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Hey Helen, I too am in the UK, South Wales... I didn't attend a support group either, but I do find this site very helpful; all my questions have been answered here! I found the first week and a bit to be the worst, soreness in the incision areas and hard to get comfy to sleep but other than that my recovery was really good. It will get better.... I am nearly 8mths out now, so if there is anything I can help with please give me a shout! Hiya Viv, I am in South Wales too... Shwmai!!!|! Where did you get your sleeve done? Like I said to Helen, if there is anyway I can help, give me a shout! I too am a slow loser, but I am losing and not gaining so I'll take that! It certainly is a rollercoaster ride for me but I am sure once I reach goal it will be more than worth it! Hey Angie,,, how the devil are you... glad to hear you are doing well... and fair play to you for not getting on the scales... I am still addicted to them and the bloody things ain't moving for me at the moment... let me know how it is 'up north'!! Oh, and not long before we see our boys .... yey!!! =]

I am signed up for orientation in mid June. I have been successful in losing weight (up to 80 lbs.) at a time, but I continually gain it back., even after I tell myself, I'll never get there again. I then have an extreme hard time getting onto a diet again. I am hoping that this time after the band, when I lose it, it won't regain like I did before I had the band. Will I be refused if I have been a long time yo-yo dieter. I continually end up going back to bad and over eating habits. I am also wondering what kinds of things they look at at the psych eval.:confused2:

I did not gain weight pre-op, but I sure struggled. The hardest behaviour change I had to make was learning to let small bits of leftovers go in the garbage. I had to learn how to weigh and measure my portions. I had to learn how to not put enough food on my plate to choke a horse. I had to learn how to not put family sized bowls on the table. I had to learn how to not eat out of the pot. I had to learn to not eat the scraps off of other people's plates when I do the dishes. I had to learn that I am not the family dog, hog, or goat....or whatever animal gets the scraps.

So happy to hear things are better! I was hoping you would have good news. Onward and downward (weight wise).

I agree with several posters. Don't worry about it and keep doing what you are supposed to. It is probably all liquid weight. I bet there is a major weight drop in your near future.

Sailing in same boat! I am in week 3. Post opp week 1 and 2 I lost about 10kgs. Beginning of week 3 I put on 3kg. When I spoke to my surgeon, he said may be it is because of the Water retention (due to menstruation which was due for week 3). After that my weight is stalled.

