Graywolf

Gratz to you and everybody else on your 6 months out!

It's not even been a year and it feels like I've had this forever. In a good way though!

Best of luck to you all for the next 6 months!

Glad you all are doing so well! Keep up the good work!

I had my surgery on Aug 3rd. I've lost a little over 40 pounds (including pre-op diet) so far. I seem to average about 3.5 lbs a week. I hope I can continue to keep this rate, even though I know its going to taper off sometime soon. My husband calls it the "honeymoon phase" lol.

I haven't had need of any fills yet, I see my surgeon tomorrow and he will chart my progress. I eat about a cup of food per meal, and it keeps me satiated for a good 3 to 4 hours. I write down everything I eat on a food chart and am averaging about 800-1000 cals a day.

I'm hoping that since I have stuck with this for the last 2 months, that I will continue to do so. They say it takes a month for a good habit to form, so here's to hoping it sticks.

Best of luck to you all in the next month!

Great progress so far y'all!

I'm one month out, I saw my surgeon yesterday for my second post-op, I will see him again in a month. I've lost 30 pounds total so far.

No fills yet, I am getting restriction from my 1/2c food I eat every meal. I'm averaging about 800-1000 calories a day. I write down everything I stick in my mouth so I'm accountable for what I eat.

I walk on my treadmill for 20 mins, then do other exersizes and yoga on my WiiFit for 30 mins at least 4-5 times a week.

I've been on solids for about 2 weeks now, so far nothing has gotten stuck only dry foods pose a bit of uncomfortableness. I try to avoid them.

So happy to report, doing good so far. I hope I can continue to stay on this weight loss track, I've had to get new pants since my old ones kept falling off!

Keep up the good work everybody!

I didn't have any infection but I gained my 4-5 pounds of Water weight back. I think that happens in any hard core diet like the liquid diet pre-op. The first 4-5 pounds comes off so fast because its Water weight, it doesn't stay off forever, it will come back slowly, mine came back all at once when I got a nasty cold.

Once I started on solid foods again I think the body will naturally reabsorb all that water we initially lost. So I say let your body keep the water weight, and loose the fat! Give it a week or two, I hear this is quite common a few weeks after surgery.

I agree with Jacqui and lpglarry. Your doing fine! The fills will help, and so will talking to your dr.

I found the biggest tool for helping me was always measuring my foods, and making a food log. This way your accountable for everything you put in your mouth. And measuring just helps you get the calories correct in the food log.

So when you go to your dr, or dietitian and say "i'm not loosing weight" if that should ever happen to you, you can pull out your food log and say "this is what im eating" and they can review it and tell you what to change or do differently. It really is a huge help, and gives us power over our food. If your hungry after the fills, talk to your dr, and dietitian, they want you to succeed as much as you do. there's no shame in asking for help from the two people who can give you the most support.

I use FitDay - Free Weight Loss and Diet Journal for my food journal.

Good Luck! You can do it Just have faith!

Wow, I didn't realize how different some doctors are. My 3rd week post-op I was allowed to introduce solids into my diet. I was on Protein shakes for 1 week post op, then soft/mushies for the 2nd week, then 3rd week was intro to solids.

I'm in my 4th week now and have been eating what the rest of my family eats for dinner. Usually fish, chicken, or turkey, with a starch (rice, potatoes, beans) and a veggie (beets, green Beans, mixed, broccoli etc.) I haven't had any problems with anything so far, other than if something is dry. Then it just feels slightly uncomfortable.

In my mushies/soft phase, I lived on Fritattas. It was an easy way I could get veggies and Protein (cheese, eggs, meats) in a complete source. I even made sweet Fritattas with splenda and canned fruit.

Best of luck to you all, just remember to transition slowly, and chew chew chew!

Thank you for the insight ThinknHealthy. I will have to visit that site and see what it is I am supposed to be eating.

I will have to talk to my dietitian and see what she recommends. "cheating" to me doesn't sound very appealing, I'm trying to get away from my old habits, not re-introducing them every now and then. Perhaps I can find some higher calorie "healthier" food to use instead of high fats or high calorie foods which is what "cheating" implies to me.

The only problem is, I am not purposefully restricting my food or caloric intake. This is just what I eat after choosing my healthy choices and high Protein content. I'm not buying and eating foods based on their calories, I buying and eating foods based on their Protein and fat content. It just turns out to be extremely low in calories at the end of the day. So I have no idea where I would even begin to add MORE calories while still keeping it low fat and high protein. I am not hungry at all so I don't snack during the day. I have 3 meals and that satisfies me quite well. 1/2c per meal, anything more than that feels uncomfortable.

Any ideas as to where I can get excess healthy calories to kickstart my metabolism?

I'm not trying to race through this, I want to do it the right way, and I figured I was. These are the guidelines my dietitian gave me, and my surgeon, and every class I've went to. Nobody ever spoke about getting too few calories.

