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I was banded on 1/10/08 and my post op is not until 1/28/08. They said I cannot drive until after that, so looks like 18 days! You're not the only one. I was also planning on going back to work after a week, but my doc has other plans!

Hi, I would like to join in also. I am only three weeks out so i don't get my first fill until Jan 5th,10. Does anyone else have the realize band? I did not choose it just left it up to my surgeon, but would like to know how well it works, i have lost 14 lbs these last three weeks. will be glad to hear from you.

Seppi, get out and walk, walking is the best cure for the gas. If the protein drink is causing you gas, buy a protein drink with no whey or soy, but honestly tell your friend that many bandsters have gas pains for 2-3 weeks after surgery, it has nothing to do with the protein drinks. I was not allowed protein drinks for 10 days after my surgery, and I had gas. You are only 3 days post op, totally normal Seppi to have painful gas pains, again walking is thebest cure, maybe a little gas x too hang tough, it gets better

I completely understand. I'm extremely nervous. I'm schedule for LB surgery 12/19/12.

How many of us have been "on a diet" for most of our lives? Too many, in my opinion. Not just because it's bad for our health or because diets don't work. It's bad for our mental health too. It leads to something I call "Dieter's Mentality." If you have Dieter's Mentality, you need to cut it out because it's going to sabotage your success. This is true whether or not you have had Weight Loss Surgery, are on your pre-op diet or are doing it the traditional way through diet and exercise. Diet Mentality is evil and it puts you in a bad place! What is Diet Mentality? It has four major components: 1) Putting food into Good and Bad buckets First of all, food is not Bad or Good -- it's just food. Some food is a better choice than others, but even then it's really just all food. If you are getting in enough of the essential nutrients and you account for your calories each day, you are doing good no matter if you have a bite of dessert once in a while or not. All food is bad food if you eat too much of it or only eat one kind. It's just as unhealthy to eat nothing but Protein as it is to eat nothing but birthday cake. A healthy diet is balanced and can even include a certain amount of junk food as long as it's a small amount and it doesn't trigger you into bad behavior. 2) Judging your worth by what you eat Making bad food choices does not make you a bad person. Your self-worth shouldn't be tied up in what you eat. Good people make bad choices all the time. Instead of beating yourself up when you make a bad choice, hating yourself, seeing yourself as a failure and otherwise engaging in destructive behavior, just figure out how to make a better choice next time. It's not easy to be dispassionate about your own behavior, but telling yourself that you made a bad choice and next time you'll make a better one is a good start and much healthier than telling yourself you are a bad person and you'll never lose the weight and you hate yourself. 3) Judging your worth by how much you weigh/how much you've lost this week The scale is just part of the picture. If you get too tied up in the scale, you get a distorted view of the world. Weeks where you lose are good weeks even if someone close to you died. Weeks where you don't lose are bad weeks even if you got a big promotion at work and did everything "right" in terms of diet and exercise. One of the dangers of measuring everything by your weight on the scale is that you can convince yourself that making bad choices is okay because sometimes you can make bad choices and still lose/maintain. You can also convince yourself that making good choices is pointless because some weeks you make all good choices and the scale doesn't move. But clearly making more bad choices than good will lead to weight gain in the long run. Anything thinking that leads you to conclude otherwise is destructive thinking. 4) Waiting until you are thin(ner) to start living Stop waiting until you get to goal to start living or loving yourself. Love yourself now. Live your life now. It's easy to fall into "when I lose 25 pounds, I will start..." type of thinking. It's a fine line between thinking about how you will reward yourself when you meet certain goals and putting your life on hold until you meet certain goals. Many of us have had the experience of thinking we were so fat back when we were in HS or college or a young adult and not being happy. But then we got even fatter and we look at those pictures from back then and we realize that we were actually pretty hot. In fact, we'd give anything to be "that fat" right now. Why not love yourself now while you're living your life instead of waiting until 10 years later to tell yourself how good you had it back then? What happens when we stop "dieting"? One of the best things I ever did for myself was to decide I was never going to diet again. It really allowed me to examine my relationship with food and to start listening to my body and figuring out why I eat what I eat. That would never have happened when I was caught up in "Dieter's Mentality". One of the things I found is that my approach to food was that of a child. I wanted people to make me or bring me food because I associate being fed with being loved. So I got myself to a point where all my meals were either quick things that require no cooking or can be zapped in a microwave or are made by my husband -- who does all the cooking -- or were purchased. In other words, other people had complete control over what kind of food I ate and how it was prepared! I never saw anything wrong with this until I decided to grow up about food. I realized that by approaching food this way, I was giving up tons of control over what I ate. Someone else buys the groceries so it's not my fault that there aren't healthy Snacks in the house. It's not my fault that I had that ice cream cone -- there was nothing else to eat and I was HUNGRY. Once I saw this pattern, I vowed to change it and start being an adult about food. I now plan out what I'm going to eat before I go to work. If I'm going to work late, I bring extra food so I'm not eating out of the vending machine. I don't eat lunch at the Cafeteria every day so my food choices aren't limited to what they want to make for me. I have healthy snacks in my drawers at work so if I do end up working late without having planned ahead, I'm eating a Protein Bar instead of a Snickers bar. This change in attitude and behavior has made a big difference. Which is not to say I haven't got much farther to go ... I still don't cook and I still eat way too much prepared food (because I don't cook). But I'm much better than I used to be and it's great to feel like a grown up! You may relate to what I said about having a child's approach to food or you may not. Not everyone gets fat the same way or has the same issues to work through. But one thing I can guarantee is that once you throw off the shackles of Dieter's Mentality, you will have the brain cycles available to see your relationship with food more clearly. You will be on the road to having a healthy relationship with food.

