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First, it would help if you filled out your profile so we can better help you. I think the best place to start is at the easiest things to control: -do you count calories, if so, how much do you eat a day? -are you sticking to a cup or less of food per meal? -are you getting in all your Protein daily?

minutes..... hours.... mainly a blur except for a bit of chest pain from gas being stuck in my abdomen.... days..... the first time your have a drink it feels like theres an air bubble trapped and it moves back a fwds a little... it doesnt feel real brilliant but its bearable. *laughs* in hospital they were brining me some jelly and juice.... i could hardly touch it!!! but you know what...... someone said here awhile ago that every day does get better... im now about 2 months out and have gone through many mental battles which i think is harder than the physical side. i dont look at shopping centres the same anymore, as they are a nightmare for ppl who are trying to control their weight!!! anyway back to the question. if you can keep focused on each stage knowing that every day is another day closer to being well, you can get through it... i mean you have to anyway. weighing in once a week is a great indication of where your at (not every day in my opinion) and every time you move up the food chain you will be filled with some joy/acheivement. Never in your dreams will eating healthy mushie food be such a pleasure/treat!!! who would of ever of thought!!! lol 2 months out i have to watch out for drinking too fast and cold meats... if you can heat them up its better as im told the small amounts of fat in the food melts down and becomes easier to swallow. after being on a low carb/calorie diet for so long, my once forceful addiction to choc is now gone!!! ****BELEIVE IT**** anything sweet is shocking really!! feels like a brick in your stomach and i was litterally sick all day after a small choc. cheese cake also had a hold on me but now, with the density of the cake 1 mouthful is often enough to satisfy the craving..... weird cause i would happily eat 2 or 3 slices!!! this is the best thing i have ever done... at the moment i am filling out food diarys and learning to use food rather than mindlessly abuse food which i never thought would happen to me from the depths of my wildest dreams!!! im starting to have control.... 3 months ago i was out of control. go figure!!! i guess im saying that the surgury is only part of the battle, and yes its a bit of a discomfort and learning your limits can sometimes be hard (not always tho) but for the benifits like control and somehow falling into this autopiolot behaiviour, is totally mind blowing and worth every second of discomfort! i think about 90% of the battle is in your head when you cant eat anything preop as this is the hard yakka transition/no mans land of taking the first punishing steps into a new lifestyle... i think i have likened it to rehab once before. It is tough.... no lies but again.... at 2 months out im feeling like i have more control over my life than i have EVER which means 2 months is bugger all in the bigger scheme of things! 2 months of mental upside down is a small price to pay for the empowerment that comes with the eating control, not to mention the amazing weight loss!!!!! sorry if i rambled ange.

Hi All, I'm being banded tomorrow morning - 7/23/09 - and just curious what amount of calories you all take in once you're eating again...what's the best calories count to get the best weight loss? And....do you manage to hit your protein gram requirements? Thanks!

My question would be portion side. I have never done Atkins so forgive me if I make any mistakes. A serving size of red meat is 3 or 4 oz. A hamburger at a restaurant however could easily be 8 oz. So you may think you are following the program but are in reality eating way to much. Are you measuring your food? I highly recommend buying a digital food scale. Availble at Walmart or Target for $20. You will need it post op (at least my doctor says to measure all your mushies or solid Proteins to 3 oz). Again eating out (and I don't know if you are or not) makes it really hard to know how much you are getting. I once ordered a grilled chicken and veggie sandwich (pre surgery) at a pizza joint and asked for lite cheese. They asked me how many slices I wanted, I asked "Well how many do you normally use". They said 3!!!! That's like 240 calories and 21 g of fat. Way more than I would have thought. I said one slice thanks. Also for Breakfast bacon has a lot less fat and calories than sausage. Chicken breast has a lot less fat and caloris than red meat or pork. As to a previous statement about the post op diet. My doctor had me on Clear Liquids 7 days, full liquids 7, thin mushies 7, thicker mushies 7, and then back to full solids.

