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Once you have had the surgery your weight (at least for the first months) will drop dramatically! It will be so amazing, you won't believe it! Neither will the people around you!!! In contrast to yourself, I was lucky and did not have to go on a pre-op diet. I, instead, chose my last meals very carefully Now, my eating habbits have totally changed and I don't crave the foods I craved before. Wish you all the best in your journey!

I'm lucky that I don't have any real complications from my weight yet....PCOS and back pain, but no diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol yet. I just hope it goes smoothly!!!! Thank you guzel for the information on Medica. Where did you have or are you having your surgery???

Thanks all! My insurance calculates weight by your first visit with the surgeon and that's the weight submitted for surgical approval. Now that is done I'm free to lose!

I went to my Doctor appt everything is going well, he was pleased I loss 24 lbs. If I lose 15 or more pounds by Aug 6 I won't get a fill. I went to the gym today I only did 40 min on the elliptical nothing else. I will add more later It really feels good not being hungry!! Happy Weight loss we will reach our goals together! !!

Rhonda, it WILL get better. Each and every patient is different. This is the down side to this site because everyone compares themselves, and it's not an accurate measure. Sure, a good compass, but that's it. I was nauseated for five days, but it was the liquid pain med. Then, of course, your eating far less. I was weak and tired for well over a week, not to mention sore. I have a physically demanding job (Operating Room nurse) so my doc told me to take 2 weeks off. After that, no heavy lifting for the following 4 weeks. You'll discover, once you start feeling a bit better, that you'll be HUNGRY, HUNGRY in the next couple of weeks. I've had one fill, and I am still hungry, but I'm not worried. My doc says to be patient, I will get there. I haven't lost anymore, but I haven't gained anything back, so for that I'm thrilled. I was in the same place, "What in the H--- have I done to myself, IDIOT!" You'll be ok, really, ok and better! Write to me privately, if you'd like, and we can support one another. Don't get wrapped up in comparing yourself to too many people, ok? Good luck, girl! You're gonna be a knock out!

So glad you are home and feeling better! Congrats on the weight loss!!! WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am not sure why I was morbidly obese, other than I ate more than I burned. I like what VSGAnn said that maybe it's something we are missing that normal people have. I had a great childhood and life, so I can't blame it on that. I'm pretty balanced mentally, so I can't blame it on that (though I am a stress eater!). I think there is no one cause, I think it's a variety of things, including genetics, diet, activity and other unknown variables that come together as a perfect storm. I also think (actually, I know), that I don't lose 1 pound when I decrease my calorie intake by 3500. I also know gain several pounds if eat 2000 calories more over the period of a week. So, who knows. I'm just happy to have a sleeve, and have gained some insight about this and my body. Obesity is absolutely a disease state, as CGJ mentioned, and having lost weight simply puts us in a well managed state. Stop being compliant, and we know what happens. Right back to where we started. Having been able to lose the weight quickly, and honestly WAY easier than ever before, gave me a jump start. Now I have to watch it all the time, but at least I'm in a good spot while I continue to be diligent.

