very good. I have been banded going on six months at the end of this month. If I have learned anything it is that you need to stick to your doctors suggested diet and follow bandster rules to find weight loss success. Dont start eating solid food and skip stages. At one week out, eating solid food already and skipping stages, you are at risk of damage to your band down the road. It doesnt matter that you can do it without being too uncomfortable. It is a matter that your stomach needs to heal completely before you start making it work. Not everyone loses weight at this stage. The focus has to be healing right now, and believe me, the weight loss will come if you follow your bandster rules and doctors orders. Yes, you need to go back to mushies as prescribed. Please don't put your health at risk. It is not worth it when you only have a couple of weeks when you can start eating again with little risk. The band won't do you any good if you have a complication and lose it altogether down the road.

My port has started sticking out now that I have lost so much weight. I can feel the port very clearly. I would say that there is only 1/8-1/4 of an inch of fat/muscle covering it. I cannot lay on that side any more. It feels uncomfortable. Can they reposition it so it doesn't stick out? If so, is it difficult surgery? I am self-pay, but have insurance. Will they cover the repositioning?

The reason you got the lapband was that you can use it as a tool. It will give you enough restriction (eventually) to be able to eat enough to make you satiated (satisfied but NOT FULL) if you are full you have eatten too much. And if you eat too much you will not only gain weight, you will not lose and will stretch out the pouch for you to eat more and more. And if you gobble it down cause you have a stretch out pouch you might throw up. The worst of that is errosion of the band. That is why my dr does not want me to have a fill. We all want more! We are never satisfied. With the Lapband, it is thougt that 2 lbs per week is the average. You will learn to put only quality in your stomach, That way you will have the full nutrition. REMEMBER protein first, carbs last. We all have plateaus. We need to love ourselves, and exercise, eat right take out vitamins, drink our water, choose our foods wisely, I hope that you have purchased a book that has calories, carbs, protein,etc in it for you to know what is going in. This is your life~no one elses. If you follow the rule and do not cheat you will get to where you want to be. We are on a high protein low carb diet. I have not had: soda, bread, rice, pizza, pasta, cake, cookies, pies, candy or any other garbage that will inhibit me from going further in my journey. I also want to mention that I lost 89 lbs in 15 months. I turned 64 2 weeks ago. Feel free to email me. lizybird@aol.com

You are doing great...just keep ding what you are doing. Unless you are losing weight by white-knuckle dieting you are fine and prob dont ned a fill yet!

Johni What sorts of things are you eating? Keep in mind that just because you have 9cc in the 10cc band, you STILL might need a bit more fill - but if you have discomfort when eating - that isn't good either. If you are eating good solid foods like chicken Beef, Pork or Fish - you should at least feel like you are no longer ravenously hungry anymore... Maybe you should throw out that concept of trying to feel "full" and just stop eating when your body stops screaming at you. Trust me, I know it's easier said than done. I also understand that "drop in the bucket" feeling. That is why I never succeeded at dieting before. The task was simply too great to undertake all at once. BUT, now I can take a little break and then get back on track without instantly gaining every ounce I lost and then some. That's the very best thing about the band. Please tell what sorts of things you are eating. 9cc should be doing SOMETHING - even if it isn't great or perfect, you should have some restriction. Keep the faith.

Hi! I have been lurking in LBT but this is my first post. I was banded on Jan. 5, 2012. I have lost 35 lbs. which puts me 1/2 way to my goal . My surgeon was Dr. Nicole Fearing in Overland Park, KS. She has been wonderful. I am eating around 1200 calories a day including 60 grams of protein. I eat much more than 1 cup of food per meal although much less than I used to eat (!) I have not felt restriction. Don't ever want to get anything stuck or to vomit! I take a 30 minute walk 4 times a week. I feel great. I go for my 4th fill April 17. Not sure if I should get one since the weight is coming off slowly but surely. Kind of want to speed it up, but don't want to rock the boat!

