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Oh, boy, do I remember that feeling. It wasn't that long ago! I looked at the four hour appointment block as fun, because it made the whole process seem so REAL finally. The nutritionist was very nice, very enthusiastic, and super supportive, so that was great, and the exercise class was pretty basic stuff...if you've done any exercise classes before, you'll already understand all the info. The doctor wasn't my favorite, but he was thorough and the exam was routine, except for the EKG (which, of course, I had to make interesting). And you're lucky with your lab tests. I had to have a few of them redone because of my wonky results. My blood refuses to be normal As for the "last meal syndrome," do try not to look at it that way. There's no reason to think you won't EVER get to have certain foods again. The point of the band, to my mind, is to aid you in eating normally, meaning you can eat all foods, but you will more easily control your portions and eat fewer calories. 6 weeks after banding, I'm able to eat anything I try so long as I follow the rules of small bites, chewing til the cows come home (and probably looking like I'm chewing my cud!), and eating slowly. If you don't have that "never again" mentality, it might be easier to resist shoving it all in before the pre-op diet deadline. Best of luck!

The excitement of the moment is that I will be getting my fence fixed! Yay! In a remarkable stroke of luck, I got a phone call last week from a detective with the local police department (this was entirely different from the department that took my report of the fence damage...since I live outside the incorporated city limits, the sheriff's department had jurisdiction over my report). It turns out that she was in the neighborhood the morning of the incident and actually SAW a tow truck hit my fence, tear it down, then turn and flee the scene. Since she was out of jurisdiction, she didn't stop them, but she made note of the name of the towing company and tracked down their phone number. When she called them and explained that the driver could be arrested because he hadn't stopped to exchange info or report the hit and run, suddenly the company was happy to contact me and arrange to pay for the fence repair. So next week, I'll have the fencing company out to replace nearly 40 ft of damaged fence. Woohoo! Other than that, I'm mostly holding my breath. My daily weigh-ins seem very promising this week, but I'm scared to believe it yet. I haven't been doing anythig really differently than I have over the last 2 weeks, when I began varying my calorie intake daily. Actually, that's not quite true. The one thing I've altered a little bit is that I've been much better about drinking water since my last weigh-in. I still don't drink nearly the amounts you hear recommended (2/3 of your body weight in ounces??? I'd end up drowning myself!!!), but I've been getting in a minimum of 8 glasses of fluid and guaranteeing that at least 6 of them are pure water. So maybe that's actually helping? I've heard people before swear up and down that drinking water can help you lose weight, but I guess I'm just stubborn and hadn't really paid attention to it before. Silly me. Anyway, official weigh-in is on Wednesday, and I've got my fingers crossed that the number on the scale from this morning either holds steady or continues to drop. We'll see!

I use MyFitnessPal, too. I have it on my iPad and my iPhone and it automatically syncs the information I enter in one device to the other, so I never have to worry about keeping track. When you set up an MFP account, you enter your weight, height, age, activity level and whether you want to lose 0.5, 1, 1.5, or 2 lbs per week. Then it automatically calculates your calories and nutritional needs for each day (I find the calorie level too high, so I adjust accordingly). I originally started using it to track my grams of Protein, since I had trouble keeping track of those. My nutritionist wants me eating 50-60 grams or more per day. MFP recommends about 55, so that works well for me. The program has a huge database of food already in there, so you just type in what you ate, and it calculates the calories and nutritional info for you and keeps a running tally. I LOVE it. It's my favorite toy. I use all the MFP info and just set my own calorie level, which I put at about 1000. I have found, though, after years of dieting and about 6 weeks of being banded, that I lose better when I vary my calories a bit. Some days I only eat 850 and some days I eat up to 1200 (once in a great while I eat 1300-1400, but generally I regret it and I might gain a few ounces the next day), but when MFP sums up my eating at the end of the week, I average around 1000/day and this seems to be working for me for slow, steady weight loss. Best of luck!

Stace, I think everyone is different as far as the rate of weight loss. I was banded 6.5 weeks ago and have lost 18.8 lbs since beginning my pre-op diet, so it's been fairly slow for me. BUT, I weigh myself daily (record my weight 1/week) and this week it looks like I might have a bigger loss than I have been. Not sure what's different, since I haven't changed anything, but it just goes to show that weight loss is a mysterious and unexplainable process. For most people the rate of loss will fluctuate, so it may slow down for you for a while, then speed up, then slow down again. The important thing is to remember that as long as the weight keeps coming off, you're doing great. Good luck!

