I have been looking into the lap-band procedure since June 2010. I went through the whole process (physicatrist, dietician, wellness) when I found out the my hospital has a max BMI they can operate at. The can't do the Lap band for anyone over 50 BMI. I was then 53. I tried for several months to lose the weight, but nothing worked. I kind of gave up for a while, but then got a call from my surgeon's office in April about where I stood. I told her I couldn't lose the required weight. She had me come in and meet with the bariatric dietician (the first was a general nutritionist). They gave me some pointers and really stressed that I need an exercise routine.

So, I have to redo my insurance required 3 month dieting (Started in April). I had my first weight check in May and was down 5 pounds. I was so happy. I currently have to lose 23 more pounds before I can have the surgery. They told me that I would lose between 12 and 16 pounds on the pre-op liquid diet, so I really needed to lose another 9 pounds. However, this month I have struggled. I'm still following the same diet and exercise, but the scales (home) aren't moving anymore. I feel stronger and my clothes are fitting better so I wonder if I'm losing fat, but gaining muscle.

Did anyone else have to lose a good bit of weight before surgery and if so, how did you do it.

I currently go to the gym 3 days a week. I do 30 minutes of interval training on the elliptical and about 30 minutes of weight training. Below is an example of my diet:

Bfast: Protein shake

Snack: cottage cheese (3/4 cup)

Lunch: Ham and swiss on whole wheat bread or Progresso Soup

sugar free Jello pudding

Fiber one bar

Snack: yogurt or applesauce

Dinner: some type of meat baked with 2 sides (a starch and a veggie)

Snack: pretzels or popcorn

I don't drink sodas, only Water and propel zero. This diet is a LOT better than what I was doing, but I'm still not seeing good results. It's very discouraging. I go to weigh in again in 2 weeks. I hope to have lost another 5 pounds at least.

Hi there! I have a high BMI and am getting banded tomorrow morning. I didn't have a liquid diet, I had a goal. I was told to lose 20 lbs. They would THEN schedule surgery. I did this with a high Protein, low carb diet. It's very possible to do and I am a picky eater and did NOT want to live on salad. I ended up losing 23 lbs and was able to get my date. Guess what, I did VERY little exercise so adding that will speed up the process. Here's some foods I ate and some ideas:

cheese sliced from a chunk (This is usually lower in fat than the string cheese but the string cheese was an alternative to convenience)

* String Cheese

* Cottage cheese (I would add garlic salt and some pepper, you can add fruit but keep in mind that fruit can have a high sugar content, especially if it's not fresh and has been sitting in syrup or juice

* Cream Cheese (I would smear some on a piece of lunch meat and wrap it up. Make lettuce wraps with lunch meat and cheese!) You can even have sour cream!

*eggs, I usually made an omelet with ham and cheese or had them scrambled.

Meat- for dinner if I wasn't into a salad I would do the following:

* Bake or BBQ chicken breast. My favorite was adding just a little virgin oil or spraying some Pam in a skillet and adding the breast with some Mrs. Dash. If your feeling crazy, I would mix a little mayo with some hot sauce and lightly spread that on, it was AWESOME! Stay away from BBQ sauce! Even Ketchup was something I avoided all together.

* Bacon, Not the leanest but it was a treat and I enjoyed it with my eggs on occasion!

* Beef, I would make a roast in my crock pot and add carrots, onion, garlic and celery. It's great by itself.

* Ground beef, I would throw some in a skillet with garlic and drain the grease. You can also make a meatloaf and add veggies to it.

* Ground Turkey, Bariatriceating.com has an amazing recipe for turkey strognoff meatballs. I made them on Easter and they were a hit! You can also just throw this in a skillet and get creative as well. Make a lettuce taco, add tomato, sour cream, onion!

drinks

*Crystal light became my best friend! You can even freeze some and make Popsicles. Refrain from using juice because of the carbs and sugar content. These come out more like ice cubes and are hard to bite BUT it keep the hand to mouth going and lasted longer so I felt like I had more going into my body.

*Protein Drinks were a big help and my Breakfast on the go! I use Hydro whey from GNC in chocolate. It's 30 grams of protein, 2 carbs and no sugar. It tastes REALLY good in milk. I would even add some instant coffee crystals and it would taste just like a cold mocha! Let it sit in the fridge for a couple minutes to let the coffee crystals dissolve. You can buy some through GNC and if you don't like it, take it back for a FULL refund. Can't beat that!

Work

I work in an office with no break room or kitchen so the fridge and microwave was my friend. I also cut up summer sausage and would eat that with my cheese slices or my lunch meat wraps. An extra Protein Drink is essential for when you get a hunger kick. I always keep a variety of Crystal Light flavors in my desk. Raw Almonds or nuts would help with a crunch as well as pork rinds. Yep, pork rinds! I didn't want to kill everything I had been doing because I wanted chips, I wanted the crunch! They sell plain, BBQ, spicy and a variety of other flavors! No carbs in pork rinds and they have protein. Not something that will fill you up but will satisfy your need for a crunch!

