Realize Band

[JudyAnticola 2]

They do not do the Realize band in Buffalo yet. I think it will begin in June. The efficacy is supposed to be the same, but who knows. I am glad to hear that it is being used in the US.

[dancinglamb 0]

Hi-

I got the Realize band this past Monday. I've not looked at their site yet (I have to register - husband has the damn card in his wallet from when the surgeon gave it to him in recovery...), but have you guys looked at thedailyplate.com.

I started using it when I was on the pre-op diet and got pretty hooked on it. You can even enter in recipes and it will break down for you what the nutritional counts are. On top of that they have stuff from Trader Joes, Whole Foods, and um, Cold Stone Creamery (not that I, uh, would know about that) in their database. You can also log your exercise and weight goals, tracking, etc.

My surgeon told me that my first fill will be 4w from the surgery date. Now I'm kind of worried after reading your posts that the first fill doesn't work well. Crap. I'm hungry already!

-m

[NukeChik 1]

The Realize My Success website is really good for your progress as far as measurements and weights. You can also link to your doctor so they can review your inputs, track your fill appts and fill volume, etc. You will have to get a special number from the doctor for your registration. It can be used only once so you can't use anyone elses. The realize site has a terrible food diary input IMO. I have emailed them feedback and they did assure me that they are "beefing" it up. I haven't seen any changes yet.

As far as restriction, you need to get ready to be patient. In my experience and others that I have read, it might take a while to feel any restriction. I do have some now, but I am not where I should be yet. I have banded for almost 4 months.

[JudyAnticola 2]

You have lost almost ten pounds a month though, that is really fantastic! Since use of the Realize band in new in the US it may take a while to figure out where you should be but I think you are doing great and I hope that you feel great!! Take care.

[dancinglamb 0]

Thanks, Nikki.

I see him on Thursday for my first post-op visit. I'll be interested to see what he says.

I emailed him yesterday and told him I've been hungrier than I anticipated and he said I could lean more toward the 10 of the 10-14 days post-op for mushies.

I had watery *oatmeal* this morning!!!! Woo hooo! (OK, I know I am a dork, but it was nom nom NOM!!!!!) :huh2:

-m

[dancinglamb 0]

Did you guys have a hard time getting your surgeon's Realize ID number so you could log into the the Realize site?

I have the little card with my ID number, and the actual band serial number, but since I'm only the second person he's put it in, I have a feeling I'll be chasing my tail on this.

-m

[NukeChik 1]

Thanks Judy, I've really been working on watching my calories and working out. I'm a snacker, so I have a day to day battle with that dragon!

Dancing,

You will probably have to call the actual Realize number. I think it is on the card they give you for your patient information. The representative cannot give you the surgeon's number, they can only contact the surgeon in reference to you. So here's my advice:

When you go to the surgeon ask about the surgeon id code. Its not the same as the number on your registration card (I think that is a 16 digit code, you will need a SEPARATE 12 digit code). If they give you that deer in the headlights look, then when you get home call the REalize folks and tell them what you need. In my experience they work with the surgeon's office to get them up to speed. It might take a week or so, but your surgeon should have a packet of stuff for you, the registration code will be in that. As I said before, its a one time only use number. Keep your little wallet size card they gave you after you got out of surgery, you will need that number too.

Hope that helps!!

Oh and about the oatmeal, it has not been long enough for me to forget just how good eating some soft foods was. The bad thing was I had it relatively easy (I didn't have to go on a pre-op diet). I did one week of Clear liquids, then 1 week of full liquids, then mushies. My first num, num, num meal was loaded potato Soup from O'Charleys. I just ate the liquid, none of the potato chunks or bacon. It was absolutely heavenly. Oh and I woke up from surgery hungry! I didn't have any of that "I have to force myself to eat" stuff goin on!!

[dancinglamb 0]

Thanks for the info on the registration. I happened to glance at the calendar tonight. Good thing, since my appt with the surgeon is Tuesday morning and not Thursday as I thought. D'oh!

How did you not eat bacon?!!!! I tell you, it's my favourite food group.

I woke up hungry, as well. I went into this thing thinking that it would ameliorate all these food thoughts that seem to preoccupy about 90% of my thoughts. Instead, it's now kicked it up to ohhhh, say, 98.85%. I seriously think about food damn near constantly. When I can have it next, what I can't have, what I really want to have, how I can figure out how to get what I want, what I can settle for. It's pretty pathetic.

