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My bariatric program has me scheduled for my nutrition class the first week of January so I’ll be prepared and they already gave me a big binder that goes through each and every phase of the eating but I am wondering what people are doing so get their fridges ready , cupboards ready that type of thing What kind of items they’re purchasing what kind of tips they have. Four instance… I’m going to make some bone broth and put it in ice cube tray’s and then put them in Ziploc bags and store them in the freezer and then take out a couple at a time to eat postop.

Before surgery I tried to get prepared by buying some foods such as baby food and chicken broth. I landed up not using it and it went to waste. This was because of two reasons. My taste buds changed significantly after surgery and I could not tolerate those foods. And secondarily, after surgery the amount of food I was eating was incredibly small. During the first 8 weeks, my meal volume was 2 ounces (4 tablespoons) per meal. Take out a 1/4 cup measuring cup and look at how small that is. That is the meal volume. Prior to surgery I was constantly hungry. Even when I was eating a meal, all I could think about was what I would eat for my next meal. After surgery (when I reached the solid food stage), I completely lost my hunger. So it was not difficult to lose the weight when I was not hungry. The three most important elements after RNY gastric bypass surgery are to meet your daily protein, fluid and vitamin requirements. Food is secondary because your body is converting your stored fat into the energy that drives your body. Thus you lose weight. Weight loss is achieved after surgery through meal volume control. You begin at 2 ounces (1/4 cup) per meal and gradually over the next year and a half increase the volume to 1 cup per meal. With this minuscule amount of food, it is next to impossible to meet your protein daily requirements by food alone, so therefore you need to rely on supplements such as protein shakes. So it might be unwise to be too prepared. The key is to experiment after surgery. Since your taste buds may change, experiment with the various formulations of protein shakes. You do not have to like protein shakes but you must be able to tolerate them until your meal volume rises to the point that you can met your protein requirements by food alone. Sometimes you can buy a variety pack of protein mixes at GNC. Also be willing to experiment after surgery to find fluids that you can tolerate. When I was in the hospital right after surgery, I couldn't even drink the water because it tasted overly chlorinated like swimming pool water.

good luck from me to. when i had my op done they couldnt belive how small my liver was lol. told them id stuck to diet.also had been cutting down since nov last year. they said was only intrested in the 2 week pr-op diet. but i still proved then wrong lol had my op on 30-5-08 and feel good didnt think i would. as im a whimp lol good luck again:thumbup: Annx

I had the lap band on March 15th 2017. I started off weighting 205. Today i weight 185 a total weight loss of 20 pounds in 4 months. Is this normal shouldn't it be more? I have a 10 cc band and currently have 6.5 cc in it. I been working out 4 to 5 times a week and feel like I'm not losing anything for all the hard work I'm doing... Also i have PCOS and i thought this would help it but no luck yet... I'm thinking i should have got the sleeve... Any thoughts or words of encouragement. Or how's the weight loss for everyone else going at 4 months in?? Please help... Sent from my SM-G935P using BariatricPal mobile app

You should be fine by that point. It's taking me a little longer I think because I had gallbladder surgery just a week before my band surgery. I'm not on pain meds anymore (day 5 post op now) but, getting up and out of bed and off the couch is still a little hard for me. I'm ok once I'm up. Everbody's different and has their own circumstances. Good luck!

I wish I could be one of those people posting that I went to work a few days later! But my abdomen was really sore and I was groggy for quite a while. The gas pains left after four days. I was thankful for a full week of rest and only really felt back to myself about 6 days after surgery. Goodluck I wish you a speedy recovery!

My insurance required a 6 months medically supervised diet BUT only the last three had to be in the office. I had to show a steady loss to prove my commitment to lifestyle change. I was specifically told that a gain could cause issues. I was approved and had lost aproximately 5% over the three months. I am scheduled for Monday. Every single insurance is different though. Good luck!

I'm 5 weeks post op, my Dortor will not fill before 6 weeks. I'm on solids but am starving hungry. They say to eat a cup full or so of food per meal, are they insane! I can more or less eat a regular meal, not as much as I could before granted but I can eat! Is this normal to be able to eat so much. I lost a ton of weight pre and post op and guess what it's all starting to come back on.

eniluap2 - you have lost 24lbs in less than two weeks!!! what are you doing? and how are you doing it!!

