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R u exercising .. Ii am 10 weeks out and was at a stall for two weeks. I knew I had to exercise to get out of my stall. I do 30 minutes 4 days a week of medium strenuous exercise ( I do break out into a pouring sweat)and am taking swimming lessons. Once I started exercising my stall broke. I lost 3 pounds that first week of exercising and continue yo lose consistently. How many calories and Protein r u ingesting. I am about 800 calories and 70 gprotrin. R u eating enough calories. Contact your nutritionist also. She can help.

I am 14days post op and have only lost 10 lbs I just started puréed food today. Started working out today should I be losing faster?

Update - my stall finally broke. 10!days and the scale finally budged. Last Friday I was still at the same weight. Today Monday morning, lost 1 lb. things I did differently the past week: walk more, drink more fluids, get my Protein in, upped my carbs a little, went to gym. I think the gym helped out a lot. I did a lot of strength training this time. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Ah, sleep apnea. I had two sleep studies, which after insurance cost me about 200 bucks a piece. Not to mention the monthly fee for the machine. I think that last about 10 months, not sure yet. Those the sleep tests are horrible and the machine is costly, the change is awesome!!! :tt1: More energy, better moods.... everything. You will get use to the machine and the face gear. I love mine and missing one night on it makes me a monster... :w00t: Good luck!!!

I did it! Made my mini goal weight of 207 my most recent lowest weight - 2 years ago on Jenny Craig! I started JC in Feb. 2010 at 272. 10 months later Dec 2010, my lowest weigh-in was 207 lbs.I was working out (walking and videos) 5-6X week, plus I spent an average of $400/month on JC food! So excited to get back to where I should never have left-I worked so hard to get there only to plateau, stop going to get weighed (and I was getting sick of the food) and poof- weighed 278 this past summer. I'm working hard now, but it's different. Maybe it's the hunger factor, I just don't think of food the same way as I did before. I can't wait until next month...I've ordered my one way ticket to onederland!

I can’t read it either - but here’s a list I cut and pasted: 1 lb = 4 sticks of butter 3 lbs = a half gallon of milk 5 lbs = a bag of sugar 7 lbs = an average newborn 10 lbs = a bag of rice 15 lbs = a larger bag of dog food 20 lbs = a car tire 25 lbs = an average tuba 30 lbs = an adult male southern koala 40 lbs = a bag of mulch 50 lbs = a bicycle 60 lbs = a kayak 70 lbs = a mini-fridge 80 lbs = a full 10 gallon aquarium 90 lbs = a jackhammer 100 lbs = a large male deer I’d like to loose 2 large male deers - but would be just fine with 4 bicycles.

I have my surgery on April 10. I have been nervous since weird little aches and pains. I have been second-guessing myself a lot. However reading all of these post really brings inspiration. I am thankful to have sites like these to help support me. Good luck to all the fellow sleepers out there! We can do this!

Laughing cow is a great snack! I love it and it is a great satisfier. Definitely a great go to! SW:350 (11/2015) BSW:260 (10/17/17) CW:250 (officially down by 100 lbs. since the start of my journey!) GW:175

exercise is only about 10% of weight loss. 90% is due to food intake (or the lack thereof). So being active does help a bit, but most of loss or gain is due to food intake. I know of several people who've lost a ton of weight with WLS without exercise, so you should be fine. not losing the first week is common, and Sigh is correct, it's due to the IV fluids you got in the hospital, which is essentially salt water. The sodium in it causes water retention in a lot of people, and it takes a few days to work it's way out of your system. Lots of us leave the hospital weighing more than we did when we entered. I've read about people "gaining" up to 10 lbs in the hospital! So no worries. You'll start losing weight soon..

