catfish87

Here's a link to a pretty good website for Bariatric Eating. Theres lots of recipes and suggestions on it. This particular page talks about the transition phase...Hope it helps. http://www.bariatric...s-to-real-food/

First....I congratulate you on having the desire to make this work. And the 25 lb loss. You say you know the loss is due to your "diet" and "exercise" effort. Thats great willpower! Sticking with a "diet" for almost a year. Has the band ever done anything for you? Were you ever able to sense any restriction due to having it adjusted? Did your surgeon do any fills/adjustments? The reason I inquire, is I see from your profile that your surgery was on Aug 6th of last year. I would hope....HOPE, that any surgeon/doctor could understand your insurance situation and provide some means of allowing you to have your BAND WORK. After all, he/she probably received a nice sum of $$ to install the band. Have you spoken with them about possibly seeing you prior to January? If you are not experiencing any problematic symptoms, a simple adjustment should be fairly inexpensive. Lots of doctors even include the 1st year adjustments with the surgery costs? Just some suggestions....I wish you much success! Best wishes

Here's a recent post about this very topic...and NEVER, EVER give up! http://www.lapbandtalk.com/topic/173709-ahhhthe-mystical-green-zone/

Happy upcoming Birthday T! Enjoy your weekend

I'm not a nurse, but I've worked rotating shiftwork for about 20 years. The last 10 have been 12 hour shifts. Two weeks of days then two weeks of nights....so I know some of your concerns. Night shifts are usually/hopefully pretty boring here....so the desire to be snacking/grazing is more significant for me then. . As far as exercising...PLEASE don't take this the wrong way, but as the truth/reality, from my experience. If we CHOOSE to make exercise a part of our weighloss journey and lifestyle, we WILL. If we don't choose to....there will be plenty of excuses available. I'm not being critical, just speaking from experience...I started at 324 lbs. About 18 months or so ago I decided I couldn't "exercise" only when it was convienient. It had to become a part of my life, a priority. I used to think...What if it interfere's with my life? Where will I find the time?, etc, etc....all the excuses I'd used to get me to 324#'s. So I cancelled my gym membership (that I wasted money on every month because I always found those excuses) ....and found what I enjoyed and would stick to. Now...my "exercise" is a priority, BECAUSE I ENJOY IT. Doesn't really matter what you choose, just DO IT and get that heart rate going, CARDIO! I read the same experience from folks who do various different things. Running, Walking, Cycling, Zumba, Swimming, etc, etc,etc. You can read back on here from some super successful folks about how they feel almost an out of body experience when they are exercising. Its amazingly addicting when you find what you enjoy. And the benefits.....

There are at least a few of us from the Metro St. Louis area on here. Collinsville here.

Saturday evening ride to work: http://connect.garmi...ivity/345821446 Distance: 20.99 mi Time: 1:17:09 Avg Speed: 16.3 mph Avg HR: 150 bpm Calories: 972 C Sunday morning ride home: http://connect.garmi...ivity/345821474 Distance: 20.82 mi Time: 1:11:30 Avg Speed: 17.5 mph Avg HR: 140 bpm Calories: 894 C Just went over 100,000 calories logged on my Garmin since I got it March 24th. YEA!

I find myself wanting to snack on midnights more than days....usually/hopefully because I'm bored instead of really hungry....

Thats awesome news! Love these lines: "what a difference!"..."feel the band working" Yes, you probably will have to adjust a bit, but thats ok....take it slow and easy for the next week or so. Yea for you!!!

liquid passing through mine...last week.

My opinion, YES! Always...unless there's a medical reason to avoid the x-ray. Why would you want somebody doing something blindly/guessing when they can see it? Sure it costs a bit more, but so worth it....again, just from my experience. Heres a link to my surgeons fluoro page: http://www.hoab.org/fluoroscopy-machine-st-louis-missouri/

Yea....what CG said! This is your life....not some race to see how fast you can get to some magic number. (although I'm guilty too!) Hell, I'm coming up on four YEARS and not at that scale goal yet. Some days I eat MUCH more than others...and I'm fairly "tight". But thats life with the band for me....and its working that way. Be proud where you've come so far.... Try going and carrying around a 60# bag of concrete/whatever for a while..

I have the option of cooking at work as we're there for 12 hours, so you may not be able to cook at work. But here are some things I eat at work. Corned beef cooked in a crockpot, Sauteed shrimp over spaghetti squash, Avocado's, cheese sticks, Greek yogurt, oatmeal, Clif bars, Fresh fruit (grapes, blueberries, raspberries, bananas, apples ) If you like fish and have access to a Long John Silvers, they have a "hold the batter" cod plate thats really good and healthy. Wendy's chili is pretty good. Thats about the extent of fast food for me. Wednesday at home I made a big pot of Lentils with some onions/smoked jowl pieces and seasoning and had it all day. ( and still have some ) Thursday I took some Flounder filets, and we steamed them with some veggies at work.

