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I had my first stall at three weeks and was quite discouraged. However, I could tell that my body was changing, so we took some measurments. I'd lost a total of 12 inches from my waist, hips, chest and arms. I highly recommend taking your measurements and tracking them along with your weight loss. It was a huge motivation for me to see that even though the scale was not moving as quickly as I wanted I was still losing. I still have periodic stalls, but if I up my Protein and Water, I start to lose again.

At three weeks, I was only able to tolerate Protein Drinks and Cream of Mushroom/Cream of chicken Soup. That was pretty much my diet for weeks 3 and 4. As far as the mashed potatoes, it's the total amount you're eating per day that you should track. If your getting your recommended grams of Protein in, then you probably aren't going to have much room for potatoes.

I went for my first 2 week post op and list 20lb and feeling great. I can start mushy foods today. he said to watch calories more then anything and to eat protein first. he agreed that the south beach diet is probably the best to follow. he said about 1000 1200 calorie a day and 60 to 80 grams of protein that that sound right. he also said 4oz of protein per meal. he used a 34 bogie us that considered average

Has anyone tried Profect? It's made by Protica and I read on some workout site that it tastes like candy in a gel form. It’s only 2.9 ounces and has 0 fat, only 100 calories, 0 carb, 0 sugar and 25g of protein! It also has 100% of daily value of Vitamin C and lots of other Vitamins in it. I am just curious if anyone has tried this or heard anything about it from their doctors? It seems like a pretty easy way to get in Protein post-op. http://www.protica.com/Products/Profect/ProfectNutritional.htm

i have had some hair loss. i already had very thin hair but girls at work the other day told me that they couldn't tell that i had lost any of my hair. i have been getting in my protein. taking biotin and using the hair growth shampoo from pretty much 2 months. i also am a hair stylist and found out about aeropur thicket. it is a product you put on wet hair and then blow dry it. ask your hair stylist to get you guys some. it has made all of the difference in my style and making my hair look thick and have volume... good luck and it will come back don't worry. that is the price we have to pay in order to be heathy...

I use the MM Light in vanilla creme in the 100 cal RTD cartons. Get them as cold as you can.. that helps. I think the chocolate tastes weird. If you want to add something to it, try DaVinci or Torani sugar-free syrups. They come in many amazing flavors and you'll find tons of use for them. I put the s/f chocolate syrup in my coffee every morning. You can find them in the coffee aisle at Walmart, and some grocery stores carry them. If you have a Drug Emporium near you, they also carry the DaVinci. Also amazon.com (discounts on 3 packs of Torani) and netrition.com (only sells DaVinci, but has flat rate shipping...yippee!!) A very good Protein drink in fruit flavors is Syntrax Nectars. They do not come in the RTD (ready to drink) but in 2lb cannisters. But, Syntrax will sell small samples for 1.00/flavor to new customers. Go to www.si03.com and find their email or their 800 number and call and ask about samples of the nectar. Be sure to specify because they have lots of protein and not all are for weight loss. The nectar is 90 to 100 calories per scoop ( about 1/2 cup of powder), 23 grams protein and 0 carbs. You can find protein mixes with more protein per serving, but I was taught that our bodies can't handle more than 20 to 25 grams of protein per serving. If you consume more on a routine basis, you will be putting strain on your kidneys. If your surgeon advises you otherwise though.. listen to them and not to me. Another acceptable (but not great) tasting RTD is EAS carbvantage. Again, I'd recommend the vanilla over the chocolate. I find that most chocolates in protein just taste funky. Maybe I'm just too picky.

Enjoy this time of not having hunger and try to maximize it by doing exactly what your doc said about getting in protein and fluids. Your weight loss is fastest right at the beginning, so the less hunger you have now the better in my opinion.

Hairloss is common for WLS patients between 4-6 months out although it does not affect everyone. I have not seen it yet but I know it might be coming for me as well. Keep Protein levels high, caloric intake in your doctors recommended range, use Biotin and make sure you are getting Vitamins in and it should help. I expect I should start experiencing some hairloss because when I was pregnant I lost a lot of hair. I have been really careful on my intake so I am hoping it will not happen. I gues only time will tell.

Hello, everyone, I was banded Dec. 20, 2007 and have done very well - down about 60 pounds, exercising, making sure I eat plenty of protein and other nutritious foods, etc. Lately, though, it seems to me that I am loosing hair! I'm wondering if this is some sort of deficiency. Is it something I need to talk to my doctor about right away? I'd love to hear about others' experiences with this. Kathy

I started noticing hair loss around 6 months post-op. I didn't alter my diet, because I knew my protein was sufficient and I was having good results. I started using Nioxin shampoo and Conditioner and although a little pricey it really helped me. I noticed it to completely stop after about 2, maybe 3 weeks. I still use the Nioxin - love it! Don't forget your multi-vitamin also!