Do you ever look at your plate of tiny bandster food portions and think, "That's not enough to keep a bird alive"? That thought, or one like it, crossed my mind every time I sat down to eat in my early days as a bandster. Although I was eating tiny portions, losing weight, and feeling stronger and more energetic as each day passed, my brain kept whispering, "Something's wrong with this picture." Eventually I grew accustomed to those small portions, and now I rarely think about it unless someone else makes a comment about it - like my coworker who looks at my doll-sized lunch and exclaims, "I don't know why you even bother eating!" ONE MEAL AT A TIME Getting used to bandster food portions took me 6 or more months. At first I would look at my small plate with tiny portions of food on it and instantly feel deprived and sorry for myself. Never mind that the small portions were plenty of food for my banded stomach...they just weren't enough for my brain to accept. By paying very close attention to how I felt as I ate, I realized that small portions were indeed enough to quell my physical hunger and that I wasn't going to drop dead from malnutrition. Of course, the small meals didn't keep the hunger at bay for very long until I'd gotten enough fill in my band for a small portion of food to send long-lasting satiety messages to my brain. Since I was terrified that eating too much at one meal would hurt my band somehow, I stuck it out. My nutritionist's eating plan included 3 small meals and 3 planned, healthy snacks each day. I have to admit, I looked forward to each and every one of those meals or snacks. It wasn't until after I'd reached my goal weight that I began to forget to eat and stopped looking forward to each upcoming meal as if it were a happily-anticipated Thanksgiving Dinner. Yes, it would have been nicer and easier if the long-lasting satiety had kicked in earlier on my WLS journey, but really can’t complain because later is better than never at all. Maintaining my weight loss means eating like a bandster for the rest of my life. So I had to work my way through one challenging year in order to enjoy 35 or more years as a healthy, normal-weight person with a small appetite. Seems like a pretty good deal to me. But then you know me, Little Miss Sunshine! A MATTER OF PERSPECTIVE One day when I was about 9 months post-op, I found myself in a restaurant looking at the food on someone else's plate and thinking, "Oh my God, look at genormous plate of food!" That genormous plate of food contained the same huge serving sizes I ate as a pre-op, but because of the mental adjustment I'd made, it no longer triggered the "Oh, goodie!" button in my brain. In part, it's a matter of perspective. Perspective refers to the appearance of objects (or subjects) in relationship to each other. When my personal perspective was to view a Thanksgiving dinner plate as my "normal" food portion, the genormous plate of food looked right to me. After 300 or so bandster meals and snacks, my perspective had changed so that a tiny portion was my "normal", and the genormous plate of food looked ridiculous, even overwhelming. MASTERING THE FEAR OF FOOD DEPRIVATION The issue of food deprivation is a topic that deserves more attention. If we don't learn how to deal with it in a healthy way, achieving weight loss and a healthy lifestyle is going to be a lot harder. Fearing food deprivation is a basic instinct that drives every living organism. Every creature - human, animal, insect, you name it - survives by seeking food and shelter. So when I tell you that you need to master your fear of deprivation, I'm not telling you to deny this basic instinct by not eating when you're hungry. In fact, I'm telling you to respect it, that in fact you should eat when you're physically hungry. If trying to ignore physical hunger has been your strategy during years of dieting, it's time to try another strategy. You will never learn to recognize early satiety, or to experience and honor prolonged satiety, if you ignore your hunger. There's nothing intrinsically wrong with hunger. It's simply your body's request for more fuel. Food is fuel that you need, fuel that you deserve, fuel that you must have to stay alive and be healthy. While you're re-training your conscious mind to respond appropriately to physical hunger cues, you may go on experiencing uncomfortable emotions about eating less. There's no shame in that. Talk about it with your support group, friends, and/or counselor, or write about it in your journal. Generally speaking, keeping your emotions bottled up gives them more power to hurt or control you. On the other hand, talking about them to the exclusion of everything else isn't helpful either and borders on the obsessive. When I need to talk or journal about something upsetting or painful, I give myself a time limit. The time might be a 50-minute counseling session, or 10 minutes of journaling. When the time's up, I go on to something else. THE HALF-PORTION APPROACH I talk a lot about this approach because it's a good way to prevent overeating, and I’ll repeat it now because the half-portion approach is also what made it possible for me to survive my fear of deprivation while my mind and body adjusted to eating small food portions. Here's how it works. 1. Do not put serving dishes on the dining table. 2. In the kitchen (or wherever), measure out your planned bandster portion. Put half of it on a small plate (like a salad plate or the saucer for a tea cup), take it to the dining table, sit down, and slowly eat it, paying as much attention as possible to how you feel as you eat. (If you're eating in a restaurant, ask the server to bring a to-go box with your meal, put most of the food in the box, close it, and start eating what's left on your dinner plate.) 3. If your body gives you any "soft stop" signals, stop eating. You can throw the uneaten food on your plate away, or if that makes you anxious, put it and the other half of your portion (the one you left in the kitchen) in a storage container in the refrigerator, knowing that you can eat it later if and when you get physically hungry again. 4. If you finish the half-portion without getting any soft stop signals, go back into the kitchen, put the rest of your portion on your plate, take back to the dining table, and eat it, following the same instructions as in #3 (above). 5. If you get physically hungry again before your next planned meal or snack, go ahead and eat the reserved food portion. Eating it is not cheating, because you had planned to eat it, you measured it, and it's yours if you want it. This approach helped me get used to eating small portions while staying alert to satiety signals without the overhanging fear and anxiety of food deprivation. Give it a try, and let me know how it works for you!

we started out at about the same weight, and I didn't even lose that much in a MONTH (I lost 16 lbs the first month). So you are doing fantastic, actually. Most of us seem to lose somewhere in the 15-25 lb range the first month, so you're way ahead of pack... and yes, as summerseeker said, weight loss slows way down after that first month. The big initial drop is mostly water.

@@Chubbyklink - It doesn't sound like you ate enough to feel any restriction. I have not had any foods I can't tolerate as of yet. I do feel restriction, but that only helps me not to overeat. It has nothing to do with making a bad food choice. That's up to you. You have to make better food choices. One slip up on a holiday won't hurt. It's about making good food choices 99% of the time. Even if you don't get sick from eating the wrong foods your body won't get the needed nutrients. That could lead to problem further down the line. So now you know you have to make good food choices. Start now planning how you can get enjoyable tastes out of foods that meet your dietary needs. If that gets to be too overwhelming you may need to seek counseling. You want to be able to use this tool to gain the most benefit.

I looked at some cookbooks specific to weight loss surgery, but honestly found my greatest inspiration comes from two websites theworldaccordingtoeggface.com and emilybites.com Both are great resources for all stages of your diet, easy to make receipes and very yummy. Check out the Recipe forum on this site also. Best of luck to you!!

I was banded on tht 6th too. I didn't have very much gas pain. But am sore. I had gained a couple of pounds after surgery but am trying to walk and still to take it easy. I know how hard this is but try to keep up beat. Everywhere I've read on here says that we shouldn't be worried about losing weight right now just concentrate on healing. Good Luck

Hi~ I was banded October 12th. I had the same issues with the gas and I also had a good bit more pain than I had anticipated but I am happy to report I am much better now. I gained about 3 lbs following surgery but that was due to swelling in my abdomen. I have since lost it plus about 6 more. I am starving though. The protein shakes are only holding me for about 2 hours if that. My stomach is a constant growl..lol. Hang in there..they all say it gets better.

