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You can do it!!!! I'm pulling for you! :wink2:

You'll have a better chance of losing if you choose lean Protein and produce for your meals. Or high Fiber foods like Beans or lentils. Orea

I didn't lose too well with South Beach, but I realize now I ate too much cheese and too many nuts and other high fat things. I didn't think so at the time! :thumbup:

I was told no more than four ounces! I'm doing it, but I'm having more than 3 "meals" a day. I refuse to be hungry any more than necessary. I'd rather have more, smaller meals and protect my pouch for now, while things are healing.

Wishing you the best of luck! You know, one thing that strikes me as odd is that your Kaiser probably asked for a 10% weight loss, while mine only required 3%. Which at the time was a little over 10 pounds. Go figure. You'd think they'd be more consistent. I've been working hard at weight loss for 16 months with varying degrees of success. Finally this year I got it figured out with the help of the dietician at the hospital, whom I saw as part of the Aetna 3 month intensive qualificaton program. I was almost there, but had stalled, and she helped me tweak what I was doing. I had already long since cut out sweets, sugars, white flour products, etc. And I was eating lots of veggies, both cooked and in salads. So I was doing a lot of it right. I was eating too many fats, for one thing. And she said to look for easy ways to cut 100 calories. That got me really looking at what I was eating and where I could pare it down. I joined CalorieKing.com and started journaling every bite I ate. I found out some of the things I was eating were far worse than I realized. I was screaming periodically for the first two weeks! For example, my favorite Panera sandwich is over 1,000 calories! And that didn't include the chips or the lemonade I usually had with it. I was shocked at the calorie count of plain cooked rice! I started finding which foods satisfied me for the least cost and highest nutrition. This past March 9, when I joined Calorieking, I weighed 364. The day before my surgery, I weighed 321. I'm proud that I did this much myself, and I have to say that the way I was eating, with the lean Proteins, all of the piles of veggies and whole grains and Beans and such, I felt better than I have ever felt. Period. Now that I am on pureed/mushies, I'm adding in those beans and soft veggies because I love them and want them. And I missed them! Let me know if I can help you further in any way. Good luck! Orea

I have "Aetna Open Access HMO" and i live in Northern Virginia. My surgery was done at Fair Oaks Hospital, by Dr. Daniel Tran. I've had no major gas pains, only minor discomfort, and no left shoulder pain. My problem was with drug induced nausea. I started feeling pretty good by day 5 and today have only minor soreness. The weight is falling off this week! Long may it last. :-) Orea

Jazzey, don't give up! I left Kaiser for Aetna this year to get this surgery because I was very unimpressed with the program they offered. I was banded July 30 by a wonderful surgical team. I didn't have to lose weight successfully (although I did!), I just had to jump through the hoops as prescribed. My surgeon's office and the hospital were fabulous help with this. You can make this happen! Orea

BRAVO, TPB!!! That's the attitude! Orea

People just don't understand the difference between the band and the bypass. I tend to tell them that it will help me lose 1-2 pounds per week, as if I were doing something like WW. I might add that it can take months to get the band adjusted right for the process to start. Educating the world, one person at a time! :thumbup::wink_smile: Orea

The first six weeks is for healing, not losing. If you do lose, ti's great, but not everyone will. The band doesn't work until it is properly adjusted, which is different for each individual. It may take 2 or 3 or 6 or even more fills for the band to start reducing our appetite the way we want it to. We need to keep the faith, do our best to follow the rules, and develop patience. If you follow most of the rules most of the time, you'll be 50 to 100 pounds lighter this time next year. Hold that thought. Hugs, Orea (Off to my first postop appointment!):cry_smile:

In a year or so, you'll be slender and gorgeous -- and he'll still be a neanderthal a**h*le! Pity the woman who falls for hiim next, for he'll discard her when he tires of her, too. Or when she starts to show some age. Talk about shallow and immature. If there is justice, he'll fall for someone someday and get dumped for a similar shallow reason. I'm so grateful that my husband of 34 years has truly loved me "through thick and thin". He deserves better than I have been able to give him due to my weight hampering me, but I plan to do better when I can. But he does know that no one will ever love him as much as I do. :-) And that counts for a lot. Orea

Pati, you have a great attitude. You'll do well! Congrats on your upcoming surgery. You are a week behind me. :-) This is day 5 for me and I am actually starting to feel like myself again. <doing the happy dance> Pati, if you have some rough days early on as I did, remember me and tell yourself it won't last long. Hugs, Orea

I envy you the pool! I used to love to walk in ours when we had one. Oh, and don't forget cottage cheese! I'm having DH pick some up for me tomorrow in anticipation. :-) Orea

