lorena st

If you don't have complications...you could be back at work in a week. With complications...it would be at least 2 weeks if not more. Surgery on Thursday and work the following Monday, might be pushing it.

Congrats...I am getting close to a 14 too! The best part is packing up all those big clothes and clearing out my closet. Clothes shopping is not the nightmare it used to be and I actually enjoy not being limited to purses and shoes and jewelery in most stores.

2 cups of 1% milk has the same calories, fat, carbs and slightly higher protein as the protein shakes that I was told to drink. I also took a multivitamin daily as well. I substituted milk regularly as I couldn't stand the protein shakes (I could only manage one per day, mixed with crushed ice in a cup with a lid-so I couldn't smell it). I used the milk to drink and make pureed veg soups). I lost about 20 pounds on the pre-surgery diet and my doctor was okay with my substitutions. Check with your doctor first.

Good luck with your surgery. I am from Calgary and I was banded in Vancouver by Dr. Mitchell last October and it has been a very positive experience. The lapband is working for me, but your and Dr. Mitchell need to decide what procedure would work best in your situation. What you are experiencing is "head hunger" and not real hunger. Your relationship with food changes with the band, however, every now and then I still have "head hunger". This type of eating decreases with time and I am getting better at recognizing it when it happens. This recognition is what was missing from the many other diets that I had tried in the past. I am still able to eat whatever kind of food I want, just in much smaller quantities. My weight loss is slow, but steady (except when I am on vacation and the good news, I stay the same weight). Good luck on the pre-surgery liquid diet and message me if you have any questions.

I wish I knew that the pain after surgery would only last a couple of days and then healing would begin. I wish I had taken Benefibre daily while on the pre-surgery and post surgery diet to avoid the constipation complications. I knew this would take effort on my part (modifying my diet and counting calories) but I also wish I knew that this was much easier to do with the band and I don't mind the time that it is taking to lose weight. No other wishes so far, but hopefully I am about 8 months away from reaching my goal.

I had the same problem, and I wrongly assumed, because I was mainly having protein shakes on the pre-surgery diet, that I wouldn't have a BM (bowel movement)....wrong, wrong, wrong! I had surgery and after surgery, I became impacted (and that required a doctor/hospital visit to fix). This affected the healing process and I was in pain and miserable for at least a week longer than I should have been. So you should try to sort this out now. There are several ways to prevent this from happening. Some have been discussed above (prune juice, milk of magnesia). I used Benefibre twice a day. You can add it to water or whatever liquids you are drinking. It has no taste and does not thicken or anything else. So water, tastes like water. Start now and don't leave this much longer. 4 to 5 days without a BM is too long. Good luck.

I too was in a lot of pain after surgery. The worst of it lasted for 2 days and I would take a liquid pain killer and gasex every 3 hours and then go back to bed (I had to sleep almost sitting up as I could barely get up from a horizontal position). By day 3, things were starting to improve. And after a week, I was on the road to recovery. It took about 1 month for me to feel completely normal again. So hang in there, it's early days and you will feel better soon.

I am very similar to hopefloats. I had my surgery in October and have lost 45 pounds and no fills yet. I can eat pretty much whatever I want (minor issues with salad rolls and sushi) but I have never been stuck or vomited. I find that I am not very hungry and when I do eat, I get full quickly. I am very lucky and hopefully this lasts until I lose all the weight I want to. I am open to getting a fill if/when I need one, but so far, so good.

I am about 3 months post-surgery and it took about 1 month for me to feel normal again. I still haven't started working out, other than walking. I may take up swimming/weights again in a couple of months.

Thanks for the post! I'm in Belize right now and I gotta tell you it feels great to be 45 pounds lighter than the last time I was here! Hopefully the next time I'm here I will have lost another 45 pounds. Keep up the good work and enjoy your pool this summer.

Do I get frustrated and discouraged at times? Yes Do I regret getting the band? Absolutely not! I was banded on October 17, 2011 and other than the first couple of weeks after surgery, I have not regretted my decision to get the band. If I have a bad day, I just start over the next day and get myself back on track (follow the diet and exercise rules from your doctor). It's not always easy but it is worth it. So far, I haven't let the bad days turn into bad weeks or bad months (the longest I have gone is 3 bad days over christmas). I also keep a food/exercise diary, so I can figure out when and why things went off the rails (it's usually stress for me). It can be done, but it is hard work. Good luck with your struggles.

Thanks for the post! 90 pounds is a huge success (just go try and lift 90 pounds of anything and realize that you hauled that around on a daily basis). I really liked the guidelines you listed and will use some of them, myself. Congrats again and g'day.

Wow, great post! You are inspiring and keep up the good work. Perhaps I will get to the gym now!

Currently, I weight myself daily...but I may switch to the weekly version (as I think I am too obsessive about it!).

Benefibre and lots of water. I would also check with your doctor and make sure you are not impacted...if that is the case, you will need something more powerful to clear out your system (3 weeks without a BM is serious, get it checked out!)

For three days after surgery, I would take my liquid pain killers and a gasex strip every 3 hours (as soon as I felt the pain coming back). I had to sleep in a semi-upright position as well. I walked as much as I could, but to be honest, I didn't walk much. This allowed me to heal and the gas pains and other pains subsided after 3 days. It took about a week before I could sleep horizontally and I only had gas pains on a sporadic basis (which the gasex strips eased). It took approximately 4 weeks to feel completely normal again.

There are spammers/trolls on every forum. They just hang around and inject negativity. I just ignore them (Don't feed the trolls rule) and hopefully they get bored and move on. But, I can also see why some people might be disappointed with the band (not me, I'm very happy with it!) if they got it based on some of the advertising I have seen lately. Those ads seem to imply that you can lose weight without dieting, without exercise and very quickly. The ads don't even mention that surgery is involved. They are very misleading and if you believed them, you could be pretty disappointed.

There seem to be a lot of ads lately for the lapband...usually showing a woman who has lost 100+ pounds, apparently very easily, very quickly and without dieting. There is no mention that this is a surgical procedure (with associated risks) and that you must follow a calorie restricted diet and exercise regularly. And losing the weight is not easy, it takes patience and persistence and most of all it takes time (this is not a quick fix). I'm glad that people are getting to hear about the lapband...it's the misinformation that I have a problem with. I find the ads very misleading, but what do you guys think?

Yes...I just had a 1/2 cup of yogurt for breakfast and I am full.

Excellent!

I like your idea of starting over. Start with the post-op diet (1 weeks liquids, 1 week smoothies/protein shakes, 1 week mushies and then normal food) and get your body and brain back on the program. Try not to beat yourself up too much and remember that you are still down over 60 pounds! You took a long break from dieting (try to figure out why you did this), but just start again. And as others have suggested, see your doctor and perhaps get a fill, to help you get going again...Good luck.

I'm still losing weight, but I am using Bio-oil daily on my scars and stretch marks and they appear to be getting less noticeable. Ask me again in about 6 months when, hopefully, I have lost a lot more weight.

I'm not much of a drinker, but my surgeon sent me a book (written by Australian doctors) and they actually recommend a glass a wine per day! I have a glass of a really good red wine with a small amount of cheese 3 to 4 times per week. What a treat! As to party drinking, you may have to curb it (at least the amounts you described) while you are trying to lose weight. I'm sure your friends will understand and hopefully be supportive. When you get to your goal weight, then the maintainance diet will likely allow for more alcohol consumption.