~*~Rachel~*~

Your not a failure until you give up!!! Your not giving up your just getting a little help hang in there!

Oh and btw Don't feel bad there is no way I can get in 4-5 meals a day that I am supposed to with my pre op diet I can tolerate it so what meals I do eat I make count.

So my doctor says 3 months post op you may have a glass of wine. Now I am one of those people that struggle each day with there favorite stuff and even more so if it is sitting right in front of you. Now the empty calories is what is bad in this situation but it is not going to kill you it is not going to hurt your band and right now your not even in the weight loss stage your in the healing stage. Frankly I am not sure how long I will wait until I decide to have a glass of wine. I do not drink that often but I think there are worse things you could have done. Hell you could have went and got a milkshake which is a lot more calories. This is a lifestyle change not a diet in the end you are stuck with this thing for life. I worry about how normal I will feel once I am band but something will be normal for me. I may can never tolerate bread which is my favorite thing in the world. Moderation is key and I think you did really well with only having one glass Kudos to you. Now as far as the rude post Not everyone is going to agree with your decision but I got a lot of rude comments when I came here for support to quit smoking as well so I know how bad that made you feel SO sorry for that! Focus on what is good for you. Your not going to loose weight as a statistic this much this week but on how hard you work and how your body allows those efforts to work don't stress just ride the ride or at least that is what I am telling myself.

Good luck tomorrow let us know how everything went... Enjoy being reborn

My nut said that you should only eat 3 meals a day.... Gastric bypass does the 4 or 5 meals as far as I know. Look I look at it this way. You HAVE to eat to loose weight. your body will go into starvation mode and not weight loss mode. You must eat and eat healthy so your body can be healthy enough to loose weight.

I felt the exact same way. I was really embarrassed but hey I am over 200Lbs over weight Its not like they could not see it. I was scared people would think I was doing it the easy way but surprisingly once I started telling people they were encouraging. Then when they would ask questions I would tell them how hard it is and what you have to do. Well now they are holding me accountable. I would be embarrassed since I did tell people if I did not make this work for me. It is actually giving me motivation to succeeded and I have actually influenced two others at work to watch my progress they are wanting surgery and are using me as a ginny pig. I know I am on the uphill climb of this and just getting started but I have actually tried harder then I ever thought I would <just to be honest> because I am talking about it and being open. I want people to see I am working hard at this and be proud of me. If I am having a hard time or If I need to get into too much detail and so I don't talk about it 24/7 I spend A LOT of time here. This website has worked wonders for me to find people that are walking down the same path that I am. Find a buddy and make them hold you accountable. If nothing else if you don't want to tell everyone because I have to say I am lucky so far that I have some really supportive people around me But if you don't thats okay. Its not anyones business. I will say this. Come here.. be active and find a buddy on here to hold you accountable. Its worked wonders I feel confident some days and some days I don't. But being here and reading there is someone else out there that is struggling day to day just like me makes me feel normal in this world of chaos I have created.

Did not know that... Thanks that helped a lot!

My program says that I do not have to take a B12 supplement daily however a Calcium and multivitamin both twice a day. In my program booklet they put together it says B12 is needed for the sleeve and Gastric Bypass. Does anyones doctor for the Lap band suggest B12? Do you take it anyway?

I also work night shift and my shifts go 7 on 7 off 12 hour shifts so for an entire week I sleep eat and nurse. On my off week I have followed in my mothers footsteps and filling that to be social I have to feed the entire neighborhood. My husband and I are young and sociable and often have friends over and I feed them to death we eat drink grill have a ball. It has been a struggle to divide my eating with my preop diet on my night shift but I have managed pretty well I think. I have three herniated disc in my back and 2 in my neck not to mention my knees hurt and I have sciatic pain running down my lower legs. I was told have lap band or back surgery at 27 years old. Lap band here I come... I would like to blame my weight on my job but I have been over weight my entire life. I think it is in my personality. I have always been comfortable with my weight until the pain started. I never had problems thinking I was ugly or too fat. I always thought I was the pretty fat girl and happy to be the "Fat friend." I am not comfortable with the thought of being thin just because I don't know what it will be like. I pray I will learn to love myself and tend to myself as I tend to others!

My insurance provider BCBS flat out told me that they make you do the six month diet to prove you can not infact loose weight on your on. And they make the program so full of processes to prove that you are in fact dedicated to the lifestyle and are willing to do the work to get it. Good luck don't give up....

