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I was sleeved two months ago and have lost 20 lbs post surgery. There was a period of about three weeks when NOTHING came off. I was so upset. But suddenly the lbs started to come off again. Slowly. The body knows it's in starvation mode and is protecting itself. Think about it - do we really expect to lose 5lbs a week? Great in the first couple of pre-op and post-op all-protein shake weeks but health dictates a saner weight loss progression. If i lose another 8-10lbs a month going forward I'll be slim by Thanksgiving and at my goal by the New Year. It's a lot easier to get my head around that kind of goal.

I was banded in may 08 I had my 1st fill last week . Ive only lost 14 1lbs. I feel like I should be loseing more. :confused2:

First of all, welcome to the board. This is the place I discovered a few weeks before my surgery and it helped me so much. I was nervous and didn't know where to turn and I found lots of support and great answers here. If you want this surgery, you're going to do great. I've been feeling great and losing weight since my surgery on May 21st. I already feel like this was one of the best decisions I've made in years. I asked tons of questions and felt well armed for the surgery, there are lists on here for things to get in your house before the surgery (great help), look at the pre-op question section for ideas. Now, ask your questions and good luck

Honestly I think the pain depends on the person. My husband and I had the surgery done the same day and he only had pain for 5 days total. That was including the hospital stay. I on the other hand had the pain for almost 2 weeks and I couldn't get enough fluids in for those 2 weeks because I was in so much pain I had no energy to eat or drink and it hurt when I did. Hang in there it'll only get better. Don't push yourself to hard and keep trying to get as much fluid in as possible. I had to use a step stool to get on my bed for a full month because the wrong movement would make that incision ares hurt. Like I said it'll get better just be patient.

First 3 weeks I didn't eat anything. I drank protein shakes. It was tough. Being around food. But you gotta be strong. Seeing commercials for pizza and stuff was tough. After 3 weeks I went to my doctor and he was happy with my results, so I was aloud to eat regular foods and return to normal activities. So I use My Fitness Pal to track my calories and exercise. I set a 1200 calorie a day goal for myself, and it works. I'm no longer hungry all the time, commercials don't bother me now. I know I have to do this and be strong. I tried 1,000 different diets, and never any results. So I told myself it's going to be different this time. I can do this. It started slow, but now I'm walking 2 miles a day on my treadmill and eating healthy, chewing my foods really well, not allowing food to always be on my mind, no fast food at all. I have so much more energy, and I feel so much better about myself. It's hard work, you have to be willing to help yourself with the band. But it's the best decision I have ever made.

Oh yes I'm 7 weeks post on and still have trouble getting both in. Keep trying your best. It takes time to get it all in but The more you get in the better you will feel. Sent from my HTC Desire 626s using the BariatricPal App

This sounds like a plateau. My longest stalls are 1 month each... Are you tracking, veering from plan, getting enough water, sleep, etc. ?

I am a brand new member here and thought I'd post a hello. I'm 34 and as of Tuesday I was 268. I have battled with my weight my whole life. I was always the chubby athletic girl. I am scheduled for June 7 for my RNY. I am super excited and very nervous. I have been heavy my whole life and finally things are in place in my life that I can make a new start. I had my last pre-op appointment on Tuesday, and started my liquid diet yesterday. I feel ok, just really hungry. Having to make dinner for my kids (my hubby works evenings) is by far the hardest part of my day. The hospital I'm having surgery at requires you to be on liquids for 2 weeks pre surgery. So, hello all!! Here's to my last drink of the day! 2 down 12 to go.

My husband and I are going on this journey together! Both of us just had our last NUT appointment this past week. Paperwork has been submitted to insurance and now we wait....... Hoping to both have procedure done in late June.....probably a week apart. Both of us are soooooo excited!!! Sent from my Z936L using the BariatricPal App

Started the 6 month on 1/14/16 at 268.9 Surgery was 7/6/16 at 232.4 Since surgery lost 36.2 lbs at 196.2. It is so slow that there is almost no change week to week. What are some of the things you all are doing daily that IS working for you? Like how much exercise do you do each day, how long, how many days a week etc. what are your daily meals like? For example: Snacks, lunch dinner etc. are you weighing everything? Thank you in advance for any suggestions and meal samples and such. Sent from my iPhone

I am 3 weeks out too and no where near the Protein amounts. Sent from my N9518 using the BariatricPal App

I wonder if I need a few more calories as I only take in about 450 day. I see the nutritionist next week and hopefully she can help me figure this out. My Doctor said sometimes the weight loss can be slow up to 3 months out. He said that I will plateau for a week or two then drop 5 pounds in a day and that it is not necessarily a steady decline.