Thank you all so much for your replies. I eat at least 60 grams of protein a day and often more but I am not eating much fat so that may be the problem. I'll also try the biotin. Kathy

Well this is my first blog so it will be a learning process. My sister, Vicky, told me to keep a diary of my Lap-Band surgery process so this is what I am going to do. In January, 2009 I decided to have Lap-Band surgery to help me lose weight. I have a friend, Shelli Giardino, who was also wanting to have the surgery and she had investigated the process, doctors and what our insurance would pay. She works with my husband, John at Tallgrass Creek. There is a clinic in Overland Park, KS, The Maley Surgical Clinic that does the surgery and they are on our insurance plan so I contacted them for information. The present seminars on the process almost every Saturday so I went to one of the seminars to see about the surgery. They have two doctors, Dr. Maley and Dr. Hitchcock. Maley is the main doctor but it would be 3-4 months to get into him so I made an appointment with Dr. Hitchcock. After the appointment, they contacted my insurance to see what they required to pay for the surgery. Insurance required: 1. 6 month doctor supervised weight loss program 2. Psych evaluation 3. Nutritionist evaluation 4. BMI of 40( 100 lbs over ideal weight) 5. Co-morbidity factors. (high blood pressure, diabetes, sleep apnea things like this) In January I started my 6 month doctor supervised weight loss program with my general doctor (GP), Dr. Wendi Bissett. What is so strange about this requirement is that weight loss is not required, they just want to see if you will stick with anything for 6 months. With my GP, I established that I have a BMI of over 40, I am borderline Diabetic, I had sleep studies done and I have Sleep apnea, my cholesterol is high, I have acid reflux and all of the medical issued are considered co-morbidity factors so I qualified there. I had my psych evaluation and also my nutrition evaluation so by the end of summer, August, I had all my requirements met. Now the hard part started, getting insurance to approve the surgery. First we gathered all the doctor notes from all the doctors to be submitted to insurance because the doctor required a letter from the insurance saying that the surgery was medically necessary and it was a covered procedure. I required the doctors notes from my GP and was told that it could take up to 30 days to process the request so I went to the Medical Records department and gave them a sad face and Dr. Hitchcock office had them the next day. The nutritionist sent her notes over as well as the psych doctor. The nutritionist and the psych doctor were choices from Dr. Hitchcock's office so I thought their notes would not be a problem, I was worried about the notes from my GP. Everything was gathered and late in the day faxed, 30 pages, to the fax number insurance said to send them to for pre-authorization of a surgery. The next morning when the insurance person got back into the office, all 30 pages had been faxed back to her to say that they do not pre-authorize out patient surgery. This was a real problem because the doctor would not do the surgery without the letter. The insurance person said she was also told this but they would always go ahead and send the letter. Well my insurance would not do so, so she asked me to call them. I got the same answer she got. They would not send a letter for out patient surgery and lap-band surgery is done out patient. I argued with the insurance for 3-4 days and got nothing. At this point to have the surgery, I would have to pay for the surgery upfront $20,000 and take my chances with insurance paying for it, I could not do this so we had to have the surgery approved as an inpatient procedure. Stupid, instead of giving a letter, it would cost them more money to do the surgery in a hospital and stay one night. Well we got it approved by the doctor to it the surgery in patient at a hospital and sent the information in once again to the insurance but to their pre-approved outsourced company for the letter. I checked almost everyday to see that they had received the information and to see if had been assigned for review. Finally after 7 days it was assigned and reviewed and DENIED. It was denied because the psych doctor had not put in his final notes that I was a good candidate for the surgery and that I was released to have the surgery. This really made me mad because this was a doctor that had been doing these evaluations for my doctor for a long time. We had to get corrected notes which took 3 days and than it had to be reviewed again. Now it was the Labor Day holiday so everything came to a halt due to everyone being on vacation for I had to wait a few more days. Finally during the first week of September I received the letter approving the surgery and it has been scheduled for October 5, 2009. Most of my family and friends are happy I am getting the surgery done but my older son, Ray, is not to excited. Not sure if it is because he is worried about his mom having surgery or if he thinks I should just be able to lose the weight, but either way I know he loves me and is just worried. I had to get a big list of vitamins to take before and after the surgery and also started my 2 week pre-operative low fat, low calorie diet. This is needed to shrink the liver that stores fat and toxins. The diet is very exciting. Mostly liquid and one low fat, low calorie meal. Today I started this diet in earnest. I can have protein drinks, jello, broth, tea, coffee, one meal a day and 2 cups of sherbet a day. I am going to cut out the diet soda at this time because after the surgery, I cannot drink soda of any kind so might as well start now. My weight today is 262.5 lbs and this is the most I have ever weighed. I hope to get down to about 150-170 after the surgery and I know I will make it. Lap-band is only a tool, not a quick fix. All for today.

