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WOW! Ive been working out HARDCORE since week 2 when I got the go! I was just told not to lift for than 10 lbs then at 4 weeks I could lift whatever. I work out 5 days a week pretty intensely! I will tell you though, I get BAD pains in my port area from working out. It feels like a stretches muscle and hurts to take big breathes. My surgeon said its normal cause of the amount of exersize I am doing. She said I cant really do damage if I followed her instructions and I did. So the pain goes away afte ra few days once the muscles have relaxed. Working out has melted the inches away like crazy!

I just posted the same topic a couple weeks ago because for 4 months I knew I was getting the band ( I have a 6 month diet before surgery) some of my band.forum girls started a lil facebook group and everyday I would hear them say... I'm still hungry... I'm 3 months out and have.only lost blah amount... I'm not in the green zone. I've heard so many comments in those areas. Plus when I came.here and asked someone pointed out... how many.people have you ment that had a band for 10 years? I don't know anyone... plus once u get the band removed your stomach goes back to preop size. I also watched a video and it basically said the sleeve will make u eat better... the.band will not. I'm a huge girl and.I didn't want to commit to a surgery that I may only.loose 40 lbs with or in 10 years be iin the same situation. The only.reason from the beginning I chose the sleeve because they weren't removing anything and it was reversible ... well hell... take out my stomach and I don't want it.back!!!! I am now getting the band. Make the best decision for you and good luck!!

When I started this the band was the only procedure I even considered. Then I would read about issues with fills and issues with slippage and issues with too many things. I don't want to go through this again in 5 or 10 years.

Just wondering if anyone knows one way or the other. The last time I had surgery (year and half ago) I was told no green tea for 10 days before surgery due to blood thinning effects of the tea. Did anyone get this warning for the sleeve procedure?

If you look at the average weight loss by surgery, the RNY has a much higher percent of excess weight loss. My doctor told me he will only do the band on really young women who are highly motivated, no kids... and he prefers not to do them at all. Personally, even before he told me that, I wouldn't have gone with the band. I can't come to grips with the idea of having something implanted in me and having to have the fills. My RNY has been basically painless... lost 25 pounds the first month (and I'm a relative lightweight -- that's over 10% of my starting weight). One month out, no nausea, no vomiting, no pain -- eating healthy (small) portions now and loving the feelings of no hunger... food doesn't control me any more. Ginger

I'm only 2 weeks post op. But I have a trip to Mexico planned in June and I plan on sitting on the beach with a margarita and relaxing, ha ha it may be the same drink all day but I plan on enjoying it. Usually I can down 10 to 12 drinks when on the beach so this will be different but fun anyway

I walked starting 4 hours after my surgery. I set a goal of 10 minutes at the top of every hour. When the TV shows changed. I would get up and walk walk walk. I would just keep doing it till my time was up. If I didn;t get in at least 7-10 laps I wo0ud not go back and watch tv. I did this every hour and I truly felt the best when walking. I hated sitting or laying. There was far too much pressure in my chest.

I'm a 22 year old female and I've been considering WLS for about 8 months. I went through a lot of the initial consultations and then I decided to "give it another shot on my own" - I think mainly I was scared. My mum has had a Lapband for approximately the last 10 years so I can ask her a lot of my questions however I'm hoping everyone on here could tell me a bit more - the things they don't tell you, will it effect my general life in any way you can think of that you wish you had been told ? Can you no longer lie down after eating? I don't know I can't think of any examples, but please share anything that you think might be of interest! I'm trying to prepare myself for everything so when I go back I can commit Thank you!

This question is very broad and I bet if you asked 10 people, you'd get at least 11 answers. That said, my advice is to understand what you're about to do is not a diet. It's not something you do for a while and then stop. It's a lifestyle change. To be successful, understand - and welcome - that what you're doing is permanent. Good luck and be sure to check in here often. That's what makes this community so valuable.