I agree that you're expecting a lot. My surgeon told me losses were "usually 1-2 lbs per week." Anytime someone says "usually" you have to figure that some people lose that much, some people lose a lot more and some lose a lot less. I think if we go into this expecting to always be at the high end, we're setting ourselves up for disappointment. So far, I've been a slow loser and that's been tough for me to cope with, but I just keep reminding myself that losing slow is still losing, and that's what I'm after. Best of luck to you. To me, it sounds like you're doing great.

Well, yesterday I was. I was happy for 5 minutes. Maybe 7. I didn't time it (though now I think maybe I should have). I had my weekly weigh in, and for the first time since the week after surgery, I actually lost 1 whole pound. Plus. I lost 1.8 lbs. Yippee! That's like a normal weight loss, right? That means I really CAN lose 1-2 lbs per week just like the surgeon told me. I can be a real bandster! I can lose this *#$#&$%@! weight in less than 5 years! I can do it! I ROOOOCCCCCKKKKKKK! Then I remembered that I lost 0 last week. Zero. Zilch. Goose eggs. The big nothing. Which meant that my mind automatically did the math (I hate when it does that. I hate math.) and calculated that this fact brought my average down to 0.9 lbs for those 2 weeks. Yup, less than a pound a week. Cue 3-year-old temper tantrum. It was a thing of beauty. Seriously. I scared the dogs. At this point, I'm seriously considering adding lithium to my list of supplements. These mood swings can't be healthy. Yesterday, I let my annoyance guide my eating (but I still tracked it all). Today, I'm back to sanity (or my version of it) and reminding myself that I get a fill next week. My second fill. One that will hopefully bring me that much closer to restriction. I want it so bad I can taste it, and it tastes like skinny.

Cynesra, I'm a rider, too. I started when I was 8 and rode and competed until I was 18. When I went to college, I had to stop due to lack of access. That's when I really started gaining weight (before that, I thought I was huge, but I soooo was NOT). After that, I let my weight keep me away from horses for years. 4 years ago, I said to hell with it and bought my own horse. I also looked for a big boy sturdy enough to carry me, but that means he's 16.2! I would never try to mount from the ground, and frankly, all of the places I've ridden at in the last 4 years use mounting blocks anyway for the safety of both horse and rider. Don't let the inability to ground mount get you down. Use a block and get the exercise. Riding burns plenty of calories and best of all, it's too much fun to feel like exercise! Hope your knee feels better soon!

Calcium citrate is recommended over calcium carbonate for all women because it is more easily absorbed by the body than calcium carbonate. That said, when I can't find the citrate, I will occasionally take the carbonate. Some calcium is better than none after all!

I would follow your doctor's instruction. My pre-op diet was nothing but skim milk and no-calorie Clear liquids for 2 weeks. Not something anyone could live on indefinitely, but the pre-op diet is temporary and short terms, so no matter how restrictive it seems, your dr assigned it for a reason. Milk and yogurt are actually fairly high in protein and low in fat (if you choose fat-free or 1%) so it's not as unhealthy as it seems. You can do it for a couple of weeks, and when you look back, you'll be pretty darned proud of yourself!

LOL. I think the food dreams are pretty common. A day or two before surgery, I dreamt that I made someone bring me fast food after I was banded, but even in the dream, I ate a few bites and threw the rest out, so it was like a subconscious victory! I'm sure you'll do great. Keep the positive attitude and you can't fail.

Also keep in mind that the lapband doesn't start working until it starts to fill up. The first month after surgery is about healing, not weight loss. That's the reason the time between surgery and when you get filled to restriction is called Bandster Hell. Even your first fill won't necessarily bring you the restriction you need to really start losing weight. I know it's hard (trust me, I'm there right now) but the key now is patience and determination. You WILL get through this, and you WILL start to lose weight. You can do this!

Congratulations! New beginnings are amazing sometimes, and I hope yours leads to great things.

