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Don't decrease calories, if anything eat maybe 10-15% more for a short period time. Take a look at what you are eating. Watch the carbs, try eating some more complex type carbs it you can. Still get your liquids in

Hi All! So, I have stalled for the past 10 days. I take in anywhere from 400-500 calories per day (50-65 g protein), currently have a boot on my foot and am limited with workouts but even with boot walk 4000-5000 steps. Fluids--minimum 50 oz, maximum 70 oz. Cardio was good lat week but not this week. Thinking this may be my issue but also am trying to be more consistent with fluids closer to 70 oz. Should I increase the cardio? fluids? both? decrease calories? If so, how do you not get lightheaded? Just feeling a little stuck. Happy with my 70 lbs down (42 since surgery 12/12) just wanted to hit 100 lbs by Easter. Must get this ball rolling again. What have you all done? Thanks!

I have Humana and it sucks. They only cover a max of $5,000 so I would have to come up with the other $10-15-20,000!!!!! AND they require all the preliminaries of 6 months of everything...dieting, counseling, etc. I've got that pretty well covered as I've tried EVERYTHING to lose weight. My primary doc says lapband is the answer for me...I'm diabetic, BMI of 48, sleep apnea (though not actually tested/diagnosed), swelling of legs and feet, and finally, chronic lower back pain that I'm getting epidural shots for (UGH!) etc., etc. It's so not fair and I'm so discouraged.

I feel your pain! I was banded 9/24 and started getting very hungry about a week out. Didn't help that my husband and everyone around me was eating pizza and burgers and all of the things I can't have. I saw my Dr. on 10/6 which was like 12 days postop, and they moved me on to mushies. I think as long as you can handle it, then its fine. Every surgeon has their preference, I've even heard of people going to mushies on the 3rd day. Since I've been on mushies/soft foods, I feel great!

I am so-o-o sorry you're feeling such pain. I was just banded yesterday (8-20-10) which also included hernia repair and I can honestly tell you that I'm feeling fine, aside from the soreness around my incision areas. I didn't know what to expect because of having both and I'm convinced that I had the best doctor in the world to perform this surgery, Dr. Titus Duncan (Metro Atlanta). During Pre-op he provided prescriptions for liquid pain killer and nausea to keep regurgitation at a minimum. Make sure you're sleeping on your back. Perhaps you need to give your body a little more time to heal. I wish you well and will be praying for you !!!

I'm on my feet 10 hour shifts too and went back 7 days post op with no problems. Although due to my schedule I only worked a day then had 2 more days off. But I would have been fine, I feel I could've gone back sooner and my job involves bending and lifting dogs. I limited the dogs to 25 lb til like 3 weeks post op then I gave no restriction

Hmm. Seems like a lot at 4 months.. esp if you are eating the bun.. I will tell you that I can eat a lot more SLIDER foods (buns, fries) now at 10 months post-surgery than I could at 4 months. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy things like this also, but I really, really try to limit those times. Maybe once in awhile.. once a month? So I'm not trying to shame you, or anything, but to me, that is alarming at only 4 months out. Try to push those Proteins and veggies. A slider with no bun, and steamed veggies, or salad would be much more "smart". The bad choices will get easier and easier and happen more frequently.

Went to my first nutrition class on July 19. The dietitian made a suggestion since your not able to drink before during or after a meal, take some frozen grapes to suck on for moisture. Is there anymore ideas?

I lost 10 lbs my first week. My second week is almost over and I've lost nothing. What the heck? I'm a band to sleeve revision and unfortunately comparing to the band where I lost 9 my first week and 4 my second. I'm so confused as I'm only having my protein shake and purees

It's almost time 2/10/14 good luck praying for everyone! I can't sleep and I'm start bright and early 5am excited!

I was on a 10 day diet. Clear liquids, although I could have milk with my protein shakes, broth, SF Popsicles and SF jello. I had to have 4 shakes a day. I was also allowed 1/2 cup of non starchy veggies per day. Today is my last day-yay!! I am 10 lbs down. Good luck!

