txflea

I started walking 3 days after surgery! It was only around the perimeter of my back yard but it helped with the gas pains and the stiffness. Now I walk a mile at least once a night, I might miss a night but never 2 nights in a row. I usually go for my walk around 8pm, I have even gone as late as 10pm. (it's much cooler at that time, I'm in the armpit of Texas and we are running with 100% humidity and 98 degree weather) I look forward to my walks. It's my time to just listen to music and time myself on how long it takes to walk a mile.
I'm getting ready to start deep Water aerobics at our rec center and I have the Zumba kinect so I do that at times too
Whatever you do, make sure it's something you enjoy. Don't think of it as having to do it, WANT to do it. And if it starts getting boring change it up.
Good luck!

I am a friendly person who often greets and gets greeted with hugs rather than handshakes. I noticed lately that peoples arms wrap all the way around me and back to the hugger. I feel so tiny when that happens.

First of all I am proud to be a member of this site. It is wonderful to hear the stories of those who have been banded and those in pre-band status. It helps to read forums about the successes and the concerns, the achievements and the lessons learned. However, I wanted to reach out to those whose journey to Lap Band was slightly different. You see, My journey began at birth. I was born with a defect that was not treated until July 10th but caused me many issues throughout life. I was never an overweight child or teenager. I stayed active and in shape BUT I was sick. As a baby, I couldn't digest most formulas and I had a hard time with breast milk. Ended up with PET milk and karo Syrup. As a young child, I had multiple stomach viruses. At the age of eight, I learned that falling asleep after I ate lead to choking in my sleep later on. This was chalked up to having a weak lid (whatever that means) and bad family history. During my college years, I began to develop ulcers. I was placed on a daily regiment of Protonix and sent home. By 30, I was experiencing fatigue, slight Hair loss, and pain whenever I ate certain foods. At 31, I had enough and I requested to be sent to a specialist. I had an Upper GI which confirmed the presence of a hiatal hernia. One I was born with. Told that I could live with it and sent on my way. At 32, the list of foods I was unable to digest without pain was growing by leaps and bounds: NO fruit, no raw vegetables, no cakes, no Desserts, nothing with Tomato paste, no spicy foods, limited greasy foods, no carbonated drinks, no alcohol. I virtually had to watch almost everything I ate. I was in pain when I ate and pain when I wasn't eating. My Vitamin levels where awful and my immune system not the best. I was exercising but not losing weight. I was surviving off of starch. I met with the specialist who performed and EGD - or scope on my stomach. Afterwards, He said he understood why I was in pain. The hernia had went from small to moderate size, Gastritis, GERD, reflux, and signs of Sleep Apnea. My stomach was a hot mess. All relating to the fact that my Hernia was never treated and 33 years later the damage was evident. My part in it all: Im sure I sped the process along with my awful College eating habits - aka eating when I had a chance and not getting anything remotely close to proper rest.) I remember sitting through my Pre Surgery Informational Class shaking my leg because I was in so much pain: I had just ate chicken and mashed potatoes and cole slaw. Yes I know: not the best - but anything I ate caused me pain. Well, the doctor sat down and discussed my options with me. LapBand seemed the best option. As of July 15th, I feel so much better. I actually rest when I sleep now. My thoughts are clearer. Outside of the pain of surgery, My stomach feels much better. I did start the Protein Shakes a month before my surgery. Two shakes and one meal for four weeks, which greatly helped with the abdominal pain and agitation. Two weeks before surgery, I had a Protein Shake every 3 hours and Water in between. NO food. Yes I lose 24 lbs before surgery: though I was not very thrilled during the process. My doctor informed my loved ones that not only where things better than he anticipated during surgery, but my surgery went well and everything looked good. I wanted to share this story with those who are experiencing the same issues. Please note that your journey may be slightly different: It may not have started with the desire to lose weight or high blood pressure or diabetes or bad cholesterol, BUT I want you to know You are NOT alone. Many adults suffer from Hernias they know nothing about. They are not aware of the symptoms and just think they have stomach viruses and ulcers. If you are living on Maalox or Pepto or Mylanta: I am talking to you. If Nexium and Protonix are not working: I am talking to you. PLEASE get checked out. Have your children checked out. What seems like a small problem may lead to very bad complications later on in life. There is a better way of life available to you. I am and aim to continue being a witness to this fact. Thank you for reading this. Good luck on your Journey. Most importantly, Love yourself ALWAYS.

