elcee

That is the reason that you are required to do the preop diet. It helps to shrink the liver and makes it less fragile and easier to move out of the way.

You are not failing. The surgery will not have made a major impact on your hunger at this point. The surgery is just the first part of a process. The easiest way to stick to the diet at this point is to remember what you just went through and why and also remember that it is not like previous diets, it has an end. You won't be on liquids for ever. At this stage sticking to the type of foods you have been told to eat is more important than focussing on losing weight. So if you are hungry feel free to eat/drink more of the foods that are allowed as per your Dr but do not be tempted to eat foods that you should not be eating for a couple of weeks. You need to let the band heal into place properly and eating ahead of your diet can affect that.

Try having a warm drink before you eat. Don't let yourself get so hungry that you don't eat that first bite slowly enough. Pay extra attention to how you eat it and then wait a couple of minutes before the next bite. Hopefully some of this might help.

Eating is fine so long as you are aware of what and how you are eating and you follow the rules. Full is nothing like full without a band. It is not felt in your stomach, you do not feel like you might explode. Instead it is felt in the chest. There is a very fine line between having eaten enough and eaten too much. Too much hurts like hell and can cause you discomfort for hours afterwards. You have to learn to recognise your bodies subtle signals that you have had enough.

Don't know what the outcome of this was. http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2011/jun/09/family-seeks-answers-after-womans-lap-band-death/?page=2#article

There was 1 of the Docs that had a lot of bad reports. I am not sure if it was Dr Kuri but the name does seem to ring a bell. You could try searching this site to see if anything comes up but I think a lot of the older stuff was lost during 1 of the upgrades.

I completely agree.

Testing your band is not a good idea. As to eating crap and expecting your band to stop you well it just isn't going to happen. If you want to test if you have any restriction try eating a balanced meal of some meat or chicken and some vegetables. The aim when you are testing is not to see how much you can stuff in , the aim is to see if you can eat the recommended amount and not be hungry for 3 - 4 hours afterwards. When we talk about hunger we mean real hunger not the type that comes from boredom, or stress or just craving something because it looks or tastes good.

Yes it is to do with reflux. You need to give the food sufficient time to go down as if you don't then reflux is a risk. Try not to eat so late in future! You can try going to bed and see what happens , maybe try sleeping with the head of your bed raised.

It sounds as though you may be a little too tight. Reflux is a sign of the band being overfilled.

Try living close to Ballarat, you'll soon put a jumper on!

Ask your Dr. You don't want to mess up and then find he has to do open surgery instead of laprascopic. Also if you can't stick to what you should be doing now then how will you cope after the surgery when it is even more important?

True. Sounds like you might be a natural born worrier so the less you have to worry about the better. There are other things that you don't need that could be taken out too as something might go wrong with them......... tonsills, adenoids, appendix, ovaries..............! (Joking)

Difficult to say as everyone is different. It might work better in some kind of sauce. You will just have to experiment and see what works best for you.

Your current BMI is at almost 32 which is still in the obese range. Would you really be happy if you stopped at that? We are all different but I know I wouldn't be happy, in fact that was where my BMI was when I started! I got the band so that I could lose ALL my excess weight. I wanted to be well and truly within the normal range and would prefer to be at the lowest point if I could make it. Unfortunately the weight loss slows down. To get to where I would like to be I would have to cut my calories to a level that i would not be comfortable sustaining.

That is 2 months. Average weight loss should be 1 - 2lb per week so to me it sounds like youare where you should be. But some things to consider if you think that the weight loss could be faster. What are you doing to lose the weight? Are you exercising? Are you following the dietary guidelines that your dr has given you?

Chocolate and I have broken up many times but stupidly I have never been able to resist "his" charms. Every time he calls I go crawling back. I tend to do better if I refuse to let him in the house but this must be an incestuous relationship as my DH and kids have something going with him too and they always let him back in. I hate to admit it but sometimes my need for him is so desperate that we have clandestine rendezvous at the supermarket!

Normally after a large weight loss you have a lot of loose ,saggy skin. Lipo will do nothing to help this, the only thing that will help is a tummy tuck.

I would rather be slim with a few wrinkles than fat with a moon face and multiple chins.

A healthy weight loss is between 1 - 2lb per week which equals between 4 and 8lb a month. If you are hugely overweight you may lose quicker initially but it will slow down. What you have to remember is you didn't gain the weight overnight and you won't lose it that way either. Remember every lb you lose no matter how slowly is better than you gaining a lb. I would have loved to have got the band and woken up skinny the next morning but it didn't happen. LOL But what did happen was that I lost weight slowly and steadily over a period of about 6 months until I got to goal. So slow and steady is good

Most junk food turns to liquid or mush before it hits the band so it slides through easily. Proper foods do not turn to mush before they hit the band, they sit there for a while and pass through very slowly. We would all love a band that could stop us eating junk but unfortunately it isn't out there. When they invent it my name is going at the top of the list!

I know how you feel as I am the same height. Getting the band was the best thing I could have done for myself. It is great to be at a normal BMI and to look and feel good. Hope you have the same success.

A lot of sugar substitutes carry a warning that excessive consumption can cause issues. I remember going to movies years ago and buying a cup of sugar free candies to eat during the movie, this was prior to them carrying warnings, a couple of hours later I got the worst cramps and runs ever.As a result I am now ultra careful about how much of these type of products I consume. I actually wrote to the manufacturer to complain about the lack of warning.

What Jen has said is good but I would like to add 1 more thing. Leftovers , especially if they are reheated are a common cause of problems. the food tends to be a different texture, often a lot drier the second time around.

Wine is good for you.