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Hello, mine is 10/20 and I can't wait!!!

Hi! Im scheduled for tomorrow - 10/20. Tomorrow... I havent packed or done anything other than go through before and after pictures on this site;) best of luck to us all!!!

I was a 51 BMI and struggled with the decision. After all my research, discussions and long nights I settled in on RNY. My biggest reason is I am traveling 90% of the time and constant business/training meetings where I am presenting. I was truly worried about uncontrolled bowel movements when not able to step out of a session. I am 5'7" and have lost 120lbs in less than 10 months. I still have 50 lbs to go, but I feel like it was the right choice for me. I look back and think that even if I didn't travel I would have made the choice for RNY. If I was at a higher BMI I would have wanted the DS and would have my lists prepared as you do. Just know that if the physician sticks to RNY, it is still a great opportunity to change your life!

I agree that putting the whole family on a healthy 'diet' or really a new healthy way of eating is beneficial for everyone in the long run. Since I was banded two weeks ago my house has become incredibly healthy and no one has made a fuss. My husband has wanted to lose 10-15 pounds( I know, we all wish that was all we needed to lose) so he said salads for lunch and many dinners would be good. He isn't a big carb fan which is great because Im a carb whore and that is what got me into so much trouble. I've been feeding everyone a lot of veggies and protein. My kids have always eaten healthy anyways so the veggies aren't a battle. I've stepped up the organic food shopping even more so which is totally free of nasty junk and preservatives. Having really nutritious foods and no really snacky trigger foods has made me two weeks in the liquid diet so much easier. I know that when I'm on to my two weeks of soft food and then on regular foods, keeping the temptations out of the house will be the key. I have no more willpower than anyone else here, but I am taking this band so seriously. I will not mess up my stomach and my life for food anymore. I'm trying to keep myself occupied when I think I need to eat.

Good news is that I am not that far from my BMI ideal weight. It is only 40 lbs away and I have already lost 121 lb in 5 months. So it got me thinking abut what really is my target weight and when should I achieve it? Given that 10 lb a month is pretty standard, an easy calculations reveals that I wold hit BMI ideal weight in about 4 months, give or take a couple weeks depending on how slow or fast the scale weight moves. That is fine with me and places my target of 180 lb in the middle of feb. 2013. The question is whether BMI is a good goal to shoot for. My doctor, NUT and supporting staff have not talked to me explicitly about a target yet and I always assumed it would be BMI for my height of 5 ' 11 ". However, feb 2013 is the 9 month mark for me which statistically places me 1/2 way through my golden period of sleeve effectiveness. Should I stop there? What happens if I reach goal at new year instead because I have been getting pretty serious about exercise and weight lifting in the last month? My wife and mother in law have told me on numerous occasions that they think I might look unhealthy at BMI because my bone mass is medium to large and I have muscle on me. They might be saying these things with some self motivation. for example, my mother in law is constantly on a diet losing and gaining the same 10 lb. my wife is a candidate for sleeve, so may not quite understand the whole less is better attitude. not sure. I certainly feel good now and think 20 lbs more lbs would put me into a solid state of health, even if 20 lb over the BMI for my height. The last thing I want is to develop some kind of need to lose weight into the unhealthy zone, below BMI. Not saying this would be from anorexic tendencies because I am not starving myself in my diet nor am I doing crazy exercises ( max 1 hour a day, most of the time 45 min). However, I do see that I need to be careful to not lose too much and get unhealthy. I will continue to be active in my exercises, not just in my home gym but also running 5ks, hiking and other things. These will all contribute to my metabolism burning, burning and burning calories. I look pretty healthy in the mirror with and without clothes on. Not a lot of lose skin and am shaping up like a swimmer ( broad shoulders and narrow waist). My caloric intake is currently around 600-900 and consists mostly of Protein for 6 meals a day. I feel ok with this eating, am not hungry except to refuel and have a lot of energy from this eating, from exercise and also from coffee. Can I continue to eat like this? Not sure. I think I would like to eat more fruit and veggies at some point, eat more like a wholesome and natural Mediterranean style diet. That is a goal of mine for when I stop losing scale weight. It is going to take me a few weeks of transition time to moderate my eating patterns from high protein to Mediterranean style. Have not crossed that bridge yet, but know it is soon arriving on my journey. Appreciate the thoughts from others, especially mature sleevers that have "been there, done that."