Let me tell you this, its going to hurt, but its so worth it! The gas is what hurts the most, otherwise everything else is bearable. The gas though.... whew that is painful :/

Or make your own ...
I make this and it is really good.
4-5 egg whites (from pasteurized eggs)
1/2 cup sour cream
Splenda or Truvia equivalent to 1/4 cup reg sugar
vanilla Extract to taste
In metal bowl whip egg whites to foamy, add "sugar" and vanilla. Beat til soft peaks form, fold in sour cream. At this time you could add in fruit or nuts or other add-ins. Cover with foil, put in freezer and stir every 30 mins. Stirring is important, otherwise you'll get ice chips.

.....and I need help. I gave up diet soda, candy, large portions, etc. but this dangerous slider food has a control over me that I haven't been able to beat. Hoping that "confessing " to my weakness might give me strength to give it up. Small portions won't work, I need to stop cold turkey.
Tomorrow will be the beginning to take one day at a time. The frozen devil got the better of me already today.

I doubt he's going to be mad. Why did you stop your meds?

Even though you are able to eat anything until you reach restriction, you should try to practice some self control. My Fitness Pal was a great help for me before I reached restriction. The band will not be a magic weight loss weapon, you have to get used to the fact that you need to change your eating habits. The band only helps with this, but what you choose to eat is strictly up to you.

Hi! Be patient. Easier said than done. I was banded 3/8/13.. 4 ccs in my 10cc band. Then 5.5, 6.1, 7.1, and now almost 4 months later I am at 7.3. I did not feel ANY restriction until this last fill. Even with this fill my restriction comes and goes. Somedays I feel it some days I don't. I have been able to eat ANYTHING I wanted and as much as I want since the day of surgery. Everyone Is different, people in my support group have half the ccs I do, and can't eat anything. They are sipping Proteins shakes. That being said. I am DETERMINED to not fail. I've spent 7,000$ I have had SURGERY FOR GOODNESS SAKE. This was my last straw, my last chance, I was not going to fail. I log all my food, eat lots of Protein and fruits and veggies. I exercise 5-6 days a week. I don't eat after 6 pm. I am on a diet. A lifestyle change, whatever you'd like to call it. I have committed to make huge changes until my band starts working. Even then it is just a tool, and will not do the work for you.
Good luck! If I can do it, anyone can. I made the decision for surgery on 2/20/13 and since that date I have gone from 235 to 185.6! Almost 50 pounds!!! And I can proudly say that the surgery motivated me, but this has been all me baby!!
You can do this

i took off 8 days from work and work at a desk.....i so am glad i took that time off to rest and get situated with my new life. i was sore (tender) in my stomach mainly the port area for about a month and otherwise, it was quite uneventful...just go slow, dont over do it or rush it....and let your body heal as this is major surgery..i am sure you will do just fine and dandy.