Well let's see. I am a wife to a wonderful husband for 21+ years and mother to 3 children (17,15,13). I didn't really have much of a weight problem as a child. I mean I remember being a little chubby around the age of 10, but it didn't last long. If anything, as a teenager I was a little on the too skinny side. I remember being 14 and my now mother in law wouldn't let my now husband take me to the mall unless a had something to eat....I guess I was smaller than I thought.....That is NOT a problem now-haha. It seemed my issues came from having children. I gained large amounts of weight with each child. I was able to lose it in between kids until the last one. With 3 kids under 4 1/2 and a husband in the ARMY....there just wasn't time for me. I sometimes felt like I didn't have time for a shower, let alone an hour a day to exercise...I was just too tired!!! It just seemed like my body changed. When I would lose the weight in the past, it would stay off....until I got pregnant again--haha. But the third time was different. I worked so hard....eating right and exercising almost every day....almost excessively. And a would get 30 or 40 lbs off and be a decent size 10/12, but the day I would start to return to a normal food intake (and by normal, I simply mean about 1400 calories)and drop back to exercising 3 days a week....suddenly I would start slowly adding on the weight again. About a pound a month. So six months in I would be 6pounds heavier....a year later I would be 12 pounds heavier. you get the picture. Before I knew it I would be 30 pounds overweight. I would get serious again!!!drop back to 900 calories start exercising everyday and would get myself down again. and you know the rest. Repeat-above cycle two or three more times over 10 years, then just give up. That’s where I have been for the last 4 years...refusing to repeat the cycle anymore. As a result, that 12 pound a year weight gain is now 50 pounds. Add that to the 15 pounds I could never get off in the first place, and here we are... needing to lose 65 pounds (really to be ideal weight that would be 80 pounds)---but I'll be happy with the 65 pounds.....Honestly, I'd be happy just to be able to return to a life of camping, hiking and swimming like a used to do all the time....regardless of what the scale says. So now I'm playing the waiting game. I will have my last appointment on Tuesday February 21 (my 40th birthday) and from there everything heads to insurance for approval. I have Tricare North and have heard they are pretty good about approving the surgery. I didn't want to get this far in the process and have the insurance company decide they wanted me to do the supervised diet for 3 months, so I went ahead and did it voluntarily with my GP (lost 12 pounds for good faith effort). Just being proactive!! So hopefully on Tuesday I will get a surgery date; the sooner the better. I would like to have it done by the end of March. We are taking my oldest daughter on a cruise for her graduation present the first week in May and I want to be nicely healed from the surgery before I put myself on a boat in the middle of the ocean for a week Well that’s it. If you can offer any insite into how long it takes for tricare to give approval or if you have tricare and can educate me on anything, please let me know. Or any other advise is more than welcome too. This is such a lerning process. Thanks, Tina

What's your MasterCleanser? I do a MasterCleanser (that's what they call it) every now and again (and am on day 3 right now) where you mix equal parts lemon juice and maple syrup. Then 6 times a day you put 3 Tbs of this mix in an 8 oz glass of Water and sprinkle about 1/10th of a tsp of cayenne pepper on top. It's only a 4 day cleanse. I'm not hungry, don't have any cravings and have an incredible amount of energy right from the start. Best of all, my blood sugar levels drop to normal without meds and I lose anywhere from 10-18 lbs. Yeah...I know it's mainly water, but it's a great start to a low carb eating plan. Normally, if I go right into low carb, I only gain back 2-3 pounds but then lose it again within another couple of days.

I had a dream last night/this morning that I took a pregnancy test and it was positive. So this morning, out of curiosity I took one. It's positive! Wtf?! I took 2 more and the same outcome! I've been trying for over 10 years to have another baby. Idk what to think or how to feel. I feel like one of those clueless teenagers "I didn't know it could happen to me!" Even if you've been trying unsuccessfully for a long time, be careful!! SD:1/28/13 HW:358 SW:338 CW:297