I'm not on mushies anymore, I started solids last tuesday. My dr didn't specify a calorie rate, that is just what I eat normally and get full off of. I measure everything so I usually get 1/4 c of lean Protein like eggs, fish, chicken or turkey, then 1/8c of fruit/veggie and 1/8c starch.

I've been eating a lot of frittata's lately that combine veggies and Protein. I can eat about one slice of a frittata that usually has 60 calories and 10g protein. Along with some light sour cream and an avacado slice thats about 120 calories. I usually eat that twice a day, then have dinner with my family. Same deal, low fat protein, veggie & starch. So at the end of the day I'm lucky if I get away with around 500 calories, but I take my multi vitimins, my Calcium, my benefiber and if i'm short on protein I'll have one of those New whey Protein Shots with 42 g of protein in it. So according to my food log, I'm meeting all RDA percentages with very low calories.

My nutritionist said Low Fat, Low carb everything .So thats what I've been doing. I figured with 500-600 calories a day I would be loosing weight, with my 30 min exercises my legs feel like rubber when I'm done. I figured its gotta count for something. Thats what has me completely and totally perplexed. I'm doing everything right, as far as I know, and nothing.

I guess I can understand that my body may be going through a low metabolism period. I wonder if there's any way to increase it. I figured exercise would. I don't feel tired, or hungry or anything out of the ordinary. Just seems so bizzare. For years I've heard dr.s tell me "Eat less, exercise more" so when that doesn't work, what else can you do right?

haha

Thanks for the advice Abby. I will talk to my dr. on Tuesday when I see him for my 4 week eval. See if he has any advice.

I do have a question though. What exactly would the fill do? I mean as I understood it, the band was a tool to help you feel less hungry, and stay fuller longer. I have no problems with that right now. I'm not hungry very often only right before meal times, and I do stay full for a very long time. I'm not over eating, so I guess I don't understand how a fill will help me loose weight faster. I don't think I should go under my calorie consumption, that'd probably not allow me to get all the Protein I need to in a day. Just curious. have you had your first fill yet?

Hey newly banded folk! I'm wondering if anybody else is having the same issues I am.

For the last 2 weeks, ever since I started mushies, my weight loss has completely stopped. I've been following my dieticians guide to the letter. I measure ALL my food, and write it down in a food journal so I am accountable. I've been eating about 500-600 calories a day. I've also been exercising at least 30 minutes a day of walking on my treadmill. I do other exercises throughout the day as well like my Wii fit yoga and walking to classes, up and down stairs, stuff like that. I take my Calcium suppliments, my multi vitimin, my benefiber to stay regular and I've been drinking at least 60 oz of Water a day.

I don't know whats going on. I am consuming the same amount of calories that I was on my pre-op diet and I lost tons of weight. Why has my weight loss completely stopped for 2 weeks. It makes no sense. I'm burning more calories than I consume, yet it goes nowhere.

This is very frustrating. I feel like I'm failing even though I'm doing everything I'm supposed to.

Ahh, good to know! Glad someone's Dr. covered that topic.

Now the only hard part is to keep from scratching!

When I was in the hospital I coughed up a bunch of stuff from my lungs I didn't even feel was in there. It had a bad taste and I accidentally swallowed it. Next thing I knew my throat was numb, apparently it was numbing stuff they numbed my throat with so they could intubate me. Apparently I aspirated a lot of it. Was not pleasant.

After that came up my lungs felt a lot clearer. Though even now, a week after surgery I get up in the morning and still have to do breathing exercises to wake up my lungs that seem fairly hesitant to some days.

I'm soooo incredibly itchy!! Is anybody else itchy? My incisions itch like crazy. I can't think about anything else. I'm wondering if its safe to put hydrocortozone cream around the incision, they are mostly healed up, just a little scabby here and there. But ugh! The internal itchy, CRAZY!

Must.......not.......scratch.......CRAZY!

Best wishes! I'll be thinking of you!!

I had icky taste in my mouth for about 4 days post-op. I associated it with the Protein shakes, seems like no matter how many times I brushed my teeth it was still there.

Can't say I have it right now, and I haven't really thought about it for a few days so hopefully its not a long lasting thing.

I had diarrhea for a couple of days post surgery. Right now I think i'm the opposite. Ugh. When you see your doc, ask about a Fiber supplement to make sure you stay regular.

I looked on the internet when I was having my problems, and it seems a lot of people had it too after surgery. I heard a lot of people say "liquid in, liquid out" so I think its very common. I hope it goes away for you soon!

Awwww Sarah! I feel for you!! Let me say this first however,

I'm sorry that this birthday is such a bummer for you! I know how I'd feel if I had to go through the liquid hell on my special day.

But just think how skinny minny you will be on your day next year! Remember nothing tastes as good as skinny feels!

Hey Guys! Hope the weekend went well for you! I was major busy and didn't have time to check the forums as much.

The weekend was not so bad, I've had this shooting pain in my left shoulder since the surgery and FINALLY its starting to subside. I found the only way to get rid of it is to lay on my left side.

