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I agree that putting the whole family on a healthy 'diet' or really a new healthy way of eating is beneficial for everyone in the long run. Since I was banded two weeks ago my house has become incredibly healthy and no one has made a fuss. My husband has wanted to lose 10-15 pounds( I know, we all wish that was all we needed to lose) so he said salads for lunch and many dinners would be good. He isn't a big carb fan which is great because Im a carb whore and that is what got me into so much trouble. I've been feeding everyone a lot of veggies and protein. My kids have always eaten healthy anyways so the veggies aren't a battle. I've stepped up the organic food shopping even more so which is totally free of nasty junk and preservatives. Having really nutritious foods and no really snacky trigger foods has made me two weeks in the liquid diet so much easier. I know that when I'm on to my two weeks of soft food and then on regular foods, keeping the temptations out of the house will be the key. I have no more willpower than anyone else here, but I am taking this band so seriously. I will not mess up my stomach and my life for food anymore. I'm trying to keep myself occupied when I think I need to eat.

Hello, everyone! I am a 39 (almost 40) year old wife and mom of two awesome boys. I decided a few months ago that lap band surgery was the way to go. I have lost and gained and lost and gained for the last 10 years and I'm over it. I have Carefirst BlueCrossBlueShield and I feel like I've met all of the requirements, but I am afraid to get my hopes up. I go back and forth between a BMI of 39 and 40...of course the 40 is required. I plan to have a big lunch on Thursday before I meet with with the surgeon. I feel like my future is in the hands of someone who doesn't even know me. It is such and uncomfortable feeling.

I was banded Monday 2/22/10 as well... I am very hungry!!! I am totally sick of the liquids... I hope I can start on mushy food next weeks. I haven't had the cream soups, they want us on thin liquids. No puddingm or yogurt.

Leatha - I think I have read your post 10 times, and it has made me cry each time. You have actually saved your own life. You are a miracle indeed. You have truely given me hope. I have read many articles on jogging, and they have said that brisk walking is so much better for you. You are already doing great. You asked where I live, I live in Grand Prairie, it is 14 miles from Dallas. I am between Dallas and Fort Worth. I am originally from Indiana. Theresa - I am hoping you get at least to the 50 mark this week with your WI. I love ice tea, so diet soda wouldn't be a problem for me. The only time I drink soda is if I have an occasional cocktail. Thanks for telling me your opinions about the band too. I left work yesterday to go home and tell my husband that I wanted to try somehow to get the band. When I walked in the door the garage was flooded along with the hallway/carpet. Our Water heater took a dump and it was a mess. Last weekend our pool and garage flooded from the rain and was all full of mud. We had to empty the pool out and start all over. I thought I better wait a few days till all this mess was over. In the meantime I ordered the book from Amazon that y'all suggested so I am looking forward to reading it. I am so happy I found this thread. You are all so awsome! I hope you don't mind if I stick with you till I see if I can get the band. I sure am addicted to this board now. Betty

Hi everyone! I'm new to this forum and I have been enjoying the posts! Thanks for the information and encouragement!. My question: I was banded on Dec 15th and stuck to the liquid diet for 1 week. I have been eating mushy foods since, but I've experimented with a few other things over the Christmas holiday. Long story short, today I woke up, ate a banana and took my pills, but felt nauseous and dizzy about 1/2 hour later. Then I had a Greek yougurt trying to calm my stomach down thinking I didn't eat enough protein. It worked for about 10 minutes then the problem came right back. Evertime I eat something, I feel better, but temporarily. I have felt this way ALL day and it doesn't get worse, but it doesn't get better either. Is this normal and what can I do about it? Is it possible that my "cheats" have affected my band? Help!

Paperwork submitted to insurance on March 7, 2019 approved on March 10, 2019 and surgery scheduled for May 13, 2019. Hope this helps....

I had my surgery date set before I received my final approval from my insurance compan. My final appointment with my surgeon was on March 19. And had my final approval today March 26. Sent from my SM-G925T using BariatricPal mobile app

Hi Abby, congratulations. I am searching through ebay for nice things in smaller sizes. I bought 3 really beautiful (and new with label) shirts for $10 each recently. I figure once I stop fitting them I will onsell them on ebay.

Map out your day, once banded, and you will be able to lose. I do not follow all rules of the band (I eat about every two waking hours), but I still lose. Your schedule will differ from mine, but the concept is the same: Know what you are going to eat the day before you eat it and stick with that. Here is a sample schedule from my day: 5:20 - out of bed, drink a sugar-free Red Bull 5:40 - on bike 6:40 - end of ride, time for a shower 7:14 - Drop son off at school and begin commute - Eat a Quaker Oats Breakfast cookie and bottle of Water 8:30 - Arrive at work, with meals in small cooler type lunchbox 8:45 - Eat one yogurt and one sugar free pudding - bottle of water 30 min after 10:30 - eat Clif bar - water 30 min after 11:50 - lunch - tuna salad and Soup 2:00 - Yogurt and sugar free pudding bottle of water 30 min after 3:30 - Red Bull - time to wake up. 5:00 - Start commute to gym - eat a Clif Bar and drink bottle of water on way 6:00 - arrive at gym 7:30 - leave gym 7:45 - arrive home and have some type of fruit and water...if it is a cheat day I may have a little full-fat, full sugar ice cream...moderation is key - never buy more than a pint at a time, then tell yourself not to finish off the pint that week. :cool2: In bed by 10:00 - non-essential chores get done on weekends.