Hi ..it sounds like you are doing great! So I think you should trust your instincts...Do you feel like it is a struggle to loose? If not , then don't fix what is not broken!!! You can always have a fill if it starts to get harder!! I had my band on the 23rd of Jan. I lost 14 lbs pre op and in the first week but then nothing for ages. I have had 2 fills and slowly an starting to feel a little restriction. I have finally lost 4 lbs over the last 2 weeks .......what a relief....but needed to work quite hard. I am calorie counting with a site called weight lloss resources. I love that it as works out the nutritional breakdown and also how many portions of fruit and veg I have had.I am looking forward to my next fill in 2weeks as I don't feel I am getting much help get!!! I hope to be doing as well as you soon!!!!

@@kerryberry16 Hi there! I just want to say that it is perfectly normal to have these doubts once you are set to have surgery. After all, it is a big one that will require a lot from you. I am 53, I was 310lbs at 5'10" when I had RNY. I had type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, severe gerd, sleep apnea, anemia, stage 3 kidney disease. It was the kidney disease that came from years of obesity that was the straw for me. A lot of these illnesses came on fast and when one came the other was right around the corner. My nephrologist (kidney specialist) is the one who suggested I consider WLS. He made sure that i understood that window was very small given my declining kidney function. If I got to a point where I was too sick, they would not operate. It took 9 months to get through the 6 month process from start to finish and by the time I got there I was so ready to have this done that if anything delayed it I became emotional. I just knew that having bypass was going to help me get control of my weight which in turn would Help me become healthier. That was what it was all about for me. Well I had my surgery nearly 2 years ago. Within 3 months ALL of my comorbitities were in remission including my kidney function. I was able to stop taking 8 prescriptions for things I simply did not suffer from. This surgery literally gave me back my life. That being said, it is NOT easy in any way, shape or form. Most bypass patients DO NOT get dumping syndrome. I believe the number is only about 30% and it usually stops after the first year or so. Some suffer with it longer. I tell you this mostly so that you know, you will likely not have it. Those that do get it really wish they didn't. The surgery really helps you control quantity of food at any one given time. You have to make the changes to your diet to put the right things in there the right amount of times per day. Now is the time to begin to make lots of changes. Many of us had food funerals, it is only natural to want to try the things that you think you will never have again. The reality is, you will be able to enjoy most foods just in smaller quantities. Don't let that fear change where you are headed. I am one of those people that waited way too long to have this surgery and nearly killed myself in the process. It caused me to develop severe osteoarthritis of the spine, shoulders and knees. Over the last 14 years I have had 6 back surgeries with 2 of them being after bypass. I also had to have my left shoulder rebuilt because of bone on bone arthritis. I am literally disabled because I allowed myself to continue down a deadly path with obesity. RNY is the best thing that ever happened to me and if I had to do it over again, I would do it 10 to 15 years sooner before all the damage to my body. Even with such severe osteoarthritis, I feel fantastic!!! Every single day is like a new birthday for me because I am not sick. I LOVE food. Its just a different food that I now crave. I was a sugarholic! After RNY your tastes really do change and you learn to love good quality Protein, good carbs like fruits and veggies. Yes, I do eat sweets now and then but I have learned to control myself. My nut taught me to believe everything in moderation and to eat a balance meal. After losing the first 50lbs, my activity level increased. My feet no longer hurt, my ankles and knees both improved dramatically. I was able to get up and down stairs without keeling over from lack of oxygen. LOL. Don't let your fears stop you from doing what you need to do to get healthy. You started this process for a reason, stay focused on that reason. Less than 5% of people are successful losing this kind of weight on their own and keeping it off long term. That is the key, keeping it off. Maintenance is hard work and you always worry about regain. The good news is, once you have RNY the tool is always there for you. You just need to build good eating habits. 90% of your weight loss will come from diet. I wish you the best of luck with this and I hope that you are able to get to a place where you are content with your decision.

