Cazzy

U need to speak to your doctor before you start piling in masses of protein, your body can only absorb so much in one meal and if i remember a post by Alex the number was around 25 grms, greek yoghurt is fine if u get the unsweetened, very few carbs in that one, add some mashed up raspberries or some mashed fruit to it and add some skimmed milk, make your own protein drinks.

There is no way at 1300 calories you are any where near 'starvation mode' that is where the body starts using muscle to maintain its nutrients and given that we are all over weight we just dont get anywhere near that unless u are burning over 1300 calories a day too... If you arent losing at 1300 then u need to reduce it, following pre-set guidelines and rules works for some but not all, i would put on weight if i followed my RMR of 1750 so i dont .. you need to become your own expert about you, know what foods u can eat and cant, you didnt mention exercise, for many its essential to burn off some calories otherwise the scales remain static. so get moving eat a few less carbs and sugar and try that, make sure u try to do 1200 a day for a few days then reduce again to 1100 if necessary. I have eaten 1000 calories and burned at least 500 every day for over a year now and look how much weight i have managed to lose... foreget being and 'average' and start finding out what u have to do for yourself

Its understandable that this can happen given your circumstances, but isnt caring about others too much what put the weight on in the first place ? you have to become quite self centered when u have a band otherwise it just wont work. Having the band means looking out for you first making decisions about what is right for you. Unless you ate pure fat and carbs while grandma was with you you should be ok, the pre-op diet is about shrinking the liver, some people have managed to cheat a little and it not affect things, but if u are really concerned u need to speak to the doctor, or just keep quiet and fingers crossed Next time tho remember its you and your food decisions before anyone else however old they are !

The few weeks after banding is about healing that is why you need to adhere to what the diet is you have been told to follow. The stomach cannot heal if it has to cope with eating solid food too early. If you dont follow the rules you risk all that you have been through for a moment of pleasure.. is it really worth it ? the simple way to get through this time is to not have such foods in the house .. unless you have enough willpower to ignore the junk food then remove the temptation. Many people dont feel restriction till their 3rd or 4th fill u may have some time to go yet to start really feeling the band so u need to work out some strategies for getting through this time till then so you dont end up putting on a lot of weight ... you should discuss with your doctor the way you are feeling and any deviation from the rules he/she gave you ...

Salad isnt mushies so i wouldnt eat that to be honest... A small amount of mash with some fish mashed into it is good, also u can pure more cans of soup with veg in etc so that they become puree, check out the food and nutrition part of the forum here it has many food ideas for all stages of diet

Good luck to you both

have u had any fills in your band yet ? if u need to yake pills for your appetite it sounds like u only just got banded or need another fill. Please call your surgeon and discuss this with them ..

I found a heat pad the solution for me

As one of the more 'heavier' members of this forum i can honestly say that the band was the best choice i made because i was a 100% committed to making it work. There is no WLS that you can have that u do not have to adjust your eating habits for. To me the band was the least intrusive of the choices, but also carried the .. requires extra work tag too. The term diet is not about weight loss its about nutrition, it simply means a certain list of foods that one can and cannot eat, are we on a diet .. the answer is yes, are we on a slimming diet i would say no.. i am on a healthy eating diet .. The band allows me to reduce my portion sizes, not feel so hungry all the time and it helps me keep that in check. I can eat bread, not the soft doughy white bread, but wholemeal crust bread goes down fine, i make my own fruit loaf each week, i have a slice daily, made with wholemeal. I can still eat a small steak cut up really thin, there isnt much i cant eat if u know how to use a sharp knife. I choose not to eat all the junk food available as its just not healthy and that is my baseline .. If i want to put junk in me i will make my own junk food and not have someone else cook it for me

Lulu going to the seminar will probably answer nearly all the questions u asked and be more relevant as the answers will be more specific to where you are having the surgery done. I agree with the above poster tho, write your questions down and ask them at the seminar. I would also take notes on what they say, you would be surprised how much info people forget after attending these sessions good luck and let us know how u got on !