I DID NOT eat any of the Fiber bars, Protein Bars or anything like that. I was VERY strict with my carb intake and kept it a minimum! A lot of those still have a nice chunk of carbs. My Mom thought she was doing well with watching her intake until I pointed out the 20 something carbs per bar she was eating. I was having less than 20 carbs a day, let alone in one bar!

Everyone is different and it's all a matter of getting creative! If you throw in some exercise, you will be in GREAT shape. Don't get frustrated with the scale. I would hit a plateau and get so upset, only to drop a couple pounds more the next week. You can do it!

P.S. I was NEVER hungry and always allowed myself something to eat if I was. You do not have to starve. I am in fact glad things were done this way and I didn't have to deal with the liquid diet before. I will be on enough liquids after and since I'm working, even today, day before banding, I was afraid of being weak. Not the case and am glad things worked out the way they did!

Wow, thanks for all the tips!! I wil try and use some of them. Especially the cheese part. I always go to sring cheese for a snack. I didn't realize it had more fat than a regular chunk of cheese. I also like the idea of eating summer sausage with cheese for lunch. I love my Protein shakes. I use the powders?utm_source=BariatricPal&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_campaign=CommentLink" target="_ad" data-id="1" >unjury recommended by my surgeon. They tast great and do fill me. I think I will add another to my diet right after my workout. I'm always starving at that point.

My biggest problem comes from dinner. I have a husband and son I have to cook for and they aren't into just eating meat and cheese. They like potatoes and mac and cheese. After fixing it for them, I find it hard to not have some myself.

I will cut out the Fiber bars. I didn't realize they had so many carbs. I was eating them for the fiber content. I guess I can go back to using my metamucil to get my fiber.

Again, thanks for all the advice. I will definitely try some of them.

No problem! Just check your labels, your bar may be ok! I know my Mom's 2 different kinds of "healthy" bars she bought were high in carbs! Of course they only advertised the 7 grams of Protein and 4 grams of fiber on the front.

My husband wasn't into my style of eating but I found it easy for the most part to make beef and pull mine out before making his hamburger helper, spaghetti or whatever meal I was making. It's hard making two dinners but is do-able. Salads are always an alternative but I refused to live off of them!

I also was given an "air cooker", I can steam, roast, BBQ and bake with it. It's kind of bulky but it ensures I'm not cooking whatever meat I choose in a bunch of fat. This was also a big help on some nights! My husband LOVES beddar cheddar brats! They are 3 carbs each if I recall. If I was feeling crazy, I would have two with no bun and some veggies and be STUFFED!

As long as you can avoid the high carb foods, Pasta, rice, potatoes (I LOVE anything potatoe!), you should see a big difference once your body realizes, WOW! I can start burning fat instead of putting it on!

Check your labels, you may be surprised like I with simple things like BBQ sauce.

Weigh your options:

1) 4 carbs and 3 grams of sugar in a tablespoon or two of sauce

OR

2) A beddar cheddar brat?

Brat please!

I have seen MANY recipes using Beans or squash as a substitute for mashed potatoes and have been told they taste like the real deal. I haven't tried it yet but could be an alternative for you :-)

Now almost 2 years after my surgery I have really come to realize that without exercise daily......I either stay the same or gain a little. You don't have to kill yourself...just get 15-30 minutes of cardio movement each day. Try to up it to at least 5 days.

I agree to the tips about checking labels on "healthy" foods- packaging is very misleading. I had to lose 5% of my body weight before they'd let me have surgery and it was hard, but it's harder now so I'm glad I had some work to do before the band.

This seems like a lot of food each day. I'd say cut your carbs. No pretzels/popcorn/starches/bread. How many calories are you consuming on average? That must be more than 1200.

I have been looking into the lap-band procedure since June 2010. I went through the whole process (physicatrist, dietician, wellness) when I found out the my hospital has a max BMI they can operate at. The can't do the Lap band for anyone over 50 BMI. I was then 53. I tried for several months to lose the weight, but nothing worked. I kind of gave up for a while, but then got a call from my surgeon's office in April about where I stood. I told her I couldn't lose the required weight. She had me come in and meet with the bariatric dietician (the first was a general nutritionist). They gave me some pointers and really stressed that I need an exercise routine.

So, I have to redo my insurance required 3 month dieting (Started in April). I had my first weight check in May and was down 5 pounds. I was so happy. I currently have to lose 23 more pounds before I can have the surgery. They told me that I would lose between 12 and 16 pounds on the pre-op liquid diet, so I really needed to lose another 9 pounds. However, this month I have struggled. I'm still following the same diet and exercise, but the scales (home) aren't moving anymore. I feel stronger and my clothes are fitting better so I wonder if I'm losing fat, but gaining muscle.

Did anyone else have to lose a good bit of weight before surgery and if so, how did you do it.

I currently go to the gym 3 days a week. I do 30 minutes of interval training on the elliptical and about 30 minutes of weight training. Below is an example of my diet:

Bfast: Protein shake

Snack: cottage cheese (3/4 cup)

Lunch: Ham and swiss on whole wheat bread or Progresso Soup

sugar free Jello pudding

Fiber one bar

Snack: yogurt or applesauce

Dinner: some type of meat baked with 2 sides (a starch and a veggie)

Snack: pretzels or popcorn

I don't drink sodas, only Water and propel zero. This diet is a LOT better than what I was doing, but I'm still not seeing good results. It's very discouraging. I go to weigh in again in 2 weeks. I hope to have lost another 5 pounds at least.