10 pounds is great! Keep up the good work.

The key is to make sure its NOT SOLID BEFORE YOU SWALLOW - using small bites and chewing rigorously. Make sure to start with only solids which are moist and flaky, those easiest to digest. Stay away from high density foods, such as pork chops, steak, etc. Also, take one bite of anything new and wait 10 minutes. Your sleeve and body will tell you if its ok (or not). -RS-

^^^This! Great post @allwet. It's super stressful, the "not knowing," and trying to navigate a new road. The surgical team tries as best they can to prepare us, but the reality is that it's like bringing home a new baby from the hospital. We will be anxious and fretful 1st time parents to our new babies. I was TERRIFIED of overeating and ruining the tool I was given. My new pouch wasn't giving me feedback to let me know when I was full. So I never knew how much latitude to give myself. So I actually did the opposite of you. I ate my scheduled 5-6 mini meals per day and got my protein in come hell or high water. But I ate very small quantities and calories for my stage in order not to stretch my pouch. Consequently, I never challenged it or felt full--so I thought my surgery was screwed up cuz I never got full. LOL. Then one day I let myself eat all I wanted. Low and behold, I was only about 2-3bites below the "OK, 'enough moron' stage." I got my vitamins in each day and got my 120oz of liquids! Every day. I ate on a schedule whether I was hungry or not, cuz it was the only way to get my protein in and make as much of it protein from food, rather than protein supplements. Retrospectively, I'm not sure if that was right or wrong. You know? I could have just had 2 Premier Proteins for 320cals and been done with it! Protein req satisfied, BOOM Chahkalaka! And I would have had 22oz of liquids toward my goal. I healed easily. Many don't. Many of you guys have a LOT of swelling to deal with. So it's an individual walk and what worked for me, won't work for you. You just have to carefully feel things out. Now, fast forward to 9 almost 10 weeks and my new tummy tells me when it's full and I know approximately how big a meal should be by volume and weight. I know when I can't possibly eat another meal--so I cut out the next meal. I try to still eat on a schedule, but sometimes I don't want my snacks. So I skip them. Eventually, I will be able to eat enough volume, that I can eat 3 meals + 1 snack a day. But I'm not there yet. And that's ok. My tummy will tell me when I am! Your's will too! At the end of the day, if I haven't eaten enough to satisfy my protein minimum for the day, I will add as much Premier Protein as I have to have in order to satisfy my minimum goal. I ALWAYS satisfy my liquid reqs and my vitamin reqs and the absolute minimum protein. But now I'm doing good to work toward the middle of the protein range, which should give me more oomph to do my workouts. Just take things slowly and try to listen to the very subtle cues from your body. They will become more and more pronounced as you learn its new language! Congrats on surgery!

I have noticed this to be a pattern with long term veterans (2-5 years out from surgery). Not significant gains, like 10-20 pounds. Is this something I can expect after a certain amount of time post sleeve? Doesn't it seem the norm? And when DO you just chalk it up to normal adjustments in weight and OMG I NEED TO DO SOMETHING? This interests me.....

I had the Sleeve and was so nervous I wanted to cancel the night before 10 days post op in the recovery phase.

I have Cigna as well but you might want to check with them. The way it worked out for me is my surgeons office sent in all the paper work after my 90 day final appointment. It took them 10-15 business days to approve (I was lucky and it was closer to 10) and then my surgeons first available date for surgery was 3 weeks out. I hadnt planned on that part. I thought it’d be approval and get ‘r done!

Someone (sorry, I can't remember her name) from Israel who posts here e-mailed me that they have been doing them for about 10 years in Israel and most of the people she knows have had to have at least one more surgery for some reason...so maybe it's not as permanent as we have been lead to believe??? Emily

For me it never hurt to swallow it was just hard to swallow enough Water with pills because i would fill full and uncomfortable right away. But im 5 days out and its okay to swallow small pills. I cut my big in half and take them about 10 mins apart. Sent from my LGLS991 using the BariatricPal App

I have an appt with my new PCP on Weds. I have not met her yet and I am going to ask for the sleeve referral. I have already faxed my records from a weight loss clinic that I was going to, but I don't know if there is anything I should know about how to approach the subject with my new doc. I am DESPERATE! I am 30, struggling for 10 yrs. 5"2 247. That should be reason enough. I just want to make sure I say the right things to get things moving. Any advice?

