Longhorn

Mine is low-carb: limit 30 grams of fat and 30 grams of carbs and at least 70 grams of protein but no calorie restriction.

I'm on day two of a two-week pre-op low-carb diet. My doctor said he wasn't too concerned about shrinking my liver due to my size but I'm going to follow it to a T. I'm not weighing myself but I am taking this whole process seriously!

I really like your attitude, Kacee, I guess because I completely agree! Just because I'm having surgery on November 1, I'm not expecting the weight loss to begin on that day. It will begin when the band starts working for me. That doesn't mean I won't follow the prescribed diet but I'm not even going to weigh myself at home. I won't know if I gain or lose in those first few weeks so I won't be obsessing about whether I gained in the hospital or lost after the first few weeks (unless my clothes start fitting better. ) For once, I'm going to focus on what and how I eat and not the results. But like you, my nutritionist said that I do not have to be hungry, just eat good foods when I am. That's my plan! Thanks for your wise words! :clap2:

My attitude is that this is a process and not an "instant cure." If I don't lose weight until I get restriction, then that's how long the process takes. I'm not even going to weigh myself at home. I've lost weight quickly before and it's a lot of fun but gaining it back is horrible. So my focus this time -- for the last time -- is to lose whatever I lose but to never gain it back. My nutritionist said I do not have to be hungry but just make good food choices when I am. When I allow myself to get really hungry, that's when I'm most out of control. One way that will help me is to not have anything but good food in my house. I realize that this is just my attitude and not yet my experience!

I'm paying $12000 for the surgeon, hospital, anesthesiologist, and one year of after care, including free fills. In addition, it's $250 for the initial consultation, $150 for the psych eval, $75 for the nutritionist visit, plus labs, some of which may be covered by my insurance. I considered going to Dr. K in Denver where my daughter lives but was concerned about the convenience of flying to Denver for after-care. Same concern with going to Mexico and even down to San Antonio, 90 miles away. I'm an adjunct faculty and hourly tutor so I get no sick leave and can't miss classes. Also my schedule changes every semester. For me, it's better to stay local where I can fit an appointment in here and there without missing work.

Wow, yes, I'm sure you filled the doorway like I did! I didn't know I was having twins until after the first was born since "back in the day," my doctor wasn't doing routine ultrasounds. But it's a surprise whenever you find out, huh? Both my twins got married this past spring -- enjoy them while they're relatively inexpensive! :clap2:

I have twins, too, and two singletons! Mine are 26-year-old identical girls with a 28-year-old sister and 23-year-old brother. Since my twins were three days late and 8-1/2 and 7 pounds, you can imagine how huge I was!

Also, my doctor told me that they can unfill it during placement, if necessary.

Slim Fast does have a low-carb version. My nutritionist even recommended it. I haven't checked it out yet.

I can't seem to find a direct comparison. However, it's my understanding that the Realize band is only new to the U.S. -- that it's the Swedish Adjustable Band that has been used in Europe for many years. Even the Johnson & Johnson website doesn't have info yet and they say it will be available in December. However, I'll bet some of the Mexican sites have info because I believe a lot of them have been using the Swedish bands. One reason they haven't used them as much on U.S. patients is that U.S. doctors are more used to the Inamed/Allergan bands when it comes to fills.

I'm *only* 5'8" -- that used to be tall! But I do wear size 11 shoes. I lost 70 pounds four years ago on Medifast. I did find that I could wear some size 10 shoes but I need size 11 for the length, not the width and I've never had to wear the wider sizes. Also, I got down to size 12 and even a few size 10s. I was 165 pounds.

Inamed is a division of Allergan. Until recently, the Inamed/Allergan band was the only FDA-approved band. However, the Realize band was approved on September 28 of this year. FDA Approves REALIZE™ Adjustable Gastric Band For Morbid Obesity

Howdy, Bobbi! I graduated from Klein High School and most of my family still lives in Spring. I even got my driver's license in Conroe many, many years ago. Dripping Springs is just outside of Austin. I've lived in this area since I came up here to go to UT in 1973 and I do love it (though I'd also love to move to Colorado, especially in about August!) Yes, we'll definitely be sharing this experience and I look forward to that!

I started my pre-op diet today. It's just a low-carb diet with an eye on low-fat. I have one of those toasters that cooks an egg and heats a slice of Canadian bacon at the same time, resulting in a sandwich similar to an Egg McMuffin. So I made the egg and bacon without the muffin and added a slice of low-fat cheese. That was pretty filling and a good start! But I need to go to the store and stock up. I'm almost out of diet soda and I won't be getting any more. I'm going to start drinking Propel instead, something I already like. I'm also going to get one of those coolers that plugs into the car's lighter socket so that I can have cold drinks when I commute. I realized yesterday that the reason I like diet soda is that I like my drinks cold and the carbonation makes a drink "feel" cold even when it's not. I really don't like room-temperature Water or other drinks and I don't like drinks that are diluted by ice (well, then water would be okay. ) I'm not too picky, am I? But at my age, I've learned not to try to change too many things at once and there will be enough changes just getting used to chewing more and eating more slowly.

Congrats, vanessav! It would probably be better for me to wait until December or January when I'm between semesters (I teach at a community college) but I just want to get this going! So I'm going to cancel a couple of classes and hope I'm able to go back to school on Tuesday after a Thursday surgery. I know you're excited to get the surgery moved up!

