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Thanks everyone for the great responses. I have not seen the test report itself. However, I was assured by my surgeon & my GP that I'm doing great (in their opinions). I will try bumping up my calorie intake a bit. I avoid carbs like the plague. Any suggestions for "good carbs" to add. As is the case with probably all or at least most of you, I can only eat a little at a time. 45 min-hour for a meal. I'm open for suggestions. :thumbup1:

Yes, it's frozen over. Have you seen my 6 mo. Diet Ticker lately? Well, I’m done! DONE I TELL YOU!!! The 6 months of dieting is so over!!!!!! Newbies, cover your ears just a sec….All you LBT’ers who posted that “The 6 months goes so fast!” I want you to know I have all your names and I learned how to Google Earth my way to your houses and yes, I’m letting this one slide, but if I find out this ‘restriction thing’ that you also posted about is yet another LBT Urban Legend I’m coming after you!!! This has been the l—o—n—g—e—s—t 6 months of my life!!! Well, it didn’t help that I started looking at this last May, and it took me most of the summer to decide, and until September to get in to my PCP, and then I couldn’t do anything constructive to make the time fly by, …and so I past the time by (whining about) blogging every gory detail of my (dys)FUN(ctional) life and bored all my new friends on LBT until they were so tired of my incessant (whining) blogging about my 6 months of (misery) dieting that they too, (wanted to throttle me) were counting down the days until my 6 months was over, (Just so they didn't have to listen to me anymore) but it was still a LONG 6 months! OK, my friends, here’s your reward…yes, I said reward…you’ve earned it…you were always there for me laughing, crying, ranting, (whining), and yes, peeing. You’ve come along on my magical ride and now here’s the pay off… …the 6 months are over. APRIL FOOLS!!! No, I wasn’t lying and now you have to suffer through more months with me, the 6 months ARE over, but that’s NOT your reward…bet you can’t guess?..........time’s up!!! I got my Band Date!!!!! (No, NOT April Fools!) Isn’t that great!!! What a reward!!! You were just calculating how many weeks of (whining) blogging about waiting to get my date you’d have to suffer through, and there will be NO (whining) blogs about that!! Good news for everyone! Here it is, served up on a silver platter just for you….drumroll please……my Band Birthday is April 22! April is going to be the best month ever…April 22, my new shiny band…April 24, our 27th Anniversary (guess that won’t be a wild night)…April 27, my big 5-0 Birthday (Broth for everyone!), April 28, DH’s 50th Birthday! Wow, all within 7 days! Then I have the 29th and 30th to get the house cleaned, party decorations up and meals made (maybe catered now) for all the company coming on May 1st for DD’s Graduation! Now here’s the ‘cherry on top’…wait for it…………..there’s NO pre-op diet! Yep, I won’t be (whining) blogging about that either! Just a pre-op class next week and a physical with the nurse there sometime before banding and I’m golden (oh, and that approval thing…I should know within 72 hours, submitted today…she said ‘no worries’, so I’m not). Let the ROASTING begin…. I can hear it now…. BG- Thank GAWD it’s over! BG- If I had to hear one more word about your suffering with having to gain weight and your ‘non diet’ while we're all out here sweating and counting every blessed calorie… BG- Whine, whine, whine... BG- I thought you were banded years ago! OK, maybe not that last one…I’m off to blog the (boring) nitty-gritty about my day.

I know how you feel. I had a fill the beginning of March and did fine with liquids and one day of mushies then three days of not keeping anything down. I freaked out and went in a week later for an unfill (.6 ccs) My doctor said is sounded more like I had gotten something stuck and I needed to work it out, but he did the unfill anyway. Well now I have no restriction whatsoever and I am now counting calories. I don't mind planning my meals and counting calories etc. I keep track on SparkPeople, but there are several web-sites that are similar. The keeping track helps the psychological part of the journey. But........I try to stay at 1200 calories but with no restriction and extreme hunger in between meals I am having a hard time staying under 1400 calories and some days a little over. On the weekend I got to almost 1800 (ahhhh). I have increased my exercise. Me and two friends from my support group actually walked 5.5 miles on Sunday and I try to do at least 2 miles at least three times a week. I finally called my doctor and I am going back in next week and I am hoping he will give me a fill, even if it's a little one. I know we have all heard that the band is just a tool and I'm okay with that, but when the tool isn't working....it's very frustrating. A contractor wouldn't try and build a house with a broken hammer. Hang in there Justbanded and I'll hang in there with you.