It took me about a week before I felt somewhat normal, I was never in excruciating pain, I only used the pain meds for the first few days, after that I was just uncomfortable, but the port pain did act up from time to time and it did hurt bad sometimes the port pain lasted about 3 weeks. I could have probably done a job like yours by day 5 or 6. I would suggest taking it easy what ever you do.
~~~Stephanie

It took me about a week, I am 19 days out, and my incisions are sore sometimes. Especially if I bump them. But otherwise I feel back to normal. I can tell you that the first week I was on Clear Liquids I felt dizzy and nauseous, but when I started the solid liquids I felt a little better, when I got to mushies the dizzyness and nausea went away.
Good luck!

It took me about a week, I am 19 days out, and my incisions are sore sometimes. Especially if I bump them. But otherwise I feel back to normal. I can tell you that the first week I was on Clear Liquids I felt dizzy and nauseous, but when I started the solid liquids I felt a little better, when I got to mushies the dizzyness and nausea went away.
Good luck!

I was banded on 6/6 so don't feel like the lone ranger, I feel like I can eat like crazy too.
I follow my portions and I log every lick, nibble, bite, chew, whatever into My Fitness Pal. I also make sure I take small bites and chew chew chew! I am consuming on average between 900-1000 calories a day.
I use my phone and set a timer for 30min from the time I take my first bite and I make my meal last the entire 30 min (I'm doing it now actually) after the meal I set the timer again for 30min so I know when I can have that first drink.
I feel full with the amount of foods I'm eating but at night, that's when the cravings set in. Lol I have started crafting, knitting, going to bed early whatever to work through the late night need to graze.
Good luck!

I was banded on 5/23. I too can basically eat and drink at will. At first it was very restrictive but think this was due to swelling. I just stick to Portion Control and follow exactly what I was told to do by Dr. I typically get about 800 calories a day. Make sure you get your Protein in (70-80). This helps. Hang in there... I hear this is called band hell! My first fill is not until July 11th (Ugh). Good luck!

I keep reading all these horror stories about what it feels like for your food to ''get stuck'' and I am terrified. I know everyone goes through it at least once with the band, and so far I am extremely lucky and have not had this distinct pleasure yet. (I was banded June 6th)
So my questions are.......
How long does the food stay stuck?? (I know its different for everyone, but just a general guideline is what I am looking for)
Is it an hour? 30 minutes? All day? A few minutes?
What do you do to get ''un-stuck?"
Drink Water? Eat ice? Walk? Sit in a corner and cry?
After you had an episode of ''stuck'' what should you do?
Back to a liquid diet? liquid tylenol for pain and swelling? Ice to soothe the swelling?
I can truly say this is something that is beginning to stress me out a little bit.
TIA

Get used to mucus! When you get stuck (not if, but when) do not swallow the saliva your mouth is forming. Spit it out. Your mouth instinctively makes mucus to help the "stuck food"slide down your esophagus. For bandsters, it makes it worse. Have you ever been so thirsty that you took too big of a drink and when you swallowed that big drink it hurt real bad. That's what being stuck feels like. It hurts, but its manageable. Small small small bites. And chew!!!!!!

People call it "Horror Stories"....It's NOT....it's all part of the learning curve...your old eating habits versus the band's restriction....
Sooner or later you learn (Hopefully) and seldom get stuck again...
Some people fear it so much they get a un-fill, instead of changing their lifestyle...then are always complaining of gaining weight and being hungry all the time...
I have not been stuck in over 2 years....my band is adjusted to where I can go all day (24 hr) and NEVER be hungry or have cravings....
It's because I changed myself to adapt to what the band can do....I let the band be in charge, not the other way around.
If I try to eat a T-Bone steak, I KNOW I WILL get stuck...so I don't eat red meat anymore.....I Could get a slight un-fil, then eat all the steak want....and go back to traditional measuring portion sizes just as I did before banding....and fight the hunger cravings all over again..........but then, what was the point of WLS?

Lol yes. My doctor had me lay with a pillow in the middle of my back and lift my legs up a bit off the table (but keeping my legs straight) and arms above head so he could locate the port better and faster.
That's honestly what made it a strange experience.. My doctor did not numb the spot but with all my focus on my legs I didn't feel much.

I was a nervous wreck!! I am 3 days post op, and I can honestly say I am in pain, but that's from the gas and the incisions are sore but thats normal. Otherwise it's amazing how just a little bit of Water, Jello, broth, etc fills me up and I'm not walking around starving to death.
Ya wanna know the one thing that scared the poop outta me? The whole idea that there was some foreign object that is in my body. I just could not get my mind wrapped around that, now that its here I don't even think about it. It's like an extra appendage I'm so use to I'm not aware of it anymore. Well until I cough or pass gas. Then the incisions hurt. But otherwise the worst part of the entire surgery is the gas.
