RestlessMonkey

I'd BETTER not gain. Unless you're just eating butter...actually I don't think even 4 1/2 ounces of butter (3 1 and 1/2 ounce meals lol) has enough calories (3500) to make a pound. You won't gain on mushies unless it's a little water put back to replace hydration. But otherwise, it is just about impossible IF you do what doc says. No milkshakes etc...

Good grief at 1/2 pound a week I'd be dead before I ever got to goal! Poor thing!

Jodi 620 Just had to say I am really happy for you that you're so close to "the sweet spot"....I've read enough to know it's a hard little spot to pin down! Two thumbs up for you!

I think everyone is different; my DH and I think of ourselves as a team. We have no kids, so I don't need to worry about them dying of starvation without twinkies or something. When he wanted to quit smoking in 1995, I quit too. I smoked more than he did and liked it more, BUT I wanted him to quit because he had been smoking much much longer. He wants me to succeed in this; we've been married a long time and he's truly loved me through "thick and thin" but as I'm getting older I am not the "let's go do this, let's go do that" playpal I once was. I am prediabetic, have hypertension, have high cholesterol. Pragmatically, he can watch what he eats now and have me healthy, or spend years caring for me while I go downhill. When you look at it that way, keeping the doughnuts and patty melts out of the house is a no-brainer. Just one more way to look at it.

Debski... I'm glad the idea caught your fancy too!

They did the ultrasound and couldn't tell....so I'm thinking no, probably not (about telling before hand) You can see where it is but probably not how thick etc...and mine was too thick. Can you be mad at an internal organ? LOL It better be smaller this time.

i don't get meat laws woman. Well, not red meat! LOL I get chicken (foul) turkey (also fowl) and fish. I have had more gorton's baked fish than in my whole entire life before now. I'm fairly landlocked and have no clue how to cook fish, except for catfish or the like that you batter and fry! LOL I know though I'd get sick of anything doing it this long. I hope your liver is ok! My surgery is the 29th, Please post to say how you do! :cursing:

LOL Yes I agree it IS his fault! No tips. My DH God bless him is actually following the preop diet with me. I know he loves me, but I am stunned. He has eaten some things I don't care for in front of me ... and I told him he could "eat away from home" but he's hanging tough to show support. I know he can't keep it up forever though...and while he could stand to lose about 30 pounds he isn't a band candidate. He doesn't have a sweet tooth (someday I WILL eat some of a krispy kreme again) but he does like chips and nuts and so on. If you come up with a good plan, let me know. I'm hoping maybe once I lose enough for it to actually show, and I get a fill or two, It'll be easier?

Anwa I've heard the first few weeks postop called "Bandster Hell"...you can make it!

This isn't food or meds related, but I went to a bookstore and got a pretty blank book. In it I've put "before" pictures of me, the tapes from my doc's scale showing my weight, BMR, BMI, Fat mass etc, the band from my 1st hospitalizaion where I didn't get the band, and my measurements. I've also written some worries, hopes, thoughts, you know, journaled! This is really huge for me and that book is like an anchor or a center. As I fill it up I hope I'll shrink.....Just a thought!

And good luck on your approval!

I haven't had hairloss yet, but that's something the surgeon addressed in the seminar. (he was very thorough!) He said "You will all lose some hair at some point between 3 and 6 months. Vitamins and protein supplements don't seem to help so we believe it's related to the stress of surgery and learning a new way of eating. I've never had a patient, in over 1000, need a wig or toupee, and all got their hair back. WAIT one patient needed a wig, but then, she owned a wig shop" LOL So I'm braced for it.

Is it possible that the times you get stuck, you aren't taking VERY small bites and chewing VERY well? I heard that that's usually the problem early on.....chewing so much and tiny bites are hard habits for us to learn. Just an idea..,

I've heard of it! The band is a tool and I guess he figures you're using yours just fine! Hang in there; at least you're losing while you find the "sweet spot"...whether it's will power or the band! The band will catch up to your gumption. I'm pretty impressed!

After I didn't follow my surgeon's orders and couldn't get my band on 8/11 because my liver was too fatty, I've become prissy and tunnel visioned about doing what the doc says. I figure they know; they have done it. If I didn't trust him to tell me how to eat, I surely wouldn't trust him to poke around in my innards. I am hungry too! BUT I've learned my lesson. Maybe you can learn from my mistake, too, and follow what your doc says! good luck...I'm told it gets better, and I believe it. And being hungry now is not as bad as waking up in recovery without a band.

I may be the "gal" Desert Rose heard about. Doc put me on a VERY similar pre-surgery diet for 3 weeks. Since I am a "professionial" dieter, I did what I thought instead of what he told me. I DID lose 15 pounds. However, my liver was too fatty and although he tried, he couldn't get it out of the way to place the band. I came to in recovery only to be told I wasn't banded. NOW I'm on the diet like he said, have lost another 12, and will get banded Aug 29. Apparentlly a low-carb, low to no fat diet causes your body to go first to your liver to pull glycogen and it gets that from the stored fat, so it can shrink a fatty liver. Who knew! Well, my surgeon. LOL SO Let me be a horrible warning. DO what your surgeon says. You may squeak by, but if you don't, it's a pretty miserable feeling.

Of course I haven't had a fill yet; LOL Just trying to think what it would like to be banded, ready for fill (our doc does 1st at 6 weeks) and then going on vacation 2 weeks after! :cursing:

Kathryn, how have you been doing post op? If you are doing well, I agree get the fill. You have time to see how you're going to react! Enjoy your vacation!

Per insurance tables, aren't you 100 pounds overweight? Old rule of thumb was 100 pounds for 5' and then 5 pounds for each inch over ... so you "should" weigh 115. Did Tricare SAY you needed more comorbidities or are you just worried? I'd call them and ask...not that you can always get the info you need. It matters too if you are tricare prime or tricare standard.

Mimilou, hasn't your surgeon given you info? They are all different... After I ignored my surgeon's preop orders and had a fatty liver and couldn't get banded on 8/11 like I thought, I realize it is WAY important to do what your surgeon says..

Carrie I'm a nursing student and besides the school. I have clinicals where I am in the hospital giving care. I'm getting banded 8/29 and returning to school 9/2. (my 1st surgery couldn't be completed...don't know if I posted that...liver too fat) Of course you may take as much time off as you want! After sitting home after my 1st attempt, I think I'm going to find the liquid diet much easier if I'm busy away from the house.

Sorry you're having such a tough time. Does your surgical center offer any counseling? Many have psychologists trained to help us because of our specific issues. Otherwise I agree...turn off the commercials, don't watch them. The odds are that in the future you actually CAN have McDonalds if you want some; you'll just be satisfied with less. For now, you need to let your insides heal. Hang in there!

Momto5--I'm jealous of you small liver! Mine was too fatty!

Thanks for all the tips; I appreciate the honesty. I do understand it's a life change yada yada but I don't need shots any more than i need beer LOL...I LIKE beer and usually just did shots to get drunk, whereas a beer is a social thing for me! And I actually hate wine. SIGH. But Strangeratx...(are in in Texas?) I will, maybe one day many months post op, in private, try to slowly sip a beer. My aim (any more) isn't to get drunk. I know as I lose (and when I'm not eating) I'll get drunk more quickly; that's not worrying me. I just wanted a beer next summer! :smile2:

My wild party days are in the past, but I do like an occasional (very occasional) beer . Can we let it go flat? Why is some carbonation so bad? Does anyone know?