For me? Follow the protocols. After they remove your stomach those first 3 months are first a healing nightmare and then quickly becomes so fun with losing so fast. Then our tummies really heal and people's bad habbits can come back. For me I avoid it by just focusing on my protein and water goals. But I do it by making really awesome, delicous dishes at home. I currently make (and these are all low carb, high protein meals): Chilli Tandoori chicken Butter chicken Chicken Teriyaki Maryland Crab Cakes I took the time to practice and try stuff out. If I didn't like something or it didn't go down well, I brought it into work and gave it away. I spent a good month sourcing recipes, trying them out and now I have delicious protein meals that are SOO much better than anything I'd buy on the fly. I don't even CRAVE the stuff I'm not suppose to have cause i"m just excited to eat the awesome gourmet food I made. That and walking 15 minutes at 10:00 and 3:00 as well as a half hour at lunch. Those are my absolutes. Doesn't matter where I am or what I'm doing, unless I'm on jury duty or something. I walk briskly at those time. Not a stroll, I'm out to MOVE. Finally, Stairs. I run up any flight of stairs I can. At work we have a flight of 16 steps. I do sets of UP & Down at least 3 times a day. Usually I come back from my brisk walks and end it with a set of 3 on the stairs. It doesn't really take that long. I invested the time on the front end for the recipes and now I have them down pat, can buy the ingredients with ease and throw together my meals for a whole week in a few hours. I make sure I walk 3 times a day and take advantage of the opportunities to move when they are presented. I've been fairly successful so far, I'm dropping inches consistently and then lbs are a little less predictable but our metabolism doesn't like to lose weight at this rate and will fight us from time to time. Overall this whole process is simple, but not easy. The way to make it easier on ourselves is to commit to the post surgical protocols. Good luck! I'll say this, the 1st 8 weeks were a nightmare for me, I had the VGS, Hiatal hernia repair and gallbladder removal. I hit a massive regret and depression wave around week 4 or 5. I cried my self-pitying eyes out and let myself feel all those emotions. Then I picked myself up again and haven't looked back. Nobody is gonna have a EASY time, but it will be faster and more fun if you follow the diet instructions and watch your body reveal itself to you. I am now happier than I have been in years but it wasn't a cakewalk getting here. So try to keep your head up, eyes on the prize and remember to allow yourself to feel all of your emotions and deal with the psychological stuff that comes up so you can enjoy this new life you are birthing for yourself.

With Aetna and I am speaking from eperience. They require a 3 month supervised diet with the supervision of a dietician/exercise therapist "usually dietician counts as both" and the supervision of your pcp and a pych eval. With the 6 months you are supervised by your pcp, you need 1 meeting/consult with the dietician and a pych eval. No matter if you do the 3 months or the 6 months they also require a 2 year weight history and mine requested a sleep study. Also for them to approve they require a bmi of 35 or higher with comorbidities or 40 or higher with out.. I did the 6 months charting as well as the sleep study and 2 year history and was approved within 10 days

I am going on my 4 year anniversary this Oct. I have gone twice a year, every year. The last couple of weeks I've been toying with the idea of NOT going this year, (out of embarrassment). I've gained 20 pounds and even though my surgeon told me at my last visit that it's very common for sleeve patients to regain 10-20 a few years out, it's still difficult to accept. Nothing I do seems to work and if I'm honest, I am not working out as hard as I did the first two years. I will eventually get it together. I will probably have my general practitioner run the test this year. We'll see.....

I have a couple of different questions. LIke others asked, Over what period of time and what are you eating? Also, and this is the most important, our bodies can be a mystery at some points. Our metabolisms don't like to lose weight this rapidly and will slow down to a crawl. That's part of why it's so important to maintain your post surgical diet for a long period of time. I eat the same things every day, I've always been that way. But some weeks I'll lose nothing, I've gone up and down but then I drop 8-10 lbs and then it levels off and then drops again. We are each different. As long as you stay with the plan, eat mostly Protein, Water, keep carbs to 15 grams or under per meal and walk walk walk, it WILL work for us. But we are technically starving our bodies of calories and it no likey so it fights back sometimes.

This morning I went to surgent's office to take my 6 nonths papers they got me approved in 10 minutes! And got my pre op diet, and surgery date all that in about an hour. thank God! Feel so happy. Will get surgery on the 19th!

hey slim now you must be patient, you can't call them every 2-3 seconds. call every 2-3 MINUTES trying to be serious , which is no easy feat for me, i would wait 10 days I would wait til Tuesday the 23rd, that will be 10 days for me, its more frustrating calling too early, and still being told to be patient. IMO giving it a good 10 days before you call is hard but good. GOD grant me patience, just hurry up about it Who knows, BCBS might call first, stranger things have happened!!! then they can surprise you with the good word. good luck my friend

I haven't been on forever! After losing and gaining the same bit of weight I was getting extremely frustrated. Then I stopped and stayed at 138 for a few weeks... So I thought something has to give. My husband was trying a low sodium diet so I thought why not try it out? He recently quit smoking and had gained a few pounds and wanted to get the pounds off before vacation. I have been doing this eating plan for about 10 days and have lost 5 pounds, he has lost 10. I stepped on the scale and it said 133! I stared at it probably for a full minute and my eyes filled with tears. I wasn't even this thin in high school! Not that it's just about the numbers, I can't believe how great I feel!!! Only 13 more until goal!

