Cazzy

My goals for 2012 will be to get rid of all this excess skin i have accumulated over the past year, to reduce my spending so i can afford the surgery and to get my new bike out and cycle as much as possible, i of course want to achieve my weight goal loss too but the surgery should help that. If i put my mind to it they all goals i can reach

Sounds like your bands are doing their job

For the last 20yrs i had piled on the weight, the death of my child left a big hole in my life which i tried to fill with food, I was miserable and immobile. At 400 lbs my Diabetes was getting worse and where previously i had controlled it with my diet, this just wasnt working anymore. I was lucky in that my cholesterol and my blood pressure were all normal, i had no sleep apnea, but my energy level was rock bottom, and all my joints hurt. My first step was admitting that i actually needed help to do this, i had always liked healthy food but i just ate too much of it. I started to watch tv programmes like Biggest Loser, i had always avoided watching programmes about fat people before. My decision about getting surgery was after i had my check up with my doctor who suggested that Surgery was an option to help me. I knew i could do this if i could just stop feeling so hungry all the time, never feeling satisfied after you have eaten was making me miserable all day long. I was in the weight bracket for a gastric bypass or sleeve, but i really didnt want to go down that route, i researched all about the options including the band and knew that the band was right for me even tho i was outside the bmi they would normally do a band here. My surgeon agreed to do the band surgery if i lost enough weight to get my bmi lower. I thought then , this is it, if i want a band i am going to have to do this, my mind was ready for a band and all i had to do was get my body ready. Nearly 3 months later and 40lbs lighter from a pre-surgery diet of just 600 calories i had the band fitted and have never looked back.

Gratz on the weight loss already Mike you sound determined ! Having to lose a fair amount of weight before surgery i feel is a great help to success post-op , well it was for me anyways. My pre-op diet was just 600 calories a day and i did that for nearly 3 months, so eating a 1000 calories post-op seemed like a feast Just make sure you push yourself exercising, its hard when we start off weighing so heavy but just up it each week, even if u start off only 10 mins a day at our initial weights any movement gets results.. good luck

Indeed Jim

good luck to both of you

I love to prove doctors wrong sometimes .. the only disheartening thing is that i still weigh more than what some of you were when u were first banded ....!! ty all for the kind words

Every Surgeon requires different things post-op it might be better for you to contact them or their nutritionist .. we all got different advice and guidelines after surgery so would be hard to advise you . I was on liquid for 4 weeks post op and then mushy for 4 weeks, liquid was classed as anything you could drink, cottage cheese here would have been classed as a mushy

Ty chunky .. love the name I am in the UK and we dont have the same system as the US so our National Health Service may or may not cover removal of the skin, in some cases they will remove skin if there is a 'medical' need but otherwise it is regarded as 'cosmetic' . Each Health trust in the Uk covers a certain geographical area and the rules concerning skin removal are different depending on where you live. So its a lottery really my area 'may' do it but only after 2 yrs post op and a maintained wieght loss. I may go down that route if its too expensive privately and i have to explore other options. I was pre-op on a 600 calorie a day diet to get my BMI down, I lost around 40lbs from November 2010 to January 2011 when i was banded. Weight loss is slowing down now so these last lbs may take a while

In the UK there is very little emphasis placed on protien shakes, mostly we get the protien we need from fresh food like fish and chicken, turkey even frozen peas have a good source, milk products with 0 fat like yoghurt, cottage cheese, I am sure you can hit your daily protien intake without the need for suppliments. If you do need to use additional products to boost your intake maybe get the protien powders, over here we can get pea protien from Amazon, its not expensive like the shakes. Protien does not get stored in the body like other enzymes do that is why we need to make sure our daily intake is maintained. Good luck with it

Kaye have a look at this .. it Tamika explains what i was saying very well

I thought it might be helpful to clarify some of the terms used here and why .. Productive Burping (PB)- or sliming is when the contents of the pouch are stuck or rejected and the food or slime is regurgitated back into your mouth .. this is due to the pouch being positioned very close to the oesophagus, the sliming is a response from your oesophagus to try get rid of the food it thinks you are choking on. Vomiting - or being sick or throwing up etc is when the contents of the stomach, not the pouch are regurgitated.. we have all been 'sick' before were banded. My understanding from what my Surgeon told me was that we will get episodes of PB, if it happens a lot, it 'could' be that your band may be a little too tight, some will PB often. What would be of concern more would be vomiting .. the agressive movements involved in your body being sick 'could' cause some problems with the band. I had an episode of sliming and feeling stuck after some sf Jello lol i have never had that before after a year of eating the stuff ! We are all different and express our views opinions and stories in different ways using different words and phrases, this can create misunderstandings, which is the bane of the typed word. Cut each other some slack we all are here to try and help and support each other

Indeed I have, just consistency moderation and a mind set

I lay down to have the needle inserted then sit up while its still in and drink water. no big holes yet after 5 fills

Good luck Jim I really hope all goes ok for you.

I can eat any meat if it is just cooked, even roast pork but i slice it wafer thin and use a sharp knife and cut all meat up very small, i love fish tho so eat more fish than anything. Cold meat is a no no for me tho, but i eat wild alaskan smoked salmon every day, low in calories, high protien and almost no fat. i only eat red meat maybe once a week.

I hit 'onederland' a few days ago .. it feels soo good ... good luck with it

My biggest fear was waking up after the operation and them saying they couldnt do it .. that didnt happen

I add pure oat bran to yoghurt .. it makes a yoghurt more filling and helps cholesterol and gives u a ton of fibre never had a problem since i starting using it, also i eat prunes which also help that end of things

Maybe speak to your dietician/nutritionist but 500 to 750 isnt a lot .. i also eat around 1000 to 1200 a day

good luck .. i will have the same as you are having done, around march 2012 i think, theres a lot to cut away on me tho .. I am excited for you

I would definitely look to doing some weight training, u need to get yout heart rate up on the treadmill then go onto the strength training, i use resistance bands and dumbells after i use my cycle seems to work for me strength training is important it helps metabolise sugar and burn the calories, the more muscle you have the more calories u burn just doing nothing its a win win ... i change the resistance on my bike each month so that i am gradually building up stamina and leg muscles over a longer period as i was totally inactive before i started all this.

You are both in my thoughts ... sending good wishes from across the Atlantic .

gratz on a great weight loss .. well done !

Gratzz melissa on a great weight loss. I hit 'onederland' today and feel great