John F

CityLights, like others have said try not to get to depressed. Remember what your dotor told you that these first few weeks are really intended for you and your body to get used to the band. I got banded this past February and totally agree that in some regards the mental changes are more challenging than the physical changes. Set small goals for yourself that you can celebrate along the way, this will help lift your spirit and remind you of your accomplishments. They may be as simple as I'm going to walk twice this week or add in an extra session of weights. Once you see the weight coming off and start really noticing changes it will be worth all the effort. Since february I have lost 98 pounds and I am about 25 pounds from my goal weight. Yet, at times it is still a challenging process. It is not an instant fix and you will go through phases, this is completely normal. I have had periods where I lost 26 pounds the first month and then two months later only lost 4 pounds the entire month. This too is normal. It took most of our lives for us to gain all that extra weight, it will take some time to lose it and get used to new habits and a new way of thinking. Hang in there, we are all behind you.

Fatty, funny name. Byrd congrats on the feeling great, it only gets better. I got banded on 2/17. I was 310 pre surgery, 303.5 day of surgery and I weighed in yesterday at 259. But, I am a guy and we tend to lose weight a little faster. I am also doing 30 minutes of cardio 5 times a week and lite weights 2 times a week. Anyway to answer your question Fatty, my first week after surgery was liquids only. I ate chicken/beef broth, and strained vegetable and cream soups and jello. The second week my doctor put me on mushy or soft foods such as pureed chickien salad or pureed tuna salad, oatmeal, pudding, etc. The third week I started solid foods. As a note of encouragement the morning of surgery my doctor told me something I had never heard before and that was that the surgery would completely reset my metabolism about 72-96 hours after surgery. He said the band causes food to sit at the top of the stomach and it stimulates the same nerves that are only stimulated when you eat a huge meal. After 3-4 days of being stimulated your body starts to read this constant stimulation as being in a time of plenty rather than a time of starvation and actually releases calories for energy instead of witholding them like it does during a normal diet/starvation mode. I thought it sounded kind of hinky but sure enough about 3 days after surgery I woke up feeling like I was on speed and have been full of energy ever since. Now 2 1/2 months later I am finally starting to see a mental change and much less of a desire for food that was one of the reasons that caused me to over eat before. So far the experience has been great. I was scared before surgery like everyone else, but I feel like I have been given a new lease on life.

Fireman well put. For those who are not Marines I was just trying to express that I'm not an active Marine anymore. Although thats probably self evident because if I was still active I never would have gotten to the point of needing a Lap Band, lol.

Hi everyone, I'm a Sergeant with Phoenix PD and am two months since my surgery. Three weeks pre op I was 310, day of surgery 2-17-09, I was 303.5 and today, 8 weeks since surgery, I am 265.5. I am 5' 7 1/2" and have a pretty solid muscle structure underneath as I use to be in the Marine Corps. I am amazed that according to my DR's body fat tests I ahve actually put on 8 lbs of muscle since the surgery. It just seems like a lot of muscle to put on in only 2 months. Anyone else have any experience with this? I have been doing 30 mins of cardio 5 times a week and a light circuit weight routine twice a week. To answer Dennis's question I had my surgeery on a Tuesday and returned to work on the following Monday. I too was a little nervous about the gun belt but it didn't bother me at all. To be technical my Dr said no heavy lifting for 6 weeks so if I was in a Patrol assignment and had to worry about possbly fighting with a suspect I may have been a little nervous. I am in a Homeland Defense assignment that is primarily administrative in nature so that wasn't a cocnern for me. But, if anything I have had to hold myself back from doing too much with all the extra energy I have now.

I can only speak for myself, but I was 310 three weeks pre op, 303.5 day of surgery on 2/17/09 and just had my 8 week check up today and I was 265.5. So I'm down a total of 44.5 pounds, and 38 of it in 8 weeks since surgery. Just FYI I am 5' 7 1/2" and was a Marine so I have a decent amount of muscle underneath. Everyone is different, but I am also exercising by doing cardio 5 times a week and light weights twice a week now.