Stay calm. It is common to take a few weeks before you begin to lose weight. Your body is in a major heal mode and allowing it to heal is the prime goal at 10 days post-op. For one thing most patients gain weight while they are in the hospital because they are pumping fluids into you. So you have to first lose this added weight before you begin to see a weight loss. So stay calm, follow the directions (meal volume, Protein, fluids and vitamins), relax and let the magic happen.

I'm so excited I will be banded in 1 week! This pre op diet is hard but I know its worth it!!! I'm very anxious to get this going and for next Wed to hurry up and get here!!!! Its hard tho right now cuz I keep thinking dang I just want one more meal and I want it to be chinese food ugh I love chinese food so bad!!!!! But I'm sticking to this I know I can do it!!!!

I grew up with a horrible self image from as long back as I remember. SIt began with my family - always referring to my sister as "the pretty one" and I was the klutzy, goofy, homely one. I was teased and laughed at in school for having ugly haircuts, glasses, braces, weird clothes, etc. My first husband was extremely critical of me and even though I was actually 30 lbs UNDERweight at the time, he told me on our honeymoon how fat & dumpy I was! The list goes on - and before long, I didn't need others to insult me, I did it quite effectively to myself. It is still very difficult for me to find anything that I like about myself physically. I am less than a week away from my surgery and though I hope to look a little more attractive when I lose weight, I am mostly focusing on the things I will be able to DO. I've accepted that I will never look like a fashion model or even someone who will turn a head (in a good way!) but I very much miss being able to do a lot of the things I really enjoyed when I was healthy.

Yep it's the dreaded 3 week stall. You aren't doing anything wrong. Your body is just adjusting to all the new changes. Continue meeting your Protein and Fluid goals. Try to get in some regular exercise. If the scale is making you crazy, put it away.

@@rescue4_u welcome. it's kind of a known thing called the three week stall. embrace the Stall. search for stall. stay on course!

I'm 3 months post op. I have lost 40lbs. I have not lost anthing for 3 weeks. My problem is early in the day everything I eat comes back up, but later in the day I can over eat. I often eat why to much at night. I am afraid if I get a fill I will not be able to eat anthing until night. My wife is having her first fill next week. I may go to. I'm just wondering if this is strange to not be able to eat early in the day and be able to eat to much in the evenings.

I have this weird sensation of feeling so full and bloated that if I were just able to burp, it would feel great. However, I get out a measly little burp out and then I feel like I'm hungry and somewhat nauseous and light headed. That feeling goes away quickly and then I feel full again. I'm on day three and have 11 days to go until surgery. Anyone else have this feeling - did Beano or GasX help for you? I need to go out and pick some up.

Well, I've completed the 6 months of supervised weight loss with my dr and I've completed my psych evaluation. My insurance company is waiting for the last piece of info from the dr's office and they're ready with an approval. My dr's office is saying that even if they get an approval this coming week, it'll still be at least 2 more months until surgery! Anyone have any luck with it getting scheduled sooner than expected? 8 months just seems like a loooong time to make people wait [emoji53]

Does your nut work for your surgeon? If yes, why would he get mad? Two reasons for the pre-op liquid diet: 1) to shrink your liver to make it easier for the surgeon to perform the sleeve surgery; and 2) get you ready for the post-op liquid diet where you will NOT BE ABLE TO SUBSTITUTE other Proteins for the liquids. Well, not unless you want to blow a staple or 2. Some other sleevers have said that their surgeons didn't require a pre-op liquid diet. Or maybe just a few days. Others have said that day 3 of the liquids are the worst -- because you are going through carb, sugar and caffeine withdrawal by day 3. I sure wouldn't want to be going through withdrawal AND recovering from surgery at the same time. I am not a perfect person. I did 2.5 weeks of liquid diet before surgery. I did have a few bites of chicken about 1 week in, but then back to the liquids. My withdrawal wasn't too bad as I had given up sugar and caffeine years ago. My surgeon said my liver was really small, and he had no problems during the surgery. Indeed I had no complications, no vomiting, no nausea, no real pain. I followed the post-op diet well. I couldn't handle the puréed diet, so because I was complication-free, my nut let me go right to soft foods. Whether or not you tell your surgeon about your pre-op diet is up to you. I wouldn't want to hide anything as I was putting my life/health in his hands. But definitely I think you should go to all liquids starting NOW. Good luck on your journey. It's going to be amazing!