Hi! I'm also scheduled on 10/14. I go in tomorrow for my last pre-op weigh in. I have also been fighting a cold for over a week (have managed not to get it so far but the symptoms are hanging on the edge) - it's driving me nuts!!! Good luck to you! Karen

In 1990 I weighed about 320 pounds and was very active at that weight. I went bowling, swimming, played mini golf, pool, belly and ballroom danced. Each weekend I was doing something with the South Florida group called NAAFA. I met a man in that group who years later became my husband. But I am getting ahead of myself. Let's go back to 1990 as it was that Thanksgiving holiday I got hurt. I had attended a chili cook off/band competition with Sharon (a NAAFA friend) and I was physically hurt. A complete stranger who was drunk was running as fast as he could (why I do not know) and he tripped over one of the tent stakes and I was the unfortunate one that was in front of him. With both hands he used my back to stop him from falling and kept right on running. I had just stopped a minute before this happened to move the folding chair I was carrying with my right hand and at my side to the front of me. So I was standing still when he did this and the upper half of my body bent right over that folding chair. It knocked the wind out of me and my friend and those around me got the chair opened and sat me down. Asking was I ok. I said yes as I thought I was. We still had to continue through the park to get to my friends car and about 15 minutes into the drive. I told Sharon I felt a great deal of pain in my back. She immediately called her chiropractor and he said to get me immediately to his office. Upon getting there before any x-rays or other tests he asked me to put my back up against the wall and told me you have Lordosis also known as swayback. (I later found out it is a condition in which the spine in the lower back has an excessive curvature. The spine naturally curves at the neck , upper back and lower back to help absorb shock and support the weight of the head. Lordosis occurs when the natural arch in the lower back, or lumbar region, curves more than normal. This can lead to excess pressure on the spine causing pain. People with Lordosis often have a visible arch in their lower backs. When looking at them from the side their lower backs form a defined "C" shape.) Once the Dr did some testing he discovered I had 2 herniated and 1 bulging disc. He set me up with months of chiropractic treatments and over the next 4 years I also had prolotheraphy, epidural injections and other treatments I can't even remember the names of, none of which helped. From 1990 I progress from walking without any problems to walking with one cane, then 2 canes, then a walker with a seat. In 1994 my insurance paid for an electric mobility 3 wheel scooter. During these 4 year more and more depression set in because I was losing all the things I use to love to do because of the pain associated with the conditions I had. In 1995 weighing 420 pounds I did marry my boyfriend, despite being in the scooter. He didn't care as he loved this obese physically handicapped woman, or at least I thought he did. By 1998 I weighed in at 497 pounds, had to use a tow rope attached to my window frame to get me out of bed and into a rolling chair my husband made for me. That was when I told him I had to get my life back and had to lose some weight. I wrote him a 3 page letter as to how he could help me and he flatly refused to do any of the things I asked of him. I tried to lose weight that year but with him bringing in all the foods I loved and me not having the will power to say no I only lost 20 pounds. Over the course of the next 7 years with Weight Watchers and various other diets I tried each New Year I did manage to lose 95 pounds. Oh yea I divorced that man in 2005. In that same year in October I lost my brother Oct 1st and my mother October 29th. In November I was hospitalized with Lymphedema and was out of work for about a month. I was weighed in a hospital bed and it registered 402 pounds. In December I lost my job of 18 years. I am surpised I didn't wind up in the mental ward with all that happened in 2005. The New Year 2006 was approaching, I had gotten a nice severance pay from my lost job, so I decide to started NS at 402 In about a year I got to 308 and ran out of the severance pay money and was trying to get disability. I did get the disability but Medicare wouldn't kick in until 2008. I was told I could still do some work if able to and get the disability. I did manage to find a new job (12 hours a week) but it paid half of what I had been earning. Even with the disability pay and the work pay I still couldn't afford to continue with NS. By 2008 I was back up to 344. The Medicare advantage plan started and I looked into the lap band. I had to have a Dr that was associated with a Medical Center of Excellence which meant a 1 1/2 hour trip one way down south. Turns out the Medicare advantage plan was willing to pay for the surgery but not the fills, so I didn't get the surgery. There was no way I was able to pay for fills. I had been on this site and others and read it takes many tries before you find what people were calling the sweet spot. In 2009, I was back at my old job of 18 years as the agency reopened and wanted me back. I told them my condition had gotten worse since 2005 and I could only work 2 days per week and they were fine with that arrangement. Once again I tried to lose weigh and lost maybe 20 pounds and each year gained them back By June 2014, I gained back up to 390 pounds. I was not going over the 400 mark again. So at 58 years of age I went back to what worked before and that was Nutrisystem. But the program had changed and was not working as well as it had before. Within one year I only lost 38 pounds and felt that it should have been a lot more. In June 2015 at 352 pounds once again I decided to try for WLS with this new medical insurance I had gotten this year. That leads me to where I am now and the next entry will start this journey to WLS as I have to follow a 6 month supervised diet. So surgery will probably not be until 2016, if the insurance approves it. I am writing about this over a decade journey in hopes of providing some inspiration to at least 1 person who feels he or she can't do it because they have a BMI of over 50. When I started this long journey in 1999 my BMI was over 80.2 Now it is 56.8 and I am striving to have a normal BMI of 24 which puts my weight at 152 so I need to lose another 200 pounds. I hope you will join me in this journey to lose weight so I can walk again for more than 3 to 4 minutes. I am tired of this cocoon I am in and am ready to turn into the BUTTERFLY I know is deep inside me. If you are reading this blog, please leave me some comments as I am on this journey alone. This group and a few other WLS groups on the internet know about my decision to lose weight. All my friends are obese and always state they would never have WLS so I can't share this journey with them. Thank you all for reading this. Have a Happy Healthy Day!!