Try these links to order different samples for the preop or post op diet Protein - Love these 30 flavors! Discount Code: MYM647 Nashua Nutrition - Huge variety of brands with fast shipping Vitalady – Another huge variety of samples & quick shipping.. Meal Replacements and they come in sturdy foil packets that travel well in your purse for a day out. powders?utm_source=BariatricPal&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_campaign=CommentLink" target="_ad" data-id="1" >unjury – The basic flavors plus chicken Soup - try something new. SmartForme - Starter Pack with various flavors for about $19 nectar Syntrax - You can sample all 11 flavors for about $11 bucks including shipping. Contact Rick Davis Medical Sales Manager Cookies & Cream, Cocoa Mochaccino, Tropical Sunrise, banana Cream, vanilla, chocolate, strawberry. If emailing doesn't work, you can buy samples here: whey - you can request free samples by emailing them at GNC or Vitamin Shoppe if you have them local. They both let you try and RETURN if you don’t like it!! GNC will actually give a refund and Vitamin Shoppe normally gives you in-store credit which is really easy to spend since they have tons of stuff. Get a GNC Gold Card and get great discounts the first week of every month. NOTE: Vitamin Shoppe will also order items for you! I called last week to see if they carried Nectar Latte Cappuccino since they have the other Nectar flavors. They didn't have that one but offered to order it for me and call me when it got there. It arrived 3 days later! 2. Variation - Don't like a certain powder in shake form? Try mixing it in yogurt or sugar-free pudding -- I have a few flavors I love mixing in some regular or greek yogurt or some of the sugar free syrups.

My Father used to tell me "Katie, patience is a virtue". I got so sick of hearing that. Then, one day, I saw a tshirt on somebody that said "Patience, hell! I wanna kill something!" I'm sorry this is taking so long. I know that my doctor gave me a tenantive surgery date on my first visit with him .... and that date was 25 days later. He said "we probably won't have everything completed by then, but you're on the book." Ultimately, we moved it to 2/10, still not too far out. Of course, I was self-pay so things moved faster. I put the push on my sleep study (translate, I fibbed a little). I told them I had a surgery date and they were the only thing holding me up and I needed to finish the evaluation process with them ASAP. And I called them EVERY DAY, LOL. i could tell that woman was sick of hearing my voice. But it got it handled faster. GOOD LUCK:thumbup:

Oh and my father sent me something funny today. He'd heard that Prez Obama had frozen the salaries for staffers that make over 100K. My father said, "the Congress should take a note considering they have a 10% (exaggerated) approval rating." Bah!! I'd be happy if Obama could just limit earmarks (pork)!!!