I'm 11wks an my nut advised me to get 1000-1100 calories per day. That however is easier said than done. Me personally I am having a real problem when I feel hungry I take a few bites and I'm done. Eating more I feel sick or loose it all. I've slowed my eating and eat with a small baby spoon so bites are not too large. The nut advised me that I shouldn't have to worry about calories because my intake is so limited that I'm only getting in about 1/2 and feel as if I am eating all the time . Hope things are going more smoothly for you!

You need to increase your calories a little bit and add some carbs. Stalls also happen bc of it enough calories or carbs. I’ve avoided most of the major stalls by constantly varying these two things. I’ll swing high and low in cals and carbs in any given week. From 800-1200 cals and from 50-120gms of carbs. The trick is to keep your body guessing.

I was sleeved on December 18th and have lost 27 pounds. I lost 20 of that in the first three weeks but then the weight loss really slowed down. I'm eating 600-700 calories a day, drinking only Water (85 oz. a day), and getting in about 50 grams of Protein. I started doing the treadmill an hour a day this week and have starting losing again. I just don't understand why I'm not losing more quickly when my calories are so low. Thankfully I have only vomited twice since I got home from the hospital. Once from eating a bite or two too much salmon, once eating too much of a fish taco. At the hospital I threw up the entire two days I was there (ugh!) I do feel really good and am hopeful that my weight loss will start going more quickly now that I'm exercising. Hope we all start losing more! :-)

Obviously I'm not drinking enough because I got so sick today.. Was feeling very nauseous, every time I took a sip of something it made me feel like I wanna throw up. Called the nurse and says its normal- cuz my body is used to a lot of calorie intakes now I'm not taking calories as I sld so my body is reacting and changing so I have to keep drinking 64oz of liquids a day. I will be on liquid diet for 2 weeks to give my stomach time to heal before moving on to the puree stage. My roommate went to the store and got me Gatorade and liquid Tylenol - so I am sitting here drinking Gatorade, feeling little bit of same thing but less nauseous than earlier. Hopefully it'll be a better day tomorrow. maybe it's the same thing for you? needing more liquid intake? Hope you and I feel better soon!!!! Oh yea, I lost 17 lbs since my pre-op diet!! :drool: :thumbup:

Plain, as always, makes some very good points. I'll just throw in one point on the side.... I don't "eat meals" anymore. Gave it up quite some time ago in fact. Our secretary calls me a "grazer" and it's quite a fitting title. I eat/drink on and off all of my waking day. I practically never go more than two hours without eating something. This style of eating helps keep my metabolism cranking and my body never has to wonder where it's next feeding is going to come. I believe, albeit anecdotely, that a steady flow of nutrition deters your body from storing fat - especially if you eat no more than a few hundred calories at a time. I can also tell that my blood glucose remains more steady than if I eat three very spaced-out meals. This works for me and because I eat so frequently, I'm able to get in well over 2000 calories a day. I should also mention that I have a significant exercise routine. Brad

Okay now that I have my band and I am eating....I"m not sure what in the world to do now. Do I count fat? or calories? OR carbs? I'm not really sure what I should be doing from here. What works for everyone else? Do you try to stay within a certain calorie range or do you count more than one of these to keep yourself on the straight and narrow. I feel like most of the stuff I can actually EAT at this point really isn't good for me anyway, so I"m trying to work it all out. I also am trying to figure out why all the protien is so important. How many grams do you need a day and why? I dont' think I"ve been getting enough.

Hang in there! I agree with changing things up, especially your excersise. You muscles get used to one form of cardio- can you do the bike or swim instead of say the treadmill? Increasing the duration/intensity of your workouts may help too. Adding weight training may also help. Most of all, just know that if you continue to take in less calories than you are burning that damn scale will move. I know how frustrating a stall is.

Thanks everyone! I also read online about "starvation mode" and it seems to have some myths, however some truth. My calorie intake is most always less than 1000 calories a day and from what I read that could be part of the problem. I dunno maybe I'm freaking out over nothing.

I had to Google "anorexic" because I didn't even know how to spell it...clearly it has never been part of my normal vocabulary like fat, obese, overweight, etc. I was banded on Feb. 1, 2008 and to date I have lost 45 lbs. It hasn't been too terribly hard, but now that I have really good restriction I BARELY eat. Barely. I'm not even hungry. I think about food and I think about the foods that I can't eat, but then I think about the 45 lbs. I have lost and I don't want those foods...or really any food for that matter. I fear that I've created a monster by losing weight and feeling better. Just this past week I was able to put on a pair of jeans that I haven't worn in three years. They aren't even in style anymore but I kept them because I knew that one day I would be able to wear them again...so I cried like a little girl when they slipped on and buttoned up with no effort, pulling or squeezing. I digress....I have started to not want to eat because I want to lose more weight and I know that's not the right way to do it so I eat a little here and there throughout the day. I'm not ususally hungry at all in the morning and my band feels really tight, I have Soup for lunch, maybe a 100 calorie popcorn in the afternoon and soup for dinner and I'm fine. Am I the only one? I feel superior to food now and I don't miss it. I no longer plan my day around what I am going to eat or where or when. I just go about my day and if I'm a little hungry I'll have something. It's crazy....or am I crazy?

