Annette 9/2012

Yeah! 40.4 total. 30.4 since surgery. Banded 1/16/13. 4" off waist. 5" off hips... I have been using fitnesspal and it only keeps measurements for neck waist and hips. Neck stayed the same. Had 6 week post op last week..doc said everything is cool...no fills until weight loss stops.

Hey bandster buddies: Has anyone tried "you tube" it'ss a great source for advice and there are so many of us banders on you tube! Me under Annnette Corrado and others such as banded wendy and skymoon1984. you tube has a very large WL community on you tube and I love it. I was banded on September 20, 2013 and I have lost 30 pounds and we all have different bodies so we loose our body fat differently, As long as your following the rules and try a accountable journal and write down your feelings-exercise and calories and Proteins and Snacks "I am honest in my journal" so that means when I don't get the number at the end of the week-I know why it's in my journal! I have been hungry since last January-I exercise 6 days a week and count Protein and calories now and that seems to help me alot. I will reach my goal this year in 2013. Be strong and fight this it our life of wellness. Good luck!

Hey bandster buddies: Has anyone tried "you tube" it'ss a great source for advice and there are so many of us banders on you tube! Me under Annnette Corrado and others such as banded wendy and skymoon1984. you tube has a very large WL community on you tube and I love it. I was banded on September 20, 2013 and I have lost 30 pounds and we all have different bodies so we loose our body fat differently, As long as your following the rules and try a accountable journal and write down your feelings-exercise and calories and Proteins and Snacks "I am honest in my journal" so that means when I don't get the number at the end of the week-I know why it's in my journal! I have been hungry since last January-I exercise 6 days a week and count Protein and calories now and that seems to help me alot. I will reach my goal this year in 2013. Be strong and fight this it our life of wellness. Good luck!

First Christmas with the band! I did leave one party after my small plate of food. I did eat Cookies and fudge so I will not be down a pound for SURE but I am to blame!

Hi ya Great! I am excited for you I have yet to do my psych and cardiac clearance test next month. I would be ready to go in August but I have a vacation planned. I will be going for my surgery in September. I have been working out and watching everything that goes into my body! Working out 5-6 days a week. I am at 199 lbs now at 5 3" and my goal is set at 130. We are into this together, give a shout out if you need a person to talk with and share experiences. Good luck and stay strong!

Just got back from the doc and it looks like I can't get banded until October, their schedule until then is full
It's ok, it will be worth the weight (pun intended)

Hi All my date is Sept 5 .....im nervous and excited...nervous because we still didnt get an answer from the insurance and the whole liquid stage kinda freaks me out

I am the newbie!!
My date is set for Sept 26th.
I have one more nutrition appt (2 out of 3 done already) and my preads to go.
Everything will be submitted to Highmark on 9/6 but the program coordinator insists I will fly through and have an answer in a few days.
Getting very excited, yet still nervous!
I look forward to sharing this adventure with all of you!

Yep, that is what happens. You are getting close. Hang in there. Stay positive and try to remember you are so worth it.

My date is officially September 6th !

I have my first consultation on the 17th of July! Then I have to have the upper GI. Don't know what else is involved.

Hi everyone! I'm looking at a first week of September surgery date. I have a few things left to do (see below), I hate the 6 month wait but it's been good to not havee to rush all these things. I also would probably be able to be done in August but my husband will be away for a conference and I need his help with my son.

I am also getting banded in September! I have my upper gi, chest X-ray, phsyh eval, ultrasound of abdomen, and nutrition counseling and blood work done. my sleep study is June 21 an my endoscopy is July 5th I'm sure I could get banded sooner but I am going on vacation in August. I don't want to be far away in the healing process . good luck to you all !

hey fellow marylanders...
just wanted to say hi! i'm having my surgery on july 2... are you guys already in post op? where did you have it done and who was your doctor??
sylvia

Hi everyone, Hope you have a safe and cool 4th of July. I just wanted to update you, I had a fill on June 28th. 1/2 cc. Since that day, I am down 8 lbs. I am so excited. Finally a downward movement. I go back in 3 month. We will decide on a fill then. Be safe.

I really enjoyed reading your story. I know you "feel great! I can tell it Keep it up we are here right with you-working at this WL journey too!

It’s clear that keeping a food journal or food diary—a written record of every bite you put in your mouth—is an effective weight loss tool. Here is a better way!


