LindaD

I am a believer in low-carb in general. This amount of low carb - 20 to 30 grams a day - is VERY low, very restrictive. Great for quick weight loss and has the advantage of appetite suppression too (no carbs means no insulin released and it's proven that insulin is part of what drives appetite). I recently said that my version of low carb was about 90g a day and someone scoffed and said that's not low carb. But it really is. the USDA recommends 300+ grams a day. Many people eat WAY more than that without realizing it. I think most people aren't aware of how many carbs they are eating. I highly recommend a book called Good Calories Bad Calories by Gary Taubes. It's not a diet book, it's written by a science journalist who researched the science around obesity and heart disease and such. It talks about what we know as fact and how much of what we think of as fact is just theory. It explores alternate theories (low carb being key) and shares information from many, many studies. It's fascinating. Low carb - SUPER low to quickly see results - can be easily achieved by staying BASIC: eggs and meat. Of course, there are other low-carb foods but if you're doing a short term thing trying to keep ultra-low, just have eggs and meat. Those are effectively no-carb or very low. Once you go beyond that, even in healthy fruits and veggies and add cheeses and dressings, you have to start counting. If you JUST eat meat and eggs, you don't even have anything to count, really. (By the way, when I say meat, I don't mean processed meat.) Thanks for the info in this thread on the liver-shrinking, though. That was a part I didn't know and needed to know. I appreciate it!

You're right in that I'm counting on the band to work as it's meant to. I understand it doesn't always go exactly right. I've been following the LapBand for about 5 years, and it's been over a year since I made my decision and put things in motion. I've been reading on this site for a year, and have read a lot in many other places. I agree that things don't always play out the way they're meant to. For now, I'm counting on things going as expected. I accept that they may not and will deal with that if and when it happens to the best of my ability. Good luck finding the right restriction.

I'd be lying if I didn't admit that concerns around how this all will affect my marriage haven't cropped up in my mind. My husband and I love each other deeply and I would say we have a very strong marriage. He's very supportive of me in this journey. At the same time... it's unknown territory. For example, he loves curvy/big women (me ahem). Now, he loved me 17 years ago when I was a 14/16 too - way smaller than I was when I started this journey. But what if I end up a size 8 and he struggles with the loss of curves or something? What if I get male attention that intoxicates my ego and I mishandle it, lose my level head? What if I'm so focused on my lap-band world, my weight loss, my diet, my support group, my message board, the gym, the pool... what if it becomes and obsession and he feels left out and develops different interests and friendships? What if my libido doesn't come back? What if the fatigue doesn't go away? What if losing the weight doesn't solve the problems I'm hoping it solves? It's scary because it's all unknown. If anyone has advice or suggestions, I'm all ears. I only hope that my husband and I keep the lines of communication open and work through whatever comes our way.

I think my doctor, like many, prescribe a one size fits all solution. I sat in the seminar with people who were 100 and more pounds more than I was. I'm sure there are many who have not worked as hard in the months leading up to surgery, as I have. I don't distrust his surgical skill or his track record. I am questioning the necessity, given that so many doctors don't require anything quite so extreme. If I had a surgeon who said "Eh, eat what you like up until the day before - go crazy!" I'm sure I'd question that too. These appear to be the two extremes. There appears to be a lot of middle ground. From everything I've read, the process AFTER surgery is quite different. I've had open surgery before where my intake was significantly restricted for a period after and I did fine. I'm sure I will do fine here too. I UNDERSTAND the necessity of it after surgery. What I'm questioning is the necessity of it before surgery. Why a ZERO CALORIE routine for 14 days when this seems so uncommon? I'm nearly into the 240s for my weight range and will surely be going into surgery with already having 40+ pounds off my body, not to mention the physical fitness I have worked up to these many weeks. I believe those are important to factor in here and I don't think they are being factored. This 2 weeks of zero calorie liquids is what is asked of EVERY patient, regardless of situation or circumstances. I'm merely questioning other views on it. Thanks for those who are contriubting to my thought process.

Good news - glad to hear happy post op stories!!

Hope all is well and you are healing!! I go next week and have not been informed about any magnesium or such. Is that something that is chosen by some surgeons and not others? My instructions are to follow the all clear liquid diet and then to have NOTHING starting the night before. Good luck on your journey!

