Hi, folks. I got a lap band in 2014 and did well for a few years but the band "migrated" and I had to have it removed. Now I'm going in for gastric bypass 2/3. I am excited to get my body in a healthier place but I'm nervous about the massive changes I will have to learn to live well. The band simply wouldn't allow me to get most things I wanted to eat through. It was more of a surgical device for bulimia than a life-style change tbh.

Can you folks who have gone through a band to traditional gastric bypass (not sleeve) surgery tell me what you found to be the MOST helpful tool to maximize your success? I need peeps who've been where I'm heading in 2 weeks.

I didn't have band to bypass, I had sleeve to bypass, but I can still suggest what I think is the greatest tool for me - tracking RELIGIOUSLY. Every thing that goes in your mouth gets weighed and tracked. Buy yourself a little digital scale, you don't need anything fancy, can get a decent one for ten bucks on Amazon. Make sure it does both grams and ounces, and USE it every day for every meal, and put it in your tracker. I use MyFitnessPal (free version), you can use whatever you feel comfortable with. But weigh and track. NEVER eyeball a meal. You will always assume it is less than it actually is.

I don't eat more than 4 oz or so at a time, and you would be surprised how small 4 oz of some foods can appear. The scale keeps you from cheating with the portions (even accidentally) and the tracker keeps you honest about how many calories you are consuming, as well as the nutritional values.

An extra benefit of the tracker is if you start to have problems or backslide, you can go back to see what you did that worked and recreate those meals. I recently went back and looked at my entries in 2016 and 2017 to see what I was eating the first months I was sleeved because I was doing so well, and I started eating those same things again now and am seeing similar success.

Thank you!! I will get the digital scale and download the tracker app on my phone. I'm a little nervous about the surgery but I am excited about getting back on track with my health.

I am doing band to bypass on 2/1 and in same boat. Did band 13 years ago and was successful but has to come out due to complications

I'm a little anxious about the upcoming surgery. Are you having to do the liver shrinking diet?

I did band to bypass (band out about 5 months before my bypass). Bypass is SO much better than band. Although I did very well with the band originally, it got to where I'd wake up choking on stomach acid even when I was mostly unfilled.

For the bypass I was fortunate to have a very easy recovery. I followed my Surgeons orders exactly, especially in the first couple of months. Drink as much water as you can (I found if I sipped everytime someone on TV or around me did or at all commercial breaks it helped in the early days). I also did lots of premier protein shakes (and still do green smoothies with protein for breakfast quite often)

Once healed and on "normal" diet I found meal prep was key. I don't like to eat a piece of meat and veggies, but I do well with casseroles or stews, so I'd find and make healthy meals, portion them out in microwaveable bowls. I'd do 2 or 3 different meals each week (freeze extras if needed) then I just have to grab and heat and I got the right amount and good macro's.

Loridee, did you lose all of your weight while you had your band? Or did you have more to lose after you revised to bypass? And if so, did you lose your weight slower with the bypass?

I'm in the process of revising to bypass from band. My band was removed 4/2021 and now I'm in the process of revising and I'm trying to get an understanding how exactly the bypass is different from the band. I see a lot of people saying it's different and better, but I'm still not exactly sure what makes it different and better. Other than the obvious lack of reflux a lot of banders experienced, myself included.

I had the lap band in 2002, switched to sleeve because it was causing problems in 2009, now I’m working on the process for conversion to bypass. I lost a lot with the band, I didn’t really lose much after the sleeve due to stress, illness, etc. I’m committed to the changes and have lost 18 pounds since initial consult with the surgeon in September. The GERD issue is prompting the conversion surgery. I have one more pre surgery appointment left. I’m scared of both the pain and perhaps failing. Good luck to you.

Thanks to my fellow WLS pals for responding. I have been getting more prepared for surgery (in FIVE DAYS!) and have what I need for the first several weeks at home and ready to go. I am not as afraid of post-surgery pain as I am about having a pretty big surgery at 55 y/o. I know that's not crazy old but it's not 20's or 30's anymore either. I am praying to put it all in God's Hands and Trust in Him.