I agree that it is confusing and even tempting that every doctor has a different protocol. When I get tempted to stray, I remember what my mentor, Jessie Ahroni says: "Do you really want to be the one to tell your surgeon that you broke his rules because somebody on the Internet told you it was okay?" That says it all for me. As for pizza, I love it dearly. But my understanding is that breads are difficult for most bandsters and also not conducive to weight loss. I knew this when I chose the operation and I choose to do my best to lose weight until I get where I want to be. Which is more important, tiny pants or pizza? We each get this kind of choice every hour of every day. Let's make the most of our opportunity. Hugs, Orea

I was told to choose 2T. Protein and 2 T. pureed veggies or fruit for a meal. Here are some ideas from the classes I took: refried Beans with a little sour cream and salsa mash up a hard boiled egg with a little light mayo for a soft egg salad ground up chicken, ham, or tuna with a little light mayo soft fish beans or bean Soup soft cooked veggies of your choice. If you can mash it with a fork, it's good. applesauce pureed canned fruit of your choice a little oatmeal with a tablespoon of smooth Peanut Butter stirred in I don't get to start this until Wednesday, can't wait! Hope this helps. Orea

I'm five days out today. I'm starting to feel better, but the first few days were pretty rocky. I still tire easily. I still need naps at unexpected moments, but I'm getting a little better every day. This is the tough part, and we will get through it. We won't feel like this forever. We made a wise decision in the interest of our health and our quality of life, long term. This is pay in advance. We get our payback later. Be good to yourself, and allow yourself time to heal. Not everyone bounces back. I know I didn't. Almost every seasoned bandster I know, loves their band and wouldn't part with it for the world. Hold that thought. And, think also about how you'll feel this time next year when you are 50-100 pounds slimmer! Gentle Hugs, Orea

I hope she finds a man who deserves her. :-)

Momffive, when you responded to Jeter, you "subscribed" to the thread. It may seem like they are all writing to you, but I don't think they are. You can unsubscribe and you won't be getting notes about all of the responses, if you prefer. Jeter, they've said it all. (Family or not, people like that have no place in my life. What they say and how they act says everything about them and nothing about me. Surely everyone who knows her, sees her pattern of lies and trashing people and takes it with the respect such trash deserves.) Blessings, Orea

What has really gotten me over the years, is the people who seem to believe that overweight = stupid. I was about 21 and 5'2" when a gyn at the army medical center said to me, "You know, if we cut you in half, we'd have two 95 pound girls!" Clever, wasn't he? Obviously he thought so. I was young and "nice" then (not so much either now), or I would have replied, "You'd have two 95 pound halfwits!" Around the same time, a dietician there said to me, "You know, 190 pounds is a lot for you." Gee, I thought it was just fine. Flash forward to last fall when I had my first appointment with the dietician at Kaiser Permanente to start on the bariatric surgery requirement protocol. She had the nerve to look at me seriously and say: "You know if you have this surgery, you'll have to eat less." I shot back, "I thought that was the point!" (You see that 32 years have made me more...forthcoming.) I left Kaiser at my first opportunity and started my band journey over rather than deal with her idiocy (and a few other related reasons). But my point to all of you is this: What these stupid, insensitive idiots say, says everything about them and nothing about you! It's abusive behavior and not your fault. Hold your head high and be the best person you can be. They can and probably will rot in hell if there is any justice in the afterworld. :smile: Hugs, Orea

Sandy, you've got it! :wink2: I'll post as soon as I can. We are on the threshold of a new life! Hugs, Orea

I'm in Northern VA. I'll be at the Fair Oaks Hospital in Fairfax. Great place, from what I have seen so far. 10 AM according to the schedule. Thanks for your prayers! Orea

I'll take all the good wishes and prayers I can get! LOL I believe those things really make a difference. I'm hoping my surgery time doesn't get pushed back. That would be miserable! I can eat - or rather, drink, and I am on liquids today - until midnight (and take my morning meds later with just enough water to get them down), but I hope to be fast asleep long before then! :wink2: I swear, my body knows something is up, I am SO HUNGRY today!

Good luck and God bless, Mich! :thumbup: Orea

Thank you! I'm feeling calm, ready and just a little excited. :-) The hard part will be jumping up early and hitting the shower first thing while still groggy. I've been trying to adjust my sleeping hours, so maybe it won't be so bad. :thumbup: Orea

When you complete your ticker, or update it, if you are using the same place I did, toward the bottom of the page you'll see several boxes of text with labels. You want the box that says "bbCode". Copy the text that is in the box and paste it into your sig file area. Check it with the preview function. I seem to recall that the HTML URL tags showed up, so I removed them and then everything looked fine. Hope this helps! Orea