Thats All Folks

You were just banded on August 28. The first 4-6 weeks after surgery are for healing, not losing. My best advice would be to put the scale away until you are at least back on solid foods and try to make good food choices in the meantime. It's not at all uncommon for people not to lose during the healing process or even gain a little. Hang in there and be patient as your body heals

I know this sounds like a cop out answer, but I don't eat anything special. In fact, there isn't anything I can't eat. I just make sure what I do eat is healthy, for instance lean chicken breast rather than a fatty burger. As a general rule, I make sure all meats are very moist. I marinade a lot, like pork chops and chicken, because if the meat is dry I'm far more likely to get stuck.

Sending thoughts and prayers, let us know how it turns out.

My youngest had just turned 9 when I had mine and I told him the truth. I had surgery that placed a band around my stomach to help me lose weight. When he told me he still loved me fat and I didn't have to do that, I hugged him and told him I was doing it because I loved him so much I wanted to be healthier so I can do more with him. He totally "got it" when I put it that way. Now these days, I'm walking a couple of miles a night with him, taking him to the zoo, and planning a trip to Disney with him and my daughter this spring break. I kept my promise

liquids go right through, which is why soup is considered a slider food. No harm done

Are you on an extremely low carb/high protein diet by chance?

Oh my gosh, you're a better woman than me, I'd have gone nasty snarky on that ignorant doctor as soon as he got stupid about the band. It kills how medical professionals can be so uneducated and have such horrible people skills. I'm so sorry you're going through all the issues with the chest pains. Do you think maybe you're having panic attacks? Just a thought I hope you find answers.

Lipton makes an excellent Diet Green Iced Tea, too. I love the mixed berry and citrus flavors. You can buy them in a 12 pack for about $5.

Hahaha I love your sense of humor! I had this visual image of you hunched over a pack of gum like a lion with prey, growling and threatening anyone foolish enough to go near it. Too funny! Congrats on sticking to your liquid diet and weight loss! You're off to a great start!!

There is some debate about this, but most surgeons say no carbonation after being banded. Soda passes right through the band because it's a liquid, but the carbonation expands below the band and pushes upward against it. This can cause slips. When I had my Lap Band surgery, the woman who shared the room with me was in for a revision of her band. She had been drinking soda and it not only resulted in a slip but her stomach actually prolapsed up through her band. She also gained back 40 pounds. I can't speak for anyone else, but you couldn't pay me all the money in the world to ever drink carbonation again. It's just not worth the risk.

Generally speaking, the rule is no more than 1 cup of food per meal. Less than a cup is fine but don't exceed 1 cup.

You were just banded on August 17. The first 4-6 weeks after surgery are for healing, not losing. My best advice would be to put the scale away until you are at least back on solid foods and try to make good food choices in the meantime. It's not at all uncommon for people not to lose during the healing process or even gain a little. Hang in there and be patient as your body heals

You were just banded on August 24. The first 4-6 weeks after surgery are for healing, not losing. My best advice would be to put the scale away until you are at least back on solid foods and try to make good food choices in the meantime. It's not at all uncommon for people not to lose during the healing process or even gain a little. Hang in there and be patient as your body heals

I use the Lose It! app to track my calories. One of the bonuses is the fact it also has restaurant foods in it, so I can look at the calories and nutritional breakdown of foods before I order. I found this to be particularly helpful because looks can be deceiving. You'd think a tuna sandwich would have less calories than a burger, but if the tuna is loaded with fatty mayo the burger is actually less calories. Same with chicken, if it's cooked in a fatty manner, you'd be shocked how much calories things like chicken strips really are.

You might also want a robe. You'll be expected to be up and walking fairly soon and we all know those stupid hospital gowns don't cover your backside. I wore mine to cover my exposed butt so I could get to the bathroom without flashing anyone lol.

It sounds like you definitely need more Fluid in your band, then. Before I had adequate fluid in mine, I concentrated on calories. I knew I was going to be starving in an hour or two after only a cup of food, so I spread out my daily calories to allow me to eat every couple hours. For me, that was what allowed me to consistently lose even before I had good restriction.

Here's an interesting piece of info most people don't know: Your body can only process about 25g of Protein at a time. Anything beyond that you're not really getting or using. So even if your Protein shake says it has 40g of protein you're still only utilizing 25g. This is why most medical grade protein supplements only have 20g-30g of protein per serving. So, keep that in mind when you're tracking your daily protein. You may not be getting as much protein as you think. "A moderate serving of high-quality protein maximally stimulates skeletal muscle protein synthesis in young and elderly subjects. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 2009. So, what did these landmark studies show? Well, the first study showed that when college-aged weight-trainers drink 0g, 5g, 10g, 20g, or 40g of protein after a weight training session, muscle protein synthesis is stimulated maximally at the 20g dose. Interestingly, there were no further increases in muscle protein synthesis at the 40g dose. Similarly, in the second study, when young and elderly volunteers were given 30 or 90g of dietary protein in a single meal, the 30g dose maximally stimulated muscle protein synthesis. Again, there were no further increases in muscle protein synthesis at the 90g dose."

I'm sorry you're struggling. When you say you have no restriction, are you aware of what the band is and isn't supposed to do? The band isn't supposed to make you feel full, nor is it supposed to restrict what or how much you eat. The only thing the band is supposed to do is help you to feel satisfied on less food for longer periods of time. Satisfied means not physically hungry but has nothing to do with the sensation of being full. Carbs aren't necessarily a bad thing so long as you're eating smart carbs in moderation. As far as bigger portions, there's a saying around here that is very true: "Just because you can eat something it doesn't mean you should". Stick to the band portion of a cup or less of food per meal. About how many calories do you eat in a day? Do you get in all your Protein daily?

You'll have to check with your insurance, all insurance companies are different in their requirements.

Oh here- See your picture on the very top right of your screen? Click that, it'll go to your profile. Then, click the edit profile button. Next go to the "my surgery" tab and you can enter your info there

That all depends on your age, skin elasticity, and the amount of weight you have to lose. Even if you're young, if you have a huge amount to lose, you could still have lose skin. Unfortunately no one can really predict that. btw- you should fill out your profile so we can better answer your question.

I'm almost 8 months post op and I eat bread, pasta, and rice regularly. I just buy whole grain breads and pasta and brown rice.

Oh that absolutely sucks!! Hmmm...well....what if you bought a piece of clothing you really like but buy it two sizes too small? Use it as incentive to get you through the whole process? You could also use this time to get better familiar with nutritional labels on food, get an idea what's healthy and what's not. Or, I use an an app called Lose It! to track my food and calories. You could start playing with an app like that so you get a feel the nutritional breakdown of different foods.

Are you sure you can't lose weight? If the insurance has already approved the surgery, then it's a done deal. In fact many people who have pre-op diets lost weight and dip below the 40 BMI intentionally. Check with your surgeon's office to be sure, but if it's already been approved, then it shouldn't matter if you lose a little before surgery.

I agree, you're young and have under 100 pounds to lose so you might not have the lose skin if you do a lot of toning exercises. Oh to fill out your profile. Look at the top right of the screen. See your picture? Click it then click the "edit profile" button on the upper right side of your profile. The tab called "my surgery" is where you enter in all your surgical info. Best wishes!