My doctor said that it takes time to get used to each fill. He said, for example, that eventually we might be able to handle 7 cc's but not if we add it all at once. So your unfill followed by a fill may just be a sign that it was too much, too soon. I hope the next one works out for you!

wintersunshine: You sound like my kind of gal! I'm really impressed with how you handled this thread! I saw my doctor for my initial consultation yesterday and will have the surgery on November 1. I had some of the same concerns you did, especially after reading some of the posts here where it sounded like people were still on diets. There's nothing wrong with that but I also wondered if this was going to be a "diet with the added threat of puking" -- sort of an "aversion-therapy diet." I asked my doctor and he said that the incidents of vomiting and sliming and getting stuck are probably over-reported here -- first, because it's not the same people every time but if everyone reported it ONCE, it would sound like a lot more incidents, and second, because we tend to come to a board like this when we need information and/or support, which we need more after a negative incident. Anyway, his experience with his patients is that these incidents are much more rare. He's pretty conservative in how much he adds during fills -- only two unfills in four or five years! -- which means I will need to be patient about weight loss, which I am. I just want to know that it will eventually come off AND, more importantly, that it will never come back! His food schedule of Clear Liquids, full liquids/pureed foods, and soft foods lasts four to five months just so that I can get used to the band gradually and have fewer of the negative incidents. I'm all for that! The nutritionist said that I should be able to eat almost any food eventually, only in much smaller quantities. She also said that I shouldn't be hungry so if I am, I need to eat something. However, I need to make sure that it is true hunger and not "head hunger," something that will take some learning. Good luck in your research and ultimate course of action!

I'm set for November 1! I barely made it into the November group! 1st PattyPoo Nessa3678 brandymom1234 Mom_of_Chuy Longhorn 2nd lindata lizzie_07 KristinaDawnB lindseyann2u 5th DLW Forest Cat Hungryforchange 6th ndmom jetti 7th Goldie1109 susieq125 shadst83 MyLady 8th anw5102 Cota129 needto 9th Banded4Life neen7171 maccy mariaxoxo4u 10th Selisejohnson omlagirl jen6740 12th jrsyshoregrl684 suebob 13th vanessav Princessannod1 CCFRA 14th dream'n2bthin 15th steph_cn 19th Mrs Smartypants 27th 731Shawty Julie-Ann 28th lukin 29th Sassafras

I think what wintersunshine was saying is, IF the experience is the same with the band as without, then why get the band? Frankly, that was my first reaction, too, when I started reading these boards. It's easy to get that impression when you read the same kinds of threads that you can find on any diet board regarding plateaus, counting calories or points, cheating, starving, etc. I'm glad this thread was started because the answers have been very informative. I think the point y'all are making is that it is possible to not lose or even gain with the band and that, yes, we still have to make healthy decisions about what, how much, and how often we eat and whether we exercise BUT the band, when used correctly, helps us by forcing us to slow down, eat less, and make better choices to keep us feeling full. I appreciate the OP, who has responded politely when asking for more information or clarification. We all want to make the right choice. When I read about some of the drawbacks, I sometimes wonder if this is right for me because I have a relatively low BMI. Is it worth it to possibly experience the unpleasant side effects to lose 70 pounds and potentially keep it off the rest of my life? If it was GUARANTEED that I would vomit in public, experience horrendous chest pains, and be very limited in what I could eat, maybe not. But the more I read, the more I believe that these things are not guaranteed but are possibilities. And I AM willing to risk the POSSIBILITY of these side effects if it means I can finally lose this weight and keep it off.

So are you going through Dr. Ganta? I just called his office today and I have a consult tomorrow! I'm so excited! I'm self-pay so I may be able to have my surgery in as little as two weeks. And it's only $12,500, plus pre-op expenses, but including a full year of after-care including free fills. If you haven't already, check out this article from the Austin Chronicle: The Austin Chronicle: Food: Enough Is Enough!: I've been a food critic for 15 years. I've been overeating all my life. Recently, I decided enough is enough! Let's keep in touch!

I'm a math teacher so I'll use a little math on you. Every pound you lose represents a greater percentage of your weight than the previous pound. For example, if you weigh 300 pounds, the first 30 pounds lost is 10 percent of your weight. However, the next 30 pounds is 30/270 or about 11 percent. The next 30 pounds is 30/240 or 12.5 percent. So the more you lose, the more an objective person will see it. However, we tend not to be objective about ourselves so we don't see it the way others do. That's why the suggested pictures can help -- for some reason -- maybe because we don't look at photos of ourselves as often as we see ourselves in the mirror -- we see ourselves more objectively in photos. Anyway, be patient. It's not a race and this time, we can be more confident that it's the last time!

I saw a commercial for something called Joint Juice that I'm going to check into for my glucosamine. I just need to see how many calories and how much sugar.

Hi, Kristina! I'd really rather stay in Austin, if I can. I teach at ACC and can't take off easily. But thanks for the recommendation and I hope all goes well for you. I'll be watching your progress!

My doctor's office called to reschedule my consultation. That's throwing everything off because I can't just cancel classes and take off so I won't get in now until October 30. He has also changed his protocol -- I can't get the pysch eval until I see the doctor which means they can't be done on the same day. I'm going to use this time to check into other doctors, just in case. This change is a reminder how inconvenient it is to go to another city, even one that is an hour and a half away, when there are good doctors right here in Austin! I still hope I get to be a November bandster!

I did that the last time I lost 70 pounds. Actually, I gave most of them to my sister who was also losing weight but was a few sizes bigger. I had to ask for them back but she had gained also and couldn't wear them any more. I don't expect it to be as much of a problem this time since I don't plan on regaining the weight, but I didn't "plan" to last time, either. I just ended up having to buy more clothes! It's fun when you're losing and very depressing when you're gaining! I'm afraid the weight can come back whether the clothes are there or not. And I really tried hard not to regain the weight, too!