Long time member but i haven't posted anywhere in ages, but I used to be on the Lapband board. I was a long time very successful band patient i was orginally banded in Jan 02 (in Canada, pre FDC approval) lost weight at a great rate. My first band (Innamed) slipped a total of 3 times before it came out for six months, I also had surgeries to move my port and another because my tubing disconnect. Next we went to the J&J band and it was great until it slipped badly, I had it for about 6-7 years and it worked like a charm, restriction was great most of the time, lost to my goal size and then it self tightened and i left it there because of travel, personal stress etc and i thought it would release on its own when i went for a defill it completely slipped around my esophagus and it was horrible. With the J&J I had a port revision surgery in there too. Then we tried a 3rd band it never worked right, I couldn't get restriction because if we did more than i had instant reflux etc. I revised to the sleeve last week with a new surgeon in Philadelphia who told me the band was basically around my esophagus and i had no pouch which is why I had no restriction and why I could not be tightened any more. But I lost about 150 lbs in 12-16 months and maintained that loss for 10 years plus, with little to no effort. In the meantime because of the band with no restriction, some prescribed evil steroids that I had to take that put 30lbs on me in a matter of 8 days... (they change your brain chemistry in weird ways) hashimoto's disease (hypo thyroid) fluctuations for the last few years and a few other things I gained about 70-80 lbs that I could not lose weight I tried. I went gluten free and dairy free, nada, I tried the HCG diet lost 20 lbs gained it back and generally I don't eat more than 1500-1700 calories per day including when I am drinking wine, eating out 3 meals a day etc. I hired a trainer, almost went paleo not quite. Now in talking to my surgeon he has said there are new studies showing band patients 9-12 years out who suddenly gain weight they can't lose for love nor money. They try everything and it won't come off more restriction, calories restriction etc. So we made a joint strategic decision to go to the sleeve since I knew the risk, what type of lifestyle change I was in for, portion control etc. wouldn't be a problem since i had it already. In our conversations we talked a lot about Ghrelin which is produced in the stomach and it makes you hungry, when you are feeling that craving to overeat or binge typically it is ghrelin and obese people produce more ghrelin than non obese people typically with some exceptions. We also talked about leptin which makes you feel satiated and is produced in the brain. With the sleeve, about 70-90% of the ghrelin produced is surgically removed with the part of the stomach they remove. i am curious have you noticed a difference in how hungry you get, cravings and the satiation of cravings ie: I can eat two bites of cake vs. I want the whole cake now? Have you also noticed the full feelings getting different than before from the leptin. My surgeon has said in his conversations with his patients they noticed their cravings reduced which helps them with portion control and in making better choices which helps a number of other things. In other words the brain and stomach don't conspire to make cheetos seem like a great dinner choice or ben and jerry your best friend. Overall I eat very healthy without a ton of junk food in my life we cook at home, we make our own stocks and Soups etc. to help get me through the liquids phase. But we do eat well and drink wine, we might be foodies (we are told we are, I just like trying new things). I have never eaten out of control even with the last band and no restriction just trying to lose weight has been terrible, depressing and frustrating. Especially after my first experiences which was I lost well, ate well, exercised and it worked like it was supposed too. I am a consultant and I travel for my job excessively so hence the eat out three meals a day most of the time I don't have a choice in that, but you can make healthy choices even in eating out and I do. I look at fats and calories along with Proteins and make good choices. Any thoughts you have I would appreciate and any advice you have I would love to read. Thanks for reading and good luck

I am doing some research on Ghrelin and would appreciate any information anyone could share with me. I will be asking my doctor at my next fill on 02/09/11 also. I am 10 weeks post op from getting a lapband and still have had no hunger. I am not complaining, it has been great to not feel hungry at all, but I am pretty sure it's not typical. My doctor's office said most people regain hunger within 3 weeks, but there is nothing wrong with me not regaining mine after so long. I read a thread about people who get the sleeve having the same issues because the part of the stomach that produces Ghrelin is cut out, which started me looking into everything Ghrelin controls. So this is where my problem is. I am a full time student with a very heavy schedule this semester and since the semester began 3 weeks ago, I have no ambition to do any homework or study. I also feel like I am having a hard time comprehending what is being taught. Since going back to school 2 semesters ago, I have carried straight A's, so I am very concerned my grades will drop. I read that Ghrelin is also connected to learning and some other things. Has anyone else had a similar experience, or know anything about this? I'd appreciate any information anyone can give, thank you in advance

Wow its amazing how fast things change. I just had my surgery la little over 3 weeks ago and the medicare process that I spoke of was less than 2 months previous so you are more up to date than I. AS far as the process on my part it was smooth as could be and they asked for nothing other than what my care coord. sent them. Good luck I hope it runs as smoothly as mine did.

Week 6 for my program is soft foods. All meat/fish needs to be moist. Chili is good, soup is somewhat difficult to eat. (Soft foods and broth at the same time is like drinking while you eat.) The most I can eat at one time is a half cup. (Tonight I ate 3 homemade bison meatballs. I tied to do 4, but couldn't do it.) You also won't be able to skip meals to save room. It doesn't work that way. I agree with the spa day idea! Ooh. A nice massage, a facial, mani/pedis--something not focused on food. What a treat! Good Luck and happy (early) birthday! Amy