Hi jewelj, I agree with what the others have said--stress is so tough on our bodies, especially as you are recovering from this major weight loss surgery . But you have taken a couragous step in reaching out to friends here on BariatricPal. Like others have suggested, please give us more detail about what you are eating in your typical day so we can help. But meanwhile, as you know, the MOST IMPORTANT is to be getting your Protein (60-80g or whatever is recommended by your surgeon) and your 64 oz of water/liquid every day. And I could not agree more that taking care of yourself FIRST is what you must do in order to be able to best care for your husband. I don't mean to make that sound "so easy" because I know it is not. You really haven't had a lot of time and opportunity yet since your surgery that it takes to do all these lifestyle eating habits changes with everything else that is on your plate. And all these adjustments take time. Be gentle with yourself and keep posting here and you'll get ideas to help you learn to cope better day by day. Take care.

You have come along way baby!!! Congrats on such a great weight loss!! You look terrific!

This is a rough time! During Christmas I was on my liver shrink diet, then New Years, my anniversary was last month, then Super Bowl and now Valentines! I go with my husband out to eat and Celebrate but there is no celebration anymore. The waitresses always ask if the food was bad because I only eat 5 bites, they constantly watch to see if I'm enjoying so I'm being watched on top of being full an hour before my husband. So I just sit there watching him gorge himself and not gain a pound (hate his metabolism). I feel uncomfortable and out of place to where the experience isn't enjoyable but he doesn't understand. I ask him to share his food so I don't feel awkward but he says he's hungry. Going out used to be the highlight of my day and now I'm left underwhelmed and bored. I tried to tell my husband we need to start doing other activities not surrounded around food but food is still a major part of his life. He's very supportive of me but I'm struggling to find common ground. What new activities do some of the vets do now that they didn't before to keep the peace? Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

wooow so i guess i dont feel as bad now lol.My doctor is conservative but he said that I can have mushy foods but he wants most of my food to be pureed. I do eat eggs and other REALLLLLY soft foods but i dont over do it so i try to eat most foods pureed. He does say that after the 6 week i can have complete solids (im so excited). I do agree with you about the failure part. I try t remember that I am already doing 100% better with this than ANY OTHER diet before. I think that i become so consumed and obsessed with the fact that the weight is coming off that i get overly excited so i try not to weigh myself everyday but its hard because everttime i walk into the bathroom the scale seems to talk to me, so Im going to put the scale up lol. Thank you for your input.

I'm 14 weeks out and down almost 70#s from where I started. For me this has absolutely been the right decision for me. Life is better for me and I'm more content and comfortable in my own body. Having less of me, physically, is so much easier. Easier to move around, walk, turn over in bed, fit in chairs in public places, find clothing that's not super expensive, breathe etc. Mentally/emotionally life is better too. I feel more free to really be me, who I am at the core of me. We still eat we just eat less and make heathier choice which I find leads to more contentment and happiness because I'm being more thoughtful about what I choose to put into my body. Not just mindless eating of sub-quality, highly processed foods. I enjoy the conversation and company more at meals as I'm focused on that and not the food. I've a long way to go yet and for me the challenge has always been in the maintaining of weight loss but I feel I'm up to that task now. So short answer: YES I ENJOY LIFE MUCH MORE NOW! Good luck to you and God Bless you in this journey!

I did not have a liquid pre-op diet. They just wanted me to do a reduced calorie diet to "shrink" my liver. They didn't even suggest high protein, low carbs, they never have even for post-op. He said my liver looked fine during surgery and I was 356 pounds at surgery date. i had no complications during surgery, very little bleeding and didn't need a drain! But, I think I was pretty healthy going in to surgery even with such a high weight. I didn't really stick with any diet pre-op but I did try to cut a few things out and not eat as much. I am sure I was consuming 5-6000 calories before my surgery on a typical day. I did eat Taco Bell and McDonalds a few days before surgery. I just felt like I needed to enjoy those things one more time since I was never going to eat them again. Probably a bad idea and irrational thinking, but luckily my surgery went fine and I healed fine and I have had to complications.

I had surgery yesterday, February 26th. Walked in feeling confident and strong. Lefted feeling the same, just a little sore. With the pain relievers, the pain is very controllable. The worst was the air bubbles coming up that made me feel like I was choking on air. I feel so thankful my mom, a nurse, was there to support me through it all. Today, I feel even better. Still alittle sore, but again controllable. Often very drowsy after taking the pain relievers. At least, I've become very percise about when I need to take it. It's pretty consistent at every 3 hours. Any advice or helpful hints are appreciated! I am really excited to get my first fill. But, I still have 4 weeks to wait. I really want to start losing weight asap...I am getting married in 7 months.