Dr. Oz (the dude who is on Oprah) says that an eating routine is good for our bodies. I read that in his book "You on a Diet", I think. My husband is a type-1 diabetic (all his life) and he knows that his blood sugar is stable when he stays consistent. He tries to do the same breakfast and lunch most days, but changes it up for dinner. This repetition is also often recommended in the diabetes circles for good control. However, whatever your pattern is, it should be nutritionally comprehensive, or as close as possible. And of course a multivitamin and such can help supplement. I know it flies in the face of a lot of what we hear out there on nutrition, this approach. It's always difficult for people (even us, ourselves) to feel comfortable when we're doing that. But my view is to question and research - read opinions from those who support and from those who oppose the conventional wisdom. (My own belief is that our experts are still learning an awful lot and so many of the things we've learned or are even currently told are not necessarily FACT... if it doesn't resonate with me, whatever I'm told, I research and question and assess for myself.)

I hesitate to post this, but I need to hear, so I will. Please be honest with me - I'm not looking to be coddled or agreed with here. I need to hear the straight truth. I'm scheduled for surgery the 29th. My surgeon has a pre-surgery diet that is 14 days of Clear liquids, no calories. Water, diet soda, coffee, tea, SF Jello, SF popsicles, flavored water with no calories, etc. No Protein shakes, no soups/broths. Basically, 2 weeks of NO nutrition. I understand the fatty liver concern. I could not possibly be more serious about wanting to succeed here, both before and after surgery. I have thus far dropped 32 pounds. I'm on the verge of dropping into the next bracket of BMI (a few more pounds, and I'll be in the 39.XX range). I am exercising every day, nearly - averaging 5-6 hours per week. I am not doing so well following the "all clear liquids" order. I already talked to the nurse at the surgeon's office about it and she was sympathetic. I need to function. I have a job, five kids, a house, 2 dogs, a husband, a life. I have to DRIVE my kids around and make decisions at work. I know it's a short amount of time, but this restriction seems SO dire. So while I do want to take my surgeon's instructions very seriously, here I sit second guessing them. So many other surgeons seem to do Protein shakes, or low-carb, or a very restricted number of calories per day. Those things seem to be effective at shrinking the liver, right? Some surgeons don't put any restrictions on at all. If thousands are having surgery without such dire restrictions, then are they THAT necessary? Doesn't my 32 pounds and my committment to daily exercise count in my favor here? I have been allowing myself 1 small meal a day - low carb. Am I making a horrible decision? What I am leaning toward is continuing this approach for a couple more days - small meal tomorrow evening, small meal Monday evening. And THEN going all-clear-liquids for Tuesday-Friday. I'd like to hear opinions and input. I keep thinking that I surely have shrunk my liver considerably with all the recent work over the past few months. Am I being irresponsible? I may be taking 500 calories in a day.

I haven't had surgery yet (next Friday!) but I've been losing for the past few months and I'm 32 pounds down. I've been exercising almost daily and here are my NSV's -- I can see and feel muscular definition! Mostly in my arms and legs, but even in my abs when I do a crunch! I had to move the seat in the car forward. On the recumbent bikes at the gym, my butt fits in the seat now! (Before, it was uncomfortable because the seat has a back that isn't adjustable and so I always felt like I needed to scoot back but could not.) I'm wearing my wedding rings. (That's a big one.) I'm wearing clothing I haven't worn in a very long time, down from 24s to 20s. I even wore my Eddie Bauer size 18 jeans a couple times. I'm sleeping better - I must be snoring less, I think. And no reflux at night lately.

Fen-Phen (or Phen-Fen??) was a combination of phentermine and fenflouramine (sp?). The second one (fenflouramine) has been taken off the market. Phentermine was FDA approved in the US in 1959. I've been using it to help me drop weight before surgery. It's very effective, but everything I read indicates this is only a short term thing. Like most drugs for weight loss, it loses its efficasy over time. When you go off, your appetite (and the weight) will return. For me, the drug is a wonderful way to drop the weight now in order to reduce my surgical risk. But it's the band that will help me keep my appetite at bay and feel full on a reasonable amount for the long run. The pill can't do that.

I'm told Protein first too. Then other veggies. And then hopefully I will feel satisfied and won't choose to eat additional things, even if I CAN tolerate them. To me, this jives with what I believe about nutrition. I believe the focus on carb-laden foods for the past few decades is what has been contributing to the obesity epidemic. So I'm looking forward to going low-carb. I'm not going to count exactly. I will eat from the types of foods that are acceptable (meats, veggies, etc.) and if I have tiny amounts of other stuff, I'm not going to stress over it. I am counting on the Band to help keep my appetite in check. If I have the value of that, I am confident (hopeful?) I can manage to stay fairly low carb with good portion control. I've been doing it for weeks now, using an appetite suppressor (and lots of exercise).