Is anyone else absolutely surprised at how many nurses are getting band? I am a critical care nurse and on here find just about 1 out of 3 people I talk to are in the medical field. Do we as a profession just live unhealthy lifestyles of tending to others and not our selves? Or is it our knowledge base of the procedure that leads us to the surgery? Just a thought in my head this morning...

Thank you all for the encouragement feeling better. Just had a weak I wanna vent moment and thanks for listening. Even if I was not having surgery it is just a bad time in my life lots going on and its hard to make a decision to go ahead at the risk of making things financially worse. But I would rather have debt then not be alive. I cried, I got a shake down. Found that if I will drink some chicken broth after it sooths the nausea. I will survive and keep the days ticking...

Today I have not slept. My mind is overwhelmed. I try to stay positive but my every thoughts and feelings has been over this decision. I am constantly fighting either hunger, nausea, or just plain irritation. This morning I went to the grocery store on my way home from work to get more salad stuff. I got my walking exercise in just by walking around trying to find something that I could eat that was low carb low calorie low fat. I think I am going to have to tattoo that on my ass. 24/7 all I manage to think about is what I am going to eat how to space out my vitamins so the calcium and iron don't fight each other. I pray this gets better. I know its crazy for this to be day 3 and I am already going insane but its also do to a lot of other personal reasons as well. I really thought I would loose it when my husband made a comment "Your starving me I don't want to eat anything because you can't." Then last night he slipped and when I told him I was hungry he said "your doing it to yourself." I wanted to find the nearest dark room and lay down and cry myself to sleep. I know he was only joking but it was either cry or scream thankfully I did not do either. I am not unhappy over the dieting that fine with me I LOVE salads and veggies and things like that but the grainy sweet protein mixes are awful. It's the constant worrying and wondering if I am doing this right or if I am making the right decision. Like I said my brain is lap band... Lap Band.... LAP BAND... 24/7. But then again I guess it should be. This is about me is it not? This is one of the most important decision or optional thing I have done. I should be focused as I am and making this the importance in my life right now. It is just frustrating. It's not just the preop diet this has been my focus for the past year of my life and now that it is so close to time I am just having some emotional moments. I just don't think anyone understands how emotional this process is unless they have been there. LBT has become my resource, my best friend, my comforter. I come here to vent, learn, and yes cry. I don't want to tell anyone else how hard this is because they all look at it as this is "your choice" type thing. So I smile and continue to be positive and run to my nearest computer and bury myself in forum after forum seeking confidence and reassurance from complete and total strangers that have become my best friends in this process. Thank you to those I do keep in contact with in message after message venting my feelings and listening to yours. After all these years and never thinking about myself and always tending to others it is hard and overwhelming to constantly think about yourself. I feel guilty. I feel like I am being selfish and neglecting others. I feel as if I am standing in a crowded room screaming my head off and no one even looks up. Am I alone in being this emotional? Maybe it is just the lack of sleep... maybe it is the thousands of other problems going on right now. Maybe I just need to take a deep breath and keep reminding myself why I am doing this. I will not let this defeat nor define me.

well I could only get about half the tomato soup down so I came home and made turkey sausage and a egg felt so good to have something on my stomach... I think I am just going to have to have a balance of one of the bars they are good pudding salad and protein. keep everything low carb but the carbs on the bars and shakes and stuff they want me to drink are far more calories and carbs then i would make out of a meal i would enjoy..

Okay so I need some questions answered... Was anyone given an exact amount of Carbs to ingest as far as the pre op diet. Like do not go over this amount of carbs, fat, calories? And what is the difference between Soy Protein and regular protein my Meal Replacements measure them separately... is protein protein? And lastly what is the difference in Carbs and Digestible carbs that are available to break down into glucose? This is the nutrition label on my Tomato Soup Meal Replacement that was given to me as part of my pre op diet ...when you click on the available cho listing it pops up a window that says.... Digestible carbs that provide glucose... Anyone wanna take a stab at answering this for me? NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION<br class="Apple-interchange-newline">Calories 200Protein 27gSoy Protein 8gTotal CHO 10gFiber <1gAvail CHO 0gFat 6gSat. Fat 0.5gTrans Fat 0gCholesterol 0mgSodium 750mgPotassium 850mgAspartame 0mgCalcium 35%CLA 0mg