Hello, my name is Annie, but I love the Beatles so I named myself Abbey I am 25 years old and I had weight loss surgery on 8/23/2010. My highest weight was 330 lbs and by that point I became really scared of reaching the 400lbs. I have always been overweight but I usually remained just 50lbs above my ideal weight (which for my hight it should range from 140 to 150). I began dieting one year before my surgery in hopes that I could lose the weight on my own, and I did lose about 20lbs. After a year of not being able to lose more I decided to have the vsg. My starting weight was 311lbs, on the day of my surgery I was 295 and currently I am 224. I used to be a size 28 and I am now size 18. I am currently at a stall and for the last three weeks I have not lost a pound. I am a big meat eater so my diet consists mostly of chicken or beef, I try to stick to the no carb diet. Usually I was eating three meals a day, but at the start of this month I began to snack still sticking to the no carbs. I believe that my snaking is the reason for me not losing this month. I exercise for about 2 hrs two or three days a week, I do cardio for 45 mins and the rest is weight lifting. I had my surgery in Laredo, TX at a hospital name LMC and it ran for about 8,500. I hope this is enough information but if you have any questiosn go ahead and ask I'd love to help. I also hope to have some of my questions answered I think it is an awsome idea that we have a forum to share info

I've lost 50 pounds in a little over 5 months myself. I know that if I compare that to other people, it seems low. But I was told that I'd be considered a slower loser comparatively because I had a lower BMI, so I tried my best to prepare myself for that. I don't get too focused on the numbers because I'm following my team's plan and I know the weight will continue to come off even though I'll still have stalls. The amount of pounds I've lost in this short amount of time is the most that I've ever lost and I'm so proud of myself! I'm also over 50% of the way to my goal and that's what's most important to me! So, as long as you're doing what you're supposed to do (sticking to your plan) then you'll be fine. Stalls are inevitable, but so is the fact that they pass. Sent from my SM-N920P using BariatricPal mobile app

It is common to do a little experimentation after surgery. That is how we learn. Some people can tolerate anything after surgery while others have problems and can tolerate very little. Weight loss is achieved during the short weight loss phase through meal volume control. The two operative words here are short and volume. So if you want to maximize your weight loss during this phase, you need to adhere to the program guidelines. I slid into the maintenance phase at 7 months.

I had one mask that I hated more than all the others. The one that goes up your nose. Man that one sucked so bad. One night I only slept with it for about a hour. I woke up and said screw this thing and ripped it off and went back to sleep!! Lol I'm hoping once I loose weight I acn get rid of the damn thing.

I am a couple days shy of 4 months & around the week of Christmas I noticed that I was starting to feel hungry. Like go drink some more Water & feeling wasn't gone. I am at a little stall this week only down .6 of a pound but I am sure I have gained muscle because clothes are fitting looser then weeks prior. I am sticking well within my calorie allowance & eating acceptable foods for my program. Ie no intentional eating of carbs allowed until the start month 7 obviously some foods like yogurt innately contain carbs but you all get what I mean. I am also getting exercise in daily so just wondering if anyone else is experiencing this? Happy New Year to everyone????????

Well turns out, I already had 2cc in my band. Who knew. I got an additional 1 1/2cc on 1/7/08, and I am looking forward to my next fill on the 21st. I had gained some weight since being filled, but it appears that I have lost that weight, plus 1 pound :tounge_smile: Prayfully, I will loose another few pounds by the time I meet with the doctor. I also started my dance classes last Saturday. So once per week I will be dancing, along with other exercise and weight training 2/3 times per week. It feels good to weigh 284.5. I just want to completely be out of the 280s. Maybe that will be my three month gift to myself. I have also been off fried foods and sugar. I feel pretty good so far. :thumbup:

Hows everyone doing? Is anybody at their goal weight? If so what is your calorie intake? What about carbs, fats, protein intake? What is your height and weight?