These are my personal observations about my own weight issues. I have spent years struggling with real and imagined issues with food. I decided to have the lap band surgery after about 4 months of deep and meditative introspection about what my true 'issue' with food was. I had tried everything as many of you have. But when I took a good look at why diets, exercise & food control issues failed for me I realized a lot. One thing that became clear was that I was using food to 'medicate' myself. Every issue, large or small good or bad was medicated with food. I used food in place of dealing with my true issues. Tired, bored, happy or sad I solved the problem with food. It was no wonder I was never full. It was no wonder I was always reaching for something to eat. I would attempt to make healthy choices, I would exercise and I still did not lose weight for all the biological reasons doctors explain about metabolism. But the bottom line was that food was always front and center in my mind. I hated the grocery store like most people hate going to the dentist. I realized at one point that food, for me, was in actuality, an addiction (I speak for myself only, of course). And I realized that this was the worst kind of addiction ever. People can give up alcohol completely and live, they can give up cigarettes & drugs and still live. They can completely remove themselves from temptation of those substances (in extreme cases of course) and function. But food addicts can't. No one ever says, "Oh, I'll just have a little heroin today." But food addicts do. We attempt to restrict the thing that helps get us emotionally and physically through the day. The bad news is that we can never truly escape our addiction to food, after all, we need food to live. The only thing we can do is make vital attempts to undertand our relationship with food, make changes where necessary, & most of all understand ourselves and WHY food is so gosh darn important to us. If we could simply view food as fuel we wouldn't overeat, right? After all, there's no sense in overfilling your fuel tank in your car, is there. But that's not so easily done. Food has a powerful influence in our lives. We Celebrate with it, we suffer through mourning with it, we simply need it to survive. So I had to ask myself, "What the heck are you trying to avoid by numbing yourself with food?" It took a ot of time and listening to things my inner self didn't want to listen to but in the end the answer to that question was...."Everything!" What I lacked in my relationship was covered by my relationship with food. What was lacking physically after a workout was covered by the physical apsects of food. What was lacking in the department of self-love was covered by food. For me food was a cure all. I didn't have to search for answers anywhere else, I didn't have to look for solutions to deep and heavy issues in relationships because food cured those for me. Food, for me, simply made those things go away. Unfortunately the side effects were a catch 22. The food made me feel better in the moment but then almost as soon as I'd eat it I'd start to realize that I did not do myself any favors and of course would feel intrinsically bad and would search for more food to cure the problem...creating a catch 22. For me the answer came one day when i took a good hard look at myself. I realized that I really did love myself but what I was doing with food was inherently NOT loving to myself. I knew then and there that the best way to love myself was to overcome my addiction to food and start solving the little issues of life some other way other than food. But how? I attempted to gain control of my eating. I made health choices, exercised and foced on all foods I put into my body as a gift of love to myself. Food is fuel not medication, I would tell myself. Some days I would do very well, and others I would fail miserably. Days when emotional issues, fatigue, stress or other stressors increased I would feel myself quickly losing control over my new found 'self-love' mantra and back through the drive through I'd go. After many attempts to control increasing hunger after workouts & emotional eating I decided I needed help. I did my research on the lap band and decided that it was the right thing for me. I'm a natural health kinda person so the thought of surgery was not an easy prospspect for me but I knew this was the right thing to do. I did struggle a little with the thought that I SHOULD be able to hand this on my own, after all I did have good in-control days, sometimes. But my weight was getting dangerously high and I knew I had passed my personal point of no return, weight wise. So I chose the surgery. I came to the conculsion that I would probably always have an addiction to food deep down. Just like recovering alcoholics say...you are always recovering. I knew I'd always be recovering from my food addiction but made my peace with the fact that alcoholics get help, drug addicts get help, gamblers get help, why shouldn't people with food addictions get help. The lap band was my addiction help. I knew I'd have to do some work too but I figure that if I could get a little help on the really bad days I just might be able to fight this addiction. It has been a year and two months. I've lost 80 pounds. I struggled with new issues after the band such as exercise. I knew I was supposed to exercise but exercise never worked for me before. I feared failure or even muscle weight gain so I didn't exercise much. Yeah, a new issue to deal with. I feared I spent all that money on the band and it wouldn't work, because after all, nothing else had and this was (for me) an addiction which is all in the head right? But as weight slowly started to come off and I recieved support from friends and family who loved me (but admittedly knew nothing of how hard it is to struggle with food issues) I began to see the light. The band helped me gain control where I was simply ill-equipped to do so previously. Can you fail with a lap band? Probably. Can you sabotage yourself? Probably. Did I want to? Absolutely not. In my mind, this was my last chance and I was going to do whatever it took psychologically & physically to make it work. Even if that meant I'd have to search elsewhere, namely deep in my soul for answers to those daily stressors and emotional issues I avoided and had medicated with food for so long. Do I still crave food when I am angry, hungry, happy or stressed? Not really. Does it cross my mind? Yes, on occasion. Why? Because over the last 14 months the physical attributes of the band and intense personal exploration has helped me develop new habits. I use the band like alcoholics use Antibuse. I know that if I eat more than I should out of compulsion I will get sick and that's not good for me. So over time, I have come to the understanding that my band is there to help keep me in control of eating while I use my mind to solve emotional stressors. Of course I still need to eat, but out of nutrition needs, not emotional needs. I let the band help me get the proper nutrition and use it to assist me in dealing with stressors appropriately. It's sort of my version of 'tough love'. It won't let me have what I want because it knows it's not good for me and forces me to deal with the rest of life the way I should. And the only side effect is that I am losing weight. Recently my band became lose with weight loss & increased exercise. I was hungier than usual, could eat more and I did. I felt like I was a little out of control. I attempted to handle it on my own for a few weeks understanding that at some point in my life the band may not work well anymore and I needed to see how much progress I had made in my emotional journey. The answer to that was...only a little. I didn't feel bad however, after all, I'd spent a lifetime developing my food issues. I didn't expect them to disappear in 1 year. I found myself able to eat larger portions, reveling in it, & in truth thinking "Oh, I bet I could have a Sonic hamburger." In essence, I was having a relapse. I was thinking of all the wonderful things I could have to 'love myself' with. But! the funny thing was, that the food didn't have the same medicating response anymore. Nothing that I ate gave me that sensuous UMMMM! response I thought it would. I didn't have one of those...."Oh my God, I haven't had this in a year and it tastes incredible!" feeling. I simply just ate a little larger portion than ususal and felt kinda bad about it, simply for the fact that I was pretty sure I didn't need that extra portion. So I learned that just because I could eat more, I didn't really need to and in actuality I wasn't getting that response I had expected. And no, I never really did eat a Sonic hamburger. It was at this point I chose to get my band adjusted a little to give myself the assistance I needed. I know I am making progress and my goal is to some day get to the point where I am in control of all food issues band or no band. I think I'm well on my way. I no longer fear the day I may not have use of my band because I have seen progress and I know I will get there. So for those who still struggle with hunger, compulsion to overeat or cravings I feel for you. All I can suggest is that maybe you take a good hard look at what food means to you and how you are using is. Be honest with yourself, I know it's hard. Society doesn't make weight loss or body image easy. After all, simply take a look at your next restaurant portion and you'll see that. Your body probably only needs about a quarter of what is put on your plate to survive nicely. No one can come to these realizations for you. All I know is that I was tired with struggling with my love/hate relationship with food. I was tried of trying to bend food to my will skipping this, substituting that. I wanted my relationship with food to be normal. And I can honestly say that with the help of my lap band I'm as close to normal as I have ever been in 41 years, but still a work in progress. I am slowly making peace with food, using it for what it was intended & loving myself in the process. I used to tell people who said I need to love myself more...."I'll love myself when I'm a size 8 again." I finally realized I was missing their point. Loving who you are, doing things that honor & love the self is a process not a size destination. I am now 185 pounds, 41 years old, a size 12 and if I never lost another pound I honestly think I'd be perfectly happy with myself, physically and emotionally. If you have ever uttered the phrase "I love to eat." or "I just love food." I would highly suggest you take a good hard look at why you made those statements and you'll get some good insight as to your personal issue with food. It may not be like mine but it just might. Thank you for reading my story and I hope you have a wonderful learning experience with or without your band. Sincerely, Samantha Hall

