I have been reading on YahooBandsters & came across this diet that a Dr. tells all his patients to follow & apparently he has a very good success rate. I thought it was interesting.

Dr. Foxkin's High Protein Diet for Gastric Banding patients.

It is based on a baseball diamond working together.

Home plate- is getting banded and then working on getting proper adjustment.

First Base- Use an appetite suppressant to relieve hunger and carbohydrate cravings. Use Phentermine or Phendimetrazine. For a month worth it was $23 self-pay.

Second Base - It is a high protein/almost no carb diet. He describes it as Atkins minus the salads. He recommends patients stay on the diet until they reach goal weight, which usually takes only 9-12 months. No milk, avoid fruits, veggies, and grains. Be careful of hidden carbs in sauces or breaded products.

(Anyone who is commited to a high protein diet has to follow these rules to the letter. It takes 2 to 3 days for the body to switch to fat burning. Consume a lil' carbs and you are back to a glucose burning metabolism and can lose the effect of the 2 or 3 days of fat burning. If you eat good during the week and eat normal on weekends say bye-bye to the drastic results. You can use something like Keto-stics to make sure ketones are present in your urine.)

Third Base -Exercise intervention on a daily basis. They recommend Curves, Curves look-alikes, or anything aerobic done for at least 30 minutes per day. No matter what level you are at it is important to just start moving even seated exercise videos can be a great place to start.

Using all the above together the next step is Home plate!

Home plate - Is reaching your goal. He considers a Home Run getting to a size 9 or smaller for women. (He is known for liking his patients very skinny. He wanted me to shoot for a size 6 but I haven't been that since third grade. I was very happy at a 10/12 when I lost to goal before but we agreed I'd shoot for a size 9. Hell I'd love to get to a 9 or smaller but I don't want to set myself up for disappointment.)

He says most patients will lose at least 15 lbs a month with the band adjusted right and following the Foxkin plan. He says even non-bandsters have good luck with it.

He also recommends maintaining adequate protein, Vitamin and mineral levels for optimum weight loss

-90 or 120 grams protein supplement (unless your doctor thinks you need more)

-Vitamin and mineral supplement like the pink bottle from Vita4Life. Although he thought the GNC orange liquid multi-vitamin and mineral supplement (I think I'm going to use the orange Centrum chewables next)

-Calcium Citrate 3500-4500mg

i am on day 2 of the low-carb plan. i'm not doing the appetite suppressants but from my experience doing the low-carb thing in the past, the lack of sugar keeps me from being very hungry.

yesterday, breakfast:

- coffee with half and half and 1 equal

- a boiled egg

lunch:

- 3oz pork chop

dinner:

- 1/3 head lettuce w/ bacon bits, chives and bleu cheese

i'm not doing the totally radical stance of NO veggies, but i think i'm going to try to stick to lettuces b/c they're mostly Water. i'll keep you guys updated.

I went to Dr. Fox's seminar once back before banding was done in the states. (seminar for bypass). He does like "his" girls skinny.

One of the things that his office would make you sign is an agreement that once you made goal that you would go to an image consultant to help you pick out a new look for yourself -- hairstyle, makeup, wardrobe, etc. I actually think that's a great idea and I will probably do it, even though I didn't get my surgery through his office. [eta: I don't know if he still does this]

<< snipped; I probably shouldn't state my opinion of Dr. Fox here >>

why not state your opinion of dr. fox here. he doesn't pay the bills for lapbandtalk! and i'm not being snide.

Niche - how's the low carb diet going? I saw that you ate pork chop. Are you able to get that down okay? I'm very curious to see if this really is sucessful.