Well this is my first blog so it will be a learning process. My sister, Vicky, told me to keep a diary of my Lap-Band surgery process so this is what I am going to do. In January, 2009 I decided to have Lap-Band surgery to help me lose weight. I have a friend, Shelli Giardino, who was also wanting to have the surgery and she had investigated the process, doctors and what our insurance would pay. She works with my husband, John at Tallgrass Creek. There is a clinic in Overland Park, KS, The Maley Surgical Clinic that does the surgery and they are on our insurance plan so I contacted them for information. The present seminars on the process almost every Saturday so I went to one of the seminars to see about the surgery. They have two doctors, Dr. Maley and Dr. Hitchcock. Maley is the main doctor but it would be 3-4 months to get into him so I made an appointment with Dr. Hitchcock. After the appointment, they contacted my insurance to see what they required to pay for the surgery. Insurance required: 1. 6 month doctor supervised weight loss program 2. Psych evaluation 3. Nutritionist evaluation 4. BMI of 40( 100 lbs over ideal weight) 5. Co-morbidity factors. (high blood pressure, diabetes, sleep apnea things like this) In January I started my 6 month doctor supervised weight loss program with my general doctor (GP), Dr. Wendi Bissett. What is so strange about this requirement is that weight loss is not required, they just want to see if you will stick with anything for 6 months. With my GP, I established that I have a BMI of over 40, I am borderline Diabetic, I had sleep studies done and I have Sleep apnea, my cholesterol is high, I have acid reflux and all of the medical issued are considered co-morbidity factors so I qualified there. I had my psych evaluation and also my nutrition evaluation so by the end of summer, August, I had all my requirements met. Now the hard part started, getting insurance to approve the surgery. First we gathered all the doctor notes from all the doctors to be submitted to insurance because the doctor required a letter from the insurance saying that the surgery was medically necessary and it was a covered procedure. I required the doctors notes from my GP and was told that it could take up to 30 days to process the request so I went to the Medical Records department and gave them a sad face and Dr. Hitchcock office had them the next day. The nutritionist sent her notes over as well as the psych doctor. The nutritionist and the psych doctor were choices from Dr. Hitchcock's office so I thought their notes would not be a problem, I was worried about the notes from my GP. Everything was gathered and late in the day faxed, 30 pages, to the fax number insurance said to send them to for pre-authorization of a surgery. The next morning when the insurance person got back into the office, all 30 pages had been faxed back to her to say that they do not pre-authorize out patient surgery. This was a real problem because the doctor would not do the surgery without the letter. The insurance person said she was also told this but they would always go ahead and send the letter. Well my insurance would not do so, so she asked me to call them. I got the same answer she got. They would not send a letter for out patient surgery and lap-band surgery is done out patient. I argued with the insurance for 3-4 days and got nothing. At this point to have the surgery, I would have to pay for the surgery upfront $20,000 and take my chances with insurance paying for it, I could not do this so we had to have the surgery approved as an inpatient procedure. Stupid, instead of giving a letter, it would cost them more money to do the surgery in a hospital and stay one night. Well we got it approved by the doctor to it the surgery in patient at a hospital and sent the information in once again to the insurance but to their pre-approved outsourced company for the letter. I checked almost everyday to see that they had received the information and to see if had been assigned for review. Finally after 7 days it was assigned and reviewed and DENIED. It was denied because the psych doctor had not put in his final notes that I was a good candidate for the surgery and that I was released to have the surgery. This really made me mad because this was a doctor that had been doing these evaluations for my doctor for a long time. We had to get corrected notes which took 3 days and than it had to be reviewed again. Now it was the Labor Day holiday so everything came to a halt due to everyone being on vacation for I had to wait a few more days. Finally during the first week of September I received the letter approving the surgery and it has been scheduled for October 5, 2009. Most of my family and friends are happy I am getting the surgery done but my older son, Ray, is not to excited. Not sure if it is because he is worried about his mom having surgery or if he thinks I should just be able to lose the weight, but either way I know he loves me and is just worried. I had to get a big list of vitamins to take before and after the surgery and also started my 2 week pre-operative low fat, low calorie diet. This is needed to shrink the liver that stores fat and toxins. The diet is very exciting. Mostly liquid and one low fat, low calorie meal. Today I started this diet in earnest. I can have protein drinks, jello, broth, tea, coffee, one meal a day and 2 cups of sherbet a day. I am going to cut out the diet soda at this time because after the surgery, I cannot drink soda of any kind so might as well start now. My weight today is 262.5 lbs and this is the most I have ever weighed. I hope to get down to about 150-170 after the surgery and I know I will make it. Lap-band is only a tool, not a quick fix. All for today.

