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I was told the same thing by my surgeon. Shrinking the liver is the goal of the pre-op diet. He told me that it depended on the BMI - with higher BMI's he will not do the surgery unless the prescribed weight loss goal has been met. With lower BMI's he still wants you to do the diet, but doesn't set a weight loss goal for you. makes sense if you think about it.

Congratulations on your banding mckenna. So you don't look 72? Wait till you lose more weight and you'll feel much younger, too! Good luck with your fill.

It's really bad luck that you have had these problems. The fact that the tube was too long (to such an extent that it kinked), suggests to me that your surgeon has made an error of judgement in the intial surgery. In any event this problem has occured, although I think it is pretty unusual. Hang in there; it will all come right eventually. Just remember it has taken a number of years for you to have reached the weight you are; when your band is fixed you should lose weight quickly, certainly, alot quicker than when it was put on!

:clap2: :clap2: My Hat is off to our winner, of the most weight loss of 17.4 pounds. let me no where you shop And I will get you out some thing Nice. you are the the 11 pound challenge winner for the most weight loss!!!!!:clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: for all who have played thank's and you are all winner's, for taking the time to help your self's. JOHN

I'm struggling with the same thing - how to fit exercise into a hectic schedule when you're a single mom with a full time job. I think the hardest thing is just the pure EXHAUSTION all the time from just the daily routine (and being fat). Sometimes I get home from work and my body physically hurts, I'm practically falling asleep as I stumble in the door. I think my only hope is to just get up earlier and do it before the day takes it's toll. I'm sure when the weight comes under control, exercise gets more enjoyable, or at least more tolerable! I hope!

Hi every Doctor is different mine says 7 days ahead just 3 protein shakes a day. Or two weeks ahead 2 protein shakes and a lean cusine. By losing weight this helps to shrink your liver for surgery some doctors won't do if you haven't lost wt. Good luck Call your dr. if you have question. Queenie

At least you had a huge weight lost prior to the stall. I lost 14 pounds and nothing after that! From my understanding (through this forum and YouTube videos) this seems to be VERY normal. The trick is to stay with it and ride this wave and before you know it you'll be losing!

Sweets and high fat don't make every person sick after the surgery, and most of the time it is a short term effect for those that do get sick from them. I couldn't touch high sugar for about 6 months, but guess what? That effect wore off and I could eat anything now with no serious repercussions other than gaining weight. I know that, so I don't eat crap foods all the time. I do eat stuff like a cupcake or a cookie for special occasions, but I plan out my day so I know I have room in my calorie count and I eat healthy 90% of the time, so eating something "bad" occasionally doesn't derail my whole life. Relearning how to eat healthy during the honeymoon period is what the surgery is really all about. You have to throw out everything you used to do and establish good eating habits while the restriction takes care of the portion control. That is what everyone is supposed to learn how to do during the honeymoon phase after surgery. It is really sad that the doctors don't explain this part better to every single patient before they have the surgery. If you don't do this, then the weight loss will happen in the beginning just because you're not able to eat as much, but likely will slow down sooner, and also regain is very likely once your metabolism adjusts in a year or two and all you still eat is crummy foods. Anyway. You definitely need to try doing the 5 day reset. It will help remind you how your stomach feels and feel the restriction again, and should help you detox from the sweets/crap food cravings - eating high carb usually makes you crave more carbs - it is a vicious cycle. You made some mistakes, but the sleeve is still there, ready for you once you're ready to recommit to eating correctly. You lost the best time to make fast and easy changes, but if you put in the work, you can still make it happen. But you have to be willing to do the work. Start tracking every bite of food and sip of drink. Get your Protein and Water goals figured out, keep your carbs low (under 100 definitely but if you can push it down to 50 grams/day that would be even better), and get your calories for the day down to around a 500 calorie less than you burn in a day. Throw out all the junk food in your house. Tell friends and family to not tempt you with foods like that and don't go places where you'll feel weak until you get control of yourself. Think of it like being an alcoholic or trying to quit smoking. You don't go places where you'll feel tempted and you ask friends/family to be supportive of your struggle and not offer you things you shouldn't be having, and do your best to remove the temptations from your path. Exercise - find something you enjoy doing and then do it a minimum of 5 days a week. Even if it's just walking a 2 miles around your neighborhood after dinner, it's something if you're currently doing nothing. What seems to work best food wise is whole foods, that you cook yourself. If it comes in a box or frozen package, it probably isn't a very good choice. Learn to read labels REALLY well, and figure out things like net carbs, sodium levels, etc., and check out both here and bariatric recipe sites like http://theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com/ Proteins should be the main part of each meal and every snack: things like fish, chicken, lean cuts of beef, cheese, yogurt, even Beans and lentils. Healthy vegetables - leafy greens, red peppers, squash, zucchini, avocados, broccoli, cauliflower... watch the ones that are high carb like corn and green peas as even healthy veggies can have high carbs sometimes and you need to be aware when you eat them. Should also be including healthy fats like coconut or olive oils and things like nuts or avocados have fat too, but it's a good fat (just watch the amounts and calories). Watch things like lunchmeat that are usually high sodium (again, read labels!) and be aware of times of day that you might be weak and have healthy Snacks on hand to prevent the quick stop at the drive thru or dropping by the office vending machine. MEASURE everything. You can't rely on eyeballing food amounts. Get a digital scale, and weigh your food so you get accurate calorie counts. It is way too easy to guess and over-estimate your food portions. And you might need to see a counselor that deals with eating disorders if you can't get control of your eating and get your head in the right space to succeed at this. Please don't take this as being mean, but worrying over what others did and comparing your lack of success while eating bad foods isn't helpful or realistic. But here's the thing. You aren't a failure unless you give up completely. Don't give up, and you will succeed.

