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I am on my 9th day!! Finally got my approval today and I'm over half way there...yeah Tomorrow is another Christmas party at my house, and I'm going to be strong and stay on track! I can't imagine only being able to have clear liquids Good for YOU! Optifast has a chicken Soup and a tomato soup that are really quite good. These have really helped me, they are sorta thick and so they keep me full for awhile. Three more days and you are done!! Congratulations! If we can do this...we can do anything! Good luck and please keep in touch. chris

I am right there with you!!! I am on day 2 of my 2 week pre-op liquid diet and I'm dying!!! I feel like my stomach is about to start eating itself!! I'm allowed 4-5 protein shakes, all the sugar free jello, pudding and popsicles I want and water. I have NO energy, I'm starving, I'm having terrible headaches and I'm grumpy!!!!! I'm hoping and praying that it gets better as I go along. Good luck to you!!

Hi! I haven't been banded. I am just doing research regarding LapBand. I weigh over 100 lbs. beyond my goal weight, but the gastric bypass is too invasive! I am 59, and not sure whether this is for me. Secondly, my husband has Medicare with Tricare for Life, and I am covered as his dependent (spouse) with Tricare Prime; I do not qualify for Medicare. I found Tricare Prime accepts referrals from Primary Care Physicians for GBS. However, I checked about 4 months ago about whether they approve for LapBand surgery, and was told "No, not at this time." Has anyone heard different as to whether they have reconsidered? I am curious. Does anyone know why Tricare Prime would pay for GBS and not LBS? Maybe because the procedure is still too new? I would also like to know why it is easier to exercise and eat right when one has the LBS, than before the surgery? Doesn't the motivation have to continue? Perhaps the LBS does motivate, when youhave gone that far? I know one thing... I have been too heavy, too long (about 8 years) and realize that soon I am prone to diabetes, sleep apnea, etc. as it runs in my family, both sides. My motivation to lose lasts about 1 week, then it fades. Could be because my husband can and does eat Desserts, or anything he desires, with no weight gain. Guess you might call that co-dependent, but I can't help it. When sweets are around, I weaken. I have not been a happy person for a long time now. This weight is depressing. I would hate to think that I would have to carry my two dogs around all day long, but my excess weight outweighs them! ...and they are BIG dogs!:help: Any information about insurance, or advice about LBS will be appreciated! Thank you! Pam :clap2: pamblundell@aol.com

Goodbye Food..hello great new life. The pre-diet is toughest the first 4 days. I am NOT saying it's a walk in the park after, either, but it's much more tolerable. I was sleeved 8/20 and with the 2 week pre-op I am down 72 pounds. I assure, this is worth it. I had my own doubts, but at 10 weeks, I am such the believer.