If you really want to see what will happen and how it will affect you, watch this video. It's amazing and helped me with my progress, knowing what I went through. http://www.orlive.com/halifaxhealth/videos/weighing-the-options-gastric-sleeve-surgery?view=displayPageNLM

Hey everyone, I had surgery on 10/30/08, and am hating the liquid diet, and especially the Protein shakes. Any suggestions?

I have read through this entire thread again to see If my remarks were off. Even as I read them again, Its clear to me my remark about "jerks" wasn't pointed at anyone in particular. However, in the context and flow of the thread I can see how it could have been read as me calling MR a jerk. It was a newbie mistake for me not to make it clear that I wasn't dissing her. So to MR and those who love her, I am sorry. Please let me know what else I need to do or say to clean this up with you. (Please don't ask for a 20 page paper that compares and contrasts Protein shakes because then I'd have to start a Rant about that and we could get caught in some sort of Star Trek infinity time loop. And you know what a pain those are! Please, please lets stop the insanity of this thread......I beg everyone! I am writing this while being high on Morphine due to my latest hospital trip.......

I have read through this entire thread again to see If my remarks were off. Even as I read them again, Its clear to me my remark about "jerks" wasn't pointed at anyone in particular. However, in the context and flow of the thread I can see how it could have been read as me calling MR a jerk. It was a newbie mistake for me not to make it clear that I wasn't dissing her. So to MR and those who love her, I am sorry. Please let me know what else I need to do or say to clean this up with you. (Please don't ask for a 20 page paper that compares and contrasts Protein shakes because then I'd have to start a Rant about that and we could get caught in some sort of Star Trek infinity time loop. And you know what a pain those are! Please, please lets stop the insanity of this thread......I beg everyone! I am writing this while being high on Morphine due to my latest hospital trip....... Oh RJ! Feel better, love.

If you had GERD already bypass is the better option for you than the sleeve. Your doctor doesn't offer the bypass?

I am surprised that you are already on food-even baby food. My husband was sleeved on Wednesday and he has 7 days liquid before starting a puree stage. My doctor (we had surgery with 2 different officces and hospitals due to insurance requirements) had me on a 14 day liquid diet before the puree stage. I had looked at baby food but I did not feel that it had enough protein for me to get my daily allowance. Besides I thought it was expensive when I could buy real food and just blend it myself to the right consistency. Good luck and welcom to the forum. You will find a lot of helpful information and a great support group.

I haven’t been banded yet but the nutritionist says that lack of protein will cause hair loss. Atkins makes some great protein drinks she says I should be drinking one daily once banded. 15grams or more protein and 5 grams or less of carbohydrates (it also has 20% biotin) Got it at Wal-Mart for $6.97. Hope this helps.

I'm almost 3 weeks post surgery and can say that with my two protein drinks a day and all the water, I really don't "crave" anything at this point. Don't get me wrong, food smells delish, but I just don't have the overwhelming urge to eat it. Went to dinner with friends last night and had grilled salmon - I ate 4 small bites of that and 4 small bites of retried beans (I was at a Mexican restaurant) and that was so filling. I was actually afraid I wasn't going to be able to keep it down.

Hello everybody thank you for taking your precious time to read my posts. I am 4 months out of having laparoscopic gastric bypass surgery and in the last 2 days have had at times an icky taste in my mouth as well as a feeling of acid indigestion and mild tummy pain. I am on Prevacid once per day. I also have to take Miralax every day to stay regular. I am currently eating between 800-900 calories per day and 75-85 grams of protein and hydrating very well. Could it simply be acid indigestion? Anyone else experience this? Any input is welcomed...

For a wonderful treat go to Taco Bell and get their Pintos and Cheese. They are 160 calories and a lot of protein. I put a little fat free sour cream and top and thought I was in 'food heaven". They are really helping me in that third and fourth week of semi-mushie food. I also have made tuna salad and baked some catfish. Watermelon is also very good right now.

Hi everyone !! I found something else that will satisfy your crunch need and yet melt into nothing for your pouch !!! Special K makes cracker chips, I just tried the Southwest Ranch and they are awesome.... I only ate about 10 and that was good. A serving is 27 chips for 110 calories, 2.5g fat, 1g Sugar, 2g protein. It really satisfied my crunch need !!!