stargate713

Thrift stores or consignment shops i think are a good alternative for the "transition" clothes....especially jeans. there are more and more places popping up that only deal in name brand clothing.

And start with Catherine's blog! That's where i started....she's been my inspiration (thanks again Catherine...from ALL of your loyal followers!)

The sad thing for me is that I have been so big for so long that I don't have a lot of smaller clothes.....except for a few things in the next size down which i bought the last time I lost some weight. They still have the tags on.....so shows how long i maintained that weight. But they just about fit me again...so things are looking up! I guess I'd better dust off the credit card.... (Shhhhhhh...don't tell my hubby!)

That's why I'm here! My family was sick of hearing about it all! Start following some blogs...there are some great ones out there, they help keep me grounded and not feeling alone.

Just heard a report on the local news yeaterday that a majority of adults and many children are Vit D deficient. My program reccommends everyone take calcium with vit D twice a day. The good news is...if you know about it you can fix it!

We are all food addicts to some extent or we wouldn't be here. I'm curious as to what rational the doctors gave you for suggesting By-pass over banding. It is true that the band isn't right for everyone, and they may have valid, medically sound reasons for their opinions. Perhaps you should consider a second opinion from another surgeon who has good experience with Lap-bands.

95% of people who lose significant weight on their own will gain it back plus more. only about 15% of the people who have lap-band either don't lose or gain their weight back. There are alot of people posting on here that they aren't losing.......but MANY of them are only a few months out and have had no, or 1-2 fills! They don't even have any restriction yet. It's not going to happen over night.....it's still going to take a year to 18 months to lose 100+ pounds. Plus the people who are trucking along...losing the expected 1-2lbs a week are not on here posting....they are out living their lives. You have done your research....and put much thought into this decision...try to stay objective.

Yep....was just driving home from work today thinking to myself "I can't believe i really did it".......but glad now that the actual surgery is behind me and I can start living my new life.

Yes, that was my first thought, if you are on anti-biotics it could be that

The day I went to my PCP for my surgical referral she had me in tears. First she yelled at me and berated me, and then she ended her verbal assult (for that is what it felt like) with "I'm still going to write you the referral". Turns out part of her issue was her total lack of knowledge and understanding of the proceedure. She is an attending physician in the clinic the trains the Family Med Interns for the health care system where i had my surgery. She didn't even know who my surgeon was! The sad thing is, this means that she does not refer any patients who could benifit from Lap-band surgery. In my case, I'm an RN, so selfishly when she said she'd write the referal I let it drop, because I did all my research, went to 2 seminars, and took over a year to make my decision and NEEDED that referral and later insurance letter from her! I think you may have a slightly different view after you've been to the information seminar and hear the surgeon's point of view. Good luck in what ever path you choose, and do what ever you can to be as healthy as you can.......and if you go for the band, we will all be here waiting for you with open arms!!!!

My doc is pretty conservative......he dosn't give the go ahead to resume exercise for 4 weeks. He allows walking untill then

Everyone will probably hate me for this...but let me be the devil's advocate here. If things actually went down the way your husband said.....then it was actually your mother who slipped up (and innociently by the sounds of it). I think your husband may be taking a little too much heat on this. You asked him to keep a secret for you from his family, but when directly confronted by his father.....did you expect him to lie to his face? You put him in a rough spot of keeping your confidence or lying to his dad. Now if he had time to think it out, perhaps he might of said "I don't have the liberty to discuss it with you.....she has decided to keep her medical proceedure confidential". Sometimes when we are directly confronted, we react and don't have time to think things out. They indeed sound like unpleasent people.....but maybe they were thinking the worst like you had cancer or something else bad God forbid. These issues are all too common with in-laws, use this as an opportunity to open up a dialog with your husband on how hurtful his family's comments have been in the past. If you stay angry with your husband then you are just allowing his family drive a wedge between the 2 of you. Be strong.....you are a beautiful woman.....you can rise above their petty, critical attitudes.