Also, if you've ever tried anything like WW, I've heard of some people going to the center where they attended meetings and being able to have the center print out copies of their weigh in records for insurance approval. You might try that! Still, with a bmi near 40 and sleep apea, you shouldn't have a problem. I'll cross my fingers for you.

This is a quick update because things are fairly status quo at the moment. It was a crazy weekend punctuated by the pain of having to go and order my dress for my bff's May wedding. Let me tell you, there's nothing in the world that can slam a new bandster back down to earth like trying on satin dresses in a bridal shop in front of about 97 million mirrors. I mean, I'm doing well, but I've only been banded 6 weeks and am not at restriction yet, so I've lost only a tiny fraction of what I need to. Clothes shopping is still painful. I had picked out the dress ahead of time from photos based on the style, which is one that would generally be quite flattering on me, and since I'm the only bridesmaid, I could have any dress I wanted. I had it in my head that I wanted to buy something that I really loved so I could wear it again and get some use out of it, but when I tried it on, it was really more of a "meh" moment. I liked it fine as a MOH dress, but I didn't love it, which was really disappointing. Then the bff saved the day by reminding me that even if I did buy something I really adored, the chances of my being able to wear it again were pretty slim because in a few months, it wouldn't fit anymore!!! Wow, did that totally change my prespective. Suddenly, all was well again and the dress got ordered. Then this week started out with a bang. Literally. I live on a corner lot which is entirely fenced in three sections, thank goodness. the back yard is separated from the front and side yards and is where the dogs go out to play. The front and the side are more for show with nice plants and stuff (it was landscaped by the previous owners...I have a black thumb for anything except herbs). Well, sometime between 9 am and 11 am yesterday, some a#$@!%)$ took the corner too tight (frankly, based on the look of it, they HAD to have been under the influence of something) and destroyed about 30-40 feet of my fencing in the side yard. Uprooted 4 posts from their concrete moorings and everything. And then just drove off. Leaving me with a huge mess and no chance of compensation for the damage. If anyone had seen the car and given the police a lead, I'd be able to make a claim against the owner's car insurance, but no such luck. I could claim it on my homeowner's insurance, but based on my deductible and the fact that the claim would sit on my policy for the next 5 years, I'm better off just eating the cost. This makes me less than happy. The only bright spot at the moment is that I think I might actually have a real loss this week (fingers crossed). This is based on my daily unofficial weigh-ins. Tomorrow is the real thing, so today I will be watching my salt intake and trying to be extra mindful so that I can maintain any loss I've had long enough to record it tomorrow. Cross your fingers for me, please. I'm kinda sick on losing less than a pound per week. So that's what's going on and why I haven't posted more the last few days. Trust me, if I have a decent loss, I WILL be posting again tomorrow.

I'm doing good! I've lost about 17 lbs so far including the preop diet (10 lbs preop, 5 weeks since banding) but I've only had 1 fill and I don't have good restriction yet. I felt the same way about bypass and sleeve. I can't justify to myself the removal or rerouting of healthy organs. The band surgery was quick and recovery for me was very easy. Dr Jan is a bit remote, but he answers questions clearly and honestly, he did not try to talk me out of the band, and he listened when I went in for my fill about what I wanted and how I was doing. I'm going for my second fill 3/23 (3 weeks after my first fill). So far I'm losing slowly, but I'm okay with slow so lng as the weight does come off and it stays off. I'm very committed to the process, track all my calories and my protein and am building in more exercise, but I think if a person acknowledges that the band is just a tool and that it takes work to lose with it, then there's no reason to get bypass instead. Just remember that while some people lose fast, the average rate with the band is 1-2 lbs per week. Good luck to you! Let me know if you have any questions or anything!

Hey are you going through PeaceHealth Southwest? I ask because you're describing the exact process I went through and even the WLS coordinator ha the same name! I was banded there by Dr Jan on Feb 1st. He's not very warm and fuzzy (brisk and business-like) but when I told him the band was what I wanted and I wouldn't consider bypass, he didn't try to talk me out of it. If the doctor who did your seminar is difficult, try meeting with Dr Jan instead. I couldn't be happier with my decision! (I was seld pay, btw, so my process was super fast and efficient) Best of luck!!!