I'll get my two cents in here. For me, weight loss is emotional. Very emotional. It is personal. I recognize that we're all different. But we are all human beings. We all started perfect, normal, ideal. I'm not even consciously aware of when I started to gain weight. I was not a heavy child. I was a normal weight child. I believe I am not meant to be heavy. I do recall my 16th birthday and being appalled to realize that I had nothing to wear that made me look good for an evening out. In our household, junk food was not allowed. Babysitters hated coming to our house. Yes, I had tasted soda pop and potato chips and chocolate. But not at our house! And it tasted good! Very, very good. And when I was 13 years old, I started babysitting, and had some of my own money. Guess what I bought with it? That's right. Junk food. I was also an emotional person. Still am. And I was never close to my mother, though I dearly wanted to be. She just didn't want it. As an adult, I recognize that was her doing, not mine, but it still affected me. But I found some comfort in music and in the taboo foods. So, is that where it started? Food replacing affection? But I saw other kids eating it. Why weren't they getting heavy? Why was I? I actually didn't really know that my weight was not normal as a teenager. Until seeing cousins one summer who I hadn't seen since the summer before. And in greeting, the cousins happily pointed out that I "GREW"!! And then the 16th birthday with nothing flattering to wear. The other kids at school ranged in sizes, so it wasn't apparent that I was overweight. Though, there was some name-calling "Cow" in junior high. Oh, and my mother decided that she would also call me a 'big, fat, cow' whenever she was irritated (mostly at the sight of me). So, there was the stigma now. I am being likened to a cow. I got through high school all right, (though another emotional time during my parents separation and divorce), and made my first registration at Weight Watchers at age 19. I was done with being a cow. By the way, my two sisters were not overweight at this stage. And, yes, I lost a little weight before I gave up on the effort because I felt like I wasn't part of things. That was almost 70 pounds ago, the first time I joined Weight Watchers. Are relationships partly to blame for gaining weight? I mentioned my relationship with my mother. And, of course, teenage siblings can be cruel. And their friends, too. Where my friends, some overweight, too, accepted me, fed me, supported me. And go on in life to my naïve feelings for someone not being reciprocated; to no real interest shown to me by a man; to an abusive marriage, which I entered full of love; to divorce; to losses of loved ones. To where I am now. I want to get off the cycle now. I'm ready. I don't want to have (emotional) excuses that make it okay to be overweight. I want to stop the insanity. But I really do feel that you have to look at why you are overweight to begin with. Then you can heal. And normalize.