I can 'officially' start mushies on Wednesday, though I've been kind of nibbling today. I had some of those Keebler Club chedder crackers today and one of them didn't sit too well. I got scared on that front and backed off. I had one of those Campbell chicken and Stars Soups in the cup you microwave. Holy CRAP that was good. I haven't had it since I was little. I was expecting it to suck and got a very pleasant surprise in exchange. The warmth of it also helped whatever the cracker was doing down there. Dunno <shrug>

hugs

-m</shrug>

[massa36 2]

Thanks for the great feedback on how the Realize band is working for u! I am looking forward to getting this band! Please keep the info coming!

[NukeChik 1]

I was the same way as you in the beginning. I think it was the limits that were set. You know not being able to eat anything you want... I was proud of myself for the self control that I had, I guess it was because I was scared stiff of doing anything off the books! I've gotten over that constant food daydreaming quite well. I'm no longer focused on food. I do still snack every now and again, but I usually just eat when I'm hungry. While I can't eat much with a meal, I'm not at a level of restriction yet that sustains me. I will get hungry about 3 hours after I eat. I'm not constantly searching out food anymore. And I won't just eat anything because its there, it has to be good stuff. This is a total 180 from what I used to be.

I just got a body bugg. I would encourage you to look at the thread on that and the website. Everytime I go to my surgeons office they put me on one of those scales where you have to take your shoes and socks off, I think its called a Tanita scale, anywhoo, they give me a long printoff of things like body fat %, muscle mass, and Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR). My BMR when I get on the scale is 1920 cal, thats how many calories that my body burns in a day, with no extra activity. Well, the body bugg is this thing that you wear on your upper left arm and it reads your caloric output. I actually burn about 2400 calories in a normal day. So basically the science of it is if I eat 1000 calories a day and burn 2400 calories a day then my caloric deficit is 1400 calories. Since it takes 3500 calories to lose a pound, I will loose a little over a pound every 3 days. If you ever watch the biggest loser, they wear them. Now minded I'm still in the honeymoon stage, I've only had this thing for about 4 days, but so far I love it and have already lost a couple pounds.

[dancinglamb 0]

I just got a body bugg. I would encourage you to look at the thread on that and the website. Everytime I go to my surgeons office they put me on one of those scales where you have to take your shoes and socks off, I think its called a Tanita scale, anywhoo, they give me a long printoff of things like body fat %, muscle mass, and Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR). My BMR when I get on the scale is 1920 cal, thats how many calories that my body burns in a day, with no extra activity. Well, the body bugg is this thing that you wear on your upper left arm and it reads your caloric output. I actually burn about 2400 calories in a normal day. So basically the science of it is if I eat 1000 calories a day and burn 2400 calories a day then my caloric deficit is 1400 calories. Since it takes 3500 calories to lose a pound, I will loose a little over a pound every 3 days. If you ever watch the biggest loser, they wear them. Now minded I'm still in the honeymoon stage, I've only had this thing for about 4 days, but so far I love it and have already lost a couple pounds.

I haven't seen the thread, but I have looked at the website. It seems the software isn't supported by Mac OS. WTF?! Only one of our computers will support the new Windows XP, and we would need to get Windows as well. Either way, it would be an almost $800+ investment when all is said and done.

Cool toy, though!

-m

[Woodsy 0]

My Doc said they had to go to a training session to get the number. One of the nurses was sent to the training where she received the number and then passed all the info on to me. The surgeon had no idea what I was talking about when I initially confronted him about it but the nurse new what i wanted.

The realize site has been updated, you can now enter your own recipes and the food list is longer. This makes it so much easir to track what your eating.

[NukeChik 1]

Thanks for the info on the website update woodsy. I haven't been on the Realize site since I got this BodyBugg. I do all my journaling there.

[Woodsy 0]

Which bodybugg did you get? $399, it was more expensive than I expected.

[NukeChik 1]

Mine was 349 from 24 hour fitness. That is for the band itself and the digital readout. You don't have to buy the digital readout, but I think it helps alot (249 for the band itself). I can glance at my wrist (I wear it as a watch) and see how many calories I've burned. For instance today is my first day at work wearing it and I've taken the stairs all day... It just motivates me to move more and eat less. You can get them on ebay, I just didn't want to take a chance... I saw it as a good investment since I paid 14K for my surgery, but thats just me.