Alex Brecher

A selling point for the adjustable gastric band is…it’s adjustable. Changing the fill level changes the amount of restriction you feel. This is supposed to let each individual find the right amount of restriction for him or her to lose weight safely and comfortably. It’s also supposed to let people adjust for life events, such as loosening the band for pregnancy, when you get the stomach flu or something else that is making you vomit a lot, or for traveling. I’m wondering how often you actually take advantage of the adjustability of the lap-band. Since your initial fill and maybe a few adjustments in the first few months after getting the band, have you gotten it adjusted much? For which reasons? Is there anything holding you back from getting it adjusted more often? Which stage of your weight loss surgery journey are you in? Also, I have another question. Do you plan to keep your band filled when you get to goal weight (or do you have it filled still, if you’re at maintenance)? If you’re going to get it unfilled, when? When you hit goal? Before? After?

We all have goals. They’re what keep us going, whether we’re talking about weight loss, family life, or work and business. When talking about goals related to your weight loss journey, how do you set yours? Do you set them based on pounds lost? Do you include a time goal (for example, 20 lbs. lost in the next 3 months)? Or maybe you also have goals for body measurements and clothing sizes? There are plenty of other types of goals to set that are only indirectly related to weight loss. They might be activity-related goals, such as being able to complete a 5k next month, or being able to surf with your family on vacation. Or maybe you go for behavior goals, such as eating right for today or this week, or working out four of the next six days. So, how do you set your goals? What kinds of goals do you set?

nprcowboy, I am so sorry to hear the news. I am thinking of you and your wife.

Sajijoma, Congrats on passing despite your psych’s best efforts to confuse everyone! So what are the next steps in your weight loss surgery journey? How exciting!

Wow, we have quite a few healthcare and other helping professionals here! I never was…I’m coming from the tech and business end of things. I like to think I’m currently in a “helping” profession now as I manage BariatricPal.

Eating before it’s time can be a big mistake. It’s not just about possibly feeling a little sick now. It’s about possibly having long-term consequences. Your sleeve is still healing from surgery. Eating something you shouldn’t could make the surgery wound more serious and cause a leak – not to scare you, just to explain why the “rules” are there! Like the others said, try to consider whether it’s head hunger. Even if it’s not head hunger, it may be something you need to get used to. The sleeve doesn’t always eliminate all extra hunger – so you may need to get used to the feeling of some hunger as you lose weight. Also, if you can get in that extra Protein, it can help. It's tough to get those shakes down, but maybe you can try different types/flavors and drink them really slowly. I hope the hunger goes away soon and the pureed foods diet treats you well! Keep us posted. Good luck!

Elode, you have had so many great moments recently, and you deserve them all! Congratulations on your most recent NSVs! It’s great that you’re getting the rewards you deserve from your hard work after surgery. It’s also neat that other people are noticing – that makes it so much sweeter!

I don’t get on the scale much when things are going well – when I know I’m maintaining my weight, I’m working out, my clothes fit, and I’m eating well. When things aren’t going as well, and I can tell the pounds are creeping back on, I’ll get more serious and weigh in every few days to hold myself more accountable. I think the most common advice is to have an “official” weigh-in day once a week. You can weigh yourself on the days in between the weigh-in day, but only if you don’t take these measurements too seriously. As to whether weighing yourself every day is bad or good: it’s only bad if you let it be bad. There’s no question that some days (and maybe multiple days in a row) the scale will not go down, and it may go up. If you let that get you down, then you’re setting yourself up for being discouraged and maybe for giving up on your hard efforts. But you can let weighing yourself every day be a good thing if you use it for information about your body, like how it reacts after a high salt day. I have a friend who weighs herself more than once a day because she likes to know what her body is doing. For example, she’ll weigh herself before and after working out so she knows how much she sweated so she can be sure to replace the lost liquids by drinking enough fluids.

Good luck to everyone! Keep us posted on everything!

I told everyone, more or less. I made a point to tell important people in my life, like my parents, but didn’t go around wearing a sign on my forehead that said “I’m getting the lap-band!” I was honest about it. If it came up in conversation and it made sense to tell, I’d tell. Now, I do make it a point to tell a lot of people, but that’s because I’m an advocate for it, such as through BariatricPal. I believe my telling can help out other possible and current WLS patients. McButterpants has it exactly right when he says it’s such a personal choice. It’s all about what YOU feel comfortable with, and how YOUR own relationships are. You get to decide whom to tell, when to tell them, and what to tell them. By the way, at the same time, if you’re telling them, you might as well let them know how they can support you, too! It’s a great opportunity to get the conversation going about how you need to change your eating habits and how that might affect them and how they can help, and you can let them know it’s going to be a challenging journey and you may need a little extra empathy from them.