Thanks guys! I am waiting on my approval and will hopefully get in on April 21. I got my unjury stuff today so at least I'm prepared for my 10 day preop. How do you mix the chicken soup with water and cream of chicken. Equal parts?any way to jazz it up w/o the cream soup?

The total cost for mine was approximately $25,500. I had to pay 10% or $2,500

Week 23 Last week’s weight – 198.4 This week’s weight – 200.8 Total weight gained this week – 2.4 lbs Beginning weight – 246 lbs Total weight loss since surgery – 45.2 lbs Average weekly weight loss since surgery – 1.8 lbs Ugh! I gained 2.4 lbs this week. It is not too surprising. I was gone for the past five days on an anniversary trip with my husband and my eating (and drinking) was way out of whack - plus I didn’t get any strenuous exercise in. I got some exercise in…walking instead of driving in a car but nothing too noteworthy. I also got my period three days ago and I am sure that is not helping. It is a little discouraging to see my weight above 200 again. I missed five days at Crossfit but went last night and this morning (I’m trying to do it at least 3x a week for the first month). I am dog/house sitting for the next 10 days and I am hoping to keep myself on a pretty tight eating/exercising plan during that time just to get back on track. Hoping to report a loss next week.

Muffintop, how frustrating I hope that your Dr.s office gets back to you soon and gets you started in the process. Is your other option self pay? I have a friend who took 10 years to get this surgery but by her own choice. she went through orientation, insurance approval all of it and backed out every time. She finally went through with it January of this year and she has lost 150 lbs! She says her only regret wasnt doing the surgery sooner!

Nice job!!! It takes alot of courage to work out amongst the beautiful people. I still have problems with that so I'm going to use your post as motivation. I've been sitting on my butt since I was banded on 10/19/09!!!! Thanks.