do your research also. it all depends on your willpower and your journey. i started at 303 when i started this journey, my highest was 340. i also was told about 75% of my excess. that would have put me at 118 loss to my dr. goal of being 145. my personal goal is 135. if i make it to 150 heck i will be happy. right now i am sitting at 129.4 loss.. over 10 pounds more than my 75% goal or 82% currently. i just hit my second stall (well it broke on Sunday) so i am losing again... i had the sleeve.. I am happy with what i had and i chose the sleeve because i had no other co morbidities other than the weight. Bypass reroutes your inside, and the sleeve removes some of it, but the organs stay in the same place lol.. it is all personal choice. I wanted my organs to stay in the same place, plus lets be real. I was self pay and the sleeve is half the cost of the bypass.

Join me today as I welcome Rebecca Regnier from "Does this blog make us look fat" Rebecca is not a lap-band patient but she is a professional dieter who has choosen humor as her "Diet" of choice. As lap-band patients we sometimes forget to find the humor in our journey. Rebecca is a hoot and will have each one of us laughing and hopefully we will lose some weight. 100 laughs a day is equal to 10 minutes of exercise! So join us tonight I bet we get in more than 100 laughs with Rebecca tonight. Date: 03/02/2009 Time: 6:00pm CST Where: "The Band Banter" Talk Show I hope to "HEAR" you there!! The show is interactive so be sure to join us in the chatroom tonight.

I am one week away also. My surgery is 10/27/2009. I start the liquids today for one week. My wife and I go for nutrition counseling today. I am very anxious to get going. Today's weight: 292 Goal weight: 155 Wish me luck! Dave0453

Hey y'all! This is my first post on this forum and I have a question for those with Aetna insurance: how long did the approval process take? I'm a little ahead of the game since I still have on more weigh-in in April but I'm excited and I'm trying to plan my summer classes around this surgery. I've been seeing my weight loss surgeon since November and have had 5 weigh-ins. I have a BMI of around 41 I think and I've gained 15 lbs since I started this process however I've lost 7 of those so far. I'm just wondering what I can expect in terms of insurance. Thanks y'all!