It’s clear that keeping a food journal or food diary—a written record of every bite you put in your mouth—is an effective weight loss tool. Women who record what they eat eat less and lose more weight. They are also more successful at keeping the weight off. A food diary (done correctly), can also be an effective tool for taking control of emotional eating.
The problem is, just about everyone hates keeping a food log, and setting up an approach that you dread can be an easy path to self-sabotage. Writing down everything you put into your mouth can be inconvenient, tedious, and it requires a lot of discipline. It can also be difficult to record portion sizes accurately, and far too tempting to bend the truth.
Here’s a smart weight loss tip that holds promise. You don’t have to write down everything you eat anymore to get the benefit of keeping a food diary. There’s actually a simple, graphic and accurate way to record what you eat—at the touch of a button. Grab your cell phone and snap a picture. Yep, take a picture of your food—all your food—before you eat it. Pictures don’t lie. They don’t fudge on portion sizes (consider placing something like a fork in the picture so that you can assess for scale), and they show everything on your plate. They even document the times when you skip using the plate (not a good weight loss tactic, by the way).
Research indicates that keeping a photographic food diary may work even better than a written one.
What to do with these photos? A simple, free solution is to set up a free blog at BariatricPal. You decide whether you want to keep it private (for your eyes only) or open it up to friends or to the world (accountability helps). New apps and options are being developed as we speak. For those on Twitter, this app, for tweeting what you’re eating, allows you to add pictures to your tweets and says it will be streamlining the process in the near future.
What do you think? Have you used a food diary (written or photo-based)? How has it worked for you? What has helped you stick with it, or what has gotten in your way? Please share your thoughts by adding a comment.

Don't get discouraged. Your body is working very hard & it knows where it needs to be. My surgeon was very honest & told me that in many cases we replace one addiction (food) with another (the scale). He warned me to not do that b/c it can be damaging to my (our) journey. Don't focus on the numbers. Focus on how you feel, the weight will come off. It's a slow journey, enjoy it. I never weight myself more than once a week, most times every other week. It will fluctuate but that's okay:). Try really hard to not focus on the scale it will drive you crazy.

What should you eat to lose weight? How much energy have you devoted to this question? Low carb? Raw food? Jenny Craig? Have you ever considered that it might not be "the diet" that is the solution? Read more to find out!


What should you eat to lose weight?
How much energy have you devoted to this question? Low carb? Raw food? Jenny Craig? Women spend billions of dollars on weight loss, and create a lot of stress making decisions about which diet or weight loss plan to try this time. It’s ironic, because deep down, we know that diets don’t work. And in fact, many of us have lived out the lesson that diets can lead to binge eating and weight gain and bigger problems with food than we started with.
It’s not hopeless. Healthy weight loss and what I call peace with food are possible, but they don’t begin with a diet.
Here’s the important truth:
The battle with overeating isn’t going to be solved by a diet because the root battle with most overeating isn’t about the food.
If you want to break free from overeating cycles and weight loss battles, the critical question you need to be asking is this: What are you using the food for?
What’s triggering you to overeat?
What propels you towards the vending machine or sends you straight for the comfort food?
What role does food play in your life?
How does your current way of eating serve you?

THESE are the million dollar questions. The truth is, you are smart and resourceful and you better believe that you are turning to food for a reason.
The way you are currently eating does something important for you.
Maybe your eating distracts you or comforts you. Food might momentarily boost your mood or your energy. Maybe you use it to procrastinate or hide out or reward yourself. Are you eating to cope with stress or frustration or exhaustion? Be curious about your hunger and the reasons that you eat.
Understanding the meaning of your overeating changes everything. Understanding the purpose of your overeating helps you move beyond unhelpful self-blame and shame and guilt and into a place of compassionate understanding. From this place it’s possible to start addressing the real root causes.
Because it’s probably not about the food.
If you are a stress eater, you’ll want some more effective tools for addressing the stress in your life. Comfort eater? With the right tools, you can definitely find a better way. Exhausted? Overwhelmed? Nervous? Upset? There are better tools and strategies to address these feelings. And the truth is, once you have the tools and strategies to feel effective, food just doesn’t have the same appeal. Really.
Effective weight loss doesn’t start with the food—and—when you address the root cause of your overeating, you don’t just change your weight. You change your life.

The liquid diet is a common feature of the bariatric surgery landscape, as widespread and despised as kudzu in the South. Since there’s no way around it, you might as well make the best of it by learning the reasons for it and trying the practical tips I’m going to give you.


WHY A LIQUID DIET?
Bariatric clinics use differing protocols for their patients’ pre-op and post-op diets. Why? When you finish explaining that, perhaps you could also explain the meaning of life? If you asked your surgeon or dietitian, the answer would probably go something like this: “We have adapted these procedures to suit the needs of the patients in our individual practice, based on our experience of what produces the best outcome and the fewest complications.” In the case of adjustable gastric band patients like us, you might expect the band manufacturers to dictate what are called “best practices” in patient education and care, but the fact is that if Allergan and Ethicon-Endo were to employ armies of band police to supervise every bariatric surgeon in the world, no one would be able to afford a gastric band.
However those clinics’ protocols may vary, the liquid diet is extremely common part of bariatric patients’ pre-op and post-op instructions. Contrary to popular belief, the liquid diet is not intended to torture the patient. The main purpose of a pre-op diet is to reduce the size and improve the texture of the liver (any weight loss is a plus). The liver is a big organ whose left lateral segment lies on top of the part of the stomach where the band is placed. The pre-op diet uses up the glycogen stored in the liver, shrinking it and making it sturdier, less slippery, and easier to maneuver with laparoscopic instruments. This not only makes the surgeon’s job easier and quicker, it also reduces the risk of complications for you. If your surgeon doesn’t require a pre-op diet of any type, I would have to conclude that he or she is mighty confident in their surgical abilities, but I would also want to ask them how often they have to abort a surgery or convert from a laparoscopic to an open incision technique because of problems handling the patient’s liver.
The purpose of the post-op diet is to keep you nourished while you and your upper GI tract recover from surgery. Although AGB surgery is usually minimally invasive (when done laparoscopically), it does require incisions and some internal dissection, as well as manipulation of your internal organs. All this can cause swelling. One day your stomach was fat, dumb and happy. Now it's got a collar around its neck. In order for it to digest food in any form, your stomach muscles must expand and contract to break the food down and move it along to your lower GI tract. Expecting your stomach to do that comfortably and safely while wearing its brand-new collar just isn’t wise.
So to allow everything to heal properly, and the band to seat itself against your stomach in the correct position, most surgeons require patients to follow a staged post-op diet, starting with liquids. What happens if you don’t follow your post-op recovery diet?
Food can get stuck in the stoma or esophagus and cause an obstruction and/or vomiting.
Vomiting can disturb the position of the band, which can cause the band to slip.
Peristalsis (the muscular action of moving food through the digestive system) can disturb the position of the band, and that can cause the band to slip.