I was sleeved 12/19. On full liquids until 1/31. My liquids as in drinks are all supposed to be sugar free. I am also only allowed sugar free puddings and no fruit pcs yogurts. Lowest Greek preferred. I also had a hiatal hernia repair so I don't know why so long on the liquids unless that or if just that my surgeon is really conservative. He did tell me I had a great looking small sleeve. Don't know. Good luck!

I'm having a hard time sticking to the clear liquid diet. I'm on it for 6 weeks starting March 1st and I can't stick to it consistently without cheating. Trust me I want to but then I end up messing up. Its depressing and upsetting. I have 4 small kids ranging from 5 to 10 months old. I'm not sure if its just mommy stress and other personal stress but I just can't seem to stick to it. Surgery date is 4/14/16. Any tips out there? Help. Sent from my LGMS631 using the BariatricPal App

I buy the variety pack protein powder drinks. My favorite are syntrax brand. Coworker who had bypass 10 yrs ago turned me onto crystal light peach tea, mix with syntrax lemon tea and about 20 Oz water. Yummy!!! Before surgery thought it was OK. Post? Don't know why but I love it!

So I had my first appointment with the dietician on Friday. It started out quite rough. I had my weigh-in and I gained weight since my initial visit with the Bariatrician last month. I was +4 I think. That could be a deal-breaker. I need to be at or below my initial weight for her to pass me through. She gave some great info, but I'm not sure I like her yet. She's tiny (which I couldn't care less about but…). And she bragged about how she started eating like we're supposed to and lost 10 lbs and how she didn't ever have a gym membership because she does the "Soup can" exercises--"even though I'm a dietician" Sorry just felt down and needed to vent. Hope the psych thing tomorrow goes better -H

Can I come back?? I was banded 2-13-08. I came on here a couple of times but was more a lurker than a poster. I also want to get on the accountability train!! I initally lost 66 lbs...only to stall out towards the end of last year. I have been fluctuating the same 10 lbs. up and down for several months now. I got comfortable and stopped worrying about the amount and the quality of food I was eating. I am now scared that I have enlarged my pouch (my own fault!) and I have been doing liquids/mushies again to try and minimize the possible damage before seeing my doctor next week. I haven't had a fill in several months now, mostly due to heartburn. I am taking meds now, but I am thinking my doctor will veto a fill due to that! Oh well...I need to do something. I am too far away from my goal to be lazy with this band. It seems a lot of VV's fell off of this site!! I can't help but wonder if they too are lurking...too ashamed to post? I hope not, but it is exactly how I was feeling. I got down to 211 and now....back up to 220! UGGG!!

Yes, switch to the LB doctor. He is used to seeing bigger weight loss with the bypass. He has unrealistic expectations of you. I sometimes think that with the big egos doctors have they take your weight loss as a victory (or failure) of themselves. And if you don't lose enough weight then they blame you. My doctor wanted me to lose 10-15 lbs in three weeks after my surgery and before my first fill and I had already lost 60 lbs. on my own and with all the pre and post op dieting. I sometimes think these doctors took speed courses in the surgery itself to get on the lucrative bandwagon of WLS but don't know anything about proper follow up. Good luck.

Hi everyone, My bmi is at 40.3. I was a size 10-12 most of my life. Then when I hit about 42 I gained weight and no matter what I did to lose it, it did not work. I just kept gaining. I am 50 now. I talked to my doctor about weight loss surgery. He was very supportive. I am now about a month away from possibly getting surgery and visited a nutritionist the other day. After the 1 hour session I started to have doubts about the surgery. He showed me the 1 and 2 oz containers and said that is how much your will eat the first few months. Then he showed me a 1 cup container and said that is how much you will eat after that. I was shocked! Will I ever be able to go out to eat with my husband again? I just went out the eat last night and had a plate full of Mexican food with chips and salsa! Will I never be able to eat chips and salsa and burritos again? Do you still enjoy eating? How do you handle eating out? I am thinking that maybe the new gastric balloon procedure is better for me. HELP.

Tomorrow I will call the doctors office and clarify with them maybe its all liquid and then 10 days before surgery clear liquid. Anyway thanks for the reply!!! Sent from my LGMS631 using the BariatricPal App

I feel the same. I am 10 months out and shoot for 11-1200 calories a day. At 8 weeks I was about 650-800 calories a day. I upped my intake at 6 months to the 11-1200 after being cleared to lift weights and start training for a 5K. I talked to my nutritionist who said to up my intake to make up for the amount being burned up while exercising. I exercise daily by walking/jogging for 35 minutes and I strength train every other day. Most days I burn up about 6-700 calories from exercise. I have had very few stalls and they last no more than a week.