I agree.... Ms. Jean is my favorite Guru..... on the lapband. She also has a wonderful newsletter that she writes. Local support groups are another great place to go. I was lucky to have a very great friend be my mentor. She had the surg a year before me. I would still be 223lb or more if not for her. I have had a great experience with my band so far. I was 223lb 5'2", banded 11/10/09. My doctor implanted the 14cc band. Stayed over night in hospital. Was up and walking within hours. Gas was about the worse part. But with experience from multiple surg before (2 c-sections, gallbladder, hysterectomy) i knew that the faster you get up and moving the better you are. liquids that week and mush the next which was Thanksgiving... ... But i made it through. In my opinion the first few month after the band was the worse for me. Little to no fill and i was starving all the time. And i could eat anything. This, i think, is when your self discipline will come in. You will have to say no and stick to the amount your doctor says to eat.... I bought a small kids plate, you know the cute ones with cartoons on them. Well they have the portion sections... i put only my amount of food and nothing more. Ate my Protein, then veggie, then starch. Most of the time i could eat the starch... No tv, reading, talking...etc while eating. No distraction from concentrating on chewing and chewing and more chewing. Take one bite, put the fork/spoon down. I would close my eyes and think about what i was eating and how good it taste. Did i cheat at anytime.... yes. But, as time goes by the things you thought you could never live with out, you find out you can. Bread was my biggest thing.... i LOVVEEE bread. But the first time you get stuck on bread you will never want to touch it again. Over the next 6 months i learned i could no longer eat.... Bread, pizza, rice, grits, anything over cooked (steak, chicken, pork) it had to be cook med. rare or med. I really started to fill restriction around 7cc in my band...... This is also when my husband said.... stop complaining about not losing enough weight. You have to start exercising more than twice a week.... so i got my lazy butt up and starting doing zumba 3x a week and weights 2x a week and i walk everyday. And he was right... i hated to admit it, but he was. When i weighed in May 6 i was at 177..... at one year i was 160, two years 146... today i weighed in at 143. couple other things i did that helped me.... i stopped ordering buffets, if we went to a buffet, i asked to order off menu. If not, i left. Also when eating out, as much as possible i ask if i could get a Half order, if not as asked for the waitress/waiter to bring a go box when the meal was brought out. I portioned out my meal and put the rest in the box.... closed it and gave it to my husband so i would not be tempted to go back in.... Never never never order anything to drink.... not even Water.... at this point the waitress will look at you like your an alien..... she will say... are you sure, not even water.... no, not even water. Until you can control you and your band... not even water. Out of habit you will take a bite and not even thinking... you will pick up the glass and drink.... and you will be sorry. My worse stick were from doing that very thing. Now you have to get up and run to the bathroom and .... well get rid of your meal you just ate. The only time i order drink before a meal is coffee at Breakfast.... I found that i never noticed my weight loss, but others did. You will need to be prepared to answer question like, how are you losing the weight.... what are you doing? To tell or not to tell... that's the question.... its a personal choice. I chose not to tell at first. Only my husband, two boy, daughter in law and My mentor Paula... knew. I didn't tell my mom and other family until my mom thought i was dieing because of the weight loss.....lol.. but true. I would tell people.. im watching what i eat and exercise... which was true. About 9 months into it i started telling people and got the "oh you had WLS" look..... the "you took the easy way out" look. Be prepared for that if you chose to tell. Also, be prepared for men to start really taking notice of you again and your husband (if you have one) to get jealous...... We also had a significant increase in "private time". Men will start to notice you and you will feel empowered and sometimes the increase in attention from other men tend to make some people stray.... Lots of divorce in couple that had WLS... 19 weeks ago i had my first plastic surgery..... a Tummy Tuck.... OMG. This was the second best thing i ever did for myself. I can now shave "down below" with out lifting a fat roll...... i can see straight down....lol. I have now changed my addiction from food to panties..lol... i know, i can't go shopping with out buying them. Threw out all the granny panties and replaced them with VS. Can't buy the bras yet..... but maybe in a year from now i'll have a reduction. We shall see. Take lots of pictures.... i wish i would have done that. More progress pictures in the same outfit. I hope this helped a little.... But know that EVERY bandster is different and my experience and yours will not be the same Good luck

Congratulations and thanks for sharing your menu. I am 10 pounds from Onederland and I can't wait to do the happy dance too! I am down 27 pounds since 9/28 when I started the pre op liquid. Banded 10/12. Weight is coming off slow and steady. I had a funny NSV yesterday. I was having a pedicure and as my peducurist( is that a word) was massaging my lower legs, she commented that my legs were smaller! Yahoo.

I'm on day 6 now and all my gas pain has stopped. I still get a little shoulder pain 1st thing in the morning but when I'm up and moving around it goes away in about 10 mins. It is so so uncomfortable...... But it does pass!!! Hope it eases for you soon xoxox

I have always had great admiration for runners. Even as a kid when I saw runners I thought it was so impressive and that I could never do that even though I was an active thin child. I start c25k in November 2013 and got through the program without repeating any days. I was determined and just kept putting one foot in front of the other even when I thought I was going to die. Now I am able to run 3.75 miles without stopping and am very proud of myself. The funny thing is there are some days I feel like I can keep going and others where I think I just can't do it. The other day my earphones weren't working right so I had no music and could hear myself breathing for the first time and I thought people are going to call an ambulance or get me an oxygen mask the way I was huffing and puffing but I got it done even though it was a very tough day. I don't think I will ever be one of those people that want to run a marathon some days I love it and some days I hate it. I don't think I will ever go past 5 miles because I feel it is just hard on the joints and the human body at my age isn't meant to run 26 or 13 or even 10 miles. But not meaning to discourage. you can do it and most days it is actually very peaceful and rewarding.

