JonathanLA

I'm at 222 now so I hope to be under 200 in a few months. It's very exciting to even think about it.

I don't monitor my calorie intake but I do monitor my carbs, Proteins, and fats. I try to keep my carbs reasonably low and am averaging about 85 per day. I also try and get at least 75 grams of Protein per day. I like to keep my fat per meal under 4 grams. You're probably in one of the band cycles where the weight stays the same for a while. Give it some time. All of a sudden it may just come off pounds at a time. This is what has happened to me and I've read similar stories by many, many others here. There was a time a few months ago when my weight stayed the same for a long time but I kept noticing that my pants were looser and I was having to go down more notches in my belt. I was loosing inches around my waist but not actual pounds. I have no idea how this can be it eventually caught up and then I'd lose 10 pounds in 2 weeks.

I'm on a small (2.5 mg) daily dose of Prednisone for a kidney and pancreas transplant and it doesn't really have much of an effect. You're probably on a higher dose though and I don't envy you. :tongue2: Just think good thoughts until you can get off of it.

Crackers are not necessarily healthy for you when you've been banded only weeks ago. You should still be on your mushie or lite eating stage.

Fergie, It's time to sit down with your Dr. and have a long talk about your surgery. You need to get this information: What type of band did he put in? How many Cc's can it hold? How many Cc's were added for each fill? How many CC's are in their now? What was your starting BMI and what is your current BMI? Is your Dr. using fluoroscopy and barium for your fills? Ask him to go over the results with you. After you get all of this information make an appointment to meet with the nutritionist. Explain to your Doctor that you have paid a lot of money for this surgery and that your aftercare isn't up to the standards you expected. You need to be the one who takes charge of this now. Good luck.

My clothing bill has gone waaay down as I can now shop at regular stores and not the overpriced big and tall shops. I went into KMart to buy some hardware and saw the mens clothing section so I went over there. I was amazed that I could fit into XL shirts for just $7.99. The same shirts would cost me $29.99 at Casual Male. My grocery bill is also way down but I do shop more often because the foods I am buying now can't be stored as long. My restaurant bill is less than 75% of what it was before.

I am 7.5 months out and almost at 80 pounds loss and it's been great. I'm buying clothes at regular stores instead of big and tall stores. I went to a big wedding this past weekend and rented a tuxedo and people I hadn't seen since before the surgery were amazed. All night long people kept coming up to me and shaking their heads in disbelief. And I got pulled onto the dance floor by two attractive women!

Some posters here are confusing the different types of gas. The post surgery gas in your sides and shoulders are not what OP was referring to. Lets talk about those is different threads (of which there are hundreds). OP was asking about the gas below (lets just call it what it is: farting). Like OP I have become a fart machine and I really would like some good answers. I've tried beano but it makes me feel awful. I've tried eating the Protein foods first followed by the veggies but the results aren't much different. I've had to cut way back on milk even though I never had a problem with it before. Now if you put some milk in me you do not want to be standing behind me. Any other suggestions for THIS type of gas would be mucho appreciado.

This is very normal so don't sweat it. Plateauing is something you will get used to. You may need multiple fills before you really start shedding pounds or it may happen right after the first one. Everyone is different. For me it was after my third that the weight really flew off and I could feel the restriction.

Hi Lady, I was banded last October and started with a BMI of 44. I wanted to lose about 150 pounds and so far I have lost about 80. This band has been the best thing for me. Like you I am also a diabetic and wear an insulin pump. Before the surgery I was taking 3.25 units per hour. Now I am down to .7/hr. Good luck, Jonathan

I've been a big fan of New-Whey for the past month or so. Grape is my favorite. Our bodies can't absorb all that protein at once so I only drink 1/2 of the 42g bullet at a time. I've never mixed it with anything. They taste pretty good on their own. I made the mistake of drinking a whole one a couple of times and the stuff went through me very quickly.

I don't think I could make it without my sugar free creamscicles and fudgescicles.

I'm down 76 pounds today. Last week I went shopping for pants for the first time and I was shocked as I kept having to try on smaller and smaller sizes. And get this: I shopped at Macy's and not Casual Male for the first time in decades! I was really surprised to see that I've gone from a size 46 waist all the way down to a 36 in just 6.5 months. And I went from a 4XL shirt to just an XL. I went to a big surprise party for my Dad and everyone said they were amazed at how good I looked. Next week I'm going back to my company HQ and no one there has seen me for a year. I can't wait. My goal weight is 157 but honestly that might be pushing it. If I can make it to 175 I would be thrilled. Based on that I am already more than halfway there.