SleevePlicationTalk Newsletter Hey, Sleevers! Summer’s over and we’re into the beautiful days of early autumn. No matter where you live, we hope you’re getting a chance to get out and enjoy the weather! Any activity you do counts toward your weight loss, health and pleasure, so make an effort to get outside and get moving. Don’t forget to take your SleevePlicationTalk.com app with you so you can read the newsletter and keep up with the boards! Here’s what you’ll find in October’s newsletter. Member Spotlight: We’re still recruiting! Sleever Challenge: Lend a Hand! Having a Healthy Autumn: A Few Tips for Parents – and Other Busy SleevePlicationTalk.com Members! Weight Loss Surgery: Not the Easy Way Out! Can’t wait to get started? Neither can we! Enjoy the newsletter and please feel free to let us know what you think! Thanks for your support. Sincerely, Alex Brecher Founder SleevePlicationTalk.com Member Spotlight: Still Recruiting! If you want to be in the spotlight or you want to nominate someone else, let us know in the Spotlight Forum or send Alex a private message. We’re always looking for outstanding members to highlight! Sleever Challenge: Lend a Hand! We like to challenge you to try something new or unusual in each newsletter. The Sleever Challenge is a non-competitive way to push yourself a little further and experience something new while gaining confidence. Why do we ask you to post what you did? It helps motivate others and give them ideas for their challenges! This week’s challenge is pretty simple. Before the next newsletter, we’re just asking you to help someone. It can be any kind of help, from helping an elderly neighbor take the newspaper in to volunteering to give a motivational talk at your local weight loss surgery support group meeting to making dinner for your spouse even when it’s not your turn. This challenge does more than make someone else’s life easier. It makes you value yourself more when you see how powerful you can be just by being kind to others. Don’t forget to let us know how you helped someone! What did you do? How did it make you feel? Let us know how it goes in the Sleever Challenge forum! You can always check out any of the previous Newsletter Challenges and give us updates on those. You can always see the old challenges in the archived newsletters. You’ll see challenges on food, fitness and more! It’s never too late to try something new and exciting! Make It a Healthy Autumn: A Few Tips for Parents – and Other Busy SleevePlicationTalk.com Members! Okay, we know that the autumn is a busy time of year. If you’re a parent, your children are back in school and their activities are in full swing. You may be juggling work with your chauffeuring, catering and cleaning business – aka, taking care of your family! Most of us are pretty busy even if we’re not parents. It’s easy to use not having enough time as an excuse for getting off track with your weight loss. You might eat foods that you know you shouldn’t because you feel you just can’t squeeze in the time to prepare a healthy snack. We’ve all done it. You rush out the door in the morning and are busy all day. Some of these happen along the way. You are starving by lunchtime and grab a few truffles that make you nauseous. you dumping syndrome. You go by the vending machine for a soft drink that’ll make you feel sick within minutes. You realize at the end of the day that you haven’t stopped to drink for hours, and you have a headache and your stomach hurts. You know you should be eating lean Protein, but the closest thing you can find is pepperoni from the company’s pepperoni pizza – so to be polite, you eat the entire slice and it causes an obstruction. You start to depend on Protein shakes because those are the closest thing to a healthy meal that you can find at the company cafeteria. You don’t have to let a hectic schedule get in the way of your health! What can you do about it? Here are a few tips to make the most out of every day Prepare some of your meals and Snacks at the beginning of the week. Wash your fruits and vegetables so they’re easy to prepare when you need them. Cook some your Proteins - chicken breast, fish, seafood, lean beef and/or veggie burgers – and freeze them in single-serving baggies or containers. Cook up bigger batches, put them in single-serving containers and freeze them so you can defrost them when you’re ready to eat them. This is a great option for healthy side dishes, such as whole wheat Pasta, carrots or Beans. (You don’t have to make too much, since your single portions post-surgery are pretty small). Place snacks in single-serving bags if you buy a multi-serving package Plan your Breakfast the night before so you don’t have to think about it in the morning. Take the time to make a grocery list. It’ll save you time in the end. Using a list will keep you from forgetting foods and needing to go back to the store during the week. You’ll be faster in the store because you won’t get distracted. Sticking to a list will keep you from buying foods you shouldn’t. Buy ingredients for breakfast Buy snack foods Make sure you drink enough. Stash Water bottles in your car and at work and keep them filled. It’ll encourage you to drink throughout the day and you won’t have to take the time to run to the kitchen each time you need to drink. Stick a pitcher of water in the fridge so you see it several times a day. Keep healthy snacks at work so you never find yourself starving with nothing healthy to eat. Beef Jerky and canned tuna, chicken, beans, vegetables keep for months. Frozen foods to consider keeping around include grilled chicken and fish, veggie burgers and vegetables. Yogurt, low-fat cheese, cottage cheese and deli meats are high-protein snacks to keep in the fridge for a week or more. The more you plan, the better off you’ll be. You’ll save time and be more likely to eat well. And remember – you’re worth it! We suggest picking one or two strategies and working on them until you master them, then moving on to a new tip. Let us know how helpful the tips are! That’s a lot to chew on for this newsletter, so we’re going to end it here. There’s no end to the news, tips and conversations over at SleevePlicationTalk.com, so come on over via your computer, smartphone or Kindle! You can always check out the old newsletters, too, in the Newsletter Forum. Thanks for coming along in this newsletter and for being part of our fantastic community! We couldn’t do it without you. Have a great month and take care of yourself and each other, Alex. ==============================================================If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter, you may unsubscribe by going to your Control Panel and clicking on the Newsletters tab, or clicking on the following link: {unsubscribe}

@@Elode do you remember eating it that soon after surgery? I'm just 3 weeks out...

I just made 6 weeks today and I've been eating raw veggies for 5 days with no issues

I dont get much. After a couple of cans of Protein powder and maybe a couple of cases of Soups there's a little left for them to get stuff for the house. Thats only about 2 weeks work of food. And that's being generous. I'm cashing out the rest of the month. Sent while fleeing from naughty food.

I'll also add, that this friend hasn't really spoken to me in years until he started selling this stuff, and now he all the sudden wants to talk to me and try to sell it to me. (was probably trying to think of all his friends who were overweight!) Anyway, if I thought there was a weight loss fad out there, trust me, I'd do it, and I might lose the weight, but give me a couple years, and it will be right back on. I feel that I need the surgery to help me keep it off for life. I do not want to be on pills/supplements for life, and I am not one that wants to go to the gym all the time, I work full time, and have two small children who want me at home when I'm not at work. Exersize will consist of what I can do with them at home, or around the block. I can't go to the gym that he works at 40 miles away. This surgery is not a whim decision that I've made. I've been thinking about it for about 2 years now and feel that it is right for me. I ignored him on FB and he seems to have gotten the hint. I did tell him though, that if I hit a stall, I would contact him and see if he could help me get over the stall.