Thanks, BG -- I know you've lost a bunch, too! I guess I'll repost this next week for a true update. I'm leaving to Mexico tomorrow for a week's vacation. And I put off having my fill until I get back to make darn sure I don't experience problems down there. So I'm pretty wide open at the moment - ack! : ) Actually, I'm not worried about weight gain. I'm going to go have a ball, not have a care in the world, and just chill on the beach. If there's a small weight gain, I'll just deal with it when I get back and get my next fill. : ) Happy Halloween, everybody - see ya' in a week!

I have been so discouraged lately. I have had, I believe, 6 fills. I couldnt help but think this was a mistake. I was gaining weight. Well baby, something worked with the last fill I had 2 weeks ago!!! I have lost 8 lbs in the past 2 weeks!!!!! I marvel at the facts 1)I dont have to count points 2)I dont have to measure food 3)I dont have off limit foods except for slider foods 4)I dont feel deprived!!!!!!! All I have to do is eat my Protein first, veggies second and if i still have room the carbs. Easy!!!! I am not hungry between meals!! this is so brilliant!!!!! Can you tell I am a happy campers?

Wow, I was beginning to think my scale just froze and died. It didn't budge for sooooo long! But I hesitantly stepped on the scale this morning and SURPRISE! My weight was down 3 1/2 pounds! :biggrin2: Okay, so maybe I've been a little hard on it. I won't throw it through the window-this time. And the other good thing this week is I'm absolutely learning how to eat normally, and I'm loving it! Every day gets better and better :cursing:

Your pre op diet isn’t about weightloss not the 2 week pre op diet before surgery its to shrink your liver it’s a completely different thing to a loosing weight diet to reach goal to get the green light for surgery and its different to the post op loosing weight diet. This one for 2 weeks is just for shrinking the liver don’t jump on the scales and keep checking yourself out its not for weight you will just go crazy trying to make the scale move when its not for that.

I got approved right away, it took about a week after the paperwork was sent in. Everything has actually moved very fast for me, I hope the same thing happens for you.

Just had this crazy thought while on the Elliptical...if you could chose where that 1pound of fat would come off this week, where would it be??? I know it's silly but when I saw this picture of 1lb of fat, it's what came to mind. Lol. And PS mine would be off my belly !!

I'm not saying I'm going to eat bread or have pop I just wanted to know if they go down before you have a fill. I was 3 weeks on optifast etc. and haven't done anything that isn't healthy, I was just wondering if I can have 1 piece of bread befor I have a fill and never again.

Hi, I've made the first big step and decided that I'd like to pursue Lap Band surgery. Now it's the seemingly more daunting step of choosing the right practice. Fortunately/Unfortunately I live in the NYC area - so there are plenty of places to choose from - it's becoming so overwhelming. Everyone I talk to who has had it done or knows someone who has had it done has a different reco. Since this is my first surgery ever - I want to be sure that I make an informed decision. So far I've narrowed down to the NYU, Lenox Hill and Columbia programs. Any feedback on the three (good and bad) would be great. Also - where can I go, beyond the website and a site like this, to research the doctors/practice (mortality rates, number of surgeries done, complaints, praises, etc)? Much obliged!

Hi everyone, I am Louellyn (Lou for short) from Kalgoorlie and I am a long time lurker but as of today am joining the ranks of the to-be-banded :-) I am on day 1 of the two week optisfast and have my operation booked in with Dr Watson on 1 April! I have been following the threads in here as I did enough research to convince myself that the band is the way to go. According to Dr Watson I have 81kg to lose to be the perfect weight for my height, but I doubt that I actually have the build to get to that figure - and it is impossible to imagine 65-68kg when you are 148kg! (gulp putting that in print). 99kg is my aim - oh to be double digits! You all seem so supportive of one another and I am looking forward to becoming an active member of the board! Now..hurry up 2 weeks so Optifast can end lol Lou :-)

Hi Lou I'm also a WA country girl to be banded on 17 April by Dr Cohen at Mercy Bariatrics. I don't see his name on this site. Any reason why? I'm doing two weeks Optifast pre-op so running out of days right now. Pretty nervous though but I've learnt so much since discovering this site. I agree its great to see the way everyone is so supportive. Well done! SusieP

I've heard a couple of people who said they went for their first fill but because they were losing faster than 2 pounds a week, their first fill was postponed. But 90 days? That's a new one on me.