I refuse to eat Aspartane either. That stuff makes me really sick. So does splenda . I use stevia in my Greek Yogurt.I eat regular fudgsicles with SUGAR. They are 80 calories instead of 60. I'd rather eat something natural than artificial sweetner. I got the surgery to lose weight and I have done fine with that. Now that I am at goal, I see no reason to put anymore artificial things in my body that I have to.

LMAO thank you.. but you know the really sad/funny part about those car calories is.. I live alone so really WHO am I hiding the from??? But I will do it every time, I will sit out in my car (parked in the drive way) and eat (usually finish eating) whatever fast food crap I bought and throw the bags away before I go inside. I realized it one day and had to laugh at myself, but it's so not funny. I caught myself doing it last night infact. I decided a Protein burger was on my pre-op diet and did the same thing, sat in the car, ate it and threw the bags away. BAD BAD BAD.. gotta get my head right. Sigh. - Maybe I should open fast food for WLS patients.. here's ya Protein shake, and your bite o' burger.. you don't have room for fries, that's why they're not on the menu...NEXT!!! :thumbup: lol

Best thing is when we fall off we can dust ourselves off and start again! So glad you chose to start again with a great attitude. I absolutely love Myfitnesspal.com to log every single thing that goes in my mouth. I had no idea how things add up so quick! It is good to have friends their I get ideas from looking at what they eat (it displays the protein>carbs>calories>sodium etc in everything consumed) If you decide to log your foods to assist you can add me. my profile is knhtown STAY STRONG you can do this!

I was put on Zoloft for anxiety and depression due to a bad job situation... 5 months and 60 lbs later... I took myself off. Effexor added another 20. Now, I'm off all the meds, and I've gotten the sleeve, partly because the metabolic changes those drugs caused in my body did not reverse, and I was gaining on only about 1500 calories daily. I need the sleeve now to allow me to eat a small enough amount not to keep gaining. I'm pretty anti meds due to this.

I have been watching my carbs on my pre-op diet.... I had a choice of diets to choose from but I know my body and watching carbs is the fastest way for me to loose the 15 lbs that I committed to losing prior to surgery. If I do shakes I mix them with unsweetened Coconut Milk from a company called "So Delicious". Only 1 carb per serving and you can add some splenda if you want your shake sweet. There are also other products such as Calorie Countdown which only has 35 calories and 2 carbs. Also, I buy an Almond/Coconut milk combo that Wegmans sells.. I think the brand is called Almond Breeze. Even though I can drink regular milk I prefer Almond or Coconut milk versus regular milk. Plus it's more nutritious!! I'll never drink regular milk again!!! Too many options that taste better and are more nutritious!! btw.. my surgery is April 16th and I have lost 12lbs on my pre-op diet. Wishing you all the best!!

im on my 5th day of liquids pre op but not only am i not hungry i have no want to eat at all i cant get the protein shakes down at all no matter what the brand is and believe me i have tried a ton of them i have tried the unjury differnt flavors also to no avail i bought a container of the unflavored unjury and cant get that down either .. i have a pretty strong gag reflex and i cant handle things my "brain" tells me is nasty lol i know that terrible but at this point i feel like id rather starve then drink or eat that protein and i cant figure out what to do i have literaly had 4 out of 5 days where my calorie intake was under 1000 and 2 days of under 500 i know its not a good thing by no means at all but i dont have the want to eat or the hunger i know my body when i get nervous or stressed and i always react this way but usually i snap out of it rather quickly but being on 2 wks liquid before and then the whole afer diets im sooo worried about not ever getting protein down among other worries and i just dont know what to do i keep trying them in differnt combos adding differnt things ect ect and nothing is working the best i got right now is im drinking tons and tons of milk and eating pudding and yogurt which is better then no protein at all but still not very good!!! any suggestions or anyone with simliar issures now or in the past ? imput welcome!