So don't do it!
"But I already cheated!" you say? It's not the end of the world, but don't do it again!
"But I'm starving!" you say? That's too bad, but that isn't the end of the world, either. Not, it's not fun, but hunger is not a good excuse for cheating your health in such a major way. I'd guess that seven of ten bandsters starve their way through the liquid diet phase. If you absolutely cannot bear the liquid diet for another second, or you think you might be genuinely allergic to your Protein Shakes (which could be lactose intolerance rearing its ugly head), call your surgeon or nutritionist before you put something in your mouth that isn't on the approved list. And by the way, the same advice applies to following a liquid diet after each fill you get, so you might as well perfect your liquids survival technique now because you’re going to need it over and over again in the future.
SOME PRACTICAL TIPS FOR SURVIVING YOUR LIQUID DIET
Don't worry about how many calories you're consuming, but stay away from milkshakes, ice cream, frappes and fancy coffee drinks.< br> Drink Protein Drinks (protein will keep you going longer than sugary stuff like fruit juice).
If you don't like the smell or taste of Protein Powder, try putting the drink in the freezer long enough for it to get slushy, and/or put it in a covered beverage container. Sometimes it's the smell, not the taste, that's bothersome.
If you don't care for sweet tastes, try unflavored Protein powder (from various sources including Unjury®) or Unjury® chicken Soup flavor protein powder (www.unjury.com).
Add Unjury® chicken soup flavor protein powder to blended creamy Soups (follow the Unjury® heating instructions or it will clump up and refuse to dissolve).
Add fat free half-and-half or milk to prepared chicken bouillon or broth for a creamy drink.
Add unflavored or fruit-flavored protein powder when making sugar-free Gelatin. Check out the recipes at the Unjury website. Be aware that “unflavored” doesn’t mean the protein has no flavor, so the end product isn’t going to taste exactly like the original.
Buy your favorite soup from a local restaurant, strain out the solids, and drink the broth (Chinese hot and sour soup is wonderful this way).
Buy or make bean soups, puree and thin them with broth, Water, or milk. The pureed soup must be thin enough to pass through a drinking straw.
Add powdered non-fat milk to soups and shakes to boost the protein.
Crunch on sugar-free popsicles, slushies, Italian ice, or ice chips.< br> Don't hang around people who are eating real food.
Experiment with the temperature of your liquids - cold may feel or taste better than hot, or the other way around.
To prevent boredom, experiment with recipes for protein shakes (you'll find at least a million recipes online).
Keep busy! This is a good time to address holiday cards. Who cares if it’s the middle of June?

AND IN THE TMI DEPARTMENT…
A few final words about your liquid diet. Don’t panic if consuming liquids sends you running to the bathroom more often than you’d like. LIQUIDS IN = LIQUIDS OUT. If that happens to you, ask your doctor to suggest a safe, effective OTC anti-diarrheal medication.
And remember: This too shall pass. In more ways than one.

Was banded jan 31st then had the tubing rip down the seam..total loss of restriction for 5 weeks. I had SDS and I'm finally enjoying a working band and weekly weight loss. Yaay!! I have 4 lbs to go til I'm back at my wedding wt of 239. It feels horrible admiring that, but even worse was the 271 I allowed myself to get to before surgery. I'm actually starting to feel confident and a little sexy again. Never give up.

My projected surgery date is September 6th and I am TOO excited. I have already done my nutrition consult, psych eval & next month I do the EKG testing & stuff. The closer I draw to September I am overwhelmed in a good way. For the FIRST time in my life, I feel that it is possible to lead a healthy lifestyle with the lapband as a tool. Ive already lost 15 lbs in the past three months which I have NEVER been able to do. I really believe it is the motivation of moving forward with the lapband option since I have debated about it since 2004. Let's keep in touch!

Well, Think of it this way every medical procedures has a pros and cons and so does medications. Your on your way to a better health and a better you! Good luck

Pre op testing procedures and calorie counting plus exercise!