I'm 10 days post op and I've been craving a sandwich. Well I broke down and ate one yesterday and I feel so guilty. I'm suppose to Be on liquids still but i took small bites and chewed it until it was like liquid. Almost took me 45 minutes to eat it. I mean if the world is going to end tomorrow I didn't want to go without eating a sandwich. Lol ( just kidding) but I am now staying strong on my liquids until Monday which is when my mushies begin. I feel bad though!

Bring your sister to help you. It will be too hard on your wife to help you and keep up with a 2 & 6 year old. Trust me! It wore out my 19 year old daughter just helping me. You never know how you will be after surgery. Bring your extra help

I feel like I just won the Texas Lottery, after reading so many post on how hard it is to get approved. I found out today that I am approved and I have a surgery date of July 24th. Which can't come soon enough since I have had some complication from my Lap band. As hard as these past 3 years has been with my band I believe the lessons I've learnt will benefit my new life with the sleeve. Winning the Lottery changes people lives and being sleeved will differently change my life. I have BCBS of TX and hen I called today I was told that my doc office sent the paperwork in on the 5th and it could talk 7-10 business days to get and answer that was at 11:01am and by 3:59pm my doc office was calling me to say I was approved. I was in shock and happy and nervous all at the same time, like a lottery winner. I would have jumped up and down too but I was in the car parked in front of Wal-Mart and have too much port pain. Good Luck to those waiting on approval.

You can always call your insurance company and ask them. I did and they told me the status of my approval and also told me they had 10 business days to review and make a decision. No harm in asking!

Don't beat yourself up for 174 calories! It's 174 calories of real/not over-processed food! This is where you want to get to, not run away from! Personally, I consider a 10/1 ratio acceptable of calories to protein (174 calories vs 17g protein) for real foods. Sure you get more protein/calorie in protein drinks, but you want to move away from those as you get further from your surgery. I think you're doing fine!

You know that is a good idea i think im going to start that as of today. I'm going to get one of my empty hinkley Water bottles and everytime I want to buy some junk food or something that we call in Chicago a greese bag( see the rule is if u come out of a fast food resturant and in 5-10 minutes if the bottom of your bag is soaked in greese it has to be good....lol) i will put the money in the bottle and see how much i wind up with by the time i reach my goal..... Wow excellent idea.... :wink2:

Unified Group Services? The insurance card also has an HFN 10 logo on it. I am waiting to hear back from them, but also looking for someone else who has used them.

My surgery was at 8 a.m. and I was home by 2 p.m. My lift restrictions were 5 pounds the first week, 10 pounds by the end of the 2nd week. Then 'normal lifting' ok...until he found out that normal lifting for me was 50-75#. Then he revised it to no more than 15-20 pounds *max* for 4 weeks after surgery.

I am 10 weeks out from surgery and started noticing a few days ago that my tummy felt sore after I ate. I thought maybe I ate too much, so I decided to eat less next time. At the next meal, I noticed the soreness/pain was back after the first few bites. The final straw was when I simply had a glass of Water before bed Friday night, and the pain was back. The pain isn't debilitating, more annoying than anything. I feel it after I eat/drink and anytime I'm stretching or laying on my stomach. It feels like it's coming more from the band and not the port. I came here and read numerous posts Friday night and didn't conclude anything, but it seemed like the remedy for almost everything was going back on a liquid diet. So, I did that yesterday, but no change yet. Any ideas what this could be? Thanks for your help!

weigh 175 need to lose 55 pounds surgery scheduled 10 days can u lose too much?

The Haters: I am 57 and just now preparing for surgery. I soooooo wish I had done this years ago because my weight ruined my health over the years. Bariatric surgery may not even restore me to health as some of the damage to my body is permanent. Not to mention the costs and side effects of taking multiple medications for decades. I have managed to have a full life ,except no children , but I allowed my weight to always dictate my life with non stop dieting and the constant battle of the roller coaster ride up and down 10, 20, 30 pounds. What an incredible waste of the best years of my life. I look forward to a heathier, thinner me after bariatric surgery. I want to live the next 30 years of my life with ME directing my choices, not my weight dictating my choices. If I am going to continue to be preoccupied with my weight and diet after bariatric surgery at least I am more confident that my efforts will be rewarded and not a waste of time doing "just one more diet". I have a better chance of maintaining my weight once the excess weight is off, as long as I do the work and follow the rules. The roller coaster ride is coming to an abrupt, permanent end now for me age 57! It is not too late for me but if I could have done this when I was younger, I can only imagine how my life could have been diiferent, better, happier, and healthier.