After seeing my surgeon about getting a sleeve revision (had my band removed 12/10) I was told I would need to lose 25# before he would schedule surgery. So...after I got mad, and cried a bit...I put on my big girl panties and got serious! He wanted me to eat meat and veggies...no sugars, grains, or dairy AND 1200 calories a day. Well, I am doing that...sort of. I cut all sugars and processed carbs out of my diet. I did keep the dairy (mostly cheese and half and half in my coffee) and I'm averaging closer to 1500 calories... BUT.... I lost 5 pounds this week!! I changed my ticker for my FIRST goal...lose 25#...then I'll start on the next goal! Happy Monday Everyone!

We were at the same starting weight too give or take 10lbs (I WAS HEAVIER!) Surgery was 1/21. I had a very rough recovery, had the notorious three week stall which lasted 3 WEEKS, and have been feeling like my progress is NOT where it should be. I hardly ate or drank anything after surgery for at least a month. I had Water nausea & everything. Puree phase was the worst...I just could NOT eat and the sight of Protein shakes made me heave. She, on the other hand, had a super easy recovery and lost almost 20lbs more than me at this stage (her surgery was in Aug & 8 weeks later she was down 50) I just started tracking food- right now I'm having about 800-900 calories most days & I just started back to doing vigorous exercise this last two weeks. Tuesday I did a 63 minute spin class and ate 1500 calories that day. I felt that was WAY too much. I don't even like going over 1000 calories but according to FitnessPal, those 63 minutes burned off 1100 calories... Anyway, I've done over 190 minutes of exercise this week and lost only 2 friggin pounds. She's 10-12 years older than I am too. I''ve been teary all morning since weighing in. I don't know if this was really worth it. I could have struggled like this WITHOUT spending $7000 of my money on this effing surgery.

Don't drink high calorie drinks anyway. I guess what is scaring me is that the nutritionist explained much of I what I will "never be able to do again". I will be on Vitamins because I won't be able to eat fruits and veggies because of filling up on 3-4oz of easily broken up proteins; no steak, pork chops etc. believe me I understand the portions will be MUCH smaller. But no starches too. As far as I was told it would be only the 3-4 oz of easily digestible Proteins and vitamins. I may have a table spoon of veggies if I am not too full. But he did say I may have to give that up and have an extra ounce or 2 of Protein. I know I want to do this to be healthy but this sounds anything but healthy or happy. I met with my family doctor yesterday and she was against the surgery from all points; success of surgery and weight loss, healthiness, happiness/depression. Any similar people out there with the same fear that have had the success, please chime in.

I'm still preop and I know everyone says your tastes change but I've been trying a bunch of different brands. I really like About Time and Syntrax. To me, Chike has an artificial taste and its almost twice the calories of the others. Their ingredient list is also a bit offputting. I think I'm going to go with About Time because they don't add a lot of "stuff" to it. I'm going to get chocolate, vanilla and unflavored then doctor them up woth sf syrups, extracts, etc. For me, it doesn't make sense to buy a bunch of different flavors. Check out the nutrion forum. There is a pinned thread there on sources for Protein samples. Good luck!

Thanks Jack. Yesterday I did get all my fluid, but only 23 grams of protein and only about 300 calories. This morning I'm sitting down with a glass of Crystal Lite-we'll see how that goes down. It's good to hear that this is normal and not a sign of a problem.

It may be just the drastic reduction in calories. It will reduce your energy levels and can, I imagine, cause dizziness. I agree with mariamitani you may need to get checked out. At least a call to your doctor to verify this is expected.

As the others said, everyone is different and how much work you're willing to put into plays a big part. Until you have some restriction you're working on will-power, and for some it's just too hard. For others, they white knuckle through and remain strict even before they have restriction. I've lost 94 pounds in just under 5 months (so far), but I am also very strict with my diet, calories, and Protein intake. I have been strict with calories and protein since the day I got home from the hospital.

I start my liquid diet tomorrow. Does anyone know how many shakes I should be drinking a day or how much protein or calories because I really don't have a clue. I was just told to drink protein shakes and 1 lean green mean a day. Please help.

