Astrasmom

You got that right. Doctors are WAY different. I would suggest to everyone..follow what your doctor gave you because they do what they do for a reason. You can take the advice of others but your doctor is the one that knows best. :blushing:

My doctor told me no more than 6 oz of food which is 1/2 to 3/4 of a cup. Protein supplements can be 8oz.

You are very welcome. Anytime you need a little support, feel free to message me. Or even email me.

I added everyone to my friends list that lives in NJ. Hope you don't mind. Congrats to those that are banded and good luck to those that aren't. I wish everyone much success.

The 2 weeks post op diet sucks. But the rewards afterwards are amazing. Congratulations and you are a very lucky person to have such a caring mother.

First you should not be eating more than 5-6 ounces in one meal. Careful you could stretch your pouch. It generally takes me about 30 minutes to finish my meal. You should stop eating when you feel satisfied, not because your mind tells you to keep eating.

Good luck. Please keep us posted on your progress!!!:sad:

When you are drinking your water inbetween meals are you drinking alot or are you still only doing 4oz? In between meals I drink ALOT of fluids. You can also try sugar free ice pops. That might help you a little. Sometimes during 'that time' of the month you can be a little swollen too. You really don't have to drink small amounts of fluids after a certain time. Just don't gulp. I carry water with me all of the time. I don't drink 15 minutes before I eat, and 45 minutes to an hour after I eat.

You can eat anything that your family eats just smaller amounts. You honestly don't have to give up anything..well except the fried foods. You might have to cook foods a different way but you really don't have to give up on your cooking. There may be some foods that won't agree with you and you will experience the 'stuck' feeling. This is how we all learn. Don't be afraid. If you chew your food really well and take tiny bites you will be ok. I have the bad habit of not chewing very well or taking big bites. Stuck is just when a piece off food gets stuck. Most of the time it doesn't last very long. It will either go down or it will come back up again. We experience the slime when it comes back up. Slime is just thick saliva kind of like mucus. Don't be alarmed with this either. Stuck does not happen to everyone. Once it does happen, trust me you learn to eat differently. It does hurt a bit. But not to the point that you feel like you are having a heart attack. When it happens to me, I walk around sometimes I jump up and down. The longest that it has happened to me is like maybe 3 minutes.

Hi Tracy, Congratulations on the start of your journey. I think that is the first time that I have heard what we feel as Bipolar..hah that's perfect. You are normal in what you are feeling. We all go through it. Before the surgery it's pretty much an emotional roller coaster. You will want to change your mind several times. Let me just tell you that the results after the surgery are awesome. If I had to do it all over again I would. This is the best thing that I have ever done for myself. I am happier and healthier than I have been in a very long time. Before I started my self esteem was in the crapper. Now I am gradually gaining more confidence in myself. My suggestion to you is to keep reading and learn all that you can before your surgery is scheduled. You can also check out my blog that I started. It might help you. Feel free to email me if you have questions. I've only been banded since Oct. 23, 2009 but I can give you some support anyway. Good luck on your journey.

I'm not brand new but was banded on Oct. 23, 2009. I live in Little Egg Harbor. Is that far south enough? Would love to be your support buddy. Email me if you like cc-dmtermini@comcast.net Congratulations on your upcoming surgery. Dawn

Could it be that your possibly giving into head hunger also? Sometimes I could probably eat more than I do because my head starts talking to me (Ok so the white coats are coming), but I refuse to listen anymore. Is it truly hunger that you are experiencing? I am tighter in the evening then I am in the morning. Everyone experiences a different part of the day where I think they are tighter. You could very well need another fill. I have 5.5cc's in my band and I'm feeling good restriction. I would call your doctor and tell him how you are feeling. They may give you another fill. Also are you using Protein supplements inbetween your meals?

I am definitely tighter in the evening then I am the rest of the day. In the evening I really have to watch how big my bites are and how much I chew otherwise I will get stuck.

Your first fill is normally 6-7 weeks after surgery. It's perfectly normal. As for the eating habits. I know it's horrible. Welcome to Banders Hell. You are pretty much running on pure will power right now. Make sure you eat higher Protein foods to keep you full longer. And no matter how hard it is, stick to the plan that the doctor gave to you. You should only be consuming 2-3 oz of food at each meal. Try adding a small snack of cottage cheese or Ricotta cheese in the middle of your meals. And definitely drink your fluids. Are you taking protein supplements? Also pretty much keep yourself busy at this time. Get some sugar free ice pops. I live on those. They also help you get your fluids in while fixing your sweet tooth cravings. If you can't hang on until the 14th I would call your doctor and tell him/her that you are having a VERY hard time. Sometimes they will fill before your time. Congratulations by the way.

What's good for the goose might not be good for the gander. Personally I don't care what others think. I am in this for me and no one else. Something work for others that don't work for me. I have to agree with what others are saying, if this is the easy way out then I will take it everyday of my life because it's working for me and I am the happiest and healthiest I have been in a VERY long time. People in my family used to say it was the easy way out until they see just how much work I have to go through everyday to live my new lifestyle. Now the funny thing is everyone is coming up to me asking me what they should be eating because they want to lose weight. Point is don't listen to what everyone else says. If you are happy with the decision that you have made, if it's working for you, then be happy. Everyone that has had the band is here for you. We will all tell you that there is nothing easy about this process.

Ok I checked on my account. You are only prompted every so often on your milestones. Milestones meaning your weightloss. You can't share your goals right now. Hopefully in the future you will be able to do that because that would be so cool. You can print out your certificates though. You should be prompted again at 50%. To band there's not a suggestion box on the site because you do have a very good suggestion.

