I wrote this letter to a friend who is having her surgery tomorrow. It's nothing new, but it distills all the information I would have liked to have had in one place before my surgery, so I thought I'd share it. If it helps you, I'm glad. If not, feel free to ignore it.

I know you’re having your surgery tomorrow. I’mexcited for you!

I thought you might be interested in some of the things I’velearned so far. Having a lapband is different for everyone, but these are mythoughts at the moment:

One of the best articles I’ve read about how the lapbandworks is here: Protein shake. I couldn’t make itwork that way. I have to treat it as a diet and track calories. The difference frommy previous diets is that I have been getting progressively less hungry ratherthan more hungry.

I think this whole thing will be easier if you starttracking calories and protein as soon as you’re back on regular food. I usemyfitnesspal.com—if you want to add me as a friend there, my username islizzy2150. I set mine up for 1200 calories a day—and until my last fill, Iusually also ate all the calories I “earned” through exercise. Now I eat about 1000-1200calories a day total (I don’t use my earned calories) and am not hungry!

I’m a night eater. I always have been. So I arrange my dayto accommodate that. I have coffee when I first get up and a protein shakemid-morning. For lunch I eat 100-200 calories. That leaves me most of thecalories for the end of the day, when I am likely to eat more anyway. Whateveryour tendencies are, try to work around them in a way that makes it easiest to useyour band as a tool.

I feel better if I eat more protein than the nutritionistrecommended; she said 70-75 grams a day, but I feel best if I’m taking in90-100 grams. That may just be a personal idiosyncrasy, but if you feeloverwhelmingly hungry or are more tired than you think you should be, tryhaving more protein for a few days. It may help.

Don’t forget to take your vitamins—I’m convinced that I don’ttake in enough variety of food to truly supply all my nutritional needs, evenon days when I am eating a wide variety of things.

I regularly read lapbandtalk.com; there are a lot of peoplethere who have a lot of experience with the band. If I have a question, I postit there. I’ve gotten some great information on the site.

The band works better if you exercise. I started by walkinga little bit every day. I joined the YMCA about six weeks ago and now take yogaclasses a couple of times a week and run 3 to 5 miles a day. So it took mealmost two months to really work up to exercising regularly.

Remember that your ultimate goal is losing an average of 1-3lbs. a week. Some weeks will be better than others. But as long as you do whatyou’re supposed to, the weight will come off. From everything I can tell aboutweight-loss rates, I am a fairly slow loser—but the weight is coming offsteadily, so I stay pretty happy about it.

That’s all I can think of at the moment. Good luck!

That's Great !!!! you're a very good friend

Very good advice. Thanks for sharing.

awesome article, I'll be beginning the journey on Dec 1st, I have book marked this article because it really puts it into perspective. thanks for that, i am also sending it to my husband and friends so they can understand what the heck I am doing and how and why it works. Teresa

Excellent article.

TBM

This is great Lizzy! Wish I had a friend like you when I was banded. I also use myfitnesspal.com - A VERY useful tool to help me along the way. Holds me accountable!!

I wrote this letter to a friend who is having her surgery tomorrow. It's nothing new, but it distills all the information I would have liked to have had in one place before my surgery, so I thought I'd share it. If it helps you, I'm glad. If not, feel free to ignore it.

I know you're having your surgery tomorrow. I'mexcited for you!

I thought you might be interested in some of the things I'velearned so far. Having a lapband is different for everyone, but these are mythoughts at the moment:

One of the best articles I've read about how the lapbandworks is here: http://drsimpson.net/fills/Lap-band-eating/lap-band-not-restriction/lap-band-and-restriction.html.I re-read it periodically to make sure I remember how I'm supposed to feel.

Use a heating pad on your shoulders or chest if they hurtafter the surgeryit will help with the gas pain that often comes with thesurgery. Also, take a lot of Gas-X strips; you can't overdose on them. You'llfeel better sooner than you expect.

Don't be surprised when you're still hungry soon after thesurgery. It takes several fills for the band to take effect. Just use the firstfew weeks to practice new eating skillstaking small bites and chewing them upthoroughly. You'll need those skills soon.

Our doctor's office will tell you to eat three small meals aday and if you're hungry in between, have a Protein shake. I couldn't make itwork that way. I have to treat it as a diet and track calories. The difference frommy previous diets is that I have been getting progressively less hungry ratherthan more hungry.

I think this whole thing will be easier if you starttracking calories and protein as soon as you're back on regular food. I usemyfitnesspal.comif you want to add me as a friend there, my username islizzy2150. I set mine up for 1200 calories a dayand until my last fill, Iusually also ate all the calories I "earned" through exercise. Now I eat about 1000-1200calories a day total (I don't use my earned calories) and am not hungry!

I'm a night eater. I always have been. So I arrange my dayto accommodate that. I have coffee when I first get up and a protein shakemid-morning. For lunch I eat 100-200 calories. That leaves me most of thecalories for the end of the day, when I am likely to eat more anyway. Whateveryour tendencies are, try to work around them in a way that makes it easiest to useyour band as a tool.

I feel better if I eat more protein than the nutritionistrecommended; she said 70-75 grams a day, but I feel best if I'm taking in90-100 grams. That may just be a personal idiosyncrasy, but if you feeloverwhelmingly hungry or are more tired than you think you should be, tryhaving more protein for a few days. It may help.

Don't forget to take your vitaminsI'm convinced that I don'ttake in enough variety of food to truly supply all my nutritional needs, evenon days when I am eating a wide variety of things.

I regularly read lapbandtalk.com; there are a lot of peoplethere who have a lot of experience with the band. If I have a question, I postit there. I've gotten some great information on the site.

The band works better if you exercise. I started by walkinga little bit every day. I joined the YMCA about six weeks ago and now take yogaclasses a couple of times a week and run 3 to 5 miles a day. So it took mealmost two months to really work up to exercising regularly.

Remember that your ultimate goal is losing an average of 1-3lbs. a week. Some weeks will be better than others. But as long as you do whatyou're supposed to, the weight will come off. From everything I can tell aboutweight-loss rates, I am a fairly slow loserbut the weight is coming offsteadily, so I stay pretty happy about it.

That's all I can think of at the moment. Good luck!

Wow, this is a great post, and great article. Thanks for sharing.