Hello... I had my Lap Band surgery on 8-16-10 and lost 20 lbs within the first 3 months and I feel great, however, I have not lost anymore weight. I have had 3 fills since September and have very little restriction. I can actually eat whatever I want, as long as I chew it well. I have been following the SB diet, only using splenda if I need sweetness. And I keep active. My Dr advised me not to drink Protein shakes anymore as he feels they are additional calories that I don't need. I am going for another fill this week and this time I will ask how many cc's I have had so far. Is anyone else struggling after the Lap Band surgery?? I am getting very depressed, especially after reading other posts from people stating how much they have lost in the first 6 months. I would appreciate any suggestions/information that I could get.

Ayay, This is NOT a diet. This is a lifestyle change. I don't know how far post-op you are, but I'm guessing you're in the 3-5 weeks category. If so, search here for the 3 week stall. Almost everyone goes through that stall and finds that the scale is standing still for a bit. Take your measurements now, so you have something to refer to later, pay attention to how your clothes are fitting as well. Are they looser? If you did take pre-op measurements, are you losing inches? I lost my first pants size during my 3 week stall. I put them on, zipped them up, and they fell to the ground! I'm not following any diet except: 70grams of Protein and 64 oz of Water per day. I don't track calories, carbs, or anything else. I have started adding in more "good" carbs because I've upped my exercise routine, but that's about the only time I worry about carbs. Stalls will happen, but they happen because your body needs the time to adjust to the changes. I shape-shifted in the last few months, losing a good bit of mass in my hips and thighs and developing muscle definition in my arms, tummy and thighs. In that same three months, I lost 10 pounds. Now my weight loss has started up again, but I imagine that I'll go through another shift in a month or so. The best advice I can offer you is this: Don't let the scale run your life. Weigh less often and concentrate on your protein and water goals. The weight will take care of itself. Add in some exercise, even if it's 5 minutes on the treadmill or exercise bike. Once it's part of your routine, you'll miss exercise when you don't do it. Good luck!

WW points won't work for you in the beginning simply because you won't be able to eat enough food. I was below 500 calories a day for almost 3 months. Also, I agree that WW won't be very happy with you as a post-op as you will probably be dropping way more than others who are there. However, I think WW might be helpful once you have lost your weight and are in maintenance. I haven't used them myself, but I know they are there if I need them! I used Sparkpeople.com after I was eating real food. For the first 2 months or so I just counted what was on the label of whatever I ate. Since a 6 oz yogurt lasted for 3 meals, I just divided the calories, Protein, and carbs by 3 and wrote it all down in a little notebook.

Hi Newbies! Welcome to lapband "Heaven"! How quickly you loose does depend on how much effort you put in. But, I have determined by reading this site, that it,also, depends on how much you have to loose. If you have a lot to loose, then it seems to come off quicker. But as you get closer to goal, or if you have less to loose, then it take longer. I hoe that that makes sense! Anyway, you should be able to loose 1-2 lbs a week when you 1st start. Than later maybe only 5 a month. Suddenly, it will drop to nothing, you will hit a plateau, but if you cut your calories, or increase your exercise, your weight loss will pick back up. Best wishes to you all. Karen

a lot of it is eating the right foods...eating healthy foods at 1500 calories is different than half good and half bad at 1500

Hey everyone- So today is day one of my pre-op diet. The surgeon wants me on a strict South Beach phase 1 diet. So far I have had a 5 calorie Jello and some Water. I am not a good Breakfast eater, but I have some eggs boiling right now. Anyone ever had to follow this diet? If so, have any suggestions on some meal ideas? I do not want to eat tuna and chicken for every.single.meal! Thanks!!

I started my pre-op diet on Saturday. from that day until now I've been extremely tired. I just can't keep my eyes open during most of the day. Once I eat lunch i'm a little better, but it's really bad. is it the diet, because of such low calories? Or could it be something else? I'm risking losing my job because I just cant keep my eyes open during the day. I've been going to bed around 8:30 and I get up at 5am. that's plenty of sleep, so not sure what's going on. boyfriend is starting to worry too. maybe I should email my doctor? maybe it's my meds? maybe they are too high of a dose right now since i'm eating so little calories? idk, I just know that it's starting to scare me!!!