I had to lay down my rant about my mini emotional breakdown during the pre-op diet. I have been taking my time to get ready for my pre and post op diet, since August. Buying some little things here and there to make sure I was completely stocked up. My surgery is not scheduled until 12/12/2018. I knew I would have to do the diet for 2 weeks before my surgery, so I had plenty of time to get everything together. One of the last things I purchased was my broth. I decided to wait until around Thanksgiving to purchase it, thinking it may be on sale since it is a thanksgiving hot item. A few days before Thanksgiving, I went to my local Wally world (I live within 10 miles of 2 Walmart superstores and a Walmart neighborhood Grocery Store) and picked up 2 boxes of the chicken broth and a bone beef broth. And stored it away I the pantry. Fast forward to 11/24 I was required to begin the pre-op diet until 11/28. I decided to jumpstart my pre-op diet a few days early, just to give myself a few days to work any kinks out. For the first 3 days. I took in protein shakes for all 3 meals per day. But by the 4th day, I wanted something warm for dinner, because I was fighting off a cold. Now by this day, I was definitely feeling the sugar and carb withdrawal. I was tired, cranky and had a little bit of brain fog. I decided that today I would have broth! I was super excited. I took my broths out of the cabinet, got my pot ready on the stove (yes, I was so excited I was going to heat it up on the stove to make me feel as if I was really preparing myself a grand meal). I opened the top, only to find the security seal was broken. I told myself “Okay no problem, I have 2 other boxes.” I proceeded to open the next box only to find the same thing. I looked at the last box and thought, “well this it, I will go back to the store tomorrow and get more.” I opened the 3rd box only to find the seal on it was also broken. I was furious! I collected myself and decided to take all 3 boxes back to the store, the only problem was I no longer had the receipt. Dag Nabit! By now I am thinking “Well just chalk it up and go to the store.” Now by this time, I am getting very hungry and I am ready to have my dinner. I leave my home and head to one of the other Wally Worlds that are close to my home. I go to the store and purchased 2 new boxes of broth. I get home and open the first box…safety seal is broken! I open the second box and the safety seal is broke! WHAT, HOW AND WHO WOULD DO THAT TO BROTH! BROTH! By this time, I have broken down crying. I mean balling! My poor husband hears me in the kitchen and comes in and asks what’s wrong, I just slide to the kitchen floor and through tears explain what happened and that I have nothing to take in for dinner but a shake, and I really wanted something warm on my stomach. I sat there and cried for about 5 minutes while my husband looked in the cabinet to attempt to find something that I would be able to have for dinner. (eventually, he did but after my breakdown.) I wondered if I was making the right decision to have the surgery. Never once did I even think of eating any of the other food that was in the kitchen or pantry. I was purely upset that I had now purchased 5 boxes of broth and they were all tainted. And Now I have to drink a cold shake. Then I thought, you’re not crying about wanting the other foods you’re not supposed to eat during the pre-diet, your crying about the food you can normally have but can’t because of the broken protective seal! Right then and there I knew I was committed, and I was making the right decision and could make it through this. Thanks you for letting me share

I was banded 2-9-11 at Vertua In Marlton!! This is day number two (first full day) living with the band. I went into the hospital at 9am on Wednesday, was prepped, spoke with the anesthesiologist and surgeon, had five nurses try and take my two piercings out of my left ear...even tried to cut them out! but after all that they wound up taping them, Went into surgery at 11:30am and was in the recovery room at 1:00pm. I was put in the xray room and asked to drink a special nasty liquid fast as they took an xray of my stomach. It was painful and I started to throw up but nothing came out. The dry heaving was very painful. The gas they pumped my stomach with to do the surgery apparently travels to open pockets in your body. It is very painful and uncomfortable pressure in my shoulders and upper stomach, They say the only way to make it go away is walking. I also remember waking up at one point right after surgery shivering very bad and they put a heated blank on me, ( i am sorry if this has a lot of typos or doesn't make sense, i have not been able to put my contacts in and i am on a lot of pain meds) I woke up in their stage 3 room around 4:30pm. I was asked to eat some ice chips which i dry heaved immediately because of the anesthesia. again-very painful. The nurse gave me something in my IV for the nausea and after about half an hour i was able to take a few tiny nibbles of sugar free Jello and sip some Water without a problem. I was discharged at 7:30pm and arrived home at 10pm after picking up my prescriptions and my son from my mothers house. Of course i was not driving!! But the car ride home was very uncomfortable and it seemed as tho every road was having construction and bumpy!! I woke up every 3 hours last night and had to use the bathroom,take more pain meds, and sip some water. My throat was and is very sore from the tube they stick down there. So far it is 10:35am and I have had some beef broth, crystal light iced tea with a half a scoop of powders?utm_source=BariatricPal&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_campaign=CommentLink" target="_ad" data-id="1" >unjury Protein, and some water. I feel sleepy, sore, pressure from the gas, and a little light headed. I am so proud of myself for going through with something as big as this. I am very confident that I can use this tool to help shape my life into a healthy and happy one, If I follow the rules I will no longer only be able to shop in two clothing stores! I will no longer be too tired and lazy to chase my son around the park! I will for the first time since i was 7 years old be able to wear a tank top and shorts and feel COMFORTABLE instead of disgusted,. I am looking forward to the journey ahead of me with all of the ups and downs it will bring, food is energy for my body-it does not control me. Cravings and junk food can shove it!! I know how good it feels to be healthy and I cannot wait to feel it again!!! Before starting the process I weighed 258lbs. Lost 19Lbs on my own before surgery and was 239lbs. I will weigh myself in a few days and see where i am!