Hi everyone! I'm 4 months post op (RNY) and I'm a little concerned regarding my weight loss journey in the upcoming months. The loss has started to slow down while I'm still very overweight and I'm worried about how to maintain a "normal" metabolism to be successful in long term maintenance. Would love to get your feedback as my nutritionist has not been very helpful in this sense. Some stats and specific concerns (sorry for the long post but I want to be thorough): Age: 28 yo female Height: 5'3 Starting weight: 297 lbs. Starting BMI: 52 Surgery weight (Dec '19): 259 lbs Current weight (4 months out): 191lbs. Current BMI: 34. Food: My daily average intake is of about 500 calories (450-650 range) and I get about 60 grams of protein (eat mostly protein and still use protein supplements). I follow my plan which is based on portion size and not weight or calories, but I weigh and track my intake because "eyeballing" doesn't really work for me. While I'm good in that range of food intake in terms of hunger, I could definitely eat more if "needed". I've been able to stick to my plan during coronavirus lockdown no problem. Exercise: Desk job. I do very light weight training about 3-4x a week and short walks on the treadmill 2x a week. I used to swim more often but now that's not a possibility. Other: I'm trying to up my water intake but it's about 40 - 65 oz a day. I take all my vitamins and supplements. I don't have diabetes or any hormonal issues that I'm aware of. While I have been consistently losing weight (60 pounds in 4 months), I'm starting to notice a slow down and have hit a couple stalls (one lasting 3 weeks). I want to make sure that I keep a good rate so naturally I thought about increasing exercise and maintaining my current diet (reducing is not a possibility) but I'm also concerned that: If I start exercising a lot now to try to speed it up, then as time progresses and I hit more stalls, they will be very hard to break as the exercise would have to be incremental and there is only so much time/energy/will power that I have. So do you recommend adding more exercise at this stage to maximize loss in the first months or should I "wait" until I need the extra kick? Same thing with food, by eating 500 calories a day, am I sabotaging future weight loss? It will be impossible for me to cut down on calories if I hit a stall. I'm also worried that as soon as I start increasing the calorie count I will gain a lot of it back or completely stop my weight loss. I know that 500 kcal a day is not sustainable in the long run. I have read so many threads trying to find an answer but there doesn't seem to be a right one. My nutritionist just tells me to "stick to portion size and allowed meals" and not look at calories when I ask these questions. My surgical team has told me to just follow her instructions and keep the focus on weight training. Any personal experiences, words of advise, etc would be highly appreciated. I'm starting to obsess over these concerns of balancing maximizing weight loss in the first months (which I understand are were biggest loss is achieved) and mid/long term success. I know comparing journeys is not ideal (it has definitely been a source of frustration as I see people with lower BMIs losing faster than me) Thanks!

I was sleeved Monday and today is Friday morning. I'm down 10 lbs from surgery and 50 since the 4th of July! Also, when I went to slowly roll out of bed just now the sharp pain never came! Its only a bit tender. Today's gonna be a good day! Now I just need to work on this dehydrated/malnourished feeling. Yesterday I got 55oz of liquid and 30g of protein but I still feel slightly dehydrated.

