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Oh YAY!! My NUT moved me to pureed foods starting tomorrow! I'm quite excited to get more nutrition. PNW, I understand hungry. I got hungry on day 10 and I've been that way since. I started getting a little afraid that I would be one of the hungry ones, then realized that on pureed I'll start feeling full again. The funny thing is that regardless of how hungry I got, 1/2 cup of greek yogurt and I was full. I think it's great that you're re-evaluating your eating and will give you sleeve time to heal.

I agree the head and the heart have to be dealt with before you make this kind of a plunge so you don't endanger your health. That said... As addicted as I was to cream filled, fatty, sugary, tasty things....my tastes have TOTALLY changed. The other night I went to a tea and I saved my calories all day for it. I decided for the first time to "splurge" a little bit. None of it tasted good at all. The next day I felt like hammered poo. My low carb yogurt and grape nuts tasted SOOOO good!! My head thinks it wants goodies, but my body violently disagrees! Soo....there's that. Everyone is a little different.

I feel you. Almost 2 weeks out and I still crave food all the time, too. All I can tell you is to occupy your mind. Set yourself goals of how often to do your intake (I sip Clear liquids all day... but at 730, 1030, 130, 430, and 730 I add in a full liquid item like Protein shake, Soup, yogurt, etc) keeping it evenly spaced will help with how hungry you feel. Plus, take on a hobby or start a walking regimen or something... I make a point of getting 10,000 steps a day, minimum... so when I'm feeling hungry but it's not "time" for something specific, I walk till I get to the next milestone I need out of my 10,000 It's a struggle... but it is worth it and it will improve!! Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using the BariatricPal App

Peanut Butter and bananas/carrots/apples? smoothies made with Protein shake and fruit or yogurt? I don't do cottage cheese, but know a lot of sleevers love it. Also what about meat substitutes? Morning star makes some great meat free sausages, and "burger patties" they are soy, but loaded with protein. Is there any meat you can do? Can you do chicken salad? What about shaved ham/beef/turkey like from the deli? I take shredded turkey or beef and a jar of premade gravy and warm them up together, then serve them with mock mashed potatoes. (pureed cauliflower), I use some greek cream cheese in the mock potatoes for that creamy consistency and to make them richer.

We tend to swallow a lot more air when using a straw. This explains it well, but do follow your doctor's guidelines: https://www.bariatriceating.com/2016/06/159477/ There is also this:https://www.ucsfhealth.org/education/recovering_from_bariatric_surgery/ Flatulence Everyone has gas in their digestive tract. Bariatric patients have a shortened bowel, which can cause gas to be more odorous and expelled more forcefully. Gas comes from two main sources: swallowed air and normal breakdown of certain foods by harmless bacteria that are naturally present in the large intestines. Foods high in carbohydrates cause gas; those high in fat and protein cause very little. The foods that are known to cause more gas are beans, vegetables, some fruits, soft drinks, whole grains, wheat, bran, cow's milk and cow's milk products, foods containing sorbitol and dietetic products. To help prevent flatulence: Eat your meals more slowly, chewing food thoroughly. Lactose intolerance is generally the culprit of gas. Discontinue eating all cow's milk products. Yogurt is OK. Avoid chewing gum and hard candy. Avoid drinking with a straw. Eliminate carbonated beverages. Remedies for flatulence include Lactobacillus acidophilus (a probiotic or "good bacteria" that aids digestion), natural chlorophyll and simethicone.

Hey guys, I was hoping some of you more seasoned (or even not so seasoned but better at it than I am) bandsters could give me a few pointers about measuring food and food amounts. During my post op diet phase I was very diligent about measuring all my food, but then it was easy to measure yogurt, pudding, cottage cheese, you get the drift. Now that I am into "regular" eating I have a hard time measuring stuff. I was hoping for some pointers... how do you measure your lunches? dinners? I have no restriction and NEED to start figuring out how to measure food again. An example of my food in a day: Breakie - Protein shake (easy to measure) lunch - half a bun-sandwich (bunwich? lol) dinner - sushi until "full" Usually breakie and lunchs have been the same thing for me other variations of dinner would be like an omelet or something. How do you measure that? I'm so confused on how to measure my dinners. I'm having a hard time with these with no restriction and I hate hate hate hate hate cooking. Please help, I'm getting so discouraged and I don't get my first fill until Mar 10. I gained 4 lbs back in the past week. :biggrin:

As far as jello and yogurt 4 spoonfuls seem to b the magic number...as far as soup/broth I can get a cup down

I don't have problems with either. Heck, yogurt can some times cause problems. It is all an individual thing. Also, both can be pealed, that would help a lot.