Were you required to pay anything? How many months supply did you receive and what exactly did you receive? It's not What were you approved for?

If you go the Dexilant route you can save some decent money here.

I've been on Dexilant, but you'll most likely have a more difficult getting that. You can follow your insurance company drug exceptions process and get your doc to request they make an exception for you. I did that with my Dexilant even though my insurance normally doesn't cover it.

There are thousands of members that have successfully received products from Insure Nutrition over the last few years, without paying one cent. I've heard many untrue rumors from friends of friends, on here and on FaceBook. I was under the impression that members aren't responsible for anything Insure doesn't recover from insurance. Please have your friend reach out to me. I'd like to figure out what's really going on.

Please send her my best!! Good luck with your surgery. Please keep us updated on your progress!!!

Sorry about the confusion! It's been renamed to the Maintenance Forums located at http://www.bariatricpal.com/forum/1190-maintenance-forums-new/ .

Um, yeah, it's a problem. Sorry! It's a picture of bypass. Ugh, sorry. The sleeve looks like this. https://images.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search;_ylt=A86.JydYV9JV6iEASUUnnIlQ;_ylu=X3oDMTByNWU4cGh1BGNvbG8DZ3ExBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzYw--?p=Gastric+Sleeve&fr=yhs-mozilla-001&hspart=mozilla&hsimp=yhs-001

You may think of weight loss surgery as a bit of a trade-off: you get to lose weight, improve your health, and enjoy more activities. In exchange, you need to be careful with your diet. But don’t mistake “caution” for “deprivation.” You can still eat at restaurants after weight loss surgery. Before weight loss surgery, a night out with friends or family may have meant thousands of calories and way too much fat and carbs. If you’re started to look some of the numbers up, you know those old patterns are history for you. You can’t afford the fried appetizers, the chips and dip, the plates of pasta, the burgers and fries, or the hot fudge sundaes anymore. But so what? You’d be hard-pressed to find a restaurant that doesn’t offer a meal that you can eat. Some restaurants are a little tougher than others, and you may need to use a little restraint, but weight loss surgery definitely doesn’t mean the end of your social life and fun times. Do Your Homework Beforehand It’s always wise to do your homework beforehand when you can. If you know ahead of time you’ll be going out to eat, check the menu online. When you check the menu at home, you’re in a relaxed environment instead of the high-pressure situation of being in the restaurant with your friends waiting for you to order. Many restaurants even have nutrition information available so you can figure out exactly what to ask for. If possible, know what you are going to order before you enter the restaurant. That way, you don’t even need to look at the menu, so the off-limits options don’t tempt you. Ordering from the Menu – Or Not! It’s not the end of the world if you need to take a look at the menu, though. Just change your attitude a little compared to the way you looked at menus before Weight loss surgery. Instead of looking for what sounds delicious, look for what sounds healthy. That’s lean protein and vegetables. In general, look for proteins such as turkey burger, grilled chicken breast, and fish or seafood. Have them on a green salad or ask for vegetables on the side, and you’re good to go! If you don’t see what you need listed in the entrees, see if there’s a menu section dedicated to low-carb or low-calorie items, and also check out the appetizers and salads – shrimp cocktail and salad with tofu are perfect examples of high-protein, low-calorie possibilities. When you order, ask your server to leave the troublemakers off your plate, or at least serve them on the side. That includes creamy sauces, salad dressings, bread, pasta, potatoes, and rice. You can also ask for smaller portions of everything (except vegetables). Don’t panic if you don’t see an entrée that meets your needs. The restaurant certainly has ingredients in the kitchen that are on your diet! Describe your diet to your server, and make suggestions. For example, you can ask your server if it might be possible for you to get a green salad with beans, tuna, or chicken, cottage cheese with fruit, egg whites made with vegetables and ham, or a veggie burger or ground turkey patty with a lettuce wrap. Otherwise, ask if your server will just bring you one or more of the following staples for your meal. Hard-boiled eggs Cottage cheese Chicken breast A green salad Slices of ham, turkey, or chicken breast Fresh fruit Raw or steamed vegetables When your meal comes, pause for a second. Push any suspect ingredients over to the side of your plate – like an extra pat of butter, or the garlic bread you know you don’t need. Then ask your server for a doggy bag and pack up the portion you know you shouldn’t eat. Finally, enjoy your food! Enjoy Yourself and Half the Meal Why are you at the restaurant? Sure, part of it is for the food. But really, why are you there? It’s for the occasion, maybe to catch up with friends, relax with family, or celebrate a birthday or anniversary. That has nothing to do with food, and nothing to do with Weight loss surgery. So enjoy it 100%. You can probably enjoy the occasion even more without focusing on a big plate of nachos in front of you! During the meal, eat slowly, savor each bite, and be part of the conversation. The more you talk, the less you can eat. When you’re finished, make it clear. Put your napkin on your plate and push your plate away. You can even announce that you’re finished so you’re too self-conscious to start eating again. So life goes on after weight loss surgery goes on, and you don’t need to hide from your old social life. You can be just as excited about going out to eat as everyone else. Just let your fun depend on the people you’re with and don’t even worry about the junk food you’re not eating. Weight loss surgery is about getting your life back, and part of life is hanging out with the people you love.

