Fit in my 60's

I asked my doctor about the same problem. I thought he'd say to take fiber pills or stool softner, but all he said was to drink lots and lots of water.

I went to my dr. yesterday and he had a lot of trouble accessing the port. So in about 4-6 weeks he will do a procedure to secure it using a mesh since it seems to be tilted on its side. I actually felt the stitches pop one night when I was rolling over in bed, but didn't think anything of it. Guess I should have told the dr about that!

Hi Marianna, My surgery was the same day as yours and I get my first fill this Thursday. I was glad you asked that question because I wondered about it too. I was able to watch the dr. give my daughter a fill one time (she had surgery last March) and I did notice that he did extract the saline first to see how much was in it before putting it back and adding more. Not sure if every dr. does that but he did. Sorry you are having problems eating. I don't feel much restriction anymore but I have been able to eat small portions without any problems or hunger in between. For some reason though, I often get the hiccups after I eat and I also have a pain in my left abdomen when I eat sometimes. I will ask the dr. about it on Thursday. Anxious to hear some of the responses you get about the first fill. Congratulations on your weight loss so far! Debbie.

Toddy, thanks for the advice. I'd heard that in the past when I did Weight Watchers but forgot about it. It's so hard to eat more though now that I am used to eating so little. I guess it's the old "fat girl" mentality afraid that I will gain instead of lose. But I will take your suggestion and see what happens. thanks again.

I am 4 weeks out. I lost 12 in the first 2 weeks, then nothing for almost 2 weeks, then just yesterday lost another pound. I also get my first fill next week. I am keeping a journal tracking my Protein and also calories. My calories don't go over 800 and usually stay around 600-700 so I don't quite understand why I'm not losing more or how I could eat much less, so I guess we'll see what happens in a couple of weeks. The good thing is I really am not hungry and don't crave anything. And that's a really good thing!! Debbie

I take Centrum chewables, although my doctor told me I could just take 2 Flintstones. I also take the Viactin calcium. They're chocolate and I actually look forward to them twice a day. Also got Barleans liquid fish oil (even sounds gross) and I used to add it to my smoothies when I was on all liquids, but haven't started adding it to anything else. I just don't think I could tolerate swigging a spoonful, flavored or not.

Here's another example of how doctors' advice all seem to vary. My doctor said not to drink 15 minutes before or 30 minutes afterwards. Not sure why before; I keep forgetting to ask why that is. I would think you would need to drink water sooner, especially after your workout. It's hard enough to get in all the water they want you to do in a day, but with those restrictions, seems like it would be very difficult. Have you asked your doctor or nutritionist about it?

I was thinking it'd be thawed out enough to transfer to a glass dish before microwaving.

I think your system is good. Just bring an extra dish to microwave it in. Plastic does get gross when you microwave in it, and coming from a long line of breast cancer in my family, I was told never to microwave food in plastic anyway. Thanks for sharing your idea. I'm only 2 weeks banded and this sounds like a good plan to me.

I'm not sure that you would qualify. I calculated your BMI at 32 at 201 lbs. (would be more if you weigh >201) I read that between 30 and 40 you only qualify if you have one or more comorbidities, e.g. high blood pressure, high cholesterol, etc. To be sure, call the nearest bariatric office and ask. My BMI was 42 and I was on the fence for a long time myself. I went through the 6 months with my family physician just in case I did go through with it and we talked about it each month. It wasn't until the 6th month and meeting with the surgeon that I finally made my final decision. If my BMI was 32, not sure that I would go through with it. But then again, I'm only two weeks post-op and haven't seen a lot of results yet of course. Good luck to you and take time to research and really think it over. It is a major life change.

Wow! What a story! So glad everything eventually worked out but so sorry you had to go through all that. Thanks so much for sharing. I think the lesson to be learned here is to trust your instincts and if your own doctors don't believe you, get a second opinion.....somewhere else.

My husband has been great. He has been cooking his own meals so I don't have to which really helps. ( I'm just 2 wks post-op.) If he eats a snack while watching tv, he does so in the kitchen. He has been really good at making sure I get in the required 60 g. of protein each day. For the first week or more he was right there whenever I got up from my recliner or bed. Without going into detail just remember her stomach will be quite tender for a few weeks so some activities may have to be curtailed or altered :-) But the very best thing that he has done for me is to understand what I've been going through for many years trying to lose weight and being 100% supportive when I talked to him in the beginning about even having the surgery. Good luck.

I agree. I will be 2 weeks post-op on Wed. My dr. told me I could start eating mushy foods, basically anything I can mash with a fork. Tonight I had 2 oz. of fish and a spoonful of cauliflower, all mashed up. I ate very slowly and it actually filled me up. So far so good. It felt like a feast after all that liquid!! Debbie

My nutritionist told me about a product called Barleans. It's a liquid oil that comes in different flavors or plain. Sounds gross but I add it to my protein shake and I never know it's in there. You can google it and find where they sell it in your area.

It's funny how doctors give different advice. My doctor just called to check on me. I am one week out from banding. He told me I could start "mushies" on Sunday. And he said this, "You can eat anything you can mash down with a fork." Ha! First thing that popped into my head was a vision of me trying to mash down a steak!! Which, of course, I won't do, but still that advice gives me a lot of leeway I think. I will have to experiment with foods though to see what I can tolerate. It sure brightened my day. And I've lost 5 lbs in the first week. So far, so good.