10 pounds in six weeks! I would be ecstatic! That's 1 and half pounds a week. Keep up the good work

I am now approved and have a date to be added to the losers bench. 01-04-17

I had 3 steroid injections over a few months last summer/fall--one in my S/I joint, one in my facet joints, and one epidural. I know a lot of people find relief with the injections, but they didn't make a difference with my pain. However, I think that my weight (and the fact that most of it it in my gut) has been causing most of my back issues--at over 40 lbs down now, my back is not bothering me nearly as much. The injections themselves are not a big deal. My doc did put me under to do them, but they only take about 10 minutes each. I couldn't drive the rest of that day, and slept most of it anyway. I did end up taking the following day off as well, because often you have increased pain for a few days immediately after the injection.

@@Oregondaisy I have had a lot of experience in this area. I had spondylothesis in my lower lumbar. My disc was almost completely worn away and my L5 had actually fallen creating an unstable lumbar. The nerve was actually trapped caused severe nerve pain. In 2001 I had a lumbar fusion of my l5/S1. Lumbar is a huge surgery and takes a very long time to recover. I was left with nerve damage that ran down my right leg. It almost ended my career because we could not get the pain under control. Many many epidural injections, physical therapy and narcotics and I was still in severe pain but my spine was stable. I wanted a non narcotic solution and finally learned about an internal neuro stimulator. We tested it externally and immediately when we turned it on the pain down my leg improved so significantly I began to cry. Two weeks later I had it installed surgically. That Neurostimulatoe gave me my life back! That was in 2005. I went so many years in severe pain before I found a solution. I have recently had a 3 level spinal fusion in my cervical spine. This too was a huge surgery. Because of the years of recovery needed for lumbar fusion I was terrified to have another fusion and waited until the problem became required due to cord compression. Cervical fusion although painful is definately not as bad as lumbar fusion. Before I had my lumbar fusion a neurosurgeon told me that if I was his wife, mother or daughter he would recommend that I wait until it was absolutely required to survive before having lumbar fusion. One fusion can change everything about how your spine operates causing more damage down the road. He warned me that this is such a long recovery and if you think you know pain now, you definately will after. I really wish I would have listened to him because he was right. I would try every single alternative more than once before moving forward. I wish I had know about the neurostimulator first, it would have made my pain so much more comfortable that I would have been able to live with it without lumbar fusion. I ended up having that lumbar fusion and then a revision before I found a tolerable solution. I have done a ton of research on this subject. I truly believe that my whole spine has been effected by my decision to move forward with lumbar fusion. I now have severe arthritis in my T vertebraes as well as the deterioration of my cervical spine. I still have lower lumbar pain every day but that neurostimulator finally broke through that nerve pain in my leg. Lastly I would say, epidural injections are definately worth it as long as you get results. I used them for 12 years to control my cervical spine pain and when the wear got too bad they stopped working, that is when I knew it was time to think about fusion in my neck. Good luck in whatever you decide to do. Just make sure you manage your expectations. Just because they are doing surgery, does not mean that nerve pain will go away. You may have to find other solutions. I choose not to live on narcotics and have learned there are many more options out there to deal with my pain. I was living on narcotics for over 10 years and honestly they didn't even really help. I know I will live with back pain for the rest of my life, I also know that the more I exercise the better I feel. I no longer let it rule me. I definately did at one point in my life. I will say a prayer that everything works out great for you in whatever you decide. My post is not meant to scare you, but More to make sure you research like crazy before deciding, Best of luck and feel free to reach out directly with questions.