Hi, My name is Tashar. I was banded on 3/3/10. 6 weeks after surgery i got pregnant with my 3rd child. Had to have all fluid removed from band. Had lost 15lbs before getting pregnant. Gained 15lbs while pregnant. I have since had my lil Angel & lost all pregnancy weight. I am right back where i started before getting pregnant. But i am at a stand still now I am getting married in 7 months & still want to lose at least 50lbs b4 then!!

Hi Myellen-- I had my surgery November 13th of last year, and I have lost about 105 lbs. since starting the pre-op diet a week prior to surgery. From talking to my Dr. and other people who have had the surgery, I don't necessarily think my results are typical, but I totally 100% agree with Sue. Exercise is very much the key--I work out 4 days a week for about an hour and a half. It's definitely possible to lose your goal of 112 lbs. I don't think I'm necessarily going to hit my goal by my anniversary as I had more to lose than that, but I should be pretty darn close. I'm a heck of a lot closer than I was 10 months ago--and I have absolutely no regrets. It's the best thing I've ever done for myself. Congratulations on your weight loss--keep up the great work!! :smile2:

I am a 34 years old and am a teacher in the Philadelphia School District. I am a mother of two beautiful and healthy girls and I am married to their wonderful father. As a teenager, I always struggled with my weight, but never going over 20-25lbs. of what I should have been. When I started teaching I weighed about 155-160 lbs. which was thinner for me. Within the first few months of my new career, I noticed a big change in my physical and mental health. I was always tired, achy, feeling depressed and just didn't feel right. I went to the Dr. with my concerns and after several different tests, I was diagnosed with Epstein Barr Virus (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) and Fibromyalgia. I was put on several different medications and gained 65 lbs from January until September. That October I got pregnant and could never get off the weight I put on from the medicine. Over the years I have added to that weight. Diabetes runs in my family and my grandmother passed away from it in May of 2010. I want to be here for my girls and be healthy. I want to have the energy to be a fun mom and enjoy all of the things that they enjoy doing. I do as much as I can with my girls but I know I could be doing even more if I had the energy. I decided to change my life for my children. I am scheduled to get the sleeve on August 9, 2011. I am going to Jefferson Hospital in Philadelphia Pa. Dr. Beekley who is partners with Dr. Tichansky will be performing the sleeve. Somehow I have found the strength to get me through the first 3 days of the pre-op diet. If I can make it through the next 11 days, then I believe I will be ok. I am really excited about it coming up and just keep trying to think positive about everything. I keep telling my husband to think positive too but he is very worried about the surgery itself. I have decided to put it in God's hands. I am so glad I have a group of people that I can talk to, that understand what I am and will be going through. I hope that I am as successful as many of you have been. I wish all of you continued success and the best of luck.

Hi, Lismivel! Don't be discouraged! Others here who are further post-surgery than I am will be able to give you good advice on how best to keep up your intake, as my experience is limited, since I am still in the clear fluids stage. Just so you know you aren't the only one worrying about your weight loss, when I was weighed at my first follow-up appointment last Thursday (9 days post-op) I was one kilo more (yes, more!) than I had been on the same scales two weeks previously - after four days of no food while on the IV, six days on clear fluids only and a huge portion of my stomach having been removed! Of course, I had read the average weight loss statistics and was therefore doubly disappointed. The surgeon said (from what I can remember between my tears!) that all sorts of things could be responsible, but that in days of yore I would have been ideally positioned to survive in periods of famine, as my body is so good at hanging on to what it has accumulated during times of plenty! He warned that it could also mean that I can expect long stalls as I move through the weight loss process, but for both of us, if the loss isn't showing at the moment, once it does show, it should be well worth seeing! Keep your chin up and all the best!

Lets see I had my surgery March 12, 2012. As of today I have lost 16 pounds. I have been walking daily and feel great, but I lost more before surgery. I know it is going to take awhile for the weight to come off. Cannot wait to see it in the scale, my clothes feel lose. I read more pages and by now peop le seem to be losing more. PLEASE TELL ME WHAT ELSE I CAN DO! I know I cannot snack. My doctor stated that by now I can eat anything and he wants me to stay away from sweets, carbs. Protein Protein Protein. I am so constipated at times.