I know it's considered 'bad' to weigh in too often. I too weigh myself every day now. But I don't stress too much about normal fluctuations. Here is what I know about ME -- If I'm not getting on the scale, it's because I'm hiding from the truth. So when I am getting on, it means I'm expecting to be rewarded by the results. It's a good thing when I climb on every day - even if I don't see actual results every day.

My daughters are 4, 7, and 12 (plus 24 and 26) and they all know. My older ones have known for quite awhile that I'm working toward the surgery. Now that it's scheduled, I've told the little ones too. My 7 year old is chubby herself and I know she worries about her own weight. That was the part that was particularly difficult for me. I tell her we just need to be the healthiest we can be and that I love her just the way she is. I worry that she's thinking "Well, then why do YOU need this surgery?" She didn't articulate that, exactly. I told her that once you're a grown up and you have gained SO much weight, it's much, much harder to successfully lose the weight without some help from the doctors, and that's what I'm getting is some help. I told her that if she keeps working with our family to be healthy now and all her life, hopefully she'll never have to face this same problem that Mommy is facing. I've also told them that the experts are learning more and more about proper nutrition and what causes obesity every year. That some of what they used to think ends up being wrong and it is partially because of that bad information that so many people are struggling with obesity now. (I'm referring to the message behind the book Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes as I am a big believer in his hypothesis on nutrition and obesity, etc.) I don't think I said TOO much. I wanted them to feel free to ask questions. My 7 year old asked the most questions. The other two were either "Cool, whatever." or "Can I watch SpongeBob?" so they didn't ask much.

I'm a few days after you - May 29th!

I suppose I'm the complete opposite. I've been very open. I don't want this to be some hush-hush people speculating about how I finally lost the weight (when I do) and I don't want to feel like a fraud acting as if I was able to do this without the surgical tool I'm seeking. For me (and I wouldn't expect everyone to feel this way), I'd rather stand up against the mis-perceptions about obesity surgery. I have already told the people at work - those who report to me - and have told them they are free to share it with anyone they wish, or if someone asks about it, they can say "Oh, she had that LapBand surgery." I refuse to be defensive about it. The odds of me losing it and keeping it off without some sort of tool were said to be around 2% (this from my doctor). I don't think we should begrudge ANYONE who faces a 2% chance of success whatever tools or strategies they find that may help them. And this issue has to do with our very LIVES - the risk we face of heart attack, diabetes, etc. I know some people are very private and cannot take the judgment or having to fight that good fight. But it has to be done, so for those of us willing, we should. We should be open and not defensive and educate and explain to people. I deplore that "easy way out" attitude. Easy way out my foot. You still have to change your eating and do the exercise. You still have to give up the bad foods and embrace the good ones. And now you HAVE to because if you don't, it could cause you issues. It forces you to do what you should be doing. Saying it's easy is like saying "If you lose weight and exercise while someone has a gun to your head, that's the easy way out." This whole belief about it being easy is such a misconception. (Sorry - I went on a bit of a rant there. :thumbup::rolleyes2:

Sushi is it for me. I mean, if you're like me - I really only like the rolls - then eating it means taking a decent sized bite. There really is no way to try to take "tiny" bites of a sushi roll - it would mess up the dynamic of filling to rice etc. I realize rice may be out altogether, so between that probability and avoiding bigger sized bites, I think sushi rolls will be out. Also, Chinese food - I love special fried rice and that will be out. Thai noodle dishes. Spicy food is really out??? I mean, is that down to individual tolerances or what? Because I could see having curry chicken as long as you don't have the rice and naan and stuff. I like spicy...

I started posting on this site over a year ago, when my journey started. I got discouraged at the process, and stopped posting while working through it all. I switched surgeons and things started moving well. I now have a surgery date - May 29th. So... things are moving forward!! Anyway, just wanted to join the May group. I'll be banded late in the month so will look to many of you for what's happening and how you're coping. Thought I'd say HI. I'm Linda. I have 5 daughters, I work full time and travel for my job. Life is busy and hectic and I'm ready to reclaim my health and fitness!! Nice to meet you all.

I haven't had my surgery yet - it's nearly 2 weeks off - so feel free to disregard my opinion here. :rolleyes2: I keep thinking about the C-Section I had when my youngest was born. That was full open abdominal surgery. Recovery was hard, I DID have pain. But I also had my precious baby girl. This should be less than that, since it's laproscopic (sp?) and yet we all still come out of it with something precious - a chance to reclaim our lives, our health, our fitness/comfort, etc. I think it's going to be worth it. Good luck!!