Hi Victory, Well, the port isn't where I thought it was and I still can't feel it well even when I look for it. Mine is about an inch or two below my largest scar to the right side of my belly. When the dr got ready to do the fill, he had me lay down on the table and then left up my head as if I were going to do a crush. This firms up the abdominal muscles so that when he presses down on the port area, the port can't sink down into anything cushiony so he can feel it easily. Even when I try to do this to myself, I still can't feel my port. I don't think your being unable to feel yours means it's flipped or moved. The doctors have a lot more practice than we do, so he'll be able to get it!

I had my first fill on 2/29. I'm scheduled for a 2nd fill on 3/23. I do notice a tiny difference from before the fill, but I still don't have restriction. Happy to answer questions if anyone has them!

I don't know if this will help, but I found in the end that the only thing I could do was just grit my teeth and stick it out. My pre-op diet was 2 weeks of nothing but skim milk and calorie-free liquids. The first 2-3 days nearly killed me, but after that, it did get easier as my body adjusted. It's best to keep busy and keep distracted, but in the end all you can really do is keep reminding yourself that it's only 1 week and that the rewards will be well worth it. Sending good thoughts your way!

Congratulations. Remember to breathe and try to relax. It will be over in a snap. Everyone has a different recovery experience, but I had next to no pain. Just remember that your surgeon will give you pain meds and you should TAKE THEM! Uncontrolled pain can slow your recovery so don't let it get very uncomfortable. Medicate when your pain rises above a 3 on a 1 to 10 scale. If the meds aren't working well enough, let your doctor know. You need to be comfortable in order to heal. Best of luck and many good thoughts your way!

Not the healthy kind, mind you, that involve long walks over varied terrain where you can breathe the fresh air and move your muscles all in the embrace of nature's beauty. No, I'm referring to the kind of rambles where I attempt to disguise the fact that I have nothing new to say, but feel the need to vent the same old whining on you poor people yet again. Feel free to ignore me. I ignore me half the time. 1) This has not been a good week, loss wise. Despite getting my first fill a week ago today on 2/29, I do not have restriction. Well, barely any. I am able to eat way too much (though admittedly exponentially less than before the band) and my scale is showing me the un-love by reusing to creep downward. If I'm lucky and my daily spot checks are accurate, I can expect to either stay the same, gain a few ounces, or lose at most 0.2 lb when I officially weight in tonight. I find this very discouraging. 2) I made an appointment to return to my dr for another fill as soon as my three week waiting period is up. 3/23 will be fill number two, and I have my fingers crossed that this will give me at least a little restriction. Well, I should be honest. I think I do have a teensy-tinesy bit of restriction now, because I do notice that I stay full longer after eating than I did before my first fill, but I can still eat a cup or more of food at a time, easily, and that's too much. I also have had no trouble eating anything I've attempted from bread, to pasta, to rice, to chicken breast. It all goes down. I need more help here. 3) I'm struggling really hard to keep all of this in perspective and not have a hissy fit over how much weight I'm not losing at the moment. When I see posts form people who've lost 25 lbs since surgery without even a single fill, it takes me a minute to climb down from the clocktower and stow away my rifle. I know it's not helpful to compare myself to others. Everyone is different. Everyone loses at their own pace. I myself have a whacked out metabolism. I know this, and I get a reminder of it everytime I take a dose of sinus medicine or a sleeping pill, because even if I halve the regular dose, it take at least 36 hours for me to work that stuff out of my system. I also have PCOS, which I know makes weight loss slower for most people. but damn it, I want to be losing! That's why I payed for this dratted surgery and went through the process of being knocked out, cut open, and banded. I want the loss. NOW. *picture me stamping my foot and sticking out my lower lip like a three year old being sent to bed early* 4) Last night was my first social special event since being banded. My housemate's coworkers threw her a wedding shower, to which I was invited. I enjoyed attending, but I did overdo a bit on the food. Not horrible (I only went about 70 calories over my high calorie goal for the day) but I still felt like a bit of a failure. I was able to limit myself to 1/2 a glass of wine and 2 buffalo chicken niblets, but someone had made spinach artichoke dip, and I'm a sucker for that stuff. I mean, it calls to me in the seductive tones of a stubbled, sweaty, banged up hockey player (did I mention I looooooooooove hockey? and hockey players... it's a sickness) whispering in my delicate shell of an ear about love and passion and eternal bliss. I ate about a quarter cup of it with crackers and chips. And a few strawberries. And about a teaspoon of brie. And part of a pinwheel wrap. And three bites of cake. Lord help me. I know I should be keeping in mind that I ate a LOT less than I would have pre-band, but my mind just wants to linger on the things I did wrong instead of the things I did right. I hate that. So anywho, like I said nothing I've said here is new or earth shattering, but I have a little bitty problem with patience. Not standing in line patience, or waiting for a package to come patience, but patience with myself when I think I should be reaching a goal. At the moment, my goal is to get back under 200 before my birthday (4/22) and I'm starting to wonder if I'll make it. Trust me, I'll keep making the old college try, but at the moment, I could use a little encouragement. (Hear that, Mr Scale? Throw me a bone, why don't you????)