I am on Day 8 and I got dizzy today and yesterday. Immediately drank protein shake slim fast and ate applesauce and yogurt.

I believe this is relatively common though I am lucky enough not to have this problem(yet). Scrambled egg can be a really difficult food to eat. I would avoid those at your tight times and maybe try sticking to Soups, yogurts and other nutritious sliders. Not ice cream and milkshakes. If it is only for a couple of days each month then you may be able to get through it.It sounds as though you are trying foods which can be difficult and these may be irritating your band more and making the problem worse. Hopefully babying your band at these times will help.

My experience was/is just like KellyW74 above. (In fact, she recently gave me some suggestions to help with the gurgling.) I'm about 5 weeks out and I still get that gurgling for about an hour after I eat or drink a shake. And like Kelly said, often I get the runs shortly after. What I discovered is that anything with MILK in it is bad news!!!! Even soy milk tends to be a little troublesome. Now that I am eating soft foods I've discovered that things like fish and chicken seem to work well. I can tolerate yogurt a little better too and actualy even string cheese. No other milk products and definitely not shakes with milk in them. In the early days I had broth with unflavored protein, such as UNJURY. It's just that I am totally sick of it now :-) So, it may be that you developed a lactose intolerance - which my understanding is that it can be temporary in some cases. Also, you are more recently sleeved so things may just settle down on their own in a few more days. Like the other Kelly said above, the acid reducers are really important. I take prylosec (sp?) once per day. Also, my first week to week and a half my MD prescribled Ranglan, which is an antinausea med. That really helped in the early days too. Hang in there. It will pass. We all seem to go through these various phases but somehow move on. I guess we have to be patient and roll with the punches... as tough as it is. Good luck!!!!!! Hope you get to the bottom of this!!!

I do believe this is it! I've lost count of fills but I have restriction, I'm not hungry and when I eat I'm literally eating bites of food and I'm satisfied. I feel great, minus the sweet cravings, food is NEVER on my mind....I LOVE IT. No longer am I a slave to food, the drive thru or anything having to do with food. It feels great to eat an orange or apple and be full. To eat half of a sandwich and be done. To be full off of a protein bar or yogurt. Just great great stuff! In other news my craving for sweets got the best of me last night so I decided to go to my old standby Peanut Butter and Jelly.... BIG mistake. BIG BIG BIG mistake.. I now know what you all mean by "STUCK", "SLIME" and "PB'ing" - Ok I'd been stuck one before the first week after surgery but it hadn't happened since.. I got about 3 bites into the sandwich and OMGosh the PAIN.. the PAIN.. The nausea the slime the please just go down.. please just go down, or come up.. oh wait it's peanut butter it's not going any where.. Thankfully the whole episode only lasted about 5 mins but it was the LONGEST 5 minutes of my life... so note to self.. Peanut butter is NOT your friend...

I started my pre-op diet 8/1--and my surgery is 9/19. Until I had a "plan" from the doctor, I was doing low carb. I like low carb. I feel good on low carb. After my initial appts, and 3 cases of Medifast later, I am on "4 Medifasts" and "one meal" a day. I find I do best if I eat (not devour...oy) my "one meal" midday. Medifast for Breakfast, Medifast for a snack. lunch. Medifast for a snack. Medifast for dinner. A yogurt as a snack later in the evening. I'm pretty sure it's going to do me in. News flash: Darragha gets trapped under 800 calories a day. Film at 11. For the love of God....someone help that poor woman! Yes, I am going crazy. Darr