Yes! It only took about 10 days. My doctor submitted the paperwork on Jan 3rd and got approved on Jan 13th.

I had only 19 days on protein shakes, 4 oz. puree fruit, yogurt and milk then will go to regular food (best to eat moist foods in the beginning, but mostly what I can tolerate). I have been feeling must better and down 25 lbs in 2 weeks.

Thanks for your responses and I'm so glad to hearth at people have been satisfied with b BCBSTN, because I've heard otherwise. I'm not in TN, I work in DC, but my company is a TN based one, so it's been difficult because there not much in network choices here. Luckily, the hospital that is in network is good and a center of excellence. My requirements are 10% weight loss from high lest weight, BMI 40, Nut appointment, Psyh eval (must include a eating disorder inventory and MMPI personality inventory), 5 years documented weight loss. I'm 13 pounds away from my 10% and it's just frustrating because its been really hard to loose it. It's good to see others with this insurance because its taken me a while to find some ppl with it, so thanks for replying.

I've got a few types, Under Armour is good, but can be expensive. I found a company called Red Plume on Amazon that sells gear for a damn good price, but they can come from overseas so the shipping times can be longer. My avatar with me wearing my Superman Compression shirt is from Red Plume, and cost a while $19. All of the major sports gear manufacturers make different types of compression gear. The trick is to buy 1 size smaller than you normally wear. I personally won't buy expensive stuff right yet, because I'm losing weight and all, so my Under Armour shirt isn't all that compressive anymore (I bought it a long time ago though), Hell even my Superman shirt isn't as tight as it once was just a couple of weeks ago. You can find stuff at pretty much any sporting goods store, you're just more likely to find better deals online.

Buy a few sundresses(they fit loser anyway) on the sale rack or shop online at big stores a little closer to your cruise date - google resort wear to get specific hits. You can always try resale shops right before and there is always shopping on the ship and at ports too. I will be in 'the same boat' lol in February - we are cruising to S Caribbean for 10 days.

Yesterday was my 11th day post-op. My wife was feeling down from hearing about a death in her family. I was on deck for ensuring everyone got fed. I went to Arbys and loaded up on the insanely delicious brisket sandwiches they bombard TV with on their ads. Everyone seemed happy. Grabbed some Cookies later from a local spot that makes the best. Took them home to my wife. Cheered her up a little. Took my son to a friends birthday party......picked him up at 10:00pm where he said they had pizza & cake yet he was miraculously hungry again. We went through the drive through at my favorite spot on Earth....BoJangles. He had a box of chicken sitting in his lap and couldn't stand it....1/2 way home he asked to eat. I laughed at him and said to dig in. He cut the overhead light on and destroyed that yardbird, biscuit and my favorite drink....a Diet Dew. Needless to say he wasn't done by the time we reached the house so I sat in the driveway with him and waited on him to finish. I am planning on cooking or grilling something for them for lunch today. My wife is one of those blessed folks who has always been the recommend weight on the height-weight chart....or close to it. Our son is a teenage carnivore. He's tall and overly lean. We keep him well fed....yet he's got the metabolism of three. I say all the above to simply say this: I am constantly seeing HD TV food commercials and have been surrounded by my prior favorite foods and held prisoner seated beside Teenage T-Rex as he enjoys them. It is no biggie. I'm still having Protein shakes as my only meals, 12 days post-op. I don't feel deprived or hungry. I"m not feeling like I'm missing out. I'm thrilled by the readings on the scale every morning. It feels better than any food could ever taste.

Don't be too hard on yourself!!! The great thing is that you're recognizing it!! I'm 17 months out and have been stalled for almost 5 months (and have been fluctuating 3-4 pounds up and down). I had to take a long hard look at myself...it was eye opening to say the least!! I would not consider 6 lbs a a real "gain". Look on the bright side, it's not 10 pounds...or 15...or 20!!! I think there are a lot of us here that are working to get back on track. For me, it's just about tracking....when I start tracking, my nutrition improves. Figure out what you need to get yourself back on track and make that a priority. You're not alone in your struggle, but you're the only one that can figure out why you're struggling!!! And.....never, never, never give up!!!!

I really can't say how to lose 10lbs in one week.. but you can do meal replacements. Switch meals with protein shake for a week, and probably hit the gym 4 times. (You'll drop both water and a tiny bit of fat). It may mot be 10 lbs, but you'll definitely drop something..

sounds about normal to me... the weight gain that is...I actually gain from 10 to 15 pounds here and there, but for some strange reason I lose it all. the depression needs to be addressed... I can see why you get a little down.... we don't want to gain a pound... I'm a 10 year vet. so keep your head up and no matter what keep it moving somehow... good luck