Just Started The Journey - Am Really Excited

[pgkpjs 113]

I got banded on August 16th 2012. Its been just over a week since I got banded and I am looking forward to loosing the weight.

Pre-surgery

I will tell you that the first 3 days of the pre-surgery diet were hard and I was cranky as hell. Had to tell my wife to just let me be as the diet was really hard to get used to

If the pre-surgery diet was hard, the day before surgery with Zero calorie liquids was torture but I bore through it.

Over all though the pre-surgery diet was very good for me, I lost 18 lbs on it and it has got me motivated and was the perfect platform for me. My surgeon Dr. Braverman did tell me that my liver was not much larger than normal at time of surgery and looked good overall. It was very large when they did the ultrasound about 6 weeks before surgery.

Post-Surgery

I have been slowly adjusting to liquids and a little bit of soft foods. I did have a couple of cases where I tried soft foods too early and that did not sit well at all. I have lost another 2 pounds in the last 10 days and hope to start loosing more as I can get into predictable foods as well as exercising.

[Jim1967 3,569]

Congratulations!! Welcome to the band club. Sounds like you are off and running. Remember you might run into some time when the weight is not coming off. Try not to get frustrated. This first month is all about healing and giving your body time to adjust to the new foreign object inside of you. I lost a bit of weight the first week then I was stuck for like three weeks with no loss. I got frustrated. Hopefully, this will not happen to you. We are all different and react different. I just thought it was worth sharing in case you run into something similar. :-)

Best of luck on your journey!!

[DELETE THIS ACCOUNT! 12,703]

Welcome and congratulations

[pgkpjs 113]

Great advice, thanks. In fact right on time, I weighed myself this morning and it was same as my Weight on Friday morning. I was a little disappointed but what you said resonated with me. I will focus on healing and start exercising first and as my healing stabilizes and I am back on solids, I will focus on the calories.

[Jim1967 3,569]

Glad I could help. I found it to be a bit of a bumpy road in the beginning mentally. Even though I did months of research and such I still somehow had that expectation I would wake up from surgery and the weight would start falling off. It didn't happen and I got frustrated.

I still have issues with the scale. I weigh myself way to often and that leads to frustration and annoyance.

[DELETE THIS ACCOUNT! 12,703]

Jim I do too. I tell others to only weigh themselves once a week to save themselves the anxiety of the scale- because I know that's the smart thing to do. Ya think I can follow my own advice? Nooooo lol. I'm hopping on that dang scale morning and night both some days. It's like some weird addiction.

[♕ajtexas♕ 3,771]

Jim I do too. I tell others to only weigh themselves once a week to save themselves the anxiety of the scale- because I know that's the smart thing to do. Ya think I can follow my own advice? Nooooo lol. I'm hopping on that dang scale morning and night both some days. It's like some weird addiction.

The scale is an addiction! I keep thinking, ok I'll weigh myself once a week......I still get on it once a day, sometimes twice. lol

[Jim1967 3,569]

Another weird thing I noticed as well is I always seem to lose weight right after a fill and then the next two weeks I fluctuate back in forth. I am really wondering if my restriction is not where it needs to be. I am a little concerned though because my band is only 11cc and I have 8 in there already.

[DELETE THIS ACCOUNT! 12,703]

Another weird thing I noticed as well is I always seem to lose weight right after a fill and then the next two weeks I fluctuate back in forth. I am really wondering if my restriction is not where it needs to be. I am a little concerned though because my band is only 11cc and I have 8 in there already.

I always lose a lot after a fill, too. I'm not sure why that is, because my eating habits don't change, so you wouldn't think a fill would make a difference. Yet, it does.

What makes you question your restriction? Are you able to go about 4 hours after eating a cup of food without hunger?

[Jim1967 3,569]

I guess I am questioning my restriction because I don't know what else it could be. My Nutritionist has been happy with the food journals so far so my eating habits are OK and I am making good choices.

As for the one cup of food it would not sustain me for 4 hours. I am tighter in the morning so perhaps yes a cup would sustain me for the first 4 hours in the morning.

At dinner time I can eat 4oz of Protein, 1/2 cup of a veggie and maybe a 1/4 cup of a carb (potato or rice). I always eat the carb last and most times I cannot finish that. That will easily carry me 4 to 5 hours. To me that is a bit much food to take don't you think? I'm not eating until I am stuffed so I'm not eating around the band.

[DELETE THIS ACCOUNT! 12,703]

I guess I am questioning my restriction because I don't know what else it could be. My Nutritionist has been happy with the food journals so far so my eating habits are OK and I am making good choices.

As for the one cup of food it would not sustain me for 4 hours. I am tighter in the morning so perhaps yes a cup would sustain me for the first 4 hours in the morning.

At dinner time I can eat 4oz of Protein, 1/2 cup of a veggie and maybe a 1/4 cup of a carb (potato or rice). I always eat the carb last and most times I cannot finish that. That will easily carry me 4 to 5 hours. To me that is a bit much food to take don't you think? I'm not eating until I am stuffed so I'm not eating around the band.

dinner is a little bit much not by a lot. Maybe a 1/4 cup at most. And if your nutritionist is ok with what you're eating I would think that little bit more should be ok. I mean, heck, you've lost a TON of weight really fast. You're obviously doing something very right!

I can understand why you're questioning another fill, though. If I were in your shoes and did get another fill, it would be a VERY small one. Like .2 at the very most. You already have such good restriction, I'd be afraid of over-shooting it into the Red Zone if you got a bigger fill.

[Jim1967 3,569]

Thanks Missy. I am due to go back to the Clinic on Sept 4th. I'll bring them all my journals and reiterate my opinion and let them weigh in on it (see what I did there ) Maybe my expectations and lack of patience is what's bring me down. Doesn't help that I step on the scale so much. As for the fills you're right I don't want to have bigger problems by lack of patience and over-filling. At the same time I am nervous that I have very little room left on this band for adjustments.