Well it's only 5 days to go now. I am doing really well on my liver shrinking diet, and am having no trouble at all managing on what is allowed. I can have 2 shakes a day, plus a Lean Cuisine meal. If I am hungry I can have a yogurt of 100 calories or less, a boiled egg, or a salad with 1tbl of dressing, SF popsicles, SF Jello, or clear no-carbonation SF beverages. The first three days I was ready to eat the packaging, but it became easier and easier after that. The trick to this whole thing seems to be cleaning sugar from your system, including carbs that turn to sugar. I am a sugar addict, and that was tough for me. Since doing it, everything is easier. I just have to stay away from them to keep from sliding back into my old habits! It took 3-4 days of no sugar to get me feeling better. It is worth it though if you are really serious about losing weight. You need to give up Carbonation and Caffeine BEFORE surgery and even before your pre-surg diet! It is hard enough to deal with cutting down on calories without dealing with the other stuff too. I weaned off of caffeine slowly to avoid the headaches. Coffee is my vice of choice, so I began by making half-caff for awhile. Then I would rotate half-caff with decaf and finally all decaf. I can't tell the difference now. Sodas were easier as they weren't my favorite thing anyway. I did drink them occasionally, but don't touch them now. Crystal light is a good substitute for them.

I eat ground turkey, Wendy's chili, chicken strips/tenders, yogurt, eggs, cheese, Mission Brand low carb small tortillas from which I've made pizza & also mexican pizza, let's see, canned Beans, salad with both iceberg & spinach, sausage links cut up (hot kind, yikes!! too spicey, lol), ummm...string cheese, oh I said cheese, green beans, baked beans, Soup, including potato soup, KFC grilled leg & I KEEP THE SKIN ON!! :-) with small serving of mashed potoes NO GRAVY....OH, & I've eaten fresh fruit including, blueberries, strawberries, grapes, melon, & also pineapple (had to spit out the tough parts though). That's all I can think of right off. Grilled Tilapia came back up, but I will try it again in near future. Oh, & also cottage cheese too. I like cottage cheese with a little bit of Splenda in it. I like sweet stuff, lol

My highest weight is on my profile, 207. That was after I had decided to get surgery and before pre-op diet, and I had kind of gone on a, I'm going to eat whatever I like and not worry about weight gain, rampage, and gained probably 8-10 lbs. I lost that weight and then some on my pre-op diet. I did have my surgery in the US, I'm from alabama and I had my surgery with dr schmitt in birmingham. I did have issues with adjusting to the right portion sizes and learning what I could tolerate. Before surgery, I don't think I had massive issues with overeating, or eating unhealthy foods. I probably ate more than I should have, but I have a very slow metabolism and thyroid issues, so the sleeve has helped me be satisfied with much smaller portions and control my cravings. Before surgery I didn't really eat many processed foods, I cooked my own meals and didn't snack a lot, but I did have rice pretty much every day with my dinner, and some sort of carb for lunch. After surgery, I barely eat carbs. I can hardly fit them in with all the Protein and Water requirements! I have tried to eat a little rice, and protein Pasta but they didn't settle right with me. I'll probably try again closer to my goal weight. I live by myself, and my family is states away, so for me the hardest part of life after surgery was feeling alone and without support. I told one friend who lives states away that I was having surgery, and my parents. No one else, not even my siblings, know I've had surgery. Adjusting to the restriction was hard, but I quickly figured out that I could have yogurt for lunch, add protein to my coffee in the mornings, eat chicken for dinner, and beans/cheese/salsa as a snack. I follow the same routine pretty much every day, and I'm really comfortable with it. I track all my food, I bought a kitchen scale (HIGHLY recommend, helped me with portions a LOT). So I might have "given up" rice, and carby lunches on a daily basis, but if I am out socially then I don't feel too bad about indulging in a few fries or bread. I can still eat anything I want. I just don't feel the need to, and some things settle better than others. I no longer feel the need to finish the whole plate of fries (I physically can't), I'm good after having 2 or 3. Not feeling hunger is great. I do get "head hungry" at times but usually it passes. I no longer feel like the whale in the room. I might still be the biggest in the room at times, but I don't feel unhealthy, and I know that in time I'll be out of the overweight BMI category.