Had a wicked bout of diarrhea but that seems to have passed, now i'm probably constipated. Oye. At least when I burp it doesn't feel like my entire stomach is leaping into my throat then slowly sliding back into place. Whew, talk about uncomfortable!

I had some yo-plus yogurt today for Breakfast. It seemed to satiate my hunger pains. Tomorrow I will try eggs and refried Beans mixed with some light sour cream and tortilla chips. Nothing else on the sheet sounds very appitizing, but maybe I will try some of it as well just to see how well rounded my band is. Someone told me to try ricotta cheese mixed with Peanut Butter.. sounds weird, but I might like it.

Hope you all are "adjusting" *sorry couldn't help it* to your new bands, and are doing a little better each day! For those yet to be banded, feel free to PM me or talk to me.

My surgeon told me when I went to get my 2cc's of Fluid removed last thursday that its a rare individual that doesn't think after surgery at some point, "What the hell did I get myself into" he said its natural, and it only gets better! That made me feel better, and I hope maybe it might make you too if your feeling the same.

Argh! Tuesday can NOT come soon enough! *starving*

I had some broth last night an d I must have had too much, me thinking it was liquid it would pass right through but I felt sooooo full after about 6 oz of it and it did not go away for a long time. Then sometime around 1am my band felt really tight, like when your throat is really dry and trying to swallow anything *even spit* seems to take FOREVER just to get down. Thats how it felt. So I got up, drank some Water and walked on the treadmill for a bit. After that didn't work I woke up hubby and whined to him about it. He just gave me the typical "i'm sure its normal" speech and went back to bed, It made me feel better, I guess he's good with his speeches. When I woke up the tightness was gone and I am continuing about my day. Just very hungry!

Hey guys! Thanks for keeping me in your thoughts.

I went to the dr. this morning as a walk in to see if he could help me. I carried around my huge jug o Water yesterday and tried to drink as much as I could but only managed about 40oz. Every time I drank it hurt so much in my stomach.

My dr. is great, he made me feel a lot better about the recovery, and to make sure I didn't feel like this was only happening to me. He took about 2 cc's out of my band. He said that when they cut it to get the length right for each individual some of the Fluid doesn't completely leak out and that my stomach might have swelled more than others. He told me that recovery is very individualistic and hopes that the 2 cc's he took out (which looked like a lot to me) would make me feel better.

Now I'm feeling very hungry and just had 3 oz of protien shake but the pain I had when I drank fluids isn't there so I think the 2 cc's did loosen me up some. Still feels weird when I burp tho. lol. I dont know if I can have Soup, my recovery sheet just says 2-3 oz of protien shake every 2-3 hours 5-6 times a day. I start mushies on tuesday.

Hope the rest of my recovery is uneventful! Thanks again for your thoughts of me.

Thinking of you Karen today! Hope all is going well!! You'll be in my prayers.

Barbara, I believe it is open to anybody. I went through Penrose for my surgery as it is a bariatric surgical center of excellence. The person who runs the class is named Fran, she is the coordinator for the Colorado Springs Surgical Associates that's located in Penrose. You can talk to her if you want to start the steps towards being banded. She has a class you can attend that is the first step, and talks about everything you need to know about being banded.

I know what you mean! I'm not normally a belly sleeper, but I do sleep on my sides and I HATE sleeping on my back! But since my surgery on Monday It's been so hard to get any decent amount of sleep. For the past few nights I have been waking up every 2 hours. So I try to utilize that time by drinking some Water and walking around a bit to get the blood moving in my legs.

Hope tonight is better for you. I actually got to sleep on my right side last night, my left side is still a bit too achy!

Penrose Hospital on Nevada has a monthly Lap Band support group every first Thursday of the month. Their next one is tomorrow evening at 6pm in conference room CC-A or CC-B. Its in the cancer center on the first floor.

I should be there tomorrow night if I am feeling up to it. I just had my surgery on Monday at Penrose.

Hey All! Thanks for thinking of me! I got home yesterday afternoon and pretty much slept all night. I didn't get any sleep in the hospital and I'm still pretty much wiped out today, though I gotta keep pushing the fluids to stay hydrated.

The surgery wasn't so bad but the medication they gave me made me loopy and nauseous so I was in bed for most of the afternoon. Yesterday I had a nasty nurse who gave me Protein shake with milk Proteins *which make my stomach hurt real bad, even before the surgery* so I couldn't drink as much Water as I would have liked to, less I throw up which that wasn't a gamble I was willing to take. Got some more nausea medication and got soy shake for lunch. That made me feel better and was able to drink the amount of Water she wanted me to. Even then she kept ridiculing me about how I wasn't drinking as much as she wanted me to. I just wanted to slap her.

So now I am home, and drinking lots of water, and getting up and moving around, walking on the treadmill. I might take a morning nap soon, I was up every 2 hours last night drinking water and walking around. Got to take lovenox injections 2x a day for 14 days because of my clotting issue.

I hope that tomorrow I feel better, just got to take it one day at a time.

Thanks again for thinking of me! I'm glad there's so many wonderful people out there, it makes me feel better