Dont stress yourself out! It's all good

I have been banded since June 6th, and I can tell you what it feels like to me.
Normally I don't feel anything. I feel fairly normal.
I do feel hungry, but when I eat which is very very freaking slowly, I start to feel very full.
That's what my ''restricted'' feels like.
If you get very full you feel very restricted.
If you get over full you get sick, and it hurts.
I have never gone to that point, just to the point of feeling satisfied and not hungry anymore.
But I can tell you feel like you do NOT want to put another bite in your mouth. Not because you are overly full, not because you feel stuffed, I cant explain it but I just dont want to eat anymore. I feel comfortably full and saited.

re the fizzy drink - Diet Coke is a good one.
For projectile vomiting read PB, I'm in Aussie & we don't use that term. It's not really vomiting because the food has not reached the stomach, just a rejection of lumpy stuff accompanied by heaps of gross mucus. Some people don't get enough warning to remove themselves from company before it happens while others, like me, firstly get extreme discomfort, walk around, and eventually have to deal with it because the lump just will not go down.
I still lose the odd meal when in a hurry - its depressing - but calming down , having a warm drink slowly, dunking a plain biscuit if you can handle it and just resolving to start all over again is the best cure. Unfortunately It's not good to resort to icecream and cheesecake just because they go down easily!
My surgeon always says that after a fill I should have 2 days of fluids - Soups etc, nothing lumpy. His 6-monthly checkups always involve removing the band contents, measuring to make sure nothing's leaking, & putting back again. So if you're off to a fill appointment have that yummy morning tea first as it's veggie juice & Soup for a couple of days after.

you'll know if its stuck - strong feeling of lump that won't move, panic sets in etc
some people have instant projectile vomiting reaction - scary - but I don't, thank goodness.
I've been banded 4 & half years & seldom experience it , usually when hungry, eat too fast & don't chew enough. Some foods are best avoided e.g. fresh bread.< /p>
Dietician told me at start that best solution is always to have can of cold fizzy drink - any brand - in fridge, take a mouthful & it will move lump in a hurry. This definitely works but recommend being by yourself over the kitchen or bathroom sink as it is quick.

Are you a member of the clean plate club? Perhaps a lifetime member? Perhaps even its president?


I belonged to the CPC (Clean Plate Club) for over 50 years, so I consider myself something of an expert on it (and I am, after all, The World’s Greatest Living Expert on Everything). I thought it was a lifetime membership, but my bariatric surgeon rescued me from the CPC Cult – oh, excuse me, Club - and deprogrammed me so that I’m able to function more or less like a normal person now. Here’s my story.
I was inducted to the CPC as a child, when I was too young to realize that the promise of going to heaven if I always cleaned my plate was a bit more complicated than it sounded at the time. All I wanted to do at the time was to please the cult leaders: my mother and my grandmother.
I have reason to believe that my grandmother, whom I called Dranny, was the original founder of the CPC. Orphaned as a small child, she was passed around the family like a piece of unwanted furniture, and she raised her own children during the Great Depression. Through the combination of those circumstances and her own peculiar (and wonderful) character, Dranny was a pack rat. She didn’t live in filth and disorder (just the opposite, actually), but she couldn’t bear to throw anything away, especially not food. If three green peas were leftover from a meal and she hadn’t been able to persuade someone to eat them, she would lovingly place them in a custard cup covered with a shower-cap style cover (this was in the days before Glad Wrap), and store them in the fridge, where they would remain until someone ate them (or my mother threw them out while Dranny was in another room).
I’m a lot like my grandmother in various ways, and also something of a pack rat. So after eating my way through hundreds of childhood meals with Dranny and my mom (who was not a pack rat, but who was offended by the idea of wasting food that she’d worked so hard to procure and prepare), I emerged into adolescence with warring impulses – part of me still wanted to clean my plate, and part of me wanted to starve so that I could lose weight and be as skinny as the British supermodel, Twiggy.
101 WAYS TO CLEAN YOUR PLATE
One of my problems with meal planning and storage is that it's hard for me to predict how much food I'll be able to eat at a future meal. Often I don't know that until I've eaten several bites. My basic strategy for dealing with this unpredictability is to keep my plate clean from the very start so that the food I leave behind doesn't overwhelm me or provoke an attack of guilt that could bring down Dranny's loving wrath upon me.
