shermck86

As many of you know, I was stuck for more than a month. I was monitoring my calories, getting in all my Protein and exercising, yet the scale didn't budge. I know, plateaus are normal, but they still suck. Around the time the plateau hit I also started taking birth control pills. I even gained 2 pounds, which for me was the deal breaker. I had to find a way to break the plateau and start losing again.
So I started researching. Low carb, high carb, no carb, etc. I see so many variations on here! What's right? What's wrong? I already knew it was a matter of choice without a clear right or wrong answer, but I also knew individual body needs also played a very big part in it. During my research I kept coming across something called carb cycling, so I decided to look more into it.
Carb cycling is essentially trying to optimize your metabolism by alternating high and low carb days. Body builders often do this to build muscle and burn fat before a contest but it's also very helpful for weight loss. Then one day I turned on Doctor Oz...and wouldn't you know it... it was an episode on carb cycling. Chris Powell, of The Biggest Loser, was on his show talking about he has all the contestants on the show carb cycle and how he does it. For me, this was the point I decided to give carb cycling a try.
Chris Powell's method is specifically for weight loss so I decided to go with his (there's many out there). He has an excellent book called “Choose to Lose: The 7-Day Carb Cycle Solution”.
His theory: No carb diets don't work. It's not sustainable long term and eventually it significantly slows the metabolism. Worse, people who cut out carbs usually end up gaining all their weight back and then some when they do suddenly reintroduce carbs. Carbs are the energy block of the body and a long term lack of carbs will cause the thyroid to slow down significantly.
7 day diet/carb cycling: High carb day followed by low carb day, alternating daily. Start on a high carb day and always eat within 30 minutes of waking up in the morning. Always limit or omit carbs after 6pm.
All this is within your own personal daily calorie allowance.
High carb day/energy day:
Preferably complex carbs. Protein, low fat. unlimited veggies.

Low carb day/burn day:
A little carb in the morning to boost metabolism
Cut carbs the rest of the day.
Protien, healthy fats, unlimited veggies

3 of each/low carb and high carb. 7th day is cheat day
Cheat day:
Boost calories to boost metabolism
Boost to no more than 1000 extra calories a day
Cheat at Breakfast and lunch, not dinner. 6-12pm “behave”
Cheat at a table. Not in a car, or at a sofa, etc. No “hypno binging”
No leftovers allowed.

Mind you, this is the short version of all this. If this interests you, I'd strongly suggest buying his book for a better understanding. It's very enlightening.
...So this is what I've done for the last week. I am very happy to say, carb cycling broke my plateau, despite still being on the birth control pill too. I lost 5.4 pounds this week!
I have decided I am going to continue to carb cycle. I am not a fan of the low carb days, but I am getting more used to them. Plus, I find my "carb cravings" have all but disappeared since starting this- something I didn't think possible.
For me, it's working. I just thought I'd share the results of my little self experiment

Also the plication is suppose to help reduce the band from slipping.

Love your post very inspirational and encouraging thank you for posting.

Good luck on tomorrow. I'm also starting mushie on tomorrow so excite and looking foward to it.

I am @ blessings2310@hotmail.com

I have no friends on MFP but need some accountability.
I'm MellioM there too.

bosslady2012 feel free to add me I'll motivate you

Hello, everybody I had surgery on wednesday everything went well. My doctor had me to stay over as a precaution the fist night. Gas pain is wrost then the surgery pain. I will update a little late.

Hello, everybody I had surgery on wednesday everything went well. My doctor had me to stay over as a precaution the fist night. Gas pain is wrost then the surgery pain. I will update a little late.

On my way to the hosiptal surgery @ 11am please pray for me and i will update later god bless all who are being bsnd today.

It makes total sense. A lot of us use our fat as an actual shield from the world. We assume everyone is going to reject us so we use it as an excuse to reject them first. It's a nasty, viscous cycle, because the more we isolate ourselves because of our poor self esteem and fat, the more we eat and worse we feel, and worse our self esteem gets.
When we start to lose that buffer between us and the world, that excuse we always used to isolate ourselves, it gets scary. Some people truly can't handle life if they're obese, it's too much for them to handle mentally. This is actually a perfect example why counseling can be such a huge help when dealing with WLS and obesity.
It's a big adjustment, I struggle with it and I'm not even to my goal yet. As miserable as I was before I was banded, there was also a genuine sense of security in it too. I used it as my excuse to isolate myself and when I did have to face others, I was all to happy if I was just ignored, for fear of being ridiculed if someone actually did take notice.
Now, after losing 143 pounds, I have some weird moments. I'm still a fat a girl but I'm a heck of a lot less fat than I was and shrinking every day. The positive attention I get because of my weight loss can make me so uncomfortable at times. Oh and male attention freaks me right out!! I am in shock and awe when I catch a man smiling at me, or worse, actually trying to strike up a conversation or flirt with me. It's like during all my years as a miserable huge girl I became totally socially inept when it comes to dealing with the opposite sex.
I can totally understand how some people freak out and self sabotage to regain their weight and their comfort zone. Losing weight is a wonderful adventure but man it can be an intimidating and scary one, too.

Wishing all of you a speedy recovery and god bless.

Good Morning All.
Hope all is having a great morning. I have am feeling good and would have to say I am so shocked I am not feeling as hungry as I thought I would so glad about that. When I do feel a little hungry I eat SF popsicle and drink a bottle of Water and I am fine.
Today I put my lil chunky monkey in her stroller (well my mom helped cuz i cant lift her) and we went walkin. We walked for almost an hour and didnt realize it but I felt good and no pain at all. So hopefully when I go for my wk follow up on Monday I would have lost a few pounds, but if not I will NOT let that discourage me in getting this weight off just means I will have to work a little harder.
Have a Blessed Day

My pray and thoughts are with u and your family. Congrats on your weight loss.