Yes! I had one 3 weeks ago and I am so happy I did it! It is worth every penny as well as the pain and for me itching. I cannot wait to have my next body contouring surgery. My arms look 20 years younger and are well contoured. You can even see my cute little biceps that I knew was under there but never thought i would see them again. I was interviewing plastic surgeons and absolutely fell in love with mine. I met her on Monday and was in surgery Thursday morning! I was scared I was moving so fast but I definately don't regret it. Now I have to wait 3 months for the next procedure.

The first two weeks after surgery were the worst. I was hungry the entire time. But it does ease up.

I was too diagnised with low b12 and iron... Also low protein... =s. My nut prescribed me 1 shot of n complex and iron every week for one month. I left my protein shake... Thatsthe teason why im low on protein... I started again with shakes... I had no symtomps

Thank you all for your support. Today has been very emotional! In addition to having a headache and having to follow a day of clear liquids, I had to attend a birthday party for my niece with pasta, pizza, cake...etc. it sucked cause I'm starving!!! I guess I should be grateful I didn't have to do two weeks of liquids, I give anyone who has done it a lot of credit...one day was taxing! I'm feeling good about surgery right now, but could be crying in a minute. Lol. Not necessarily "what am I doing" but just scared for the actual event. I will be relieved once its over!

I'm about a week and a half post op and I can definitely tell my levels of hunger now and whether they are superficial or not. I'm grateful the surgery has done so much to stifle my appetite. However, I'd definitely warn fellow "new" post ops: avoid social eating interactions. You will not really "crave" the food physically, or at least I don't, but you will feel kind of awkward not being able to eat. I "miss" eating normally but I also know this is just temporary. Just figured I'd lay my experience out there! If you can avoid social interactions until you're 6 weeks (when you can try normal foods), I would! I couldn't dodge this one! Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I was told that the "two-week freak out" was normal but i freaked out for a month. :tongue2:

I received one and have never tried to use it. I'm not one that likes to draw attention to myself. At Cracker Barrell, anyone can order off the children's menu, so I will do that. And anywhere else, I'll order something really small, or I am a BIG fan of doggy bags. Love getting three meals for the price of one.

Hey everyone!!! I am now in my second week with my band and things are going well but ... I have bad breath!!! Is this due to the liquid diet or what? And how can I get rid of it???!!! Thanks all!

i expect it will hit me just how huge this is about the week before

It just got better it's my meal time. My one meal a day. I don't know how people are doing just liquid for 2 weeks.

I was told not over 1200 but my weight has stalled so at my next appt. I'm going to ask the nutritionist specifically about that.

Like tasteless milkshakes if you make it with cold Water. I stuck with the vanilla ones coz tasteless vanilla is better than tasteless chocolate. My only suggestion to you is to talk yourself out of seeing yourself having to do it for three weeks. Just tell yourself everyday "let me just make it through today". Then tackle the next day as that challenge all on it's on. Knowing I had to be strong for 16 hours was a lot easier than having to be strong for 3 weeks. I just coped with it better mentally.

So does anyone else have to do the liquid diet for 3 WEEKS... I am 5'4 260 I had to do the 6 month weight monitoring and my starting weight was 290. I loss 30lbs I'm so pumped to get this started but so stressed out with 3 weeks of shakes. I honestly don't know if I can even stomach the shakes. In the past I have tried slim fast and body by vi. I never was even able to drink one. Maybe since I'm focused I can just do it. I have 3 children but great family, my sister lives with me with her daughter and my mother and uncle live directly across the street so I plan on staying clear of everyone till I know lose my mind and my family is understand and going to step in. So I know I just gave you guys the run down of my thinking so do you guys have any suggestions for me.? Stomach the shakes. Am I just too focus on this whole shake thing and working my self up... Help I start Thursday for a surgery date of March 14th

I know it is frustrating, but plateaus do and will happen. You have averaged nearly 6 pounds a week so far. Your body is just saying "Hey... let me catch up" How many calories are you eating a day? Are you getting your protein and water?

HI Kerry. Yes, I am still having energy issues as well. I did increase my Protein drinks from 3 to 4 times a day. The extra protein has helped some. However, we have to remember we just had major surgery. Even though our bodies all react differently, we need time to recover. I am hoping the energy level will increase this week when we get mushies.

My doctor addressed this today. I am 6 days post op. He said it can take 3 to 4 weeks to start feeling more energetic and that increasing my calories will really have no bearing on my energy level. I thought that was weird. Hope you start to feel more energetic soon! Don't over do it though. I went for a 50 minute walk yesterday and spent the rest of the day dragging around. Today I feel so lethargic and have had more pain. Stupid me. Good luck to you! Holly