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Well that worked! I brought my weight loss program docs in hand when I went to my consultation, told them that I had been looking into this for quite some time and had even allowed myself to get talked out of it in 2012, and I've even considered going to Mexico if insurance gives me a hard time. They told me that I would definitely have to do a some nutritional counseling with the program and do all the medical clearances (perfectly fine), but how many sessions is determined by the surgeon. The surgeon came in and asked me what surgery I was looking into, I told him VSG, he looked at my documentation and said that he thought two nutritional sessions would be fine for me. So they're going to submit for approval once I get the rest of the medical clearances, and he said that March/April should be a decent time to look forward to surgery if all goes as planned. So they're getting all my appointments set up as soon as possible, and hopefully I will be on my way to a better life sooner rather than later! ????????????????

Thank you for replying to my question, Yes sounds like it will be trial and error. I never thought i would need to worry about loosing too much weight lol. How many calories are you currently consuming a day, I posted a similar question on a Facebook group I'm in and laugh when people suggest eating "McDonalds" to add extra calories *shakes head*. Totally agree with the "Grazing" Its impossible to limit it to 3 meals a day and hope your weight stops. I eat 5-6 small meals a day all of with are health, nutritionally dense foods.

I'm four years out. I am a distance runner. I lift and train like a beast. Did you ever think you would have to work at eating more calories in your life? *smile* Transitioning in to maintenance mode take some adjusting. I used a TDEE calculator similar to yours. It says maintaining for me is 2166 calories. Honestly, I gain weight at the macros it suggests. I can burn 700 to 1000 calories on long run days. My diet changes to support my activity. https://tdeecalculator.net TDEE did not work for me. It may work for you. Your calories and macros will look different than mine. (age sex height weight activity is a factor) I had to change up the numbers from the TDEE to find what works for my body. Hate to say this but it has been a lot of trial and error. All instructions from dietician are different Below is my instructions Add low glycemic carbs Sweet potato, whole wheat bread/pasta and brown rice. If you are looking to get more calories in, eat small meals often. Eat as often as you need you need to get the calories in and stay within your calories/macros. Maintaining is a new mindset. It's no longer 3 meals two small snacks. Grazing has always been mentioned as a bariatric no no. Think of this as a maintaining health graze - several meals to hit your maintaining calories and macros. Wishing you the best, Jenn

That is outstanding !!!! Don't sweat the "gain". Stay the course and you are going to reach your goal. Excellent progress thus far !!

The first year u don't really need to worry about counting carbs. If u eat too much sugar or carbs you'll be on toilet. Take your vitamins they're very important but don't worry about counting every gram. After 1 year if u still have weight to lose u can count carbs but it doesn't have to be super low.

My BMI is 41ish, no comorbidities. I've done so many diets, I could probably write winning diets for other people. Lol! Last year I did a "medical weight loss program" with a company for about 6 months, where all they really did was monitor your weight and prescribe phentermine. I lost about 20lbs and as soon as I stopped the phentermine I gained it lol back plus some. I'm at my biggest now, around 257-260 at 5'6", and my depression is getting worse. I work from home, which kind of makes isolation easier and depression worse. I just really need this. I say I need to do it on my own timeline because I can't fathom waiting yet another 6 months, only to Celebrate another birthday still fat and still hating my body, and still trying to get it back to what it used to be. This is the year I plan to focus on myself, because I've focused on others for so long that I lost myself in the process. A bad relationship wasn't helpful, either. And my daughter is an amazing, fit gymnast and I just want to be a better role model for her. I want her to love her body and take care of it, and I need to lead by example. I figured that if I wait for insurance, I'd pay no more than $3k out of pocket. I have an FSA that will cover $2550 of that. If I pay for the procedure in Mexico, I know I'd pay more but I feel like at least I have more control in the timeline. And of course, a part of me is just being impatient, wanting almost instant gratification. When I want something and have done the research, I want it now and just hate waiting. My therapist understands, but she's not too keen on me leaving the country for this either. However I always make sure I research everything I do, so if I do choose that route I will be confident in my decision.