Had band since 11/08. Fluid in, fluid out, little loss. Had 2 ugi with little dialation 3 years ago. Decided to get it out this year. Saw a different physician due to insurance. Had another ugi. Didn't see anything wrong but lower abdominal erosions due to H. pylori. Scheduled for lap removal of band and revision to rny 10/22. Start preop diet monday. Preop testing 10/17. I was a cash pay also. So I started a seeing my pcp every month for 6 months and joined WW. I knew the insurance would want me to do that. So I was proactive. I got approved on the first try. I don't see why they wouldn't approve you.

Sorry to hear about the personal stuff going on. Never easy to deal with. That aside..I think the lack of appetite may be partially expected at this point in recovery. I say this because I also have hit this same thing...without all the stress that your dealing with. I saw my bariatric dr and RD and they both said that it was normal at the 8-10 month post op stage. They said that tastes have changed dramatically and things are beginning to go back to normal at that point. So it's just your bodies way of balancing out. I've had zero appetite for weeks now. It's been a challenge for sure. I went back to 2 shakes for Snacks and 3 small actual food chewing meals. My program wants us eating only 3 meals...any needed snacks need to be liquid...so I stick to that. But... My meals now are small for sure...maybe 4 ounces at the most. Greek yogurt with Protein low cal low carb granola mixed in for Breakfast....lunch maybe a few ounces of chicken breast with a few small pieces of fruit for lunch, dinner I'm not hungry at all...so then I usually will have some nuts with cheese. Or half an avocado with some protein. Hope some of this helps.

Sleeved 10/12 - saw my NUT today for my one month appt. We went through what I have been eating (or not eating) and she said I need to double my calorie intake! I've been getting about 400 calories and she wants me closer to 800. That seems like an insurmountable hurdle to me - lol! Who would have thought I would ever hear that I need to eat more! Love my sleeve, losing slowly but steadily. Best decision I ever made.

hello. im also kaiser so cal. are you at waterridge. my track starts feb 7th. im sad because i just reviewed my insurance this year and kaiser only cover 90% surgery. so i dont thinki can do it i cant afford 10% of the surgury im so sad right now. but i will do the classes. question lboogie. what is the diet like while going through the classes?

This week has been a trial to say the least. My aunt, who is my heart and soul, has been very ill and in the hospital for weeks. I visit her almost every day and she cries her eyes out to me telling me how much pain she is in. It breaks my heart because she has a broken back that can only be fixed with surgery, but docs say that she cannot withstand surgery. So basically there isnt much that can be done. I lost my mom to cancer when I was 19 so she and my sis are all I've got (dad hasnt been in the picture since I was a child). To top things off, my sister moved back to Miami from North Carolina and asked me to live with her. Against my better judgement, I agreed. As I expected, we arent getting along. My sister has a very bad temper and gets mad over everything. She is a 39 year old woman and in a matter of 24 hours, she threw a fit at the pharmacy because they were closed and kicked down the products from the shelves. She then yelled obscenities at a plant (I kid you not) because the plant scratched her. Finally, she yelled at me because I went to get a bottle of water and the dog barked and woke her up. That was really the breaking point for me. If I can't even get water without her outbursts... But I am stuck there under a lease for a year. I've basically been at work, hospital, and then in my room without speaking to her for a week. Normally, this would have made me turn to food. I would have pigged out on all kinds of junk. I wont lie, on Sunday I had a brownie. But, I dusted myself off and have been pretty darn good since. I haven't stuck completely to liquids. I usually have a salad or piece of chicken for dinner. I can tell I am losing weight. Haven't weighed myself this week, but am excited to see what the number reads. Anyway I'm proud of myself. I've managed to overcome a huge obstacle for me- depression eating!

I'm lucky, I worked at an apple orchard for 10 years making doughnuts and apple fritters. It's true what they say - when you make them you definitely don't want to eat them. It's been 8 years since I worked there and I still don't crave them. Jachut, I'm from Michigan and I have to ask... What's a bikkie?

Okay, so had my 2nd fill today. The nurse poked me 4-5 times with no luck; she couldn't "get it". It was getting quite painful. Fortunately, one of the docs was on his way in...so I waited for him for about 20-30 mins and then he gave it a go. He even had to try 2 or 3 times. He finally got it but only after I stood up (instead of lying down). It was much more unpleasant this time due to all the poking/prodding. Anyways, they put in 2 more ccs...for a total of 7 now. So hopefully THAT will do the trick. Mind you...once again I was able to swallow my whole bottle in about 10 mins and I felt nothing! Doc said if I still don't feel anything after a few days that they will check and see if all 7 is in there. He said there is a small chance that perhaps the first 5 didn't go in???!!! (I hope it did!). Anyways...alls well that ends well (knocks on wood).