At that stage I was shooting for 700-800 calories. It was hard to get that much in. I found if I did not try- I became very weak. GOod luck.

Ok Stephanie....two months post banding and at a TEMPORARY standstill....so you're having second thoughts and discouraged....it happens A LOT! Do not get discouraged! Only a couple of months ago, you mentioned how you couldn't exercise at all...now you're walking twice a day. Thats a good start! You are not too old...look at some of the VERY successful folks on here in their 50's, 60's and even some in their 70's now who've turned their life completely around. We are in our 40's....We have a LOT of life left to enjoy! If concentrating on staying at some magic calorie number is causing you grief, STOP doing it! Concentrate on healthy foods, follow your surgical team's recommended "types" of foods, and eventually your band will help with the portions After all, THAT is why we had surgery....because we ate too much. Just hang tough until you get to that point. You don't have to be perfect. Just NEVER, ever give up! I know you can do this...one day at a time.

Here is my 6 month update: I started the process at 331 lbs and now am 255 lbs; I went from size 28 on top to size 24; 48D bra to 44C bra; and from 28/30 on bottom to size 22 jeans. I lost the double chin. hair loss not a problem. I'm off diabetes, triglyceride, and cholesterol meds. I no longer need a seatbelt extender on a plane, and I can walk without being out of breath. I don't exercise like I should, I've got to get on that. I am very good with portion control, and used fatsecret.com to track calories until I got used to calculating it in my head. I eat fast, pretty normal bites, but about a cup of food only, often less, 3 meals a day and I usually don't snack. I drink wine when I want. My tummy is fine with all foods that we are allowed. I've got restaurant ordering down to an art, and always have a to-go container. My dining companions don't notice anything. I didn't tell anyone I had VSG and I'm glad I didn't--there was just no need, and who wants to have to hear everybody's opinion about WLS?. I'm eating less, period. And that really is what VSG does, so it's not a lie! The biggest change is that I changed from a diet mindset to a lifestyle mindset and stopped stressing over stalls and the scale. I realized if I just ate right it would eventually come off and I was right so I started to trust the downward trend and just get on with life having new habits instead of obsessing over every carb. I don't eat rice, bread, or Pasta, though. I have a bit of potato, but like 1/4 baking potato or less, not a whole one. I cut it before I cook it for portion control. I feel way more optimistic about life. I'm still big, but I'm no longer huge, and that rocks! VSG was the best decision I ever made. I haven't been 100% perfect with my program (lack of exercise), but I'll get there. I rely heavily on portion control and now that I'm used to it, it's automatic.

Probably best to avoid going to those kinds of place until you are ready to move to the "regular food" stage. It's just too tempting. What's done is done, sounds like you didn't eat the whole plate. I don;t know what kind of tea you had.... sweet tea? All empty calories if it was sweet tea, but you know that. The post op stage is a good time to start getting good band habits. No drinking with our meal or for one hour after. Just get back on track, that's the best thing you can do for yourself now.

Good morning to all, I hope all is well. With my journey I have found out how my nutrition was all jacked up. I have faced the reality on how I got fat. I was eating crazy things, I was probably eating over 6,000 calories a day. I see how a Big Mac was over 2000 calories, through in a supersized fry and coke oooh wee. To think that was one meal. I had a thing for chicken wings and beer. I would crush several wings and chase it down with a couple of brews. Working out wasn't apart of the equation, I hadn't truly worked out since my college days. I have to believe that this journey has saved my life. Eating the way I was would have put me in an early grave.