I know I'm bumping a really, really OLD thread :lol but I thought I'd update. I ended up having more and more problems with Dr. Eagon's office. I don't even know why I kept trying for so long. Well, actually, I do - he has really great credentials and he practices at a hospital recognized for excellence. But I still slowly lost more and more confidence. When Dr. Eagon's office submitted me for insurance approval, I was denied. The problem was that they require a medically supervised pre-surgery regimen that I THOUGHT we were doing through the surgical office, but it ends up that no, the stuff I was doing through the surgical office didn't qualify as that at all - so I had to start over with 6 months of this medically supervised program. I switched surgeons and it's been night and day difference. Dr. Wagner's staff is really on the ball - the patient care and follow up has been GREAT. Over a year after I started this journey, I'm finally scheduled. My surgery is less than 2 weeks away!!

I started with Dr. Eagon in April of 2008. It was really a fiasco - one thing after another. My first exposure - registering for their informational seminar and then when I got there, they had no record of me. They put me in a big conference room with about 20 other people there for the same thing and left us for over 2 hours. They lost paperwork. I could never get anyone to respond to my phone calls - I ended up writing and faxing letters. I did all the pre-work - Dr. Eagon won't even SEE you until you do all that. I asked them multiple times if this was all I needed to get my insurance to approve and was given re-assurance more than once. I believed that I was doing the "pre-surgical regimen" required by Aetna. Of course, in October when they submitted me for insurance approval, I was denied. This course I had been on with the surgical office did NOT meet that requirement. They recommended I start my 6-month program with my primary physician. I was angry and hurt and wrote Dr. Eagon a letter, which he never even had the courtesy to respond to. I have ZERO confience in that office - they were completely disorganized and unresponsive. I switched over to Dr. Wagner and am going to have my surgery shortly. His staff has taken SUCH good care of me - checking in regularly, asking if I have questions or need anything, making sure that everything was in order. Insurance has already approved because they did a proper job of all of it. I am grateful for their help, and I have confidence in their program. Dr. Wagner personally delivered the seminar I went to. I found him professional and knowledgable. He was also willing to see patients early in the process, as well as later. Night and day difference between the two. Sometimes I think Barnes Jewish, where Dr. Eagon practices, is so big as to be unmanagable. I'd rather be a BIG fish in Dr. Wagner's pond. At least until I can get my surgery and become a smaller fish. :rolleyes2:

Does anyone know of a Protein powder that can be easily added into to foods to get the protein level of a dish up higher? I want it for myself to use when I get to mushies (I haven't had surgery yet) but I also want it for my family - I have a 7 year old who doesn't get nearly enough protein. She's a picky eater and doesn't like meats, fish, veggies. The only protein she gets is from eggs and Peanut Butter. I thought I'd ask here to see if anyone knows of a good one.... Thanks in advance.

I'm still pre-surgery but I worry about the small bites and slow eating - chew, chew, chew. I tend to be a fast eater and even though I'm pre-surgery, I've been TRYING to do the small bites, slowly and it's really HARD. So I'm worried about that. I have a job where I have a lot of meals with others, I travel a lot and have business dinners, etc. I'm so worried that I'll be really conspicuous with what/how/how-much I am eating after surgery. So the Water thing - I thought that you couldn't have water during meals because it would cause problems for you when it pushes the food through the band (i.e. PBs and such). No? That's what I was told in the support group meeting I went to.

That's just crazy. My goodness - the amount of work (eating less, exercising, dealing with the emotional side) is the same only more because it's compressed and accelerated. Plus you have all the surgery stuff, the pre-surgery requirements, the risk, the recovery, etc. To me (and remember I'm still pre-surgery), this journey I have embarked upon feels like way more work, scarier in that it will force my hand to deal with my eating and exercise moreso than Jenny Craig ever could. The people who say such things are not only ignorant, they are dead wrong.

Just wanted to share with some people who would understand.... I don't yet have a surgery date, but I'm pretty close to meeting all the requirements. I've gotten all my blood work done, my EKG, my physical therapy consultation. I have my psych review scheduled for the 14th. After that, the only other reqirement is the nutritionist and the soonest appointment I could get was August 11th, however the program coordinator told me we won't have to wait for that to meet the surgeon for the pre-surgery consult and get the procedure scheduled! I guess that means late August? It's JULY now - that's sooo close! I've done ALL the paperwork and the food diary and everything. I haven't officially gotten insurance approval but have been told that it's not even an issue with my insurance and my qualifying situation. I can't believe I'm so close to getting it firmly on the calendar. It was all so overwhelming just a short while ago. Just wanted to share...

I'm still pre-surgery and don't yet have a date, but congrats to you! I'm also Aetna and am curious - how long did the approval take?