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I only lost 9 lbs. my first week but I still felt like Holy Crap!!! Because... I am no longer a Diabetic, nor do I have high cholesterol and they want me to discontinue my Blood Pressure meds. Due to it being too low!!! That is amazing to me!!! All in one week!!

I went to a support group and the nutritionist told us that now that we weigh less, we need to increase our exercise. For example, we used to be able to burn 100 calories in 10 min of walking or elliptical. Well now, its only 75 calories because we weigh less. Stay the coarse on healthy eating, but up your intensity on your exercise. Also, this "stall" is common. Although we are not dropping rapid weight, over the coarse of a month, we drop the same. The scale might not move for 2-3 weeks, but then all of a sudden you lose 3-5 lbs. I had my surgery May 28, 2013. First 5 months, 10 lbs a month easy. Now its more like 5-8 lbs. Remember, you still want to lose it slowly. That is the overall most healthy!

Can someone help me with this. I lost 49 pounds in 2 months and for the last 2 weeks I have lost nothing. I don't eat anymore than I have in the 1st 2 months. It is about 500 to 600 calories a day. Please tell me what I can do to jump start the weight loss again.

I'm only just over 3 months post-op but already with 80;bs of loss, can notice a lot of skin. So far the only skin really bothering me is the half skin/fat of my double chin that is still lurking. Otherwise at this point, I am actually excited for the excess skin- because it's not fat. This might sound silly- but right now, it's soft and squishy and is fun to touch. However having said that, depending on insurance coverage when I am ready and have lost most of my weight I might consider my arms (THEY ARE MASSIVE) and POSSIBLY my stomach (but that depends on how bad it is) and I would LOVE a boob job. The one part of my body I used to love (my big ample breasts) are now just saggy gross things that don't even look good in a bra. lol I am single, in my 30's and am done having kids- so this also plays a factor in my decision to move ahead with plastics.

at that point I was only cleared for walking. right now you should just be focused on recovering from surgery. the weight loss will come and stalls are normal.

I am a band over bypass patient. Had surgery 2/15/10. Yesterday 3/18/10 I went to get my first fill. Stood in front of the fluorscopy machine, drank some barium (nasty stuff) watched it run down to my stomach. She sprayed my stomach with freezing spray. stuck that gigantic needle in which thankfully I did not feel a thing. She filled up my band. Then released it all back out. Then she said why isn't it going down any faster than that. I was like huh? LOL She told me to take a deep breathe that did not help. I could see the barium drink in my esophugus and it was releasing into my pouch but very very slowly. So she was saying I had some good restriction and decided not to give me a fill. She said since I am a band over bypass patient there may still be some swelling in there which is casuing the restriction still. Now I have to go back in 2 weeks to try again. I sure the heck hope that nothing is wrong. The Dr. was quite surprised while she had me standing in there going thru this, so when they are surprised that makes me worried..anyone else go thru this type of ordeal ? Robin in Cincinnati, OH banded 2/15/10

Hi folks I was banded on 11/18. My progress has been steady (slow, but steady) and my goal is 1-2 pounds a week. At that rate I can reach my goal by the end of 2011. I've only had 1 fill and don't anticipate getting another until the first week of Feb. I have found that a large part of feeling "full" is truly eyeing your portions and knowing when to stop eating, even if you don't feel full. Then, I wait for about 5-7 minutes and I begin to feel full, even though I don't "think" I will be full based on what I ate. After 10-15 minutes, I'm definitely full. That's all a part of learning to eat slowly, which I am still working on. I rarely feel "restriction" and I've never had to throw up. Mostly because I am so afraid of that happening that I stop eating before I reach the point of being stuffed. The only times I've felt weird and uncomfortable was when I ate too much raw broccoli too fast. That hurt like hades. Folks - we all know this is hard work. It was hard work to walk in the door and say that we were ready for the surgery. It was hard work to have the surgery and survive the recovery. And the hard work will not end there. It continues, and is especially hard in the first several months after surgery - thats when we are "learning" to live with the band. We have to STOP eating the way we did before. We have to eat differently, otherwise the band will not work. We have to exercise! Exercise is not an option when you're trying to lose weight and be healthy. It is a requirement. I do not like it, I never have. But 3x a week I get up at 6 in the morning and I just do it. Because I don't want all the hard work I've put in so far to go to waste. I can't afford it, mentally, emotionally or financially (I don't know about you, but this band has cost me a little change and I had insurance!). YOU CAN DO IT!! Focus on yourself! Imagine all the great clothes you will wear when you get the weight off!