Your doc may be right about 140 being a bit too small. I am small-boned. Even at my heaviest I had to have links taken out of my watches and bracelets to fit my wrist. I wear a size 6 or 6 1/2 shoe. My feet have always been narrow so the only good thing that came out of all my weight gain was that my foot got wider and I could pretty much wear any style I wanted. Now I'm back to narrow sizes so I am limited to shoes that buckle around the ankle, lace up or just run narrow. But if that's the only bad thing to come out of this surgery, I'm OK with that.

I was sleeved on oct 4. Ive only lost 11 lbs so far. I had gained 10 lbs during hospital stay so that was gone plus 11 lbs. I dont eat much. I get my protein in. Water is difficult to drink im trying but its hard. Why am I losing so slowly. I developped sciatica my worst episode ever and was bedridden for 8 days as walking painful. Will I be relegated to slow loserville. I had a bmi of 47 going in, and have 140 to lose. Im terrified I am failing. I try and usually eat under 800 calories. Help please im discouraged

And try not to freak out when you add calories and you see a slight weight gain. Takes your body a little while to realize its not starving. I went thru this and was so discouraged. I was stuck for 2 weeks with a 2 pound gain. I did what my NUT said and it starting coming off. We are all different and have different nutritional needs at times.

PB is shorthand for "productive burping" which is what happens when you eat more than your pouch can handle. What can't go down has to come up, which can be anywhere from mildly inconvenient to painful and prolonged. It's almost a given that every bandster will experience this at least a couple of times as we learn how truly little food makes a meal, and how to handle a new level of restriction. Even 18 months out I had a PB yesterday with some chicken soup that had stringy pieces of meat in it (and yes, that's how I know I'm too tight). Tammy, I'm no expert on the mechanics of digestion but in general food doesn't stay in the pouch all that long. It will pass through in at most a couple of hours and move on its merry way. The pouch is just a smaller part of your stomach so whatever digesting happens in the stomach will, I guess, start happening in the pouch. I've never heard of Beans expanding but if you eat anything that is prone to do that you will be very uncomfortable indeed. Someone reported a misadventure with a Fiber drink that thickens (Metamucil?) which did exactly that in the pouch. Blech. Things like bread and Pasta may not expand in your pouch but you will discover that they take up a lot of room anyway and you'll be too full to eat the real food. For example, if I take a bite of a sandwich with the bread it will take literally only two bites to fill me up. But if I eat only the insides of the sandwich I can eat maybe 3/4 of it. That's much better nutrition and gives me the Protein I need. Most bandsters wave bye-bye to most bread and pasta after a while. Before you get a fill you might not have any restriction and so none of what I've said will be true for you. (I don't know what to say about the bands being filled to 2.5 cc in surgery--I asked my doctor about that and he said it sounded unusual and even risky to him.) If you do have restriction you'll know it, and you'll be avoiding foods that make you too full too fast before long. And that's when you'll start losing weight!

Thank you everyone....I truly don't know what I would do without your support!! I feel better already since I went into the bathroom and looked in the mirror and said "wow, look how well I have done so far" (thanks, Vines). Tomorrow morning I will start my day with positive thoughts, some exercise and a pat on the back for my weight loss so far:D

It's hard when you already have so much on your plate! My husband is supportive but eats whatever he wants in front of me. He ordered pizza when I was on liquids which irritated me. He's in pretty good shape an just doesn't know what I go through struggling to loose weight. When I decided on surgery, he said "its up to you but I think it's crazy! Just stop eating so much. Eat a turkey sandwich everyday and Water and you will loose weight" first off, I am not Jarod or my face woud be all over those commercials! He may not realize how difficult your weight loss is bc he's never been in your shoes. Just be a little selfish and focus on you!

You aren't losing a stomach you are gaining a healthy lifestyle that will FORCE you to eat more reasonably.

Depends how tight they do it too - my surgeon uses a larger (36) tube but pulls very tight around it, so there's swelling and he knows it will take me several weeks to tolerate solids. I am 23 days out, and I am tolerating small amounts of soft mush, yogurts, soups. Many things like chicken, fish, egg that I've tried, although soft, got stuck then made me slime until I threw them back up and felt instantly better. I am losing weight so I am not concerned.