Would the department of health preclude women because they were single and no children ?, if its only men it seems very discriminatory, you should ask for a written copy of their criteria so u can see it in writing and not over the phone .. Have u applied for things like biggest loser, Obese, a year to save my life ? .. or some of the tv companies might be willing to sponser you in exchange for doing a film of your WLS journey. i would also apporach your local church/community centre for help financially or ask them for help to do some fund raising for you like a ( we call them jumble sales here ) i think you may call them rummage sales ? where u sell peoples cast offs etc .. I am sure a lot of people in the US including some here could donate some big clothing to sell as against give money in this economic climate .. You got to get creative in this day and age where money is tight and people cant afford any spare cash to help others

I found a heat pad on the shoulder helpful, but talk to ytour doctor if the painkillers arent working .. the pain will pass it is only gas

Ice pack .. eeek i found a warm heat pad much more soothing .. as elcee said where are u putting ice ?

You need to set yourself up a routine and stick to it, laying around in bed till mid day is just not condusive to losing weight or staying healthy, it also is just a waste of life, instead of a 1/3 of your life when u are 80 yrs old being sleep you are aiming for 1/2 your life sleeping .. we only have one life so make the most of it .. the more sugar u eat .. i.e choch the more you will sleep .. dump the chochccies and get moving u havent put on much weight so it wont take you long .. You obviously want to do it otherwise u wouldnt have posted here so get that alarm clock set and dont delay your breakfast time good luck .. !

You need to ask them the reasons why they declined you otherwise you will be appealing blind.

I eat 5 stewed prunes a day or drink prune juice, they are high in fibre and work like a laxative and are completely natural works almost daily or every other day at the most .. they are nice to eat too otherwise increase your fibre somehow, natrally is best from food, if not buy some fibre suppliment.

Good luck with the nsurgery, I am sure you will be fine. Keep doing what the docs tell u to do and it will all lead to a great success story

Gratz Joel on the hard work, and i know how hard you have worked believe me

Everyone is given differenmt advice from their surgeon / doctor so it would be best to ask what them. Most docs let u walk straight away but vigorous work outs they might say 2 weeks or 6 weeks or 3 months so its best to get medical advice on that one

I agree a light lunch several hours before a fill would be fine for most ..

You might be like a lot of us and need to balance your calorie intake and calories burned in order to get more weight off. I know counting calories is pretty boring but unless u know how many you are consuming you may be eating too little or even too many. Fruit is a lot of sugar/fructose it may be u are eating a lot of fruit ? Change something small, see if it works if not change something else. I would try steering clear of root veg and no more than 1 fruit per day to avoid loading carbs .. stick to green veg it has a lot more beneficial properties and exercise like mad .. Good luck !

I have a tea or coffeee with skimmed milk to stave off the hunger pangs till the next meal, if u need more then go for a greek yoghurt, unflavoured 0 fat add some sweetner to it if u need, cottage cheese, just a glass of skimmed milk, 6 almonds to chew on, or look on the forum for snack idead under food and nutrition, plenty of ideas there too

If you arent eating you will not have the energy to work and i suspect your blood sugar will be low due to the spikes and lows fructose causes, and will leaving u feeling weak, dizzy and sick, faint and generally unwell. U need some meal raplacement drinks if u are still on liquids with some calories in and high protein. Your body cannot function on fruit juice and you will not heal as quickly unless u take note of what your doctor/nutritionist told u to eat. Sometimes we dont feel like eating but food is like a medicine at the moment whilst u heal and regain your strength so even if we dont want to u must eat to keep healthy Good luck !

As long as you followed your doctors schedule of how long to stay on liquids and mushies then u should be fine .. The band is doing very little at the moment till u start getting a few fills under your belt, just take this time to learn what to eat and practise eating small bites and slowly, drinking polenty of water and eating your protein first. If you dont want to risk putting on a few lbs in this 'bandster hell' period of time its best to journal your calorie/food intake and exercise when u are cleared to

Good luck and ask as many questions as you can think of and gather all the information u can .