On 1/29/2022 at 1:42 PM, MaryRN66 said:

Thanks to my fellow WLS pals for responding. I have been getting more prepared for surgery (in FIVE DAYS!) and have what I need for the first several weeks at home and ready to go. I am not as afraid of post-surgery pain as I am about having a pretty big surgery at 55 y/o. I know that's not crazy old but it's not 20's or 30's anymore either. I am praying to put it all in God's Hands and Trust in Him.

So how did everything go?

On 1/24/2022 at 7:26 PM, loridee11 said:

I did band to bypass (band out about 5 months before my bypass). Bypass is SO much better than band. Although I did very well with the band originally, it got to where I'd wake up choking on stomach acid even when I was mostly unfilled.

For the bypass I was fortunate to have a very easy recovery. I followed my Surgeons orders exactly, especially in the first couple of months. Drink as much Water as you can (I found if I sipped everytime someone on TV or around me did or at all commercial breaks it helped in the early days). I also did lots of Premier Protein shakes (and still do green smoothies with Protein for Breakfast quite often)

Once healed and on "normal" diet I found meal prep was key. I don't like to eat a piece of meat and veggies, but I do well with casseroles or stews, so I'd find and make healthy meals, portion them out in microwaveable bowls. I'd do 2 or 3 different meals each week (freeze extras if needed) then I just have to grab and heat and I got the right amount and good macro's.

I'm trying to add some stuff to what I eat, I have a very limited "menu", can you recommend a few of your casserole/stew recipes? Thanks!

On 2/5/2022 at 6:26 PM, Tufflaw said:

I'm trying to add some stuff to what I eat, I have a very limited "menu", can you recommend a few of your casserole/stew recipes? Thanks!

This week I'm going to make:

- Chicken Pot pie - minus the pie --- so kind of a chicken stew. The one I like has Thyme and Dijon as the base flavors.
- Vegetable au gratin: It's cauliflower, broccoli, leek and chicken dinner sausage in a Sour cream (I replace 1/2 with greek yogurt and use lower fat versions) and cheese sauce.
- Thai chicken salad for lunch's.

On 1/24/2022 at 4:39 PM, WhispersOfAngel said:

Loridee, did you lose all of your weight while you had your band? Or did you have more to lose after you revised to bypass? And if so, did you lose your weight slower with the bypass?

I'm in the process of revising to bypass from band. My band was removed 4/2021 and now I'm in the process of revising and I'm trying to get an understanding how exactly the bypass is different from the band. I see a lot of people saying it's different and better, but I'm still not exactly sure what makes it different and better. Other than the obvious lack of reflux a lot of banders experienced, myself included.

Hi whispers, I lost most of my weight with band (333 to 183) but then I gained it all back. When I started my weight loss pre- RNY I was back at 333. I'm now down around 160 and I lost it over a little over a year.

What made bypass better for me: Food doesn't get stuck. I don't throw up. I don't have acid reflux (well, much. I'm one of the unfortunate ones that still has some). At 2+ years out I eat a "normal" amount --- normal for normal weight people, not my pre-surgery normal. That can be good or bad as if I eat the wrong things I will get too many calories. But it is better than with band. With band, if I was retaining water, or on my period I may only be able to eat a bite or two some days. Other days it felt like I could eat anything.

For what it's worth, I also really embraced exercise and walk almost every day, hike multiple days a week, and hit the gym a few times a week now that they are open again.

On 3/12/2022 at 7:52 PM, loridee11 said:

Hi whispers, I lost most of my weight with band (333 to 183) but then I gained it all back. When I started my weight loss pre- RNY I was back at 333. I'm now down around 160 and I lost it over a little over a year.

What made bypass better for me: food doesn't get stuck. I don't throw up. I don't have acid reflux (well, much. I'm one of the unfortunate ones that still has some). At 2+ years out I eat a "normal" amount --- normal for normal weight people, not my pre-surgery normal. That can be good or bad as if I eat the wrong things I will get too many calories. But it is better than with band. With band, if I was retaining Water, or on my period I may only be able to eat a bite or two some days. Other days it felt like I could eat anything.

For what