I am only 19 years old and will be turning 20 by the end of this month. I decided to have this surgery about a month and a half ago and I've already completed my pre-surgery checklist. I should be able to schedule my surgery within the next few weeks. I've noticed that when I research the sleeve and success stories, not many of the sleevers are young like me. Is anyone else having this surgery in their early 20's? It would be great to connect with some individuals who made this decision at a young age such as I am!

WOW, I didn't start having those kinds of issues until about a year and 1/2 after my band was placed and then we finally found that my hiatal hernia had ripped out (worse than originally). It took so long mainly because I kept dragging my feet because I was afraid I'd lose my band, but unfilled it might as well have been gone anyway. My husband can count on one hand how many times he's puked since his surgery. My mother and sister don't either. Can't speak for the other people I know because I'm not that close. I assumed when they say they don't have problems they mean it. We've all accidently swallowed something not properly chewed and had some discomfort until it finally settled. There are foods that make my relatives and I uncomfortable like dry meat and white breads, white rice and other sticky things like that. But I was hoping that would continue to be a "problem" with the sleeve because I considered it a great tool to keep me on track eating healthier nutrition packed foods rather than calorie/carbs with little else of value. I only know personally one person (who I forgot in my original count, so I guess that makes 10 now) who went out of state. Ohio many facilities that are reputable and have a lot of experience. The person who went out of state actually went out of the country about 4 years ago. Her port flipped and she's never had a fill because she could barely afford the first trip and has not had the money to go back to have it fixed and it will cost more to do it locally. I don't know who she went to in Mexico, but doctor in Ohio who tried to fill it didn't bad mouth her surgeon. I guess that's something that can happen anywhere, though it's rare. I'm glad I'm sleeved, I don't have anything bad to say about it so far. But I hate to be overly praising it because I just don't feel we have the numbers of patients long term yet to know what the risks will be in a few years. I've seen the very people on another board who two years ago were practically "selling bands." Now because they had issues and they've been sleeved are acting as if ALL bands WILL fail and ALL sleeves will be successful. Heaven forbid if they have issues with their sleeves they will probably be badmouthing sleeves and "selling" whatever salvage surgery they end up with... until that has problems... I just don't think we know enough yet to think any weightloss surgery is THE one. It might be THE one for me, but not someone else. In weighing the pros and cons, I will say that if someone were going a good distance for WLS surgery I would probably recommend the sleeve over the band simply because the follow up is less and it's often difficult to find someone who is willing to take over fills if your surgery wasn't done with them. My surgeon used to, but he has so many patients now he feels it's unfair for his patients to have to wait longer for fills. I learned yesterday that I will have to take B-12 weekly because that is mainly absorbed in the stomach not the intestines. I just don't know if we know enough about what else the removed potion of the stomach does longterm. Time will tell.