Whooo hooo. Congratulations. I am so proud of you and you should be very proud of yourself. Keep up the awesome work.

strained cream soups are considered liquid.

Hmmm did you go to My Cheers and see if you have milestones? You might have to share them yourself. When I reached my 25% weightloss goal it prompted me. But you might have to do it manually with the goals.

Under support and motivation you have to add the email addresses of those that you want on your support team. Once you have reached a milestone, such as a goal, it will prompt you to request cheers.

To be honest, you are giving up on diets if you get the lapband. Why? Because the lapband isn't a diet, it's a lifestyle change. It's a tool that will help you lose the weight and keep it off. I was just like you. I tried every diet I could think of. They worked...for awhile, and then I gained it all back and then some because I got tired of the same routine over and over again. The Lapband is different. It allows me to eat foods but in way small portions. And I don't deprive myself of the better things once and awhile. Like a tiny piece of cake or a cookie. Which is what I was deprived of before and ultimately failed. I also quit smoking 11 years ago after smoking for 1 years with the help of a pill. I went through a nasty divorce. Went through open heart surgery. And got married again. If that's not enough stress to kill someone, I don't know what is. Needless to say I gained alot of weight. My highest was 304lbs and I am 5'6" tall. I finally realized that after much soul searching and research that I couldn't do this on my own anymore. And if I didn't do something different I was going to die. So I decided to get the lapband. And I am so glad that I did because I have lost more weight with the band then I have with any other diet I've tried. And the great thing is I am keep it off. Oh yeah and I didn't mention that I also have sleep apnea and use a CPAP machine too. I have to call for an appointment for another study because I think I'm ready to come off of it. I was also borderline everything, diabetes, high blood pressure, cholesterol, fatty liver..etc. All of that is normal now. In my phsyc consult he just asked me how my current family life was. What my life was like growing up. And why I wanted to get the lapband. It took about 15 minutes. They are trying to determine that you are doing this for the right reasons. Just be honest and answer the questions that he/she asks you. Good luck and I hope that some of this has helped you.

Congratulations. Please feel free to read my blog. It might help you a little. Relax we all go through what you are going through right now. Take this time to read as much about the lapband as possible. Ask question and most of all, prepare for the birth of the new you. Please keep us posted. Good luck on your surgery.

Here is what I just got done telling someone else...hope it helps you. The reason you are on the liquids is to shrink your liver. This is the hardest part of the procedure. In this stage everyone wants to cheat. Everyone feels as if they could eat a horse and everyone has a VERY hard time. The only advice that I can give to you is to tell you, don't cheat no matter how hard it may be because I have heard of doctors canceling the surgery because of that. What I can tell you is that you are almost there and things will get better for you. The first week after surgery you should be ok until the swelling goes down and then you will unfortunately be hungry again until your first fill. The benefits are awesome though. Just wait until the weight starts falling off of you. You will feel much better. You can now tell everyone that has ever said, "this is the easy way out." that they must be out of their minds because there is nothing easy about this process. Right now your body is going through starvation mode. You will feel tired, you will feel all kinds of things, but like I said it does get better. Hang in there. You can do it. I have faith in you, have faith in yourself. We will save you a seat on the losers bench. In the liquid phase you can pretty much have anything except alcohol. Drink your Protein shakes but you might want to get some unflavored Protein powder so that you can mix it in broth also. The more protein you have the more full you will be.

The reason you are on the liquids is to shrink your liver. This is the hardest part of the procedure. In this stage everyone wants to cheat. Everyone feels as if they could eat a horse and everyone has a VERY hard time. The only advice that I can give to you is to tell you, don't cheat no matter how hard it may be because I have heard of doctors canceling the surgery because of that. What I can tell you is that you are almost there and things will get better for you. The first week after surgery you should be ok until the swelling goes down and then you will unfortunately be hungry again until your first fill. The benefits are awesome though. Just wait until the weight starts falling off of you. You will feel much better. You can now tell everyone that has ever said, "this is the easy way out." that they must be out of their minds because there is nothing easy about this process. Right now your body is going through starvation mode. You will feel tired, you will feel all kinds of things, but like I said it does get better. Hang in there. You can do it. I have faith in you, have faith in yourself. We will save you a seat on the losers bench. In the liquid phase you can pretty much have anything except alcohol. Drink your Protein shakes but you might want to get some unflavored Protein powder so that you can mix it in broth also. The more protein you have the more full you will be. powders?utm_source=BariatricPal&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_campaign=CommentLink" target="_ad" data-id="1" >unjury has an unflavored chicken soup flavored protein that is very good. (UNJURY is Medical Quality whey Protein Isolate. Best Tasting Whey Protein Powder. Most Trusted Whey Protein Powder Supplement. Taste the difference!). Please feel free to add me as an email buddy and I will try my best to encourage you to keep going. The best of luck to you. Keep looking for the light at the end of the tunnel, your almost there. :thumbup:

Hi everyone. I haven't posted in awhile. I was Banded on Oct 23. I have successfully lost 69lbs all together with the pre-op diet. I have lost 59 of those lbs since surgery. I've had 3 fills and I am feeling some great restriction. I'm not sure I have actually hit the 'sweet spot' yet but it's very close. Maybe one more small fill will do that. I have gone from a size 26 to a 16. I feel AWESOME. I have 36 more pounds before I hit Onederland and I hope to be there by this summer. I am SO happy that the nice weather is getting here. Today I was able to walk outside for the first time in many days because of the snow we've gotten here (sshh that's a bad word). I do go to the gym but I would rather walk outside. The treadmill gets boring after awhile. Hope everyone is doing good.