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How does it physically feel ?



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I'm getting banded July 1 started my preop liquid diet. Super excited and even more anxious. I'm not afraid of the "eating" part because despite being obese I do eat healthy especially the last few years but I'm worried how I will feel physically. All the drs seem like being banded is no big deal and will be great for me. My family and friends have been extremely supportive. I'm imagining that once I make it to chewing solids I will feel like I did three days ago. I'm just worried if I will physically feel different. All the anxiety is from the unknown and for someone who is borderline a control freak it's scary .... Any input would be greatly appreciated. I feel this is the right and healthiest decision for me. I'm not losing 100 + pounds without this tool or I would of I've been on a diet since 10 yrs old :(

Thanks

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how does it physically feel

the same as i was prior..except now i weigh alot less.

i do not feel the band itself (but i can feel my port now) and to me that is a great thing...my little helper who gave me life back..what a wonderful friend.. the band is a pretty 3inch white necklace that sits on your tummy...it is not a miracle cure all...the main/hardest part is changing our mental game from a dieter to a eat better quality/move/exercise game now....YOU will do fine...do what works for you and that is all that matters....YOU will do just fine.....i agree, the unknown is scary..i felt that exact same way.....but what i can tell you is that if you do the best you can, you will be a success in all the aspects you wish....congrats on making a great decision to save your life...

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The days after surgery you will be sore. You might even ask youself what the heck did I just do, but that will pass. After you body heals, you will feel like normal, only better because the weight will start coming off.

Yes, this is a life changer, but not a bad one. You adjust, yeah you eat differently, but not dramatically- you eat less, which is the key.

After the first week, you will be back to you, just eating less.

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how does it physically feel

the same as i was prior..except now i weigh alot less.

i do not feel the band itself (but i can feel my port now) and to me that is a great thing...my little helper who gave me life back..what a wonderful friend.. the band is a pretty 3inch white necklace that sits on your tummy...it is not a miracle cure all...the main/hardest part is changing our mental game from a dieter to a eat better quality/move/exercise game now....YOU will do fine...do what works for you and that is all that matters....YOU will do just fine.....i agree' date=' the unknown is scary..i felt that exact same way.....but what i can tell you is that if you do the best you can, you will be a success in all the aspects you wish....congrats on making a great decision to save your life...[/quote']

Thank you !!!!

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Thank you both so much . My surgeon had it Done to himself and said the same but as the date comes closer so does the anxiety thank you for helping me ease it :)

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For me the band has basically made all of my efforts actually effective. Before the band I ate better and exercised more than all of my friends but I still weighed twice as much as them. Finally with the band I'm losing the weight you'd expect to see a person lose if they ate and exercise as I did (and the eating and exercise have both gotten easier to boot).

If someone asked me what you need for the band to be successful I'd say focus on the habits first because the band just reinforces them.

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My band feels like a part of me, I call her my yellow rose. Some days she is a beautiful yellow rose (my favorite flower) and other days she shows her thorns (tight, not wanting to cooperate with me....) I have learned to listen to her, she tells me when to stop and not push it. She helped me loose 80 pounds in 10 months and is helping me maintain that loss.

You say that you already eat healthy, that will help you greatly. Changing your eating habits is one part of this process that the band can't do. We have to make good health choices of food, then the band steps in and helps keep us from feeling physically hunger for 3-4 hours.

Congratulations on making the decision to make yourself healthy.

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I feel the band in the mornings. It feels tight, drinking hot tea helps! There is a bit of pressure I feel from the band- its not painful, just there. Good luck in your journey!

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I cant feel my band but I can really see my port now! I was sore when I woke up, but only sore not in real pain and the day or so after I was fine. Now she is just part of me, I call it my choke chain, it just hangs around in there unless I start to pull my eating too far , and then it yanks me back. Its a sharp learning curve about how to eat - hint , very slowly with each fork full lovingly prepared and cut down to tiny bitesized pieces ( I always was a perfect mouthful girl so its no hardship for me) - but you soon get the message. Getting to the sweet spot can be tricky and overfills are no fun at all, but I have never ever resented my band, I just learned by my mistakes and altered what I was doing.

i do feel physically different, I just ran 3 miles and did my yoga, I can wear lycra and look pretty damn fine if I say so myself, I am bursting with confidence and look 10 years younger than I did 10 years ago!

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For me the band has basically made all of my efforts actually effective. Before the band I ate better and exercised more than all of my friends but I still weighed twice as much as them. Finally with the band I'm losing the weight you'd expect to see a person lose if they ate and exercise as I did (and the eating and exercise have both gotten easier to boot).

If someone asked me what you need for the band to be successful I'd say focus on the habits first because the band just reinforces them.

I love this response, especially since this mirrors my experience!

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I'm a complete control freak and just threw caution to the wind when I decided to band...jumping in with both feet and refused to allow myself to think about it. Honestly...I had a really rough first 2 weeks and was ready to throw in the towel and demand they take that thing out of me. But, it was because my body was rejecting the Vitamins I was taking...it had nothing to do with the band itself.

Once that got sorted out I've felt...well, exactly how I did before...in fact I was just saying in another post that I forget I even did this occasionally and resort to eating big bites or gulping or whatever...thats when the band shows up and wags her finger at me.

It sounds like you have really thought this out. I'm excited for you!

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After the band felt like I did 100 sit ups after that nothing. Was nervous about fills but you don't feel a thing a little pressure maybe. Just eat small bites and eat SLOW!!

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The first few days may depend on your tolerance for pain. Naturally, there will be some due to having a procedure. And you may get buyers remorse. But, after a few days, extreme cases a few weeks, you will feel like yourself but better because you've lost weight.

I don't think anyone posted about the gas pains. You may get pains in your back and or shoulders, they hurt, but there are ways to ease them(ice, heat, gas x, moving around a lot).

Somethibg to think about, when you deliver a baby, it hurts but you give life. Then you forget the pain. With wls, you give a new chance on life to yourself, it hurts, but you'll forget the pain. : )

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Oh yes, the gas pains definitely need to be mentioned since they don't feel like gas at all. It feels like you have a muscle knot in your shoulder or back. I didn't believe it could possibly be gas I assumed I'd pulled something right before surgery and just didn't notice but no amount of massage or muscle relaxant would help until I skeptically tried a Gas-x strip and within 5 minutes the pain was simply gone.

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For me the band has basically made all of my efforts actually effective. Before the band I ate better and exercised more than all of my friends but I still weighed twice as much as them. Finally with the band I'm losing the weight you'd expect to see a person lose if they ate and exercise as I did (and the eating and exercise have both gotten easier to boot).

If someone asked me what you need for the band to be successful I'd say focus on the habits first because the band just reinforces them.

Thanks Frederic that's how I feel I feel like I do all the right things for the lost part I'm not perfect I'm human so I'm hoping this tool will finally enhance my efforts :)

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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

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        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

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