When I first asked my doc is I could have a month off I invisioned taking twice daily walks and perfecting my diet.

Fast forwad to today. My 27yr old son is flying in for a visit Sun through Thur. I am incredibly happy to see him but not sure how my plan will work.

My sister wants to take the following week for a vacation. I could skip this except I havent spent time with her in 3 yrs.

Some of this may be easy to follow the diet, but I am afraid it is too soon to become proficient.

Enjoy your family and take things at your pace

Your recovery should be going well at this point (gas pains over) and hopefully your endurance is coming back

I missed my naps when I went back to work

rememeber Soup and scrambled eggs or egg beaters in my case were good friends. I love the southwestern version.

Best Wishes

Try not to stress over family visiting. Let them come, but tell them you will be adhering to your doctor's orders regarding food and exercise and hope they will be supportive.

And someone I know, who has been banded 12 years, says "progress, not perfection". If you should make a poor choice or two while family is visiting, it's not the end of the world or the end of weight loss. Just get back on track and try to do better.

Congrats on your banding.

P.S. Is there an error in the stats re preop diet & date of surgery weights?

It'll be okay. It's family, and they can adapt to your needs. They will be just fine if their visits don't focus on food.

Proficiency is a process. And I think you'll find that you can really get a good sense of mastery from tackling things like family visits.

If you aren't feeling well, that's a different story; by all means, in that case, let THEM take care of YOU!

But if you feel generally well, stick with your plan. Your son and sister can join you for walk or, if you prefer to get into your own routine, occupy themselves for an hour a day. (My family is usually still sleeping when I walk in the morning; when I walk in the evening, they're doing their thing.)

Enjoy your family--I hope you have lovely visits and discover how well your new way of living fits into "real life."

Okay I am a bit jadded about "visiting family". I grew up in Maine (did't get it's Vacationland title for nothing you know!). It drove me crazy when I was a kid that family thought nothing of using our house as a hotel when they wanted a vacation. So my mother and I became unpaid workers. Vacations cost money because they require a lot of work of the nonvacationing!

Okay got that off my chest. I think it's fine that your family wants to visit you. My mother stayed with me a week post op. The important thing is that at the very least any visitors take care of their own needs. Do their own food shopping, laundry, COOKING, keep themselves amused. Two days post op I felt well enough to leave the house for shopping trips (10 min in the store, my mother would drive to another store, and then another then 10 minute walk), and at day four was back to the gym; but I did things at my pace. The first week after going to the gym I did come home and take a nap and Mom would watch TV or read.

In week 2-3 hopefully you will be feeling really good and open to short adventures and doing things with family.

The one thing that could be a challenge is your post op diet. If you have an instructions packet that shows the diet progression (clears to full liquids, mushies, solids) I would show it to your family so they know exactly what you can eat. They need to know you aren't on a fad diet; you are eating this way because you have had major surgery on your stomach. My mother knew this yet every time we went to the store she would say do you like grapes or apples or whatever; and I would say "Yes, I do like grapes but I can only have clear soup right now." And she would say "Oh I forgot!" It would be very easy for you to eat things not on your diet schedule if they seem healthy enough (like hummus or guac) but which you should'nt be eating if your family is eating it.