To anyone who might be interested, I've started a band blog off of LBT. The link is here: http://themagicminimushroom.blogspot.com/ Posts may or may not overlap here and there (they do not at the moment), but I think I probably have enough rants to be okay with both at the moment.

Seriously, there are times when I totally resent having to be a grown up, especially about things I want but am not getting. Those are the times when I want to throw myself down on the floor and have a kicking, wailing, punching, sobbing fit worthy of a sugar-crashing three-year-old. And I could do it. Trust me. I could rock the #$&% out of that. RIght now, I'd like to give in, but instead, I'm just going to whine and trust that if you don't want to hear it, you all know where to find your "back" buttons. I think I'm going to have to resign myself to being a "slow loser." Sheesh, even the term makes me want to gnash my teeth and curse creatively. Really, I still cling to hope that I'm wrong about this and that at some point, something will click in my stubborn little (I mean that metaphorically) body and the pounds will start to drop off at the rate of several lbs per week, but I have the sick, sad feeling that I shouldn't hold my breath about that. Offically, I weigh myself once per week, every Wednesday night. That's the weight I record on my ticker and in MFP, and in my brain, that's the weight I attach to myself. I am what the scale says I am on Wednesday nights. However, that doesn't stop me from weighing in every day or two just to check myself. Or to obsess about my weight; however you want to look at it. Before I had my first fill, it was wasy to blame my eensy-weensy incremental losses on bandster hell. To even be happy (to a small extent) at not having gained. After my fill last week, though, I'm running out of excuses. I'm not so restricted that I can't eat every food I've tried (haven't tried white bread) including rice, pasta, and chicken breast. But, while I can eat what I want, I find myself filling up on a cup of food or so and staying full for 4-5 hours after a meal. From what I've read, that should mean I'm at least close to an appropriate fill. Doesn't that mean I should start really losing now? I'd like to think so, but in the last 5 days, the scale has gone up 0.4 lbs and now down 0.6 lbs, leaving me only 0.2 lbs below my last week's weight. 0.2 lbs? Seriously? Is that all I can expect to lose in a week? Less than 1 lb? How can I lose less than 1 lb when I'm averaging 1000 calories a day, not eating junk, eating my protein first, and not filling up on hi-calorie, low-nutrient sliders? If I'm following the rules, I want to see results, damn it!!! I deserve it!!! Yes, yes, Logical Me realizes that any loss is a step in the right direction and that the goal is to lose slowly and steadily while maintaining my health and my sanity. Well, my health seems assured, but I can't vouch for my sanity. I mean, seriously. This is going to drive me bonkers. My surgeon will allow me to return for another fill in 2-1/2 weeks, and at the moment I'm planning on doing that because I don't think I can deal with losing less that 1 lb per week. I think that might kill me. Or cause me to kill someone else, and really, prison jumpsuit orange would totally make me look sallow.

I have a sad, sad addiction to Saltines. Sad, because they have almost no nutritional value, but they go down just fine. Of course, I am paranoid about chewing everything to the point of it being next to liquid, so that might help. If you're back on solids, then well-chewed crackers eaten in small bites should not be a problem. Bon appetit!

My doctor and nutritionist never said I had to avoid alcohol, just to limit it as I would any other empty calorie food. So I waited until about week 3 (off meds, eating soft solids, and feeling good). Then I caved and had half a glass of white wine. Wow, was that nice!