Your plan sounds about like what my doc had me eating at those stages. Again, it is not how much you are eating, but what. It doesn't appear like you are getting in enough Protein. I, like you, didn't get full (and still don't at 2 months), but stopped at a certain volume. Keep your volume small and stop. I am hoping at some point my "full" signal turns back on. I can eat A LOT at 2 months out. A lot more than what most people post on this board. I had a 32 bougie, so it is not stomach size that is the issue. I guess I just healed really fast. Make good choices and keep your portions small and the weight will keep falling off.

Well. Here we are. You and Me, Me and You. I bet you're wondering how you let your life come to this. How could you end up in front of the computer at this ungodly hour reading a blog about someone that you hardly know, or at least thought you knew. I'll tell you how. Fate. Fate has been a cruel mistress, that is, if I had mistresses, but also a fantastic one. My life began simply enough. I was born to a Paramedic Father, and Nurse Mother, with one older brother. I grew up normally. It wasn't until I met a certain Argentine that things began to get obscure in my life. Dating a very talented Musician with a famous mother, and successful business man as a father would be any 16 year old's dream. Put the cherry on top with summers in Spain, and learning Spanish in that 'oh so sexy' Argentine accent and you have a cocktail for adventure. Truly it was an adventure, every minute of it. Probably the best years of my life so far. Until I graduated High School and life hit me like a ton of bricks. Realistically I knew there was no future for me living in Spain. I returned home, and my estranged relationship only suffered more, until under the weight of the stress it snapped like a fine weathered thread pulled to it's limit. I felt like life was pointless, and I packed up what belongings would fit into my mid sized car and hoofed it to SoCal. Land of renewal, land of redemption, land of a whole lot of Mexicans. There I settled into a good routine. Working, School, Sleep, Working, School, Sleep. But how much could I handle at the tender age of 19? Again I felt that thread begin to age, and the stress began to pull tight until finally it relented to the pressure, and I was on a plane back home to Michigan. Even then I still hadn't forgotten my years with the Argentine, but life was still moving forward at an alarming pace. Michigan weather began to cool, and the breezes were nipping at my new California glow, and the urge to escape this place of memory and heart break swelled in me once more. A chance meeting with a certain Doctor to be set my mistress in motion once more, and before I knew what was happening I was on a plane to India. The heat of North India was fierce. But the new budding relationship of this brother of a doctor to be was keeping my head swimming in cool water. Four months passed, and it was time for me to return back to that place that I had been trying to escape for so long. Back to the land of my parents, and grandparents. Life again, sat on that sting, I watched and waited for months. Idly passing my time with months on end in a small room, hoping that things would change, that life would begin again. I wondered how long my life had been in a stand still. Three years. College was a refuge, for a short time. It wasn't until I decided that I would begin again, alone, just me, just Miss Duke, and no one else. I would depend on myself alone for pushing forward, did things really begin again. Here it is, Four years later, I'm a Paramedic Extern, and soon I will be attending a very nice University in Detroit. Wayne State. Something came out of my trials and tribulations. I traveled the world, learned three languages, learned a lot about myself, about other people. I became conscious of other people. Something many Americans never learn, never attempt at, never imagine. Now that there is some understanding of who I am, how I am, and why I am. I can begin the blog that will help fill in the missing lines, and paint with broader strokes to elaborate this short explanation of a Legend.

Hi Nicole925. I'm so glad you posted. Our journey sounds similar. I am 37 years old. I was also sleeved and had my gallbladder removed on April 8th. I feel you about the nausea after surgery. The narcotic pain meds were too strong for me. I wasn't able to walk until the next day because I couldn't wake up from the anesthesia and when I did I couldn't stand up too long because of the nausea. I ended up needing a pain patch and a nausea patch for the rest of my hospital stay (2 days). I was lucky to not have any pain other than gas pain after the 3rd day. My weight on the day of surgery was 207 but my pre-op weight was 219. I had my 6 mo (24 week) check up today and my surgeon was very pleased. I'm down a total of 63 lbs (51 lbs from SW) with 30 more to go until I reach goal. We talked about the possibility of plastic surgery because my boobs are hanging flapjacks (lol) and my tummy bears most of my weight. I'm so proud of the both of us! I wish you all the best on the test of your journey.