Everyone (who knows) asks me if I am glad I had surgery.... HECK YEAH! 15 1/2 weeks post op. For the first 2 1/2 months, I lost weight at a quicker than average pace according to what is expected. Then I went through 4 weeks of barely loosing. The scale would go down 1/2-1 pound, then up 2-3 pounds for an entire week, then I would drop 1/2 -1 pounds below that lowest weight that I accomplished the week before. Then I would go up another 2-3 pounds for another week and repeat. It was frustrating, but I knew my body would slow down at some point to "catch up". I also knew that while the scale was barely moving, my body shape was still changing. To date: I lost 21 pounds in the 2 months pre-op. I have lost 48.5 pounds post op. That puts me at a total weight loss of 69.5 pounds since May. I am already BELOW my doctors projected goal weight. I am at a weight that if I stayed here, I would be fairly happy. And then I am only 23.5 pounds away from my IDEAL (in my mind) goal weight. Everyone is commenting on how great I look and it is obvious I lost a lot of weight. People are funny. There are those who know I had surgery and those who are thrilled for me. There are those who know who are jealous I think who needed the surgery more than I do who won't talk to me or say a word (whatever lol). Then there are those who do not know who are obviously noticing and afraid to say anything. And of course, the last group who hesitates before saying "you lost a lot of weight" followed by the long pause "are you OK?" LOL To them I just smile and say "Yes, I lost a lot of weight. I fixed some problems that I had and it is finally coming off". Their reactions are kind of amusing. Today, I decided I needed to buy a couple pairs of jeans because none of my old clothes fit me anymore. The clothes I bought in late October no longer fit me any more either. What size did I buy today??? Size EIGHT pants and MEDIUM tops! And they ALL FIT WONDERFULLY! (I am HALF my dress/pants size of 16!!!) I even bought some fun dresses. I don't wear dresses, but I am excited to get these. My shoe size has also shrank. My feet are at least 1/2 to maybe 1 full size smaller. They are actually a little on the bony side right now. I don't remember them ever being this skinny lol. The other new thing that I have noticed? My legs not only look much skinnier, but they are a bit "jiggly" lol. Never before have I been so excited to have my calves jiggle LMAO. My daughter was excited that they jiggle lol. And today, I also took out my "mothers ring" that I haven't worn in nearly a decade. It fits perfectly again. So yeah... VSG??? Best decision ever. Even if I can't eat all of the foods I love!

Agree with @vikingbeast. You need to take a big step back. You’re stressed & emotional which only enhances those cravings. You crave the foods which offered you comfort in the past & you crave the familiar of being able to eat what you want, when you want it. And the more you worry the more anxious you become. You may find a therapist who specialises in supporting bariatric patients very helpful. Ask your surgeon for a recommendation. Constipation is part of the journey. I tried to keep on top of mine by taking Benefibre at least every second day, keeping my fluid intake up & taking a stool softener if I got to day 3 or 4 without movement. I also ate very mild instant rolled oats from purée stage. Took me days to eat a full serve but it was good fibre. You may need an enema since it’s been 15 days or a visit to the hospital for assistance. Being constipated does make it seem you’ve stopped losing or have gained. Get rid of it & your weight will be lower very quickly & you’ll feel much better. Stalls are very common. They can last 1 - 3 weeks, sometimes more. And you can experience a number of them as you’re losing. The first usually occurs around week 3 give or take. You just have to ride them out. They’re just your body taking a time out to come to terms with your weight loss. Changes to your sense of smell & taste are also common. They usually are temporary but how long it lasts is individual. Are there specific foods that upset you more you can avoid? The strong body odour is from your body being in ketosis - fat burning. It’s like every bodily secretion reeks. It passes too. I took deodorant, toothbrush, tooth paste & mouth wash & body wipes to work for refreshes during the day. I was someone who frequently skipped meals in an effort to lose weight (did that for 40+years) & tried all those very low calorie diets including one I did several times that was only 500 calories a day. I still lost all my weight & more. Stick as close to your plan as you can. It may take you a little longer to reach a stage recommendation for calories, portion size &/or foods you can eat but that’s ok. You’ll get there.

I just had the exact same surgery on Monday with a breast lift! I am so excited for you, you are going to be thrilled! My surgeon didn't require an unfill for me he just told me to make sure and tell anesthesia that I get sick so they pumped me up with anti nausea medication along with the patch behind my ear and some dissolvable tablets for home it worked like a charm. I would try and see if I could go with an unfill but I wouldn't let my weight go up by more then 2 pounds then I would be kicking the door in to get one. Good luck tomorrow it's sooooo worth it!