Not only does it get easier but it could become, brace yourself, enjoyable! This time last year I was in the vicinity of 400lbs - yesterday I ran 6.5 miles. If the C25K gets too tough, do NOT hesitate to take it slower but get to that goal. The first time I ran 5K on the treadmill I cried lol! EDIT: This popped up on my Facebook timeline right after I posted the above: http://www.runnersworld.com/beginners/top-10-newbie-training-tips?cm_mmc=Facebook-_-RunnersWorld-_-Content-Training-_-Top10NewbieTips

Good Idea and you will have it again. So where do we go from here. I can't wait to find out. What are you doing starting today. Drinking 8 8oz cups of water a day? Walking for 15 minutes while watching your favorite show? Meditating and counting your blessings? 1. I woke up this morning 2. I have LBT friends 3. I have beautifull children 4. I can walk 5. I can see 6. I can type and I'm a man 7. I am a man LOL 8. I'm cute 9. I'm blessed 10. I'm weigh less today then I did before surgery 11. My band is adjustable 12. I am banded 13. I can work with this band Hey....you are suppose to be counting, not me...welcome back:)

My insurance had a 6-month requirement, but I wasn't given a date until almost 10 months after my initial consult, and my surgery is tomorrow, which is 11-months since my first appointment. I had a lot of stalls in the process, though.

I'm right there with ya. I go through the same thing about once a month or 6 weeks. I'll just bounce up and down 1 or 2 lbs for about 10 days before the weight starts creeping down again. I just stick with my exercise and diet. It worked before the stall and if I stick with it, it will work again.

Hi Andrea, You will need your bullet as you will be staying until the forth of August I believe you said. Dr. Cobourn's patients start having Optifast again. I started having mine on friday after having surgery on wednesday. The day of surgery was Water only then thursday clear, low fat low carb low calorie liquids. Then Friday opti-fast can be added in. One package for me spilt into three servings for the day. That lasts 7-10 days. Yours might be slightly different based on what Dr. C thinks is best. Hope that helps with your question. I also took both gas x strips and chewable tablets. Also found children's liquid tylenol the 2-12 year old one worked well for me for pain. Also they do make a gravol suppository which might be easy to take then the liquid if you are having troubles, but I don't think you will, I sure didn't and that was a fear of mine. Has your package arrived from the clinic yet?

(((((HUGS))))) First, you don't need our forgiveness. You should however, forgive yourself. I'm sure you've heard it all..."just dust yourself off and start over"..."don't beat yourself up, this is just one month out of many"..."just make up your mind and do it"...yadda yadda yadda... Heck, you've probably been telling yourself this for weeks. Maybe just posting it all and getting it all out there...your feelings of failure...your depression...your stress...perhaps this will help you get refocused. You have done SO well and 5-10 pounds back is NOT the end of the world. You are recognizing it early. You are addressing it by following up for a fill. You are taking control. Give yourself some credit for that. On another note...perhaps some anxiety or depression meds are needed (or need to be adjusted). I see you are in therapy, but didn't mention if you're also on a med regimin. Sometimes we need meds and sometimes those meds need adjusting. If you're depressed to the point is affecting your sleep and anxious to the point it's affecting your job...then it's worth considering. Hang in there sister! You've made remarkable progress and lost a lot of weight. Don't let that 5-10 pound indescretion define you. You can and will work it out

Your doing fine, I have lost only 32.4 #s since 4 Jan 10. I have had 3 fills. I have slowed down some, but when I am active-working outside all day I loose 2 #s. Going back to the basics works for me and that's what I am doing again, soups, mushies, etc. Give it a try on your own first before another fill, as I too am contemplating another fill, my 4th. Stay the course, your doing fine, maybe resort back to the basics like me. Good luck.