Also June 24. Struggling with Water intake but food am ok. Head hunger is atrocious. But I am real hunger too. I try to eat every 2-3 hours so I don't get ravenous. I feel great except for acid. On soft foods. So a lot of meats and not having issues with them for the most part. I am still only able to do 500 or so calories a day though Haven't lost anything in a week or so Lost 11 pounds since surgery and 26 total to date with pre op

Well it's hard to argue with the "Lean Mean banana Machine" because he has the numbers behind him to make his case. But.... Not everyone is the same. Maranda, you may not be as easier of a weight loser as he is... You may have to work much harder to see progress. Personally.... Housework, walking, going up and down stairs, etc. is part of your daily Total Energy Expenditure - your base caloric value - it's not exercise... Now if a person is only capable of walking a few blocks to start then that's ok. You do what you can and work to incrementally increase your fitness level. But most people are going to have to work much harder than a walk here and a bike ride there to achieve success. I would take a look at your nutrition and Vitamin intake. Are you getting enough calories a day? Are you nutritionally deficient somewhere? Exercise breeds motivation. Once you're able to get back on track you'll feel much better. Brad

I was like you in the beginning. I thought I'd be losing 10-15 lbs a month. Then I did the math. First, if you have a lot of weight to lose, you can lose 50. 60, even 70 lbs the first 3 months if you follow the rules. Most of us only lose 10-25 lbs the first few months. And the weight we lose in the first month is mostly Water. Here's the math: One pound equals 3500 calories burned! Our bodies need about 2000 calories a day to maintain the weight we now enjoy. If you can pump up your exercise routine, that figure could go up 200-600 more calories per day. If you consume 1500 calories a day and burn 2000 you will burn 500 more than you consumed. 500 X a 7 day week= 3500 calories burned or you just lost 1 lb. Burn an extra 500 calories per day through exercise and there's another 1 lb. It's not an exact science and so many things can affect your weight such as sodium intake, medications, menstrual cycles, high carb intake and so on. These can cause you to retain water and it's not hard to retain 2-4 lbs of extra water. So, it's easy to plateau(I do have a great plateau buster program). Here's a great link to a calorie calculator which will tell you how many calories you need per day to lose weight. http://nutrition.about.com/od/changeyourdiet/a/calguide.htm tmf

Hii. I was a t a stand still, fluxuating between 5 lbs for almost a year. Very devastating. My dr kept telling me to up my exercise..and I didn't listen.. Then last month I had enuff and listened for once and worked out religously and dropped 11 lbs in a month..and actually ate a lil more on top of working out..I was eating about 900 cals a day but then moved up to 1100 and weight dropped off. Dr told me I needed to stick to that calorie count bc that one was makin me lose the weight opposed to the lesser one. Good luck

This isn't a diet per se, it's a lifestyle change. We have to change our relationship with food, how & what we eat. It's not a matter of tiny bits of anything, it *has* to be tiny bits of good, nutritious food. With care this new eating style can become second natural, but it does need to change from how we used to eat. A large part of it is mental. You have to stop thinking of it as a diet. A diet is temporary. How WLS pts need to eat is our new lifestyle. Low carbs isn't for everyone and not eating carbs isn't a guarantee you will lose. There are simple carbs and complex carbs. Complex carbs are good for you and you should eat them. Exercising the same amount of calories as you eat does not negate eating bad foods. Eating super low cal doesn't either. The goal is to eat small, balanced meals. That means a bit of Protein, carbs , sugars, sodium as well Fiber and micro-nutrients.

I need opinions please help me. I started with 186 at 5"2, currently I am at 160.8,, 7 weeks out. I am super happy with the loss although i only lost 4 lbs this month.. I only can eat very little, and I am super full, which I love it. I eat very little carbs and only cheated couple times...My cheat consists of 1 bite of Pasta, seriously 1 spoon... I am a little upset, because I did this because I hate diets, and I failed at all of them. My goal with this surgery was to restrict food portion and lose weight but eating so little that I would lose regardless. I am learning that no matter how little you eat, you might not lose? Am I right, or I am stalling? If I used to eat 2.500 cal perday before surgery and now I eat 700 but I have carbs I still wont lose because if you eat carbs you wont lose? I am so confused... I thought calories were a number.. regardless of what you eat...if you eat 800 calories in a day and burn 3000 cal you lose even if you ate a burger... I am just venting because I hate diets and i feel i am in a endless diet...Maybe i am stressed..I have to plan every meal i eat, plan the carbs, Protein....we ended fat for a reason, and the reason is that we are terrible at diets..Aren't we on a diet again...Ok you will tell me we are on a life change, I know..I am, I dont eat anymore...I eat protein now...but the measuring what, why and when...do you identify?

I am over four months out and still eat about 700-800 calories a day. And also, I do not cook with oil or use butter. So yes, I do keep my fat intake to a minimum. What does your NUT say?

I stalled for almost 4 WEEKS! . . . so don't be discouraged. I felt like this wouldn't work for me. I was doing everything right and not losing an ounce! So I stopped going to the gym because I felt like it was pointless. Week 5 I upped my calories, increased Water, and like a miracle the weight started coming off. Don't be discouraged. Your stall will end.