I am almost two weeks out and was cleared this week for softs: cottage cheese, string cheese, eggs, etc. I am trying to get all my Protein from food and not shakes. Today I consumed about 435 calories, but this is what I ate: Breakfast: lite string cheese, 1/2 sm cup of applesauce (had trouble finishing the cheese) Lunch: 1/2 C pureed lentil Soup with 1 tblsp greek yogurt; a hour or so later I had 1/4 C egg salad Snacks: String cheese, 4oz greek yogurt Dinner: 1/4 tuna salad I didn't quite meet my protein goal, but close. Also because I had the two Snacks in there I had a harder time with Water. I read about all these people that can only eat a tablespoon of food a three weeks, I don't have any problem. 1/4 cup is about my max, but it goes down fine. Same with liquids. Mind you, I am not complaining, but I want to make sure I am not "messing" something up.

I am 6 month post op RNY. I never was afraid but I was prepared mentally to live a life of eating differently. I do admit the first few weeks were difficult in getting in all the required Protein shakes and Water. I just did the best I could. I had absolutely no pain or discomfort. I did however feel exhausted the first few months and both my surgeon and my primary told me to be patient. I was and slowly my energy level came back. I can practically eat anything I want but stay away from sugar. meat is difficult to process so I eat more chicken, pork and fish. I love yogurts and fresh fruits. I have absolutely no regrets and find that it is a lot easier then I anticipated so I am very happy. My health has improved tremendously too! Good luck to you. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I'm a little over a week post-op myself. I've been on mushies for a couple of days and i'm living on cream of wheat, greek yogurt, protein shakes made with the yogurt and protein powder, potato salad (not the best choice but mushy), cream of brocolli soup. I just realized I could have egg drop soup and i'm very excited to try that tomorrow!!

Your meal plan is probably dependent on the type of surgery and the directions from your doctor and nutritionist. Since you are posting under the gastric bypass surgery section, I would assume you had a Roux-en-y bypass. The direction I received when I had that surgery was: First 4 weeks - full liquids Weeks 5-8 pureed foods Weeks 9+ solid meals I would suspect that trying to eat a turkey burger at two weeks out will be extremely hard on your new stomach. In the full liquid menu for Protein, recommended sources are yogurt (plain, no fruit variety), low fat cottage cheese, low fat cheese, Beans (refried, pinto, navy, kidney, lentils, great northern.) A separate requirement is protein supplement. This begins on day five following surgery and after you are passing gas regularly. This requirement is 75 to 90 grams of protein per day. This requirement is different that the volume limitations on the meal plan. Generally in the early stages most individuals meet this requirement by drinking Protein shakes.

My whole first month everything smelled strange and tasted bad. Even if I found something I could eat I could only eat it a couple times before it turned my stomach. Soups were easiest to eat so I added unflavored Protein to them. Soups like french onion, seafood bisque, clam chowder (I filtered out the clams, they bothered me at that time), broccoli cheese, and pea Soup (still my favorite). I could manage Protein shakes and yogurt, too but I got thoroughly sick of sweet things pretty quick. Hot herbal teas were good too. Tastes and smells will get better. Hope you feel better soon!