I think it has a lot to do with homeostasis. When we get fat for whatever reason, if we stay there long enough, our bodies get used to it and consider it normal. When we lose weight, if we don't reprogram our body that this is the new normal (staying at goal for over 3 years), it will try real hard to go back to fat normal. I've had this happen a few times. Mostly a loss of 50lbs that came back on within a few months. A couple times I lost 100 or more lbs and it came back on before a year. Very sad. Very frustrating. I hope the sleeve is right for me to keep it off

I am 5'5" and weighed 272 when banded in 2001; I lost about 70# over a year and never got under 200#. I maintained for awhile, but when I started having horrible reflux I had to have Fluid removed and regained. My lifetime highest weight was 332 in 2005. I weighed 308 the day I started my pre-op diet for the sleeve Dec 1 2011. I weigh 140 right now. I work at it everyday, BUT, it is easier to maintain at 140 now than it was to stay under 300# before. I worked at it before too, I never gave up. I completely understand the fears etc but many of these "questions" are un-answerable. My story won't be the same as yours, and we each need to find our own path, hopefully learning a bit from those who have gone before us. Do not be fooled into thinking that regain is "impossible" - it most certainly is possible with ANY WLS. In the beginning, the weight loss is pretty easy with the sleeve for most people. As time goes on, your personal choices does like 90% of the work but it is so much easier to do that once you have gotten some weight off.

I have heard that you should eat nuts when you to help maintain your weight

You can start doing some type of physical activity like walking to speed up your weights loss At least 30 minutes a day. You can start practicing eating healthy snacks. You can do it slowly as you get use to it. Also do some research on protein shakes, you might like something else after surgery because for some people the tastes buds changed,but it won't hurt to start from now. Congrats!! My birthday is on July!! Great month to get sleeve yay!

hi minismom sorry for your weight gain, BUT don't worry. don't beat yourself up over it. My WLS 12/15/11 - i considered the beginning of the month my funeral, and i went crazy on wild and nutty things to eat, cuz i figured i would never be able to eat them again, or in very small quantities. I did gain weight, but i was having the WLS in a couple of weeks. so i figured.... Was treating the world like it was going to end tomorrow. i wasn't required a pre-liquid or anything diet., i wish i were. I really didn't take the time before surgery seriously enough, and try to lose some weight, Some others do the same....wrong.....but mistake is done and over with. Can't change whats already happened. You on the other hand are so wisely aware of what happened with you gaining weight. You'll do better. Don't kick yourself for gaining -you'll probably lose the weight and more before WLS Surgery is not til July. I know you will work hard and probably lose some weight will come off before the WLS. Regardless, like i said, its over, can't change, sounds like you will do great. See you around the site in preparation for WLS July will be here before you know it. Best Wishes Congrats on your pending WSL kathy

@@Ashley Nd Michael Fisher Which area are you in with Kaiser? I heard that not everyone has to reach the 10% weight loss to get surgery. I know I'm only at about 5% and I'm hoping they dont turn me away because of it.

Good afternoon everyone! It's Katrina. Bad news I went on vacation last week and I gained 2 pounds! I see my nurse practitioner this Friday.... I feel like I failed..... I'm scared!! My surgery date is September 12th so I have about a month to lose 10 pounds. ANY POINTERS?! Thank you! I love this app. People are so nice and supportive. <33 SW-305 CW-283 GW-150 H-5'8

WOW, I had a fill 4 weeks out, but I have learned on here that all docs are different. Until I got good restriction (at fill #4) I was overeating. As much as I tried to adhere to the eating 3x a day with NO SNACK, I was overdoing it and my weight loss was very slow. The restriction does help. Perhaps call surgeon and see what they think, maybe you are losing at the rate they want and are satisfied with it. Some people have restriction right after surgery or their doc puts some fill in the time the band is placed. I had a small amount but little restriction after healing took place. Best of Luck.