I was banded on October 15th 2007 so today is exactly 6 months and I couldn't be happier. I've had 3 fills so far and am due for the 4th in two weeks. So far 3.7cc's in a 14cc band. My Dr. uses a fluoroscope to see exactly how much to put in. My restriction licked in after the 2nd fill and really walloped me after the 3rd. That one changed my eating habits completely and it was only a .4cc fill. All of my co-workers have noticed how much weight I've lost and I see other people in the office building glance at me when I am waiting for an elevator. Even some of the ladies are giving me a second look now and that hasn't happened (in a good way) for a long time.

I've been doing a lot of my lunch food shopping at Ralph's deli counter. I've been sticking to the Krab Kakes, Honey BarBQ chicken wings, Pasta salads, coconut chicken wings, and the fresh salad bar with tuna fish added and Kraft fat free dressing. I called the company that provides most of the prepared foods and got some nutritional values but they were very unhelpful and disorganized. Krab Kakes Serving Size = 1 110 calories 3g fat 0g trans fat 15g carb 5g Protein Meatloaf (don't eat too much of this) Serving Size = 140g 320 calories 18g fat 1g trans fat 9g carb 30g protein Bowtie Pasta Serving Size = 2/3 cup 180 calories 8g fat 1g trans fat 18g carb 9g protein Does anyone have any guesses for the values of the chicken items?

I tried them the other day - the grape and lemon lime - and I thought they were great. Nice smooth taste and I had no trouble with them.

It's so interesting for me to see how different Doctor's orders can be. In my case I wasn't close to being allowed to eat meat and veggies after just 3 weeks. IIRC it was still pureed foods and then on to chopped foods. I don't think I was allowed real meat pieces until after my first fill and that wasn't for 8 weeks. My advice is to eat what you can tolerate and it looks like you aren't ready for these types of foods yet.

Janet, I agree with a lot of what you are saying but don't be so hard on others. Everyone is different and their bodies react in different ways to losing weight. I also stuck to what my Dr. and his team told me to do. And I didn't find it too hard. The nice thing about the band is that there is negative feedback if you eat the wrong things. :biggrin2: Dr. Pavlov would have loved this.

Before my first fill I could hardly eat anything and then about 2.5 weeks before the day I got a ravenous hunger. As soon as I had the fill it went away. About 2 weeks before my second fill I started getting more and more hungrier but it went away after that fill. Same thing before my third fill but this time I wasn't nearly as hungry and not for as long. My fills are spaced 7 weeks apart and I had the first one 8 weeks after the banding.

Same thing with me. Hypothyroid for years and have lost 56 Lbs since being banded in October 2007. I'll plateau for a few weeks and then BLAM! down 6 pounds in a week and a half. It's not related to the thyroid though. Just the way these things work.

I was banded 5 months ago and my Dr. has his patients on no liquids 30 minutes before and after meals. I've kind of cut back on the before since I can't see the point but I have been following the after carefully since drinking so soon will just push the food down. I don't understand why your Dr says 2 hours after unless he measured how fast your food goes down your band and found it was slower than normal.

I had to get a cardiac stress test. Also An upper GI. I think that was it. These tests are standard but there were other tests on the list they gave me that weren't checked off so YMMV. They contacted my doctors with the tests needed but my Dr's offices made the actual referrals. I'm not sure I follow you about your insurance? The way mine worked is that they only approved the surgery after all the tests and meetings were finished. In fact, the coordinators at Cedars won't even submit the paperwork until then. One thing I forgot to mention. After you are approved it may still be 4-6 weeks or more until your surgery date. And one more tip: After your surgery make an appointment for your first fill ASAP. They only do them Tuesdays and Wednesdays and they fill up fast. You'll probably have to wait 6-7 weeks if you get the AP band but don't tally or you might end up having to go 8 or 9 weeks.

Hi Gwenn, It took about 6 months. One thing I'd recommend is that you make all your appointments for the dietitian, social worker, group meeting right away as they can get booked quickly. Get all your tests done ASAP as well. I kind of spread mine out because I work full-time. Funny thing was that my insurance carrier was real quick about approving it.

He's the Director of the Bariatric program at Cedar's. His colleague Dr. Cunneen is my surgeon.

My doc says 30 minutes before and after a meal. I can't figure out why it would matter if I drink water before a meal?