I agree. I'd love to find just one band patient that has had their band for 10 years without complications, another surgery, a 2nd band, or the ever popular "band issues". I was able to find 1 band patient on OH that had her band for almost 9 years, she is on her 2nd band, and now is going in for a revision to the sleeve. She just "lived" with the band issues because she thought it was a fair trade off to lose the majority of her weight. For me, it's not about doing well, or losing _____% of my excess weight. It boils down to quality of life. Not being able to eat a good, healthy balanced diet because certain foods would not go down, or the ever lovely puking on the same food I ate the day before without issue. For me, that is not a high and pleasurable quality of life. Not to mention all of the maintenance, in and out for fills and unfills trying to find the sweet spot. The stats on revisions for sleeve patients that have been documented at 5-7 years out is between 3-5% vs. 25% with the band. For me, that speaks volumes. We all know someone or several that have done well with each WLS option. Unfortunately, I know way more people that have complications or "band issues" than I know true success stories. It is a personal choice. You have to weigh all the pros and cons. Look at the big picture, and then proceed. My mom has a band, and is almost 3 years out. She pukes 2-4 times weekly. Lives on mushy, soft solids, can't eat lettuce or bread, and forget chicken. She's had over 20 fills/unfills trying to find the sweet spot, and still at almost 3 years out she has 40 pounds to goal. BUT, per the stats, she's considered a success. I just hope she doesn't screw up her stomach tissue along the way by just "dealing/living" with band issues. On the other hand, my younger brother has a band also and is about 15 months out, he's lost over 100lbs and doesn't have any of the band issues with the exception of eating certain foods. Unfortunately, he hates getting the fills at this point so he's on a forced diet because they can't get the fill right on him either. If I wanted to diet, I wouldn't have gone through WLS to begin with. Think twice, cut once.

I was told 100mcg a day for the b12. I was tired too on the 10th day...I am 22 days out now and i went back to work this week and I still feel better than i did on day 10. I too thought that something was wrong but there wasnt i had blood drawn and all that good stuff. just keep the water bottle to your lips when you are supposed to and sip sip sip. I know its so annoying when we say that but I promise you that you will be able to suck it down much faster very soon.. I can get through 66 oz and more at this point. you just have to focus on it...and if you need a nap take one..it will get better I promise.

I was banded May 13. I went in for the Pre-Op on the day before, and asked to report to the Hospital at 7:30 am. I was not called in untill almost 10:00am. I started my Protein diet 2 weeks before at 240 and on Surgery day I was 223. Nurse started the IV, gave me a shot of anticlog med., put on leg massagers and was taken in for surgery at about 11:00 am. Next thing I remember I was in recovery being to move from bed to a recliner. I was taken for the x-ray and asked to go to the restroom and given a sip of juice. I was given instructions to go home and was discharged at 2 pm. The first 3 days were the hardest in the sence that it was so hard to get in and out of bed and out of chairs. I did not have problems with the shoulder pain, Thank God. But gas was some what uncomfortable. I am still on liquids. I've been having cream soups. I put them in the blinder and use water instead of milk and it does the job. I do get full very quick. I am not able to eat nearly as much as before. I went back to work yesterday and by noon I was tired and very sore. I got home at 3pm took med and slept until this morning. So all seems to be going good. My coworkers say that they are able to see a big difference already. I have not actually weighed myself yet, but I did notice some shirts fitting a little lose. Did anyone have surgery on the same day or close enough that can share their experience with me?? Good luck to all.:laugh:

It's a decision I've been struggling with myself; having to wait a long time to see my dr for the referral is just giving me more time to second guess myself. On my own I'm always able to lose 10-20 lbs but no more than that and end up gaining back more; time to break the cycle! I've been chatting with the surgeon's office and they are confident I met my insurance company's requirements; thought I'm scared of the thought of going through with this I'm more afraid of what might happen if I don't. Can't wait for the day when I no longer need my CPAP and blood pressure meds! No matter what you decide, I wish you well on your journey...

I get my Band on 10/31/06. I have to admit,,, I'm getting nervous. I've got all these people telling me "Shirley don't do it! Youv'e already lost a lot of weight!" Like I don't no this wright??? Anyway they are telling me about how many people they no that have had this done, and they are forever sick. "My guess is By-Pass Surgery" They just don't no the difference. I'm told I wil never eat again. I no I plan too! I no it won't be much, but,, I still plan to eat someday. If some one out there wants to get back to me, and give me some pointers or tips. I would really appreciate it. Because I have all ready bought my Protien Drinks, I've watched a tape on the Procedure, I'm going for my Pre-Op visit Wednesday,Whew, I'm trying to get all my ducks in a row as they say. But,,, somehow my head is getting spun around So please get back. I'm in Michigan, my highest weight was 356, now 239 that's on 1200 calorie diet it works!!! My Surgeon is Jeffrey Genaw. Out of Henry Ford Hospital.