I had to loose 10% body weight which was 33 pounds. My surgery had to be postponed for other health reasons but I end up losing 50 pounds before surgery. I already had an exercise program I was following so that really helped me. Swiming or water based exercise classes are really good for overweight people. You can exercise for a lot longer than you would on a treadmill. My doctor did not want me snacking even presurgery. Based on that I would suggest eating larger protein based, low cal/fat meals and cut out the snacks.

AHHH!!! I actually had to put on some weight before getting my surgery.... guess I wasn't FAT enough

It was actually very tough for me to gain weight because each pound wreaked havoc on my mobility...

... but how I miss the Junior Bacon Cheeseburgers at Wendys....

Try increasing the number of days to the gym and alternate your weight training and cardio days. If you are doing both on the same day you are not getting the full benefit of both. With the weight training try to look at doing more free weights then machines. Also try to modify the exercises so that you are using an exercise ball as you base. If you are using machines and go to free weights, cut the amount of weight that you are doing by half on the first try and go from there. When using free weights vs. machines you pull in more muscles groups known as stabilizers and you are actually burning more calories. On the elliptical you may want to try increasing the amount of time or increasing the level that you are performing. Also try different profiles on the elliptical to try and change things up, such as going in reverse if the machine has it. Our bodies start to adapt to what we are doing which is why it is always good to switch up your exercise routine every 3-4 weeks.

In regards to my food and calorie intake, based on my weight, height, and age, my body requires about 3300 cal/day to function and maintain weight. I cut that down to 2500 cal/day and have lost 13 pounds doing so. I don't think my calories are too high. Most day's I eat between 2000 and 2200 cal/day. If I dropped down to 1200/day, I would be starving and end up binging on anything I could get. NOT GOOD!! I will stick with my current calorie intake because my bariatric nurse said it's perfect for my body. I will try and avoid certain foods such as Pasta, potatoes, and sugary Snacks.

In regards to snacks, my bariatric dietician actually recommended I eat snacks between meals. I told her that between Breakfast and lunch, I would be famished and she said that it was because I wasn't getting enough calories in bfast. So, she recommended a snack between bfast and lunch, lunch and dinner. They have to be healthy snacks though. My choices are cottage cheese, yogurt, carrots, cubed cheese, banana, apple, etc. I think the small meals 6 times a day is much better than 3 large meals a day. I keep from feeling deprived doing this.

Thanks for everyone's input!!

I had a 12 month pre op diet where I had to eat 1200 cal. a day. I drank Muscle Milk Light to kill the Hunger Beast, and it helped.

I lost over 100 lbs. in a year. I ate what I wanted,(NO JUNK food THOUGH !) as long as I got my calories in, and 60-80G of Protein.

Go to myfitnesspal.com it's free, and it looks up your foods when you enter it, and records, and calculates what you ate. Also you can log your exercise program on it, and it will calculate that for you. Everything is kept in memory. It beats journals by hand, which I did for a long, long time.

Watch your sodium intake!

My doc told me this was a huge thing with me

so use substitutes!

like plain air popped popcorn with lemon juice and garlic powder or chili powder

blend a banana or fruit with your shake

or into your mocha Protein shake.

try to make your own Soups at home

you can freeze them in portions then microwave them when you're ready.

The canned Soup tends to taste bad, and they have a lot of chemicals in them.

allrecipes.com has a ton of yummy and easy recipes

you can specify what you want!

Iced tea is also very yummy

Target and walmart carry a sugar free peach tea that is Delicious!

Its a nice break from water!

Hope this helps!

Also keep in mind that when you begin a diet you do not begin to see the results quickly.

You may not begin to see good results for 4-6 weeks. Just keep doing the diet and the results will come.

You should exercise more. 30 minutes on the elliptical is fine enough, but 30 minutes of weight training really isn't very long. Make it an hour if you can, and you should consider going to the gym more than three times a day.

Most weeks I do try for 4 days a week at the gym, but working full-time and having an 18 month old son to care for, some day's it is difficult to get in longer than 30 minutes of exercise. My trainer at the gym said that 30-40 minutes of cardio and 30 minutes of weights were plenty for me. I will go by her recommendations. I'm not spending every spare minute of my day at the gym and not getting to spend anytime with me son. Sorry. I get off at 4pm. By the time I get to the gym, it's 4:20. After chaning clothes, I get started about 4:30. If I were to work out for 90 minutes, that would have me leaving at 6pm and my son goes to bed at 7pm. I just can't do that. I have to make time for my son too. So, I do the gym 3 days a week for an hour and then we take a walk at home on the weekends. There is a healthy balance to working out and a home life. You can't get obsessed with spending all your free time at the gym. Maybe if I didn't have a family and home responsibilities, it would work, but I do. I will just continue what I'm doing in the exercise department and focus more on my diet and tweeking small things here and there.

Again thanks for all the advice.