I think many of the people on this forum were in the same boat you're in. We had let ourselves go, for one reason or the other, and finally decided to do something about it. For us , the band was the answer. As far as safety, the band is the safest form or WLS. Here is a blog that the writer has given me permission to repost. It gives an excellent reason the band is successful: My name is Amy Workman and I am a bandster (everyone: HI Amy). I haven't posted on here in a long time and thought I might share with you my blog post from today. If any of you watched the recent Dr. Oz show about Lapband, I thought it might be nice for those of you just beginning to see a more realistic idea of the band. I was banded January 27th, 2009. I weighed 327 and today weight 159 pounds. I love my band. My before and after pictures on here are not updated, but you can find all my pictures on my blog. If you have any questions, please email me and ask away. Sometimes we forget when we were first beginning. Do you remember the first time you googled Lapband? Or the first time you logged into the forums...frantically searching for before and afters....looking at successes and getting pumped...stumbling upon a horror story and then getting scared? Do you remember the stupid questions you asked? I remember posting on lapbandtalk.com something like "is one cup of Wendy's chili bad for you?" Well, I am going to try and remember back to when I didn't know much about the band...and what information would have been helpful. Here goes... Did you know: I started at 327 pounds. My doctor, the wonderful and handsome Dr. Jeffrey Friedman, told me that the band is not always the best choice for someone who is a grazer. They find that the band is actually more successful for men, because men tend to eat in volume (sitting down for a huge dinner and getting really full, vs eating and munching on little things all day). Some doctors say that the band will not work as well for those of us who are or were really morbidly obese. I disagree. And there are plenty of us out here who are proving them wrong. Did you know: The band may not work for you? You could have the surgery and not lose much weight at all. It is not a sure thing. BUT, if you work with the band...it can and will work for most of us. What does "work with the band mean"? Every doctor has a different regimen they want you to follow. Every doc is different, as it almost every patient. Some say no pop/soda, some say it's fine. Some have a 2 week liquid preop and scare the sweet baby jebsus out of you about not shrinking your liver enough for surgery and not being able to operate (thank you Dr. Friedman). But, you will have to do your part with the band. You will have to watch what you eat. You will have to eventually get your ass up and exercise. You will have to make healthier choices and just be better. I know you are saying WHAT? That sounds like a diet to me. And I fail at diets!!! The band is a TOOL, not the Alpha and Omega of your weight loss journey. You can "cheat" the band by eating sliders and soft food. I for one could eat cheetos all day long and the band would sleep right through it. But with the right restriction, your band prevents you from eating that large pizza, the extra value meal, the entire bovine. You have to find a doctor that you can have a relationship with. They have to be open with you and you have to be open with them. You HAVE to go see them for fills. You have to follow up. You have to be a good patient. ASK QUESTIONS. What can you eat once you are banded? At this point in my journey, I can't think of one thing I CANT eat. However, there are somethings that I try to stay away from because they are difficult with my band. Example: Bowtie Pasta. It doesnt go down well. And then it just sits in my band and expands...causing me to PB (get to that in a second). I can't eat a sandwich, or a hamburger with a bun, but I could eat a roll if I tear off little pieces at a time. Hot dogs give me problems for some reason. Dry chicken or reheated meat (with the exception of a hamburger) often give me problems as well. I still drink soda, I still drink beer. I love Soups. I can eat veggies. I can eat fruit. Eating after being banded is about going slow. It's about chewing. They say with proper restriction that 4-6 ounces of solid Protein (a piece of meat about the size of your fist) should keep you full for 3-4 hours. Most docs want their patients to avoid "slider meals". Meaning, eating a bowl of Soup for lunch or yogurt for Breakfast isn't going to keep you full or satisfied because it will SLIDE right down. You want your food to stay in your pouch, and slowly drop down. Sometimes though...food may get stuck and then you get "sick". The Dreaded PB: A couple things may happen if a piece of food gets "stuck in your pipe" as Heather refers to it. You aren't going to die. It's not like it gets stuck and you need the Heimlich. But if a piece of food gets stuck, ain't nothing else going down until it moves or comes up. The first thing that may happen is a productive burp (PB). This is not throwing up. When something gets stuck, your slobber starts to build on top of it. For me, when this happens, I get a weird sensation in the back of my jaw. And if I wait long enough, I will have to get somewhere private (hopefully) and let it come up. What comes up is this weird slime/foam combo. It doesn't hurt. And hopefully...it moves whatever is stuck. Sometimes though, it takes a little more work. Sometimes that one piece of food I didnt chew enough will be down there for hours. And then, it's not PBing. It's sort of like dry heaving until that piece comes up. There is a tightness in the chest...a pressure. It's not fun. I will say that not everyone gets stuck or PB's. And most of us would agree that when we do get stuck...it's our fault. We eat without being present, we didn't chew, we ate too fast. Restriction and Tips for Eating: Unless you are extremely lucky, you will not awake from surgery with perfect restriction. Some docs put a little liquid in your band to start with, others wait. I had to wait 6 weeks for my first fill. And again, unless you are the rare case, you probably won't get restriction with your first fill. It took me several fills before I had good restriction. ASK your doctor what his/her fill policy is. Some docs are super restrictive with their fills. They only fill on a schedule. They don't care whether or not you have restriction. All I know is if Dr. Friedman hadn't let me tell him that I was ready for a fill...and if he had made me wait regardless of what I could