I got banded in 12/07, and long story short, I did great for the first 6 months - quickly dropping 60 lbs. from a combination of following the rules to the letter, eating right, and working out 5 days a week. I plateaued around the 6 months mark when my working out became inconsistent, and I didn't push myself because I felt very comfortable at the weight I was at that point. Over the next couple of years, those 60 lbs. stayed off. A whole lot of other stuff happened in my life in the following years including getting married in 2010 and having kids. Before kids, though, as newlyweds, I got pregnant and the result was a partial molar pregnancy - basically, I drew the statistical nightmare short straw that day. I ended up getting referred to a gynecological oncologist with a diagnosis of gestational trophoblastic disease, also called choriocarcinoma, a rare but highly treatable form of cancer. Over the course of months, I had countless testing done, lots of lab work, and 7 rounds of methotrexate shots. It wasn't until 7 months after first finding out I was pregnant, that my HCG (pregnancy hormone) finally hit negative, indicating that the cancerous tissue in my uterus was eliminated - and right before starting a much stronger chemo drug, thankfully. So, during those 7 months, I kind of lost myself. I gained 30 lbs., and I joke that it's because I spent those 7 months stuffing my face to avoid having to speak at countless parties, BBQs, get-togethers, and events where we were bombarded by pregnancy announcement after pregnancy announcement by friends.. but honestly, I was depressed and grieving, and isolating myself from most of my friends because I was internalizing all of what I was dealing with. Even now, only about 4 people outside of our parents knew about what we were dealing with. A year after my HCG hit negative, I got pregnant, resulting in an easy pregnancy, an awesome labor, and a healthy baby boy. I gained 20 lbs. with that pregnancy, and by the time I was 5 months post-partum, I had taken off 28 lbs., so I was feeling confident about getting back on track with the band. Then, surprise! As my son hit 6 months old, I found out I was pregnant with baby #2. During that pregnancy, I gained back all of the weight I had lost, plus some, putting me about 10 lbs. below my consultation weight when I first got my band. After my daughter was born, right before I went back to work, I visited the bariatric surgeon's office and had all of the remaining Fluid in my band taken out - maybe 8ccs, or something? I can't remember - because I was getting stuck all the time, and I felt confident that I could eat clean, work out regularly, and take the weight back off. He made an off-the-cuff comment about, "Most people think that, and they're wrong. Only 20% succeed." I thought, I'll be that 20 percent. Buuuuuuuut I'm not. I joined an awesome gym almost a year ago where I've developed a love for weight lifting and kickboxing, and I'm surrounded by other regulars who love to do OCR events, and eventually, I'd like to try a Spartan trifecta. But in the past year, I've been trying different things to see the scale reflect a lower number - low-carb, carb-cycling, cutting out processed foods and sugar, tracking/weighing everything religiously - and I am still lingering very close to my pre-op start weight. I can see my body composition changing in certain ways thanks to weight lifting.. my shoulders and upper arms are slowly becoming more defined, my quads and lower half is different, too; but my mid-section stays the same, even in terms of inches. And that pendulum of weight holds me back from box jumps, from completing Olympic lifts, from attempting OCRs (I can't imagine pulling my own body weight over a 12 ft. wall.. at least not right now), etc.; and enough is enough. So, I called up the bariatric surgeon's office and made an appointment to come in and talk with someone about getting back on board with the band. I haven't seen them since 2014, and since then, their practice has split and restructured. I'm hoping I can get in sooner through a cancellation (otherwise, mid-August it is..), but in the meantime, I'm going to be revisiting the binder of information from my surgeon from when I had my surgery almost 10 years ago, and trying to reconnect on here. Anyone else going through something similar? I feel like a total newbie all over again! Thanks for letting me reintroduce myself!

I have the same question. My mom had RNY about 24 years ago and had a lot of medical issues related to it, which really worries me. I originally wanted the lap band (10+ years ago) but after a lot of research this past year I feel confident about VSG I'm just worried about the reflux. Right now I take Zantac when I have an issue but I'm worried about it getting worse after surgery. I would love to read everyone's input on this [emoji177]

Hey All! I'm a newbie here, but I've finally decided to start the process and get information about VSG. I feel mentally ready for it and that it's time, as I've been going round and round with the decision for years. I go back to my new PCP on 3/10 of this month to discuss it more and get bloodwork. I gave her a head's up at my initial consult that this was something I wanted, and she said let's see if you are a candidate at your next appointment. I already made my appointment with the weight loss center for the information center on 3/25. They advised they do not need a referral from my PCP, but to have my most recent labs sent over. When I called the weight loss center, I was advised that after the information session, you will be contacted within a week for the actual consult with the surgeon. I've been doing a ton of research so far, and I see a lot of folks have a 6-12 month supervised diet mandate with the insurance. After contacting my insurance company, they sent me the policy and advised that they have lifted their 6 month restriction. My policy states the following is needed for approval. BMI 40 and over or BMI of 35-39 with co-morbidity. Individuals should have documented to respond to conservative measures for weight reduction prior to the consideration of bariatric surgery and these attempts should be reviewed by the practitioner prior to seeking approval for the surgical procedure. HOWEVER, following that statement, it says "As a Result, some centers require active participation in a formal weight reduction program that includes frequent documentation of weight, dietary regimen, and exercise. However there is a lack of evidence on the optimal timing, intensity and duration of non-surgical attempts at weight loss, and whether a medical weight loss program immediately preceding surgery improves outcomes." HELP- what does this mean? Psych consult I'm pretty clear on the other first and last requirement, but the 2nd one has me spinning my wheels slightly. When I called my insurance to ask for clarification, I was advised that a letter of support from my PCP would likely suffice. My only hesitancy is that I just started with a new PCP, and I'm wondering if she will approve me off my BMI alone, or want to try conservative measures first since I am new patient there. If she doesn't provide letter of support, will the nutrition classes that the surgeon will inevitable require satisfy the letter requirement, can he be the one that writes it or does this text indicate that it needs to come from my PCP? I plan on calling the center during their business hours to ask if they've encountered this insurance wise tomorrow, as they were closed today. Any one run into this issue with their insurance policy? Any insight or perspective offered would be awesome.