Congrats on your new journey and i will be pray for you.

I spent the day grocery shopping, cleaning and preparing some meals and freezing them for my family. I am not too nervous. I just wish people would stop telling me "I hope nothing happens". Is that supposed to make me feel better?? Someone even went so far as to say I could die. I just told them that when God is ready to take me he will no matter what I'm doing or where I am. I am not afraid at the moment. Not to say I won't be anxious once I go to bed tonight or when I get there in the morning but for now I'm totally okay.

Congratulation and wishing u a speedy recovery.

Aha! I knew that title would get your attention! Are you thinking that Jean, a very vocal, longtime band fan, has finally lost her mind (on which she never did have a very firm grip)?


No, I haven’t lost my mind. I still think the band is grand and I still wish I still had mine, but because I want everybody to succeed at weight loss, I feel duty-bound to tell you some reasons not to have adjustable gastric band surgery.
So here goes, in no particular order.
Don’t have band surgery if…
You’re phobic about needles. Right now, a needle is the only way to get Fluid into the band. The fill needle is not a big, scary one, and you don’t have to look at it at all if you prefer, but it’s still a needle.
You believe that band surgery cures obesity. Obesity is an incurable, chronic disease with the very real potential for recurrence. Weight regain can happen to anyone.
You think that once you get to your goal weight, your weight loss journey stops. Nope. It’s only just begun. Next you’ll have to maintain that weight loss for the rest of your life, and that takes vigilance and hard work.
You’re a self-pay planning on having surgery in Mexico or elsewhere out of country. What are you going to do if you have a problem or complication or just need another fill or unfill? Travel back to the Mexican clinic? Try to get help locally? Finding a US-based bariatric clinic that will accept patients who had surgery overseas is not easy, and once you do find one, you’re probably going to have to pay a non-refundable program fee, from $200 to $2000.
You can’t afford the time and expense for frequent follow up visits for fills, unfills, and other medical care. Even if your insurance covers those visits, you’ll have to take time off work, arrange for child care or pet care, fill your car’s gas tank, and shell out a co-pay.
You're a self-pay and don't have money or plans for dealing with fills, unfills, and possible complications. See above.
You hope to lose weight without getting any fills. Sorry, but it probably won’t work that way. See above.
You expect to lose a pound+ a day. Average weight loss with the band is 1-2 pounds/week. That average includes people who lost weight faster as well as people who lost no weight at all. Rapid initial weight loss is usually related to fluid retention, not fat loss.
You believe that slow weight loss with the band will prevent sagging skin. According to several plastic surgeons I’ve asked about this, your age and genetics have the most influence on how your skin will respond to massive weight loss. The rate of weight loss has little or anything to do with it.
You expect to experience restriction and lose weight steadily from the moment you wake up after surgery. Most band patients need several fills to achieve optimal restriction, plus more fills and unfills (or adjustments) to maintain that restriction, and virtually no one loses weight at a steady rate. My weight loss was extremely uneven – down 1#, down .5#, up .75#, down 1.75#, down 0/up 0, down .25#, and so on.
You believe in the sweet spot or perfect restriction. Restriction is constantly changing, just like our bodies, because of dozens of quite ordinary factors (food choices, eating and drinking habits, weight loss, time of day or month, illness, medications, stress, etc.). If you think you’ll lose weight only at the mythical sweet spot, you’re going to spend energy on frustration that could be better applied to changing your eating behavior.
You’re not willing to follow pre- and post-op liquid and puree diets. No, liquid and puree diets are not fun, but they’re short-term. When I was banded, I had 36 years ahead of me, assuming that I live as long as my mother did. That’s 12,672 days. My pre- and post-op liquid diets used up a whopping 17 days. Do the math. Even if you add in post-fill liquids and purees, those liquid and puree days represent a teeny, tiny fraction of my life.
You believe you’ll never be hungry again. Maybe, maybe not. The fact that you feel hungry 5 hours after a meal doesn’t mean your band isn’t working. It just means that your body needs fuel. And part of your ongoing work as a bandster is going to be figuring out whether you’re feeling physical hunger or “head” hunger.
You think the band is going to do all the work for you. The band has no magic ingredient that triggers weight loss once it’s wrapped around your stomach. All it does is affect your hunger and appetite. The band is not going to make good food choices, practice Portion Control or banish the demons who make you eat when you’re stressed or bored. Nor is it going to exercise for you. Success with the band is the result of a joint effort between you, your band, your surgeon and dietitian.
Have a don't-have-band-surgery reason to add to this list? Post it in the comment section!

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.

Hello everyone my name is Cherell. I'm 30 years old and weight 298 pounds. I have been overweight just able all my life even as a child. I have tried multiple weightloss solutions but will lose and regain that and more.On today i recieved my surgery date I'm extremely happy and nervous at the sametime. But I'm ready to start the new phase of my life. I'm looking forward to sharing my journey with you all. Thanks

Honestly' date=' he is the best! I have experienced very minimal pain, it is def not as painful as I had anticipated. I know that it's all thanks to him, I was really scared because of some of the comments but went on with it anyways and I am so glad I did. I lost almost 14 pounds just since the surgery which was on may 1st. Please feel free to message me if you have any questions or concerns...I know I was looking so bad to find someone that had gone through the same procedure but had no luck!