Okay so after my all night nausea and very unpleasant waking up running to the bathroom today. I choose a different route. Now granted I not recommend anyone else do this I am taking my risk but I am still following concept. I tried the hot cocoa meal replacement when I woke up today and after blending stirring shaking for over an hour and the thing would still not dissolve and was resolved to stay in chunks I chunked it. So I knew I was in trouble. I was already at work so grabbing a different meal replacement was not an option and besides I am having a hard time doing four a day. Seems like I am constantly eating and constantly nauseated. Practicing getting enough water and spacing out my vitamins so after my surgery I will be ready. But I had a plan. I know a healthy weight loss needs 1000cal a day and so was the plan with my pre op diet that my nut had set out. I also knew my goal was decreased carbs low fat and high protein for a liver reduction diet. I am following as close to these guide lines as I can. So here is what I have done so far. 3- cups coffee - 40 cals 1- cup chicken broth- about 20 cals <1 carb 1- sugar free popsicle- 40 cals 4 carbs 1- peanut bar robard meal replacement- Cals-160 Protein-15 Carbs-18 1- Grilled Chicken salad with wishbone salad spritzer- Cals- 250 Protein- 40 Carbs- 8 1- Tomato soup robard meal replacement- Cals-200 Protein-35g Carbs- 10g 1- sugar free Jello- Cal- 10 Total Calories= 720 maybe 800 with my crystal lights Total Carbs- 41 maybe 45 Total Protein- 130 So I have about 200 cals to have maybe a scrambled egg or another bar meal replacement when I get home. I hope I will not be messing up on my pre op diet I know It should be followed to a T but all the sugary stuff is just not going to go over with me. Tried to get a hold of my nut today but she was gone for the weekend and monday is a holiday so I guess I will have to pray I am still okay and shrinking my liver... I am obsessively keeping track and recording so as not to cheat myself. So here is to praying...

The band is not a quick fix and it is not automatic weightloss machine You must diet... You must make good decisions.... Yes you have to be careful... Yes you can cause some damage.... Yes you can slip... I would start researching the band you already have to get to know it better and I would do it quickly...

This site is totally my new facebook. I have been trying not to talk my friends family and co workers head off about the lap band so I just come here. I check it right before I go to work before I go to sleep I am at work right now and on here. Soooooo Hi My name is Rachel and I am a LBT addict...

Jan 25th 10 more dang days!!!!!! lol we can do it!!!

I am suffering right along with you. All these protein shakes are so sweet and on a empty stomach its just not settling well.. I was nauseated all night last night plus big headache today woke up with stomach cramping. never been lactose intolerant at all I think its just these shakes

My diet is basically that. Meal replacements 4 x day and then one healthy protein <lean meat baked chicken sirloin > a day. but I have been having such a hard time getting in four of those meal replacements because they taste too sweet. So I have <and not advising this> tried to get in 3 at least and one low carb low calorie low fat something or another. like tonight when my hot cocoa meal replacement would not dissolve and i was gagging trying to chew it I strained a can of chicken noodle soup and drank the broth. worked for the moment until it was time for my next snack. I hope its okay to do but if I am allowed jello and Popsicles and a meal of my choosing to be low carb low fat low calorie then I will do the best I can. I just pray that there is not a scientific reasoning. I am actually cutting my carbs and calories down a lot doing it. So here is to hoping...

I know exactly how you feel. those drinks make your stomach hurt if there is nothing on it. I keep reminding myself this is hard but its only for a short time and the benefit out ways the discomfort. Tried drinking one of my hot chocolate meal replacements tonight gagged for about thirty mins. thats the first one ive tried of these that I do not like. It would not dissolve no matter what I did. So I guess I will be a little bit more hungry since I am at work and can't get a different selection but I will survive...

My meals are much the same I do new direction meal replacements four times a day then a green salad and a protein like baked chicken or something lean. I hope it gets better its really messing with my stomach. The products are good just too much sweet as I've said... maybe it will get better its only day two so I will wait to start whining too much.

Thank God I was not the only one really felt stupid lol

okay okay I know what your thinking I just discovered what it feels like to be hungry... lol no my pre op diet has a lot of sweet meal replacements bars shakes pudding all this sweet on a empty stomach is not settling well. Any suggestions?