Ride to work Thursday evening: http://connect.garmi...ivity/344814433 Distance: 20.96 mi Time: 1:17:49 Avg Speed: 16.2 mph Elevation Gain: 162 ft Calories: 619 C A quiet 12 hour nightshift in between Ride home Friday morn: http://connect.garmi...ivity/344814457 Distance: 21.07 mi Time: 1:15:45 Avg Speed: 16.7 mph Elevation Gain: 270 ft Calories: 839 C

Unless you're having some kind of alergic reaction to some new food ( the Protein shakes maybe??....never heard of it though ) its probably your body adjusting to not having the "normal" things you've been giving it. Hang in there! It may seem as though you can't do this, but trust me, you can. Most everyone has been through a pre-op "diet" that last from a few days to a few weeks. For me it was Clear liquids....basically ZERO calories for a week pre-op. And after about the third day, it actually got much better for me. Best wishes

This is interesting...... Where might I be able to find this info? Some study or medical journal? Could you point me to a link about this? I have never heard Carbon dioxide gas can cause erosion. Thanks, David

I agree with your doc....for weight loss and overall health, cardio is what I've seen the best results from. After all, weight loss boils down to calories in vs calories out. Could you burn 1100 calories of weight training consistently? No way I could... Stick with what works for you....and don't expect a scale loss every week. It will come, provided you just stick with it. I've learned that lesson finally, as sometimes I'll go two/three weeks without seeing it on the scale, then the next week be down 5 lbs.... Best of luck to you!

Here's a short video ( I took with my phone after the fluoroscopy ) of what my restriction level looked like today during my doctor visit. He was pleased with the "pouch" size. Said everything looks good... almost 4 years post op. I now have 9 cc's in a 14 cc band. In the video, about 4 seconds in, you can see as I swallow the contrast liquid and it flows past the band.

Short group ride: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/343981956 16 miles Time 1:20 350 cal

This evenings ride : http://connect.garmi...ivity/343756781 Distance: 26.28 mi Time: 1:33:08 Avg Speed: 16.9 mph Elevation Gain: 206 ft Calories: 973 C Mid Month totals Count: 15 Rides Distance: 326.11 mi Time: 22:02:35 h:m:s Avg Speed: 14.8 mph Avg HR: 126 bpm Avg Bike Cadence: 65 rpm Calories: 11,614 C

Great Post! This just goes to show, there are many ways to overcome a less than supportive PCP.

If I could offer a word of encouragement/advice for you? You're very new at this still. It's ok to make mistakes! We're human after all....and we didn't get to needing surgery because we ate correctly all the time. What's most important now is to eat those things/types of foods that have been ok'd by your surgical team...liquids/mushies/soft foods...depending on the stage of your post op diet. Eating more of the ok'd foods if you feel you must, would be better than progressing to "off limit" foods. Theres a reason you were asked to avoid certain types of foods... You probably didn't have much, if any, saline added to your band during surgery. So you are probably approaching or in whats referred to as bandster hell on here. That period of time after surgery but BEFORE the band does it's part. It's all on you right now....another diet until you reach what's referred to as the GREEN ZONE. Most everyone experienced that bandster hell, when we were wondering what have I done, why am I so hungry, etc. It will pass, given correct adjustments after your body has had a chance to recover from surgery. It takes some longer than others to reach that level of restriction....maybe NO fills (very unusual for the band by itself) some may take several, but you can get there....just never, ever give up! Hang in there!

I've had mine for almost four years and here's my answers to your questions. 1. the installation surgery, including all the preop testing, etc bill was about $20,000. I paid about $1000 out of pocket for copay, pshyc visit, etc. Since surgery, I've probably had 20 office visits in four years....my portion appx $50 each...some are more, some less. Depending on what's done. EVERY person will probably have a different answer, depending on insurance. 2. I went back to work two weeks post op, to a "light duty" position. I work in an industrial setting, so your experience will vary depending on your physical demands. 3. I COULD eat most any type food now. I avoid my problem foods which are very few. I also choose to avoid some others as they are just not worth trying for me...no benefit to eating bread, Pasta, "slab" red meat such as steaks. I CAN eat just about anything, just smaller amounts. 4. As far as a doctor recommendation, MY OPINION, just choose one with lots of procedures under his belt. Also, DO NOT CONSIDER a doctor who will not use fluoroscopy...at least most of the time. Its that important. It allows them to SEE your band, and not have to guess whats going on. As a side note, I suggest folks who are even thinking about sleeve to consider finding a doctor who does band over plication. It looks VERY promising. Best of luck in your journey, whatever you decide.