The weight loss surgery journey is all about chasing and achieving goals for weight loss, healthy eating, new activities, and tons of other NSVs at every stage of the journey. When you set new goals, do you share them with other people? With whom? And do you update them on your progress so you can get support? Or do you prefer to keep your goals personal until you hit them so you can focus on the goal?

Okay, so we all probably started off with a similar WLS diet post-op. It started with the liquid diet, then moved to pureed foods, semi-soft foods, and solid foods. The focus in each phase was on Protein, plus getting fluids and making healthy choices like eating veggies and choosing whole instead of refined grains. But there’s plenty of room to customize a diet beyond eggs for Breakfast, tuna for lunch, and chicken for dinner. Plus, I know a lot of WLS patients turn to (or stay on) vegetarian, vegan, Paleo, or other special diets. Do you follow a special diet beyond the high-protein, low-calorie WLS diet? Do you go low-carb, or gluten-free, or organic, or anything else in particular? Which foods do you make sure to eat or avoid, and why? And are there any special considerations in your diet or tips you have? For example, how do you get enough protein if you follow a vegan diet? Bonus points for sharing fun recipes!

Thanks for the answers. Yes, I think a nutritionist follow-up would be an important one to guide you through each post-op stage (after the pre-op, of course!) and also, as Daisee68 pointed out, to hold you accountable. The psych availability, support groups and other support system components would be good, too. I like the idea of body contouring surgery, but is that possible – do all WLS patients lose weight in the same places and have the same leftover surgery? But I love that idea – it definitely adds to the motivation to lose weight so you can get the body contouring surgery that you already paid for!

Thanks for your answers! I guess there are a few different groups! There are those who thought they knew and realized they didn’t. There are those who knew, but chose to ignore what was healthiest! And for all of us, there’s more to learn!

Thanks for the information and explanation of lactose intolerance and how it works. It may also be worth noting that a super important consequence of eating less dairy is the lack of calcium intake. Milk, yogurt, cheese, and cottage cheese contain calcium, which is very important for bone health. All weight loss surgery patients need to be on top of their calcium intake, and you need to be even more careful to get in your supplements if you’re skipping the dairy products due to lactose intolerance.

Good question, limichelle34. My final straw was that I couldn’t stand it anymore, and I had a way out. I couldn’t stand being overweight, and struggling with food, and facing the rest of my life being unhappy and overweight. I was in my 20s. My way out was the lap-band, when I learned that my friend got it and it worked for him. That was it!

Yes, there is such an unfortunate link between poverty and obesity. This is a very extreme example! JamieLogical, you asked why there’s so much junk: probably because it’s basically cheaper and easier than healthier foods. The processed (and usually unhealthy) food is definitely way easier on a food pantry – they can stock up on Little Debbie’s snack cakes when people bring them without worrying about matching up the timing of supply (donations) and demand (distribution to the needy). And that stuff is pretty cheap…is a box of snack cakes still under $2? And unfortunately, healthier options are often more expensive – usually whole grain foods are more expensive than refined (like white bread). I have to say, though, I am surprised there aren’t ALSO healthy options in addition to all that sugar! When I packed bags in a food pantry, we also gave out (in addition to Cereal and pasta) tuna and Peanut Butter and canned vegetables. Oh, now I see you got veggies and PB. Well, that is definitely quite a haul! Elode – THANK YOU for donating fruits and vegetables! That’s wonderful.