eat...I wouldn't have been as successful as I was. You will know you have restriction when you have it. It's sort of like having sex. If you have to wonder if you had an orgasm or not...um...you probably didn't. Restriction will keep you full and satisfied for 3-4 hours. You will be able to eat less. Restriction DOES NOT RESTRICT YOUR BRAIN. You may still mentally crave things. You will have to learn the difference between head hunger and physical hunger. This is very hard. When you do have good restriction, you will have to change the way you eat. This is easier said than done. You should be taking small bites. For example, if you are eating steak, you need to cut that sucker up into pea sized bites. You need to chew. Then, set your fork down and wait a few seconds. You should eat sitting down. You should pay attention to what you are doing. You will learn that things like eating in the car is rarely going to end well. (Always have your emergency PB kit in your car. A couple of bags, some papertowels or handywipes. Trust me.) You probably shouldnt drink with your meal or for 30 minutes after. liquids can help push your food down...thus...cheating the band. How much weight will I lose? How quickly will I lose it? Now you know that there is no one answer for this. Statistically, Lapband patients lose around 40% of their excess weight. SO, if you are 100 pounds overweight, statistically you will lose 40 pounds. I hate statistics. And remember, they are an average. 17 more pounds lost and I will have lost 100% of my excess weight...and I am not alone. It can happen. However, there are so many factors that go into how much and how fast. Genetics, age, diet history, personal support, family life, exercise. Some weeks I lost 7 pounds. Some weeks I gained 5. The weeks I gained, I gained because I ate poorly. I cheated the band The weeks I lost, I ate and made healthy choices. There are some weeks, even when I WAS doing the right thing...I didn't lose. It can be frustrating. But you can't give up. You will have to keep upping your game. At some point, even with the band, you will either have to adjust your food or exercise. But, I feel like the band is "cheating". I feel like if I have WLS, I am weak. I'm gonna tell you what. Who gives a flying monkey's ass?! Cheating what? Cheating early death? Cheating sleep apena? Cheating high blood pressure, sore joints, diabetes? I say CHEAT AWAY then. There is no shame in WLS. It's not about will power. It's not about failing. It is about trying to find a tool that works to give you some power, give you your health. I tell whoever wants to know or will listen about the band. And yes, I have heard "Oh...well...I thought you did it the hard way"...or "hmmm...that must be nice". I say listen FOOL. There ain't nothing easy about the band. It makes some things easier but it is still work. And I find that people either give you 'tude about the band bc they are afraid or jealous or because they don't understand. Either way, that is okay. I will educate or I will ignore. I feel like if I were to say "oh, I am just watching my diet and working out"...that I would be lying by omission. AND, my real fear is that someone who is overweight will think "Well, Amy did it "the old fashioned way", and they will feel like a failure when they try and do not succeed. Will my relationship fall apart if I have the surgery? We all hear the stories of what happens when someone has WLS. The divorce rate and seperation rate is a little higher for us. There are several reasons. One, for some of us....when we lose weight, we become a different person...or the person we would have been if our bodies hadn't been our enemies so long. Our expectations may change, we may want more. OR, our partners may not be able to deal with the new us. OR, as in any relationship...sometimes it's just time to move on. I don't think that having WLS should make you fear losing or changing your partner anymore than the normal person. There are tons of bandsters out there still happy and maybe even happier with their significant other. Sometimes though, even though we can't see it or don't want to admit it...we have settled. And once you start to shed your cloak of security or denial...you realize you deserve more (too bad we don't realize that to begin with. Long story short...people change and grow...with or without weightloss surgery. Are you worried about complications: No. But most days I am not a worrier about things that may or may not happen. I heard recently that the stats for band slipping are about 5% and for erosion, about 1-2%. Slipping for example, can be avoided most of the time and according to the docs...is easy to fix. Erosion is of course a little more scary. But I hope that by always paying attention to my body, my band, and how I am feeling...I can avoid it or if it ever happens...catch it early. Do fills hurt? Mine never do. My doc has never done one under fluoro. He gives me a numbing shot and then the fill. How many fills do you have to have? To get restriction, it took me 4. My first year I had around 6 fills. My second year, I had 2. Will you ever have the band taken out? Lord I hope not. Even now that I am at goal weight and weight loss is more of what I do instead of what the band does for me...it's always there. It's my safety net. It will keep me from ever being 327 pounds again. Why did you choose the band over other options? I was 28 when I decided on the surgery. I didn't want my stomach cut apart. I still wanted to be able to absorb my nutrients. I wanted to be able to eat sugar and other things without getting physcially ill. I liked that the removal of the band was a possibility if something went wrong. I liked the idea of being able to control my restriction. And even though I bitched and complained along the way, I liked the idea of a slower weight loss (vs Gastric bypass). It gave my skin and my brain a little more time to adjust. Did you know there are different brands of lapbands? I have the Allegran Lapband. Ask you doctor your choices and the differences. Mine is a 10-11cc band. Some are smaller. Were you worried about the loose skin? Barely. I figured I may look like a saggy deflated sack after I lost my weight, but I would rather be deflated then morbidly obese. And I am lucky. My skin is nowhere as bad as it could have been. Again, so many factors go into skin. Age, genes, working out, sun...etc. Would you do it again? In a heartbeat my friends. In a heartbeat. It was the best decision of my life. It was a tremedous catalyst for change. I can't think of one negative consequence of the band.