A simple way to keep your plate clean is to prepare smaller batches of food so you won't be tempted by serving dishes overflowing with food or burdened with an excess of leftovers. I can't speak to recipes for baked goods (not my department), but most other recipes can be easily cut in half, thirds, or even quarters through the use of simple arithmetic.
Sometimes I prepare the whole recipe, subdivide into 2 or 3 batches, serve one batch immediately and freeze the other 2 for future use. When we lived in the northeast, the elderly widow who lived next door was delighted when we shared excess food with her. Sharing food with family, friends, and coworkers can yield multiple benefits. When I'm craving a food or recipe whose leftovers would be a problem for me to store (or resist), I prepare a big batch of it for whatever social event is on the horizon and keep only one or two portions of it at home so that we get to enjoy it without having to worry about to do with all that food. I use cheap, recycled, throw-away packaging so that no one can insist that I take my corning ware, Pyrex or tupperware container of leftovers home with me.
You can also keep your plate clean by using the portioning technique I recommend for bandsters who are still learning their band eating skills, food portion sizes, and stop signals. Here's how it works for me. When planning my day's food (which I commit to my food log and my accountability partner every morning), I might decide that I'll eat 4 ounces (by weight) of chicken thigh and 1/2 cup of barley and veggy salad for dinner. Come dinner time, I grab my small plate (a salad plate) and put half of my planned meal on it: 2 ounces of chicken and ¼ cup of the salad. If I'm able to finish that, great. If I'm still physically hungry when I'm done with it, I go back to the kitchen and dish up the remaining 2 ounces of chicken and ¼ cup of salad. At the end of the meal, I'll probably have only 1 or 2 tablespoons worth of food to save or throw out instead of a plateful of food, therefore much less guilt to deal with.
When I do have a plateful of food leftover, I usually scrape it into a small plastic container that I can quickly grab and stick in my lunch bag when I go to work the next day. Fortunately, we actually like leftovers at our house, and arguments occasionally break out over unauthorized consumption of leftover food ("Who ate the rest of the eggplant Parmesan?!?"). The same approach works with restaurant meals. We're happy to take leftovers home in what used to be called a doggy bag (as if I'd share my Maryland crab cakes with a dog!).
My sister-in-law used to scrape leftover food into a bucket to add to her garden compost pile. I have no idea if that's a good practice. We'd have to have a 40' high electrified fence dug 20' into the ground and topped with razor wire in order to keep dogs, cats, deer, rats, raccoons, and other critters out of that kind of compost pile. I've also known people (including my mother) who fed leftover food to their 4-footed garbage disposals (dogs & cats), another practice that we avoid because why would you want to cultivate a fussy eater? Our pets have survived eating (stolen) candies (complete with foil wrappers), latex paint, and kip tails (fishing flies), and at our house, a fussy eater will end up starving because someone else is always willing to clean your plate for you, sometimes long before you've decided you're finished with it.
BUT WHAT ABOUT THE STARVING CHILDREN?
After over 6 years of post-WLS life, I'm now better able to detach myself from my emotional attachment to the food on my plate enough to throw out what's left. If it didn't taste right because my tummy was in an odd mood, if it caused me eating problems, if it wouldn't reheat or store well, I let it go. I haven't been struck by lightning for doing that, nor has God punished me with plagues, floods, or infestations (apart from the dog infestation, that is).
Like many, I was raised to eat every meal while listening to a chorus singing the Children Are Starving in (fill in the blank) hymn. I agree that in world where so many children (and adults, and animals) go hungry, it is just plain wrong for an overfed middle-class person like me to waste or throw out food. But the fact is that me eating more food than my body needs (rather than throwing out) is not the solution to the problem of world hunger. The solution to world hunger, and to diminishing global food resources, is far, far more complicated than that. Working in your community (be it a village, a city, a country, or a planet) to solve that problem is a worthwhile effort, but you taking personal responsibility for causing the death of a starving, unknown child in India or Appalachia because you threw out a chicken wing and 5 green Beans last night is (in my opinion) a misguided and foolish use of your energy.
And you eating that extra bite of food just because you can't bear the thought of throwing it away is also foolish from a medical standpoint. If that extra bite causes you to PB, get stuck, or over-pack your pouch, it could lead to messy and expensive medical complications like esophageal or pouch dilation and/or band slips, especially if you eat that way on a regular basis.
Finally, as long as overeating endangers your health through co-morbidities and through disrespecting your band, you may never be able to help deal with the hunger problem, whether on an individual, local, or global basis. So, first things first: make a top priority of eating sensibly for your own sake before you tackle the rest of the world.