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Hi- UNfortunately, you won't know until you get there. Also, the true results won't really be set for at least a yeara fter you are finished losing weight (kind of like when you have a baby). I am 2 months out and have lost a good amount of weight for my frame. My face looks great! My stomach looks awful! My knees looking not so good. The weight has dropped so quickly that my skin hasn't caught up yet. I am going to wait at least 10 months before I worry about what the skin looks like. It will take that long for my skin to try and tone back up. I know that my stomach will never look perfect - I was huge when I was pregnant 6 years ago and there are too many stretch marks to count. I still have hope for my legs, though. I think it will just take time.

Well.. I am about 2 months short of the year mark but I am going to answer anyway. Things rarely get stuck for me. When they do, it has been my own fault. I have eaten too fast or taken too big of a bite. I usually know it the moment it happens. Thankfully in 10 months I think its happened total of about 10 times - so that's not so bad. There is a lot of thought about what to eat and I struggled with that. I planned every meal for months and then I said "I cant live like this" and I tried not planning. And you know what - it was worse. I know like to think I am somewhere in the middle. I plan, and surround myself with good choices but if something come up - it does. Eating the same things: I go in phases - so weeks I am on a taco kick some weeks its yogurt. But I dont think that would be any different with or without the band. I will say that I eat things now that I wouldn't have touch pre-band. I dont know why but I do. I was worried about my love of good food. But honestly, our love as grown deeper as I have slowed down to actually taste what I am eating. Does it get easier? After 30+ years of dieting and failure this feels like a piece of cake ..... dark choc with fudge ....and ice cream (kidding) The biggest changes are the mental- by far. But with time - greatness. At this rate, I should reach greatness about a week after I die!

thanks for the advice, I will definitely throw out the fast food. Surgery is 9 days away omg. The advice and stories told on here helps so much. I will be documenting every bit if my journey. I'm not looking forward to the gas pain, that's the only thing I am worried about, ugh. But this will be a new me, As Frust8 has said, it will be a rebirth in a sense. I'm ready to not get winded walking up my stairs, or walking in a grocery store. I stopped going to the mall because it entails so much walking. I used to enjoy running, but I now even dread walking. This is the tool that I need to help. What issues have you guys developed because of your weight or any connection with weight gain? -I have PCOS -insulin resistance - infertility -anxiety -depression - I've developed a lot of skin allergies - moodiness - chronic back pain - plantar facisitis, I work in a hospital so I'm always on the move and on my feet. This irritates my tendons even more plus all the weight gained. - and all i wear is sweat pants and t shirts. It's the only thing that fits me comfortably. I went dress shopping for an event and I picked 3 dresses to try on, they were 2X and 3X. My husband waited while I tried them on I tried the first one, I couldn't fit my arms through at all, second dress. I could barely pull down past my neck, the third dress I didn't attempt to try on. So I walked out that dressing room feeling defeated and disgusting because I used to be in a 8/10. As I walked out my husband asked what was wrong, they didnt fot or you dont like them? I told him and as we are walking to check out, I began crying, no stop. Defeated, I need this. I'm not myself, I want to enjoy life again.

Pure protein, chocolate peanut butter About 3/4 oz sharp cheddar (nibbled as I was cubing it for a salad) About 3 tbl pasta salad Half a pack (about 1.75 oz) Jack Link's buffalo chicken jerky 10 wasabi & soy almonds Half a bottle isopure grape protein

@@meantforsunshine Hi There, Congratulations on having your surgery. So sorry that you now have this crappy diagnosis. I have Psoriatic Arthritis and my mother had Rheumatoid arthritis. Recently I started showing signs of Rheumatoid as well and I was tested for it when I was tested for Psoriatic and the tests were negative. Not sure what the Paddison program is but I will tell you this. I have to limit my Protein because of kidney issues caused by years of medications for my arthritis and being overweight. I have a strict no more than 65 grams of protein per day or it taxes my kidneys. I eat a diet mainly of meat, veggies and fruit. I have noticed that my Psoriatic Arthritis has improved so much since my 152lb weight loss. My disease has been in remission and the only time it seems to kick up now is when they put me on oral or IV steroids so I avoid them unless it is life threatening which has not happened since 9 months post op. In fact, I spoke with my doctor on tuesday and we have been weaning me off of cyclosporine which is a immuno suppressant and are even lowering my dose of Stelar which i get every 10 weeks now. It used to be 8 weeks and double the dose. There is even talk of removing me from it completely at some point. So, I tell you all this because both my rheumatologist and my dermatologist are amazed at the transformation this surgery has done for my health. I suffered with Psoriatic Arthritis which is auto immune my whole adult life. I remember the onset began when the weight started piling in in my mid 20's. Obviously with RA, the goal is always to get you on a biologic that stops the progression and the same is true of Psoriatic arthritis so i am nervous about taking me off of the thing that gave me my life back. Anyway.....the diet you are speaking of meats, veggies and fruits are exactly what got me to the point that I am at. I did not have to pay for a special diet as this really is what the bariatric diet is centered around. Not sure if this helps but it has been my personal experience and I could not be happier.