Hey everyone, I apologize that it's taken me so long to give you guys a status update. I had surgery on October 11th, and was told I'd be out by October 12th. I didn't get out until October 15th. Soo...here's what happened, I woke up from surgery and know how I was asking about extubation? Unfortunately, I felt it, and I remember it, but it wasn't so bad. Although, I just remember crying because they had me walk from the operating table to the gerny to be wheeled into recovery. That was seriously too much for me. After 4 hours in recovery and a very long surgery, I was taken to my room. So why did my surgery take so long? I was informed that I had a hernia, had the weight loss surgery, and had multiple large adhesions on my gallbladder that had to be taken care of. My surgeon basically told me that due to all of this-my recovery would take a lot longer than he had instructed me before. I didn't eat a thing in the hospital, I was there for 5 days and I just didn't have the strength to eat anything, and probably drank a total of two cups the whole time-and they didn't seem conserned. So I've been home for two days now, and I'm doing a bit better. It seems that I'm instructed that my recovery will probably be 2-3 weeks at the very least. Yesterday I had 14oz of Water, and two pudding cups. I was sooooo full. Today I did better. I had 18g of Protein shake, a yogurt, a pudding cup, 18 oz of water, my multi-Vitamin, and my Calcium liquid..stuff. I'm really trying to get as much liquids as I can in-I just get so full. Here's my problem. Due to my other "surgeries" during my time at the hospital, I'm having VERY limited mobility. I cannot get off or onto the couch by myself, I cannot get into or out of the bed by myself, I cannot use the facilities, in any way shape or form, by myself. I can handle the pain (not without some tears, I admit) but my problem is blood clots. I'm so worried. I tried walking around my house today (outside) and literally just became so crippled and out of breath that I thought I wouldn't make it home.When I was in the hospital, I walked maybe once a day, down the hall, and was crying by the time I got back, they didn't seem to concerned about my limited walking either. I'm trying to get walking as much as I can, but I'm in so much pain. Does anyone have any advice about my pain/walking/diet thus far? My mom bought my some yogurt....strawberry, cherry, and orange, which I used to LOVE. Now? HOLY COW-I feel like I'm eating a spoonful of sugar-literally-they taste awful. Weird. Anyways, I don't regret this surgery-not for one stinkin' second. I'm so blessed and lucky. I can't thank technology enough. I don't like pain, don't get me wrong, but I'd add a "fourth surgery" in there if it meant that I could still get this surgery done. I can't wait to get around and everything soon-I'lll try to respond to some of the pre-op questions asked by others tonight, since now I am officially a sleeved woman!! Hope you all have a great Monday tomorrow! : )

Ill have to let u know later on...cuz Ive only been on solids a few days - have lost two pounds in the last two days so far. BUT I am lucky to be able to get in 900 calories - I am working on it. I feel full quickly and it last about 3.5 or so hours. I make myself have some yogurt between to get some more in. Ill try to remember to post again in a few days I wouldnt worry about it too much - though I know its hard... just make sure to follow ur surgeons advise until u get your first fill!!!

I was banded on the 17th of April and I too am tired of eating soup and protein shakes. I am not really hungry at all after eating one or two tablespoons of pudding or yogurt but I an so ready to eat something good like a real meal. My Dr has not allowed to eat eggs or anything else with any type of substance. I go back to see him on the 24th so I hope he will allow me to have something different instead of waiting another week of full liquids.