Ok, now that the weight is coming off and I am working hard at being successful, I need a quality scale to rely on. My current one fluctuates so much, sometimes by 10 pounds in a few minutes that I am frustrated. Willing to invest in a good, accurate one. Any suggestions?

@naturegirl I hope you are doing well. I cant believe by this time tomorrow this first step will be over. My wife and I made it to Chapel Hill okay, got checked into the hotel and went out to eat. I had some broiled fish, steamed veggies and mashed potatoes. I resisted the urge to have the monster dessert. I am kind of proud of that, Desserts are my big weakness. I have to be at the hospital at 830 and my surgery is scheduled for 1030. I feel nervous, just because I spent too much time thinking about what could go wrong. I only slept about 3 hours last night, partly from being nervous, partly from wanting this to be over. All of the other operations I have had over the last 2 years were emergency ones, so I never had a chance to consider all of the possibilities. This seems more difficult for me, but my wife said she prefers this way over my other operations. My normal hospital stay has been 10 days, so I think the 2 day stay with this will hopefully go very quickly. My pastor is coming to be with my wife during the operation, he plans to get here before my surgery so we can have prayer together. He is pretty awesome, driving 3 hours 1 way to sit with a member of his church. He told me that is what he is supposed to do, but it still means a lot to me. My family lives out of state and I am comforted to know someone is with her. As soon as I am able to I will post an update...thanks for all of the support. Tomorrow is the first day of the rest of my life, with the new me.... Jesse

You made a great choice not getting the lap band. I had it for 19 months which was a complete nightmare. I had revision surgery on April 25 and had bypass done. A 3+ hour surgery took 6+ hours because of all the scar tissue that had to be removed due to the lap band. I ended with 1/3 of my stomach cut out and the bypass.

I right in the same boat, not quite out 3 weeks, started stalling and then gaining 10 days out. Have no reason to gain.

It sounds like your body is holding on to the water. The B12 is suppose to help with that I think. Usually I get the b-12 shot from my doctor, it really helps more than the tablets. The shot makes me go every 5-10 minutes lol.

I have had two hernia repairs- one emergency operation at 7 months post RNY. The second one was four weeks ago and part of an abdominal wall reconstruction. I had 2 c-sections (29 and 25 years ago), emergency gall bladder removal (28 years ago and a 10 inch scar), two laparoscopic abdominal procedures 15 and 10 years ago and RNY 23 months ago. All the surgery and pregnancies (3) caused weakness in my abdominal wall. My guess is that so many of us who have been obese for so long (30 years for me) have had experiences that make us more hernia prone. Also, any surgery in our abdomen and pregnancies can increase hernia risk. That said, ask your doctor to help you figure out your risk.

OK! I've posted my funny story, and life goes on, or so I thought. I started out not knowing when to stop eating, now I don't know when to start. First day home (today), I had 2 jellos, 10 0z gatorade, 2 cups of broth, a glass of water, 1 cup tea. This is not nearly enough nutrition to keep any living thing going. I did also take my chewable multivitamin. I just am not hungry, and don't want to find out what PB feels like. However, I have been getting what I describe as "spasms" that make me catch my breath, and my throat feels like there's a frog in it. Burping seems to help. What gives? y'all.

@ Cheri Awesome advise! I am totally in my 3 week stall! The evil scale hasn't moved in 10 days-- only flucuated(sp) one or two pounds! I try so hard to get in my water and protein! I never feel hungry but it takes forever to get anything dowm! I know this is going to work, I would just like it to work at little faster! I haven't felt like working out and I realized that if I get on that elliptical I would probablly get the scale moving!

My dr instructed me to take whatever pills I hafta take as soon as I was able. I cut back on my pills the first few weeks (also PPI in capsule form, but I just take the whole capsule) but had to resume taking my Gabapentin ( a HUGE horse pill) after 3 weeks cuz my back was KILLING me. Now, I take whatever pills I needs to take (Chewable vit, b12, Calcium, 2 different pain pills, pill for my thyroid, PPI, and birth control. Oh and my nightly sleeping pill). I've had absolutely no problems taking pills. I used to pop about 8-10 of them at once, but I've vut that back to 2. Then 5 minutes later, another 2 And so on