I have always suffered from night time hunger. I find that a nice Jarrah Hot chocolate (around 40 calories) around 8.30pm gets me through until bed time. If I'm really hungry I will have some diet jelly (jello) with Weight Watchers Fruit salad and a splash of low fat thickened cream. I find the cream really satisfies me without being too damaging. Better to have that and count the calories, then be standing longingly staring into an open fridge.

You guys are giving me hope...I seem to always loose from my arms and boobs first. I want some weight to come off my bum!

I had a port revision on Monday with 1cc in a 4cc band. My surgeon added 1cc, so now I'm half full. I could probley get .5cc more and I know she will want to add atleast that much, but I don't want to. You see, I have severe anxtiey disorder, which tightens and sometimes even closes the opening in the band for me to the point where I can't even have a little Water and I'm vommiting all the time when I'm nervous. The holiday's are comming and I know this will be really stressful for me. And if I get tightened, I'll be sick all the time, but if I don't get tightened, I might not lose any weight. I promise not to overeat and gain, but when I go back to my Doc and I haven't lost, I feel like I'm being repramanded.:cry My Doc is doing this for free because of insurance problems. I'm really shy and I know I would have a hard time saying no to some one who's been so nice to me. What should I say to her exactly? A mini script would help alot. Thanks

Hi There! I'm from California, too. I'll be having my surgery at Valley Care in Pleasanton. I'm just about a week behind you in the process...I meet with my surgeon on 9/29/08. In fact, I'm doing sort of a 'consultation blast' that day, meeting with the nurse, dietician, psych and surgeon over a 5 hour period in one day. I'm so glad that they offered an all-in-one, as those individual appointments would have really dragged out the process. If I am deemed a candidate, I'll be well on my way! My BMI is 42, no co-morbities but for joint pain associated with my extra weight, and slightly elevated cholesterol on my last lipid panel. Like you, I have Anthem BC. But boy do I have a long history of unsustainable weight loss. Been battling the bulge for over 30 years with little success. Valley Care tells me that they are pretty good about turning around approvals, so I could be banded by the end of November! I am psyched! Good luck to you!

I use fitday as well. It offers a lot of great tools. You can see graphs and progress of your nutrition, weight, exercise and add stuff if its not in their database.

I agree it's odd. During the weight loss phase I have eaten very low carb. I plan on introducing "good carbs" when I am maintaining (only 4 pounds to go!). I consider 100% whole wheat pasta a good carb.

(((Hugs))) to you! I'll say this I know where you're coming from. I am a licensed therapist/clinician who has lap band and I gained some weight back BUT I've done a complete 180 and lost more weight than when I started and have changed my body. Please inbox me and we can chat for support. I'm coming to you not as a therapist but fellow lap bander. For many of us emotional eating is difficult and as stated above, doesn't matter which WLS you can trick it and eat past it. Have to work on those broken places in your heart and mind. I was going through some personal and weight stresses and began eatin ice cream and junk food. I had to stop, because I was killing myself all over again. This thing is a lifelong journey. The falling off its te problem, what's important is that you get back up again!! Deal with the emotional eating and what's eating you first.

I understand where you are at. . . . I had my band placed in 2006 and sucessfully lost 70 pounds. In years following my husband died & then I had breast cancer which with resulted in surgery. Now I've returned to the bariatric center and my surgeon just smiled & told me I'd stretched my pouch above the band he would see me in one year. I've gained back some of the weight and am trying to mentally get on track. Next week I have an appointment with a therapist to guide me and hopefully get me on path. I like your word "mojo" because I need a push & a good shove to find my way back to the good life. I do love my band and it's placement resulted in correcting diabetes, high Blood Pressure & other health problems. I can't see where a sleeve would do anything for me. . . . . . I believe my problem is me.