I'm at the same stage as you. There's a book I just ordered off Amazon called "Eating Well After Weight Loss Surgery" by Patt Levine and Michele Bontempo-Saray. I like it because she gives modifications for every recipe for what ever stage you are in.

i didn't have any problems swallowing my calcium citrate or pain pills right after surgery, and am on children's chewables with iron twice a day ( don't forget you can't take calcium and iron together...it interferes with absorbtion)

Hi and Welcome! you posted your message but think your last thought got cut off...lol. Anyway, I'm from South Jersey, and was banded at Virtua-Marlton. You'll find these boards are an invauluable! Good luck, feel free to message me any time.

From day 43 post-op onward our group reccomends 800-1200 cal, 22-33g fat, 72-105g protein per day. It's a range because they prescribe an individual diet for each person. Obviously a 6 foot man will have different nutritional needs than a 5 ft woman. The reality is you have to eat less calories and exercise to lose (but we all know that). And I'm sure most of us were hoping with the band we would be "released" form the constant counting calories/points. Untill you reach restriction, it's up to you to monitor yourself. I would have never known this pre-op if I had not been reading these message boards because my surgeon didn't tell me. My suggestion would be to contact your diatician for advice and a diet prescription to get you by untill you have restriction.

I think we all struggle with the same issues of some sort of "problem" with food....or else we wouldn't be here! We also to some degree have that same fear of sucess/failure as well. Thanks for being brave enough to "put your feelings out there" there are hundreds of great people on this site who ARE here...who DO READ....and who WILL be there for you! I have already been helped by so many people on here I couldn't begin to thank them all! Keep posting....they will answer!

It just amazes me the variations of the post op diets out there. I was on clear liquids plus 1 protein shake a day for 3 days, then on full liquids for 10 (am on day 7) then onto pureed for 17 days. But on my full liquids i am allowed 1 protein shake per day, low fat creamy (no chunks soup), skim milk, greek yogurt, cottage cheese, egg beaters, and thinned down cream of wheat or oatmeal. I think the most important thing is to let your body and stomach heal. I'm hungry in the evenings, but like Betsy suggested at that point when I've had all my calories and protein I will use the sugar free popsicles and jello. I just keep telling myself "this is just for today....I can do this for one day". Calling your surgeon or diatician for advice I think is the way to go.

What they are assessing is if you are a good candidate for lap-band surgery. They want to see if you understand the life-style changes you will need to make, and that you don't have any "un-realalistic" expectations. They also want to see what kind of support system you have to help you in your journey. the final thing, is that they want to make sure that you don't have any untreated psycological conditions (ie depression, drug/alcohol addiction). They will ask you if you have ever been treated by a psychiatrist in the past, but mostly they want to see where you are right now. You sound like you have your life together at this point....so I wouldn't be too worried. Good luck!

are you allowed any protien shakes? It helps with hunger

Sorry MrMom.....I didn't get the joke <my bad> as my kids would say. I only wish you and your wife the best and much success in both of your journeys.

You wrote "I hope she dosn't read any of this"....and you mentioned that you are preping for this journey as well. Well if she reads these boards then you have basically "outed" her.....put her business here without her permission. How will that make her feel? And what happens when you hit a road block? Do you want her on here airing it out...or do you want her loving support?

It should not be as much about what you CAN eat, as what you should be eating. Unfortunately until you have the appropriate restriction you have to be careful to control your portion sizes. Are you journaling your food intake? are you sticking to 800-1200 cal per day and getting enough protein? Are You drinking enough water? Having an illness can certainly be a set back, but you did say in your post that you are not making the best food choices. Perhaps you can call your dietician to help you get back on track? You were only banded 3 months ago......your journey is just beginning...... Don't be hard on yourself......"care" for yourself and things will fall into place!

Orange juice has a lot of potassium...if you are still on liquids

This is just my opinion of course....but if your dad has insurance, he would probably be better off finding a surgeon in his plan that he is happy with. Don't forget, that if he self pays and has any complications, his insurance won't cover him. Just something to consider.