I ran track in high school and was always very active...until I had a bad knee injury while pregnant with my second son. Combine the injury with forced inactivity due to a c-section two weeks after the injury and I had a difficult time walking for several years. By the time I was totally healed, I'd gotten away from the active mindset. I made it to 352 pounds before my inactivity and weight caught up with me. Once the weight started effortlessly sliding off, it seemed natural to start moving more. The more I move, the better my results, the better my results, the more I want to move. That's my story.

Many posts by individuals post-surgery about how they became active (in terms of exercise) after formerly living a sedentary life are inspiring. I have always been sedentary (and I'm pre-op). When I exercise, I enjoy it a lot. But I find that I have to truly push myself. It's always a struggle. I easily can find excuses not to go to the gym. So I'm curious about the following: for those of you who did become active, did surgery suddenly change you? Did losing weight itself actually change your motivation? Or, even after losing weight, is it still a struggle (for the formerly sedentary)? The reason that I ask is that I have read that the surgery can reduce/eliminate the hunger hormone as well as decrease the amount of time to reach satiety. I also wonder whether the surgery has some sort of effect on brain chemistry to help turn the sedentary into exercisers. All thoughts are appreciated!

I'm 24 at 5'3 and i my highest was 284. Right now i'm 261.3 and my surgery is set for Sept. 30th! I've also been thinking about this since i was a teen. at 14 i weight about 211 and I've only gone up since then, even though i am active, i have made poor food choices. I do wish i had started the process earlier, but i am happy that I'm going to have the surgery before any major health complications occur as a result of my obesity. Good Luck Pumpkin! Its a good choice and attending the seminar is a great first step! contact me if you need support or just a chat! (FYI: I went to my orientation meeting May 30th and the process has gone smoothly since then!) Just make sure you are comfortable with the surgeon AND the staff since you will be spending most of your time with them! =)

I'm 29, and this band was the best decision I ever made. I too struggled with my weight almost my entire life, and I wish I would have gotten this done sooner. However, I do have to say that emotionally, I was not ready to have this surgery a few years ago. That of course doesn't mean that you are in the same boat; but I think that because the band is not a passive miracle fix all tool, being emotionally ready and motivated is key. You will need to be kind and loving to yourself; losing weight doesn't make us love ourselves more; loving ourselves more gives us the motivation to lose the weight; it's quite the opposite from what is commonly believed. That is the first step I would take, work on loving yourself no matter what size you are. Your size is NOT who you are. You are who you are, and despite the extra fluff, I'm sure you're a beautiful human being who is deserving of happiness, love and health!! Best of luck on your journey! It's never too early to start being healthy!!!

I sure am!! The scale seems to be moving and I've started working out! Sooner or later I will be at my goal weight!

Sending positive thoughts to you all. Like it was said BREATHE. Take it slow after surgery. I walked, walked, walked in between trips to the bathroom. My surgeon gives two IVs to fill you with fluids. When you're cleared to drink: sip, sip, sip. A big problem after surgery is dehydration because you can't drink very much at one time. Your body needs the fluids to heal as well. I had someone at home to remind me to sip, sip, sip. I also did a lot of walking after I was discharged from the hospital. The walking helps prevent blood clots. You DON'T want a blood clot. My husband almost died from one when he had a surgery, not a weight loss surgery. I hope you all have successful, uneventful surgeries and easy recoveries. Kathleen

I am having a really hard time with my band. In the last month I had my gallbladder out unneccesarily (my band was too tight), an $8000 ER visit, 2 unfills and an upper GI with a refill. I keep getting spasms of my stomach and esophagus that cause vomiting and abdominal, chest and back pain. The only way to keep it from happening is to get an unfill but then I don't have good restriction and I gain weight. I'm just really frustrated. Danielle

That's great I went to my surgeons on Wed and I am down 50 lbs since Sept yooo hoooo !!!!!!!! for thew both of us and it is now my third fill so I hope I keep losing to my goal weight , ya I only had 2 fills before Wed. and he finally told me I have now 91/2 ccs in my 14 cc band lets keep going I weighd 276 in july now I weigh 226 I want to be down to 135 good for u keep on .