btrieger

I plan on asking my surgeon this on Wednesday. One thing I can tell you is that salt isn't a good idea.

I don't have the numbers but it would scare you. It is close to 50% but that depends what you refer to as a failure. Many fail and from the looks of it it is "usually" those that were clueless as to what was going to be required of them and their surgeons should be held accountable for this. They going into it thinking that the band is an easy out or magic pill and don't realize they will actually have to work to make the tool work for them. Their surgeons should make this clear to them before slicing through them and placing a foreign object inside of their body. Others lack the will power it takes follow the rules required by the lapband and are not ready to change their lifestyles and eating habits for the rest of their life. They think of it as another diet and as we all know, diets don't work. I think that mot of these people should seek therapy to understand the reason behind their overeating and then try again since they already have the tool inside. Then there are the complications from the band; slippage, erosion, etc... The lapband is not a fix-all and should not be taken lightly. You have to be ready and want it for yourself.

I know that most of you are women. I am just curious as of the ratio and how many many are going to have to put up with me. :blushing: Thanks for responding

I am curious as to the percentage of men that are participating on this site.

I'd say if you weren't scared and you didn't have questions then you probably are not ready. As everyone else said, the is not something to be taken lightly. It will affect you and probably those close to you for the rest of your life. Try not to be paranoid but keep researching and conquer your fears one at a time.

This depends on a whole bunch of different variables. The biggest being which insurance company you have or whether you are paying cash. It will be less than 5 months for me from start to finish because my insurance company required 3 months supervised dieting. Use the wait time wisely and do as much research as possible. Too many people think that the lapband is a magic pill. It takes work. The wait give you time to decide if you are ready to change your lifestyle and eating habits for the rest of your life.

I haven't had half of these in years and the ones I have had were due to other things, not this surgery. My surgery won't be for a month though, maybe I am in for a pop quiz.

I think the waiting is good. It has given me plenty of time to research further and do the soul searching I needed prior to having a foreign object implanted in my body that will there for the rest of my life. These are not decisions that should be made on the fly and I'm sure that many have changed their mind during the wait. A year does seem to be a little excessive but you have plenty of time ahead of you.

I am 30 days pre-op but rearing to go under the knife and get this over with. I've lost a lot over the last 3 months through altering my eating habits and walking. I want the surgery done so I won't gain it all back immediately like I have in the past. If you need more incentive, dying is nothing compared to the pain of a heart attack.

Weighing yourself too often can be sabotage. Take it from this hypocrite. Your weight will fluctuate depending on the time of day; how much you've eaten or drank; where you position your feet on a cheap scale; riding the cotton pony; etc... If you are burning more calories than you are consuming the weight will come off but sometimes it takes times to accumulate. My nutritionist said to try and keep it to once a month. I weigh myself almost every day but am trying to get it to a week.

Stay away from fast food. It doesn't matter whether it is a kids meal or not. It is poison! It's loaded with MSG, sodium, saturated fat, carbohydrates, etc... If you want to grab something fast, go to Subway and get one of their 6" subs that has less than 6 grams of fat. Eat the contents of the sub first and if you finish that and are still hungry start eating the bread a little at a time. Soups and stews including chili can be considered sliders and unless they are homemade, they are usually loaded with sodium. Drink plenty of Water but not within 30 minutes of a meal. This is not a race, this is for the rest of your life. So, if it takes you a while to get on the right track, it's ok but keep heading in the right direction.

oops, that was meant for your first post.

Welcome! I'm in Keller, northeast of Fort Worth. The minimum requirements will be - The supervised diet. Rumor has it that BSBC is only 3 months now. - A psychiatric evaluation. - A sleep study. Below is something I posted today to somebody else new. I am getting too lazy to keep typing. I don't mean for this to sound negative but if you are seeking an easy out or a magic pill, turn back before you have too much invested. You'll probably have a 3 to 6 month supervised diet prior to surgery. Use this time wisely and do as much research as possible. The LAP-BAND® doesn't make you lose weight. It is a tool that makes you feel full/satisfied faster if you eat the right foods but YOU must work with it to lose the weight. You have to be ready to change your lifestyle and the way you think about food. Read the forums here and see what the successful bandsters have done but also read of the many failures and try to steer clear of their mistakes. Good luck and keep us informed.

Good luck and keep us up to date on your progress. I'm about a month behind you and unfortunately, I do have the 2 week pre op diet coming fast.

Welcome and you are worth 100% but if they'll pay 90%, that's great! I don't mean for this to sound negative but if you are seeking an easy out or a magic pill, turn back before you have too much invested. You'll probably have a 3 to 6 month supervised diet prior to surgery. Use this time wisely and do as much research as possible. The lapband doesn't make you lose weight. It is a tool that makes you feel full/satisfied faster if you eat the right foods but YOU must work with it to lose the weight. You have to be ready to change your lifestyle and the way you think about food. Read the forums here and see what the successful bandsters have done but also read of the many failures and try to steer clear of their mistakes. Good luck and keep us informed.