Today is 11 week after having my TT. They removed all my fill for the very reason you said.... I stayed 8 weeks with out anything in my band. I did get 5cc put back in and i'm still hungry all the time and i can eat anything. I have gained 5lb in the past 11 weeks and i'm not happy at all. So next week i'm going get another 4-5cc put in.... i was at great restriction at 10.... we shall see. good luck with your surgery.

I am still only a little better then 1/2 way through my 6 months.. however I read a lot...there are many other things that would make you qualify with insurance for the surgery..such as your BMI 40 + is a qualifier...with nothing else...high cholestrol, H BP- diabetes...you really should speak with your primary care physician since they will be the one helping to support everything for your approval along with the surgeons office. I certainly would not discount your golden ticket...and I would try to attend a support group. They can be really informative of other peoples experiences. What is super important is to maintain your 6 months -- don't gain any weight..in that time...don't skip a month with your primary dr...or else you need to start all over again. I cannot tell you how many people I heard from in the support group that missed an appt and had to start all over again. Good luck and don't give up!!!

If this were me at this point I would probably have it taken out already. Even with the weight ive lost the port if right there now under the skin and it freaks me out. Definitely get to the dr asap.

The part about expanding in the stomach scares me --- sounds like a great way to end up making a trip to the emergency room. They're probably fine for someone who's dieting but has not had weight loss surgery.

Yes- I am right there with you:0) I find the less I eat all day the less I am hungry. Than when i do eat - the more I eat all day long. But I know this isn't right & isn't healthy. I think thats why I just Fricking gained 2 whole pounds this past two days. This is so hard to do.

My Dr said between 3/4 to 1C. He also wants 3 meals a day, 4 hours between each meal and no Snacks. I can eat more than 1C at times, and I do have popcorn (pop secret 100 calorie bag) but I'm losing weight at a good rate so he doesn't seem to mind about the quantity or snack.

Some people undergo WLS and lose significant weight only to gain some or all of it back years later. I asked my nutricianist "Why". Her response was grazing. Grazing is to eat small portions of food, as appetizers or the like, in place of a full-sized meal or to snack during the course of the day in place of regular meals. A recent study by University of California, Berkeley, may have found a correlation between sleep and body mass index (BMI). Breakfast and breakfast skipping is associated with weight gain.” This study seems to go hand-in-hand with another study. Another recent study found that reducing the eating window (the hours per day that one eats) reduces weight. http://acsh.org/2015/09/picture-this-a-food-app-that-could-improve-public-health/ The results from this study published in Cell Metabolism showed that the majority eat over a 15-hour period each day. Some research suggests that limiting the “eating window” to 10-12 hours per day may contribute to weight loss. Their sample size was small, but of their volunteers interested in weight loss researchers set the smart phone app to help them restrict food intake to a 10-hour window. Without changing the types of food they were eating over 13 weeks, this volunteer group lost an average of 3.5 percent of their initial weight per person. So it appears that to maintain the weight loss after you reach the Maintenance stage, one needs to control "Grazing". This includes limiting your "eating window" to around 10-12 hours per day and getting the nominal 7-9 hours of sleep each night.

I was just banded on 03-25-10, and Im still trying to get used to everything. I was very confused about what I should or should not be eating at first, and I kind of got off track by eating soft foods too early, so now Im backtracking so I can do this right. I sooo want this to work! One question I had was, do you lose a lot of weight prior to your first fill, or does the weight start coming off after the fill? I have only lost 7 pounds, and I feel like maybe thats too little? Any help would be great!:)

@@NYC1992 i have seen similar situations on the board why not try something like DOS May 06 2013 - lapband SW weight #s loss 150 DOS Augusts 24, 2016 revision to gastric sleeve SW 209 (i think i messed up #s somewhere ) #s loss GW make 2 tickers first could show # lbs lost with lapband 2nd ticker showing SW with gastric sleeve i wrote this tooo long but you can figure out what i meant (i hope) you had an amazing successful run with the lap band 150 lbs down!!!!!!! you are aces!!!! you'll do great now too good luck kathy congrats

Wow they actually had a story on a current affair that wasn't putting down people that have had the band? That's a first, congrats on being on thier by the way - didnt watch it because ive noticed that show are just plain rude about people that any type of weight loss surgery