I'm gonna tell my doctor that my fills are lasting about 3 weeks tops..i'd like to go 4 weeks without that hungry feeling...

After fighting the battle of the bulge, I'm now on my way to a leaner outlook. The surgeon has been picked. The date aquired. The pass card in hand.I've been like a bull in a china shop charging forward. To my family ( husband and 6 kids ages from 23-3) I am all confidence. In my heart I wonder if I could be one of the 4% who won't be raising their children. Still, with this selfish fear I plow ahead hoping I will be the mom in 2025, at my youngest twins high school graduation, perhaps, in a pretty floral dress.

Hello! I am new to the site as well as the banded life:) I wasnt sure how to introduce myself till i fell on this forum, so decided to share a bit in hopes I might connect with someone else throughout this journey. I have been banded 13 days ago to be exact and thank god I feel great now. Went through an atrocious week of shoulder pain, discomfort , gas, incision pain and swallowing my meds but as I said I feel great now. I almost feel normal apart from the incision where the "remote" for the band was inserted. First week I weighed myself I had lost 6 kilos( including 3 day pre op diet which consisted of tea and ricotta cheese). Last week I havent lost a single kilo which got me dissapointed and was wondering if thats normal? anyone have tips on how to accelerate weight loss? I am also finding myself eating the same soup every night which is getting dull so if anyone can share their food diary it would be amazing! Im sorry im such a novice at this all if I could be directed towards a way to start a blog on here? thank you all and nice to virtual meet you!

Chewing and Spitting is a sign of an eating disorder. However, I do it very occassionally, and I don't have an eating disorder. Once every couple of weeks I get hot McDonalds french fries and I stand over the garbage can and dunk them in ketchup, chew them and spit them out. They are SOOOO good. I can't swallow french fries. That is a guaranteed stuck food for me. They used to be my favorite food and this way I can taste them and not have to swallow them. But you can't chew and spit often because I understand it will cause digestive problems. Your body primes up and releases everything it needs to digest food and then it doesn't get the food. I guess that does something negative.

Considering you just had serious surgery, have probably been on some meds that made you dopey and your body is freaking because it's not getting all that sugar/caffeine/etc, I think the fatigue is normal. I was banded on 12/30 and haven't felt like myself since. I figure it will be another week or two before my mind and body get it together.

I'm going to keep an eye on this thread as well. I'm 3 weeks out as of today and ready to swim. My surgeon cleared me I could at the end of this week. We're waiting a few extra days since one of my incisions was a little iffy.

Thanks for the feedback/ advice. I don't have drain site (my surgeon doesn't do that), so maybe that's why they say only three weeks? I wonder...

Same here, I found the best thing for me was to buy a composition book, on the left side of the paper I've got Water, Protein, calories and sugar (that's what my dietician want me to track) and then in the right paper I write the times I eat, drink, or take medicine/vitamins... Writing how much and of course if the food did not sit well. It's old school but I find it really easy.... I'm eating basically the same things so far, three weeks out and in the soft food diets, so it's easy to do this right now.

Everyone (who knows) asks me if I am glad I had surgery.... HECK YEAH! 15 1/2 weeks post op. For the first 2 1/2 months, I lost weight at a quicker than average pace according to what is expected. Then I went through 4 weeks of barely loosing. The scale would go down 1/2-1 pound, then up 2-3 pounds for an entire week, then I would drop 1/2 -1 pounds below that lowest weight that I accomplished the week before. Then I would go up another 2-3 pounds for another week and repeat. It was frustrating, but I knew my body would slow down at some point to "catch up". I also knew that while the scale was barely moving, my body shape was still changing. To date: I lost 21 pounds in the 2 months pre-op. I have lost 48.5 pounds post op. That puts me at a total weight loss of 69.5 pounds since May. I am already BELOW my doctors projected goal weight. I am at a weight that if I stayed here, I would be fairly happy. And then I am only 23.5 pounds away from my IDEAL (in my mind) goal weight. Everyone is commenting on how great I look and it is obvious I lost a lot of weight. People are funny. There are those who know I had surgery and those who are thrilled for me. There are those who know who are jealous I think who needed the surgery more than I do who won't talk to me or say a word (whatever lol). Then there are those who do not know who are obviously noticing and afraid to say anything. And of course, the last group who hesitates before saying "you lost a lot of weight" followed by the long pause "are you OK?" LOL To them I just smile and say "Yes, I lost a lot of weight. I fixed some problems that I had and it is finally coming off". Their reactions are kind of amusing. Today, I decided I needed to buy a couple pairs of jeans because none of my old clothes fit me anymore. The clothes I bought in late October no longer fit me any more either. What size did I buy today??? Size EIGHT pants and MEDIUM tops! And they ALL FIT WONDERFULLY! (I am HALF my dress/pants size of 16!!!) I even bought some fun dresses. I don't wear dresses, but I am excited to get these. My shoe size has also shrank. My feet are at least 1/2 to maybe 1 full size smaller. They are actually a little on the bony side right now. I don't remember them ever being this skinny lol. The other new thing that I have noticed? My legs not only look much skinnier, but they are a bit "jiggly" lol. Never before have I been so excited to have my calves jiggle LMAO. My daughter was excited that they jiggle lol. And today, I also took out my "mothers ring" that I haven't worn in nearly a decade. It fits perfectly again. So yeah... VSG??? Best decision ever. Even if I can't eat all of the foods I love!