Having the band installed and getting fills does NOT make you lose weight. You have to change your lifestyle and burn more calories than you eat in order to lose weight. Have you been logging everything you eat? If not, start doing that. It will help you and your doctor/nutritionist see where the problem may be. It may also surprise you. You may be eating more than you thought. Eat only 3 meals a day and space them out 5 hours. Try to eat more meat and vegetables than you do grains. If you have trouble here, eat the meat first, then the vegetables then the grains. Chew each mouthful long and hard. Not only will this keep the food from getting stuck, it will give your stomach time to tell you when it is full. Stop eating when you are full. You do NOT have to clear your plate. Do not drink with your meals. This only helps the food slide through to your real stomach and defeats the purpose of the LAP-BAND®. Drink at least 64 ounces of water a day. None within 30 minutes of a meal. Didn't your surgeon go over all of this? If not, call him on it next time you see him and ask him why not. If you have questions feel free to ask them here but don't forget that your surgeon made a bundle off of you and it was for more than just an install. I've heard it all 4 times from my surgeon and I'm not even banded. I have to hear it again on January 11th. You can do this! Keep reading the forums and blogs here. Read what the successful people have done and try to follow their examples. Read what the failures have or haven't done and try to steer clear of their mistakes. * forgive me but this is a cut and paste from a reply I posted on the forum to a similar question this morning.

Welcome aboard. It is always inspirational to have the success alumni share their stories and give advice.

I am assuming you mean start a new thread. The easiest way is just to click here: LAP-BAND

How much exercise are you getting? You have to at least walk a little to get the blood flowing and healing process started. Also, no matter how hard it is, make sure you drink at least 64 ounces of Water a day. A lot of the pain people feel in their muscles is dehydration.

Contradict all you'd like. I am still learning here too. Thanks for the info!

I am not banded yet. So, I can't help you with sweet spot question. You may have been expecting too much from the band but it sounds like you have the right mindset to make it work. Measuring food to 1 cup, 1/2 cup, 1/4 cup, etc... does not make a lick of sense. It depends what the food is not how much. In order to lose weight, you have to burn more calories than you are eating. It looks like you are burning plenty of calories. Therefore, you must be consuming more than you should. You can use this online BMR calculator to calculate how many calories you burn while idle. You'll need to add how many you are burning during workouts to that for your daily total. Then log everything that passes your gums in order to calculate how many calories you are consuming. I use the Bodybugg site for this but there are plenty of free ones out there. The Daily Plate is one of them. You will lose 1 pound for every 3,500 or so calories you burn more than you eat. So if you burn 500 more than you eat every day for a week, you lose 1 pound that week. Steer clear of empty calories in drinks that have calories. Try to drink only Water, coffee, tea, etc... Drink at least 64 ounces of water a day. This is important for you metabolism and to wash the waste from your system. Eat only 3 meals a day 5 hours apart. Stop eating when you start to feel full. There are no bonuses for clearing your plate. That's enough for starters. Good luck!

Slider foods are basically any food you eat that "slides" straight down to your real stomach. #1 on the list is ice cream. The there's pudding, yogurt, Jello, any liquid containing calories, mashed potatoes, cottage cheese, Soup, etc... Not speaking from experience yet but these are the foods I plan on keeping to a limit.

The 2 year history is a breeze if you had a doctors visit in 2008. They send the 2008 from your doctor and the 2009 from their office. I say this hoping it is as easy as my surgeons staff said it would be. My paperwork is getting submitted to Aetna on Wednesday.

Your doctor doesn't think, he KNOWS it is your food choices. You may or may not need another fill but what you definitely need is to change your eating habits. Contrary to popular belief, the lapband and fills do NOT make you lose weight. You lose weight when you burn more calories than you are eating. Have you been logging everything you eat? If not, start doing that. It will help you and your doctor/nutritionist see where the problem may be. It may also surprise you. You may be eating more than you thought. Eat only 3 meals a day and space them out 5 hours. Try to eat more meat and vegetables than you do grains. If you have trouble here, eat the meat first, then the vegetables then the grains. Chew each mouthful long and hard. Not only will this keep the food from getting stuck, it will give your stomach time to tell you when it is full. Stop eating when you are full. You do NOT have to clear your plate. Do not drink with your meals. This only helps the food slide through to your real stomach and defeats the purpose of the lapband. Drink at least 64 ounces of Water a day. None within 30 minutes of a meal. This is what the dietitian is going to tell you. Didn't your surgeon go over all of this? I've heard it all 4 times from my surgeon and I'm not even banded. I have to hear it again on January 11th. You can do this! Keep reading here. Read what the successful people have done and try to follow their examples. Read what the failures have or haven't done and try to steer clear of their mistakes.

Everyone seems to equate partying with nothing but having fun. They don't remember the hangover that ensues until the next morning. You can do this on your own until you get a fill. If you can't keep a positive attitude; think of the hangover. Think of how much longer it will take to lose those party pounds. Eat everything at the party but tone it down to 1/2 portions.