When I was diagnosed with a slip that would require surgery, I went under with three possible options: 1) that the band would be restitched, 2) that the band would be removed, 3) that the band would be restitched with plication. I was lucky and had the band restitched with plication. The only thing I know for sure, I don't want to ever have to try to maintain my weight without a surgical tool of one sort or another. If I had had my band removed, I would have gone through the necessary healing process and then had the sleeve!! Never again do I want to have to do this on my own!!

my journey has come to an end I posted Monday about my band being to tight but after going to the dr and a having an xray it was discovered I had a major slip an was recommended to have it removed 5 hours later we were separate our adventure together has ended I did meet my personal goal weight and learned a lot hopefully I can move forward an continue a healthy life thanks for all the support and best wishes to all

Cookie to the mouth, cookie to the mouth. OOPS, I made a funny! Hey, Paula, ask Penni about my arms. Dr. Billy's assistant was even impressed with my guns because I lift heavy weights. It's the only thing that's ever worked for my arms. I have some turkey wobble underneath, but I've got strong arms with good definition. I bench press 40 pounds, 3 sets of 10. Then I stand up and pump above my head. Then I go to 20 pounds for bicep curls. It has to burn, and your really have to push, but you get fast results. I don't use weights anywhere else, just for arms.

I have a physical job plus i walk 1 hr 10 minutes 3 days a week check my weight on the scale once a day in the morning just to remind me to stay on track and when i get off track the scale check helps me to catch before to far gone.I try to eat the right amount of protein and not eat after 8 pm sleep at midnight try stay active walking in stores shopping good workout when cold can't get to park for walking its free can walk anytime or listen to music in home and dance easy workout thats what i do to busy with work for gyms have my own weights at home bought from store under 60 dollars can lift anytime i want no driving to gym.

Ok here's my take on do you or do you not need more fill.As long as you're able to keep a bigger part of your meal down and also lose weight gradually.I wouldn't think you would need a fill.Again some of this is trial and error.If you can get to a point where the weight just peels off.with little to no effort on your part.Plus get your nourishment a.Then you're where you need to be.Most of the time.In the beginning of having a band.You may want to schedule appoints every 3 to 4 weeks.At least for the first year.You have to get to a point.Where you really don't think of your band as much and you're losing weight.Like its a normal part of your daily life.Plus your thoughts about food are only when you really need to feed your body

I am six days post-op. This week has been a struggle both with getting all of my liquids in and managing my pain/discomfort. Today was the first day I felt fairly normal and almost no pain--and I have even felt comfortable enough to try chicken soups and things like that with no issues of ANY kind. I am 19, 5'4", and my weight was 211lbs on the day of surgery (highest recorded weight was 225). I have not weighed myself yet since the operation as I only want to do so weekly. However, perhaps the second day after my surgery, I woke up in the morning and went to brush my teeth like always. When I looked at my face in the mirror, I could have sworn my jawline and collarbones were more pronounced. But I kind of thought I was just seeing what I wanted to see and would wait a week to weigh in before confirming anything. Tonight (six days out) however, I was just doing the same thing at the bathroom sink before bed and there is no denying it. In less than a week I am looking better and healthier than I have in years. I have long since gotten over any self-esteem or body image issues I had when I was growing up, but nonetheless it is overwhelmingly satisfying to see my sleeve work its magic literally before my eyes. I have a ways to go (my goal weight is 140) but I feel like this day is a defining turning point. Just wanted to share my excitement as well as get any advice you guys want to offer about the next few months (nutrition, exercise, anything) or just hear other people's stories.

I see my surgeon about once every 4-6 weeks. Last visit was Jan 30. Monday, I had lost 5 pounds, but after some coaxing, allowed doc to give me .5cc.( I have NO clue how many cc's I have total, nor do I remember the capacity of my band!) This was the first time I had been filled @ 8:30am, and they gave me icy Water to check for tightness. (I do not do icy water, or any food early in the day, I am too tight) I didn't make it out of the office before the icy water came back up. Monday evening I had some sf/ff cocoa, nice and warm, went down & stayed down. Then tried some tomato Soup, again, went down & stayed down. Tuesday morning........could not keep cocoa, warm water, tea, even my own slime would not go down. And forget about blood pressure meds, not gonna happen! (Sorry, gross, but if anyone gets it, it is fellow bandsters.) I tried to tough it out, thinking somehow it would get better with time, but NO! I ended up calling the clinic @ 2pm, and had the .5cc removed around 4. The relief was immediate! I have learned, if it ain't broke, don't fix it! I am so glad I didn't wait to have the Fluid removed! I am back on liquids until tomorrow, then mushy and so on. Haven't figured out the ticker, but I had my surgery in 2004 (you read that right!) No fills till 2011 when insurance decided to pick up the cost.......I actually gained weight post surgery in the 7 years, (who would have thunk it, if you don't use the tool right........)Anyway, first fill in October 2011, have lost 50 lbs so far. About 120 to go! It's easy being GREEN!

Apparently women become very fertile - or at least I did... My six month post-op appt is next thursday and I have to tell him that I'm pregnant! Whooops!!! I think he is going to be mad - I'm scared.