Well unless you experience sharp alarming pains, fever, basically anything extremely severe you are okay. Be sure to keep in contact with your doctor incase you are still unsure, for the most part leaks are common within the first 3 months due to over eating so take it slow in the future and perhaps mush anything you're eating into a thinner consistency.

I buy the liquid at Whole Foods. Works for me. pre-surgery weight 325; surgery date 2/28/2013; surgery weight 307; 8 weeks past-op weight 281.4

If you were to have erosion of the band, How long or soon does it take to happen? 1st 3 months? 6 months? 1 year? or many years?

Congratulations on getting your date!! I can't wait to be there.....soon I hope! I think most docs order a lowfat diet for a week before sugery to try and shrink the liver as much as possible as it make it easier to do the sugery. The liver is very close to the stomach and it's possible to knick it during surgery if it's enlarged due to being fatty. My surgeon has his patients do a full liquid diet the week before with Protein drinks and creamed Soups and such. Then Clear liquids the day before and after.....no bowel prep (thank goodness)! Guess he figures that with the full liquids for a week the bowels would be fairly empty.

@favor thanks it really does @carlos I swear I have white coat anxiety because of the scale......you are doing so great keep us posted on your visit:) @ wanna thank you are you ready for your surgery? I know everything will be fine and in a couple of weeks we will all be routing for you and looking to hear some pst op results

Went to my PCP today exactly one week following my surgery to get a B12 shot and well it has been a long time since I wanted to get on the scale at the doctors....hehe but today was different very curious to measure my loss:). And I am happy to announce I lost 15 pounds! Came home took off my dressier clothes to spend the rest evening in my "Life is Good" shirt and indeed it is!

you definatly need to be having more then 3 meals a day. there is no way for you to get everything that you need in 3 small meals a day. no wonder you feel so bad! you poor thing!!! i eat 6 meals a day.....and when i say meals, really i mean snacks. you shouldnt feel bad about one slip up.....ive had a ton. you are only 6 weeks post op and have lost 17 pounds!!!!! that is almost 3 pounds a week....that is amazing! stop stressing yourself out, and have a little fun with this journey. that is what i have chosen to do. you can do it!

Sounds like your sugar had dropped at work. If you had not ate anything til around 10, that is 3 hrs, so it was past time for you to eat, if you're like me. I have to eat every 2-3 hrs, especially early out when we can only hold a tiny amt. I know it's probably more difficult for some people at work to be able to take breaks or lunches to have something to eat, but you could take small ziplock bags of peanuts or almonds to snack on until you can get somewhere and have an actual meal. On the cookies, I have no advice except to not dwell on it, what's done is done. Just strive to do better with your choices, and keep better choices very handy so you won't be in a situation where you're hungry and have cookies as an option. I keep peanuts, almonds, pistachios, edamame, or protein bars in my purse at all times. Protein bars are as yummy to me as any candy or cookie anyway, and the ones I get are 20 grams of protein, so can easily also be a meal. If you have a fridge at work, you could also take ready to drink protein shakes or string cheese.

If the 13,000 is the total price, that's not too bad. The main reason that I did not go to Mexico was not a concern over the quality of care or if I would be able to sue someone if there was a bad outcome, but rather I didn't want to have to get on an airplane and fly just a few days after major surgery. Other people decide to do that and they are totally fine, but I didn't want to do that. I found someone about 3 hours away for just over $12,000 for the surgery. Even if you find a surgeon in Las Vegas or Louisiana for 10k or 11k, by the time you add in the cost of the airfares for two people, and hotel rooms, I doubt that you will be saving much money.