1)After proper restriction it may be years before you need another fill, but as you lose you may need a fill along the way. 2)Only if symptomatic, though we have fluro in the office and will do one ourselves at a year 3)I do not think anyone knows why/how the asline "evaporates" over time, I think the total saline in tubing and band is max 4ml in a regular 10 band and 10ml in a VG hopes this helps

Yeah i know and i just flew in a total of 10 airplanes for my surgery which was in mexico! I cant seem to wint for losing!!! Well this just means i have to stay extra extra extra healthy- no matter what bc ive had lots of ct scans my life time and dont plan on flying many planes in my future- ill have to stock up on extra antioxdkant Vitamins as well I guess eventually thismwill be easier but for. Now its crazy!

Yes, That was true for me. On about post op day 9 or 10, I could get in the 64oz daily water requirement pretty easily. I can do 80oz now, which is what I was doing prior to surgery. I don't have a fill at all though, so I suspect that will change some when I do.

I am sorry that is't so painful right now. This too shall pass. The first two days were rough on me - by a week post op I was back to normal which I didn't think would happen on that second day. I still have to unhook my bra if I drive after I eat... not sure why as it's not RIGHT over it but it does make it uncomfortable. As for the tylenol - I would sip it but not over more time than 10 minutes. Five would be even better. You can mix it in some juice but to me that makes it worse. Good luck and welcome to Banster world!

Wheetsin, I shrank for a while to 5ft 9 and have grown again to 5ft 10. I had all these theories about my discs being compressed by the weight but the ladies at my clinic put me straight. When your fatter your big bum stops you getting close enough to the wall to be measured properly, you have to lean back to put your back and head against the measuring stick. When you're lighter your bum doesnt stick out as far and you can stand at the measuring stick properly. That's why you appear to shrink as you get fatter.

I'm 5-10 so almost, I'm shooting for around 150. I'm at about 195 now and waaaaaay too fat still, can only shop certain places (though no longer just plus stores), wanted to kill myself after trying on swimwear today kinda thing. I'd say I'll end up shedding around 90lb total too - I've lost half of that in six months, but I dont think I'll lose the other half by the end of this year, its s-l-o-w now no matter what I do and I am busting my butt running and have started doing weight training too now.

I am about 6 weeks post op. I've already called my bariatric office and left a message. About 10 days ago my husband had a stomach bug that we thought was food poisoning from him getting Chinese take out. It lasted three days. This morning, I woke up and felt "not right." Then I started to get nauseous. I took a zofran and drank half a protien shake with some decaf. Four hours later, I popped another Zofran because the nausea came back. I went to the bathroom and had diahreah, but once the zofran kicked in again I felt better. Now, I'm having this strange gurgle pains going through my intestines. (I think it's my intestines at least.) I ate a sf Popsicle and I felt it travel all the way through. I haven't thrown up at all but I thank the zofran for that because I truly think I would be otherwise. I've had no complications at all, I think everything is healing okay inside. I haven't had any pain anywhere. Yesterday I was packing some boxes and now I feel a little like I did some ab work from bending and moving around. Usually, I would take pepto or Imodium and go from there--but I've had issues being "backed up" two times in the recent past and I don't wanna constipate myself. Is the gurgling all the way down thing normal? Should I take some pepto and tough it out later? Should I try saltines? I've been the anti carb since I started.

I had the same thing. Mine started on day 10, my surgeons office says there is a line of nerves right there and that 95% of their patients experience it. It is totally normal and lasts about 2 weeks on average. I can tell you that I am 3 weeks out now and it is starting to get better.

If you absolutely have to. I would stop every hour or two to make sure to walk about 5-10 minutes at your own speed and make sure you have plenty of Water to drink. The pulmonary embolism is a danger if you are not moving regularly while your body is metabolizing the anesthesia. To combat this, walk at least 5-10 minutes every hour. It should say something like that in your discharge instructions.

I got stuck about 9-10 months post op also. I reached a weight some where in the 170"s and just sort of sat there with only losing a few pounds here and there for about 6 months. I know that is probably not what you wanted to hear but it happens, I about drove myself crazy trying to figure out what I was doing wrong or what I needed to do. I analyzed my food diaries and all I could see was I was always over in fat and carbohydrates and under in calories, below 1200 and sometimes below 1000. I talked with my nut. at the doctors office and she suggested I increase my protein and increase my cardio from 3 days a week to 30 min daily. I did all of this and finally started losing again. The one thing that did happen to me was I lost inches when not losing weight. On the months I had a large weight lose I lost little inches and on the months I had a small weight loss I lost a lot of inches. Just have patience, I know that is hard to do some times when you want this so bad but patience pays off, believe me it did for me and I was not aways perfect and did allow my self an occasional splurge. Good luck!

When I dine out, I order off the kids menu when I really just want to save money and I don't really want left overs lol but you could also share a plate with someone. Me and my boyfriend tried that last time we ate out and it worked out pretty well. Our bill ended up being 10 bucks! I think you should be fine for vacation in October, by 6 wks out you should be past most of the pain, if not all of it and your energy level will be alot higher because you will be eating solids again

August 22, 2006..I remember that day like it was yesterday. I arrived at the hospital so happy so excited so full of joy and ready to prove my doctor WRONG. You see my pre-op weight was 416lbs and the surgeon wanted me to undergo a gastric bypass or a duodenal switch (which I don't think they do anymore) because my BMI was so high. But at that time I was only 20 years old no serious medical issues and my mother didn't want me to have either of those surgeries so lapband it was. Moreover, my bariatric doctor made it very clear that I wasn't going to lose any weight and in two years I'd be back for a gastric bypass. Fast forward a few years and I was making tremendous progress. I'll never forget when I walked into Dr. Prachand's office in August 2008 for my two year post-op appt and I was down 138 lbs. And he looked at me with a smile and said "well Liqui you proved me wrong" that was the best feeling I ever felt. I was on a mission..I had a point to prove. Needless to say a few years went by and the weight slowly stop coming off...I was getting discouraged...I was losing my motivation and I had to switch doctors (I started a job and my health insurance changed). In 2011, I started seeing a new bariatric doctor (who I'm stilling seeing today) and it was like starting all over again at the time I had gained some weight back and I was about 310. At my first appointment with Dr. Mihil he told me to tell him my journey to this point...although he had my huge file in front of him. I told him my story anyway and he said "so let's start campaign prove Dr. Prachand wrong again." I laughed through my tears of disappointment and agreed. He proceed to say "I don't know Prachand personally but I want you to succeed because he wrote everywhere in your file. Placed band despite better judgement." When I tell you that doctor was AGAINST the band he was AGAINST the band and if I'm not mistaken he doesn't place them anymore at all. Moreover, my motivation started to come back I was checking in regular with the new doctor, losing weight, then BAM in 2013 I found out I was pregnant with TWINS. I was sooooo happy and excited yet sad because I knew I was going to gain weight. Well needless to say I gained more weight than I and the doctor expected. During my pregnancy I gained 73lbs I was mortified. I delivered my twins 4weeks early so I can't imagine how much more weight I would've gained if I carried them full term lol. My babies were born completely healthy but I was left with almost 60lbs of weight to loss. I avoided the bariatric doctor for two years...I kept saying "I wanna loss the weight before I go see him." I hadn't seen him since I was 4 months pregnant and he removed all my Fluid from my band. Then one day a few months ago I realized that I wasn't going to lose the weight on my own (which is why I needed weight loss surgery in the first place). And I finally made in appointment to go see him. I felt like a dead man walking.. I weighed in at 359. Which I was okay with considering I was 374lbs post babies. So I had lost weight but I still wasn't where I started. I was sitting in the room so nervous I thought the doctor was going to chew me out for waiting two years to see him and gaining so much weigh. He came in the room, gave me a hug and asked to see the babies. I just started to cry. I felt like I let him down. But he reminded me that "you're doing this for YOU and now those babies not me." That visit was such a breath of fresh air until he tried to give me a fill and to our surprise my port has flipped around. We played around with it for a while but no luck he couldn't get the fluid in. Another doctor came in and tried to give me a fill as well... No luck So I left that day with no fill but gained my sense of hope back. I have an appointment in the 26th of this month. And we're going to try it again or discuss possibly going in for a revision surgery which I really don't want. But I know something has to be done because right now I have no fluid in my band and feel no restrictions. I know everyone feels differently about the band and although weight wise I'm not were I want to be I'm still pretty happy with it because I haven't had as many complications like I hear about from the other WLS. And when I have fluid in my band it works of course with exercise and eating right. Moreover, I just really hope at my next appointment they can find the top of my port and give me a fill. Has anyone had a lap band revision surgery? Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Well, I decided to start this journal to try and keep track of how often my head demons seem to overcome me. Maybe, I can figure out how to ward them off better. It all started this week, after Valentine's day. My husband bought me a bag of chocolates (which is something I asked for for Valentine's day:confused: ). Since then, I have had no self control. I decided that I needed to go through withdrawal, and then my control would come back. I was doing very well, until last night. Yesterday, I went to my nephew's b-day party and managed to do quite well resisting everything there, such as pizza, nachos, and cake. Then they sent us home with a party favor bag for my son. In it, it had a couple of debbie's brownies (my absolute favorite). I ate half of one and tried to pig out. The problem is, that once I decide to pig out, it becomes a very hard task. It's like, I then decide to plan my pig out, but can't seem to get in everything I want. So I go crazy. This is what I ate last night: gold fish (100) bbq chips (15) cracker-1 cottage cheese-2tbs meatloaf veggies-2tbs chocolate chip cookies-6minibites brownie-1/2 I know, that after reviewing all of this, it doesn't look like a lot. I keep reviewing it to see if there is anything I missed because I felt stuffed last night. This morning, I feel terrible. The problem is that I am an "all or nothing" type of person. Either I have full control, or I have none. I feel so gross and bloated. I also worry about my band and the damage I do to it by not following the rules. O.K. I think I know what the problem is. The problem is, that I drink too much. I have 2 mixed drinks every night. This takes away all of my self control. I know I have a problem, because I can't go a whole night without drinking. I know I need to stop, or at least decrease, my drinking. I just think I am too analytical, and when I am sober, I tend to think about things too much. I used to be a pothead, and think that this is why. Since being banded, I realized that I had to choose: the band or weed. And I chose the band. I haven't smoked weed in over 3 months. O.K. I was a functional pothead and am a functional alcoholic. I still go to work and do really well all day long, until about 7pm, when it is time to relax. I do use alcohol to relax. I admit it. Weight-loss wise, I have done really well. I have lost 63 pounds in less than a year. I know that if I didn't have weed or alcohol in my life, I could have lost more. My goal is to be down to 145, or 135, by my one year anniversary. So once I gave up weed, I knew that sooner or later, I would have to give up alcohol, as well. I think, no I KNOW, that it's time. I just don't know. Starting tomorrow, I'm going to try. I hope I have the strength...

Congrats :welldoneclap: How are you doing post op? not too much shoulder pain i hope? I was bouncing off the walls about 4 or 5 days after surgery and i had lost 10 lbs already... it didnt occur to me that it was because i was only taking in Clear Liquids... but again i didnt really care.. i had lost 10 lbs and i hadnt even tried to

Hey GB family, I’m super discouraged today. I’m two weeks and five days post op. I’ve only lost 15 lbs from surgery weight (311). I thought I’d be losing more weight.I’m only worrying because l’m at a stand still. Has anyone had this problem? The scale is just not moving !! My 1-month post operative appointment is in 10 days. I’m afraid that’s not enough weight for 1 month.. HW:311 CW: 296 GW: 165

My doctors instructions and everything else I have found has what to eat but doesn't give me like specific amounts... any tips or ideas? I have been getting the liquids down just fine...takes me about 45 min to an hour for 10 oz bottle of G2. And the little bit of cream soups Ive tried just today I would say I ate about 2.5 very slow, took me about 30 min. So let me know what ya'll know!!! thanks!

Hey beautiful how far off In weight are you can you Gain the weight. I had to gain ten pounds sounds silly but to me I'm 75lbs overweight and always unhappy so to gain 10 more was harder than I thought but was well worth it. I pray something will change for you. I'm 252 at 5'7.. I pray you get good news and also call the insurance company and see actually why they denied you. Remember everything happens for a reason my friend. I hope you ok!

My BMI was 36 when I started off but I have 6 out of the top 10 comorbidities so my insurance approved the first time through. (thank God) If the doc talks to the insurance company and can prove that you are unable to lose on your own, he may be able to convince them. What is meant to be will be. No worries. & Good Luck!

I use GNC's Pro Performance AMP - Amplified Wheybolic Extreme 60 Heres the 411 on it: 1 serving (3 scoops) is 60 grams. I need between 40-60 a day.. so depending on what else im having for the day sometimes i do 2 scoops, sometimes I do the full 3 scoops. You cannot digest 60gr of protein in one sitting of course.. so usually I do one scoop when I first get up, another during the afternoon a few hrs before dinner, and if i do a 3rd I do it at night. Anyways...... its 280 calories for all 3 scoops (60Grams of protein) .. of that 280, only 10 calories from fat, Total carbs 7grams, total fat 1gram, and total sugar 2grams!! I have not found ANYTHING that is as lean and I have been on a mean search for months lol ........ anything that I found that was less calories tasted like butt. My dr says this is a GREAT choice. Flavors - Vanilla, strawberry, chocolate, Cookies n Cream, and Fruit Punch........ I have tried all except fruit punch.. and LOVE them all. TRY IT

Yes it happened to me too. All thoughts led to my upcoming surgery. Once I had the surgery and got back to work (I stayed home for only 10 days!) the obsession seemed to subside. Now I actually sometimes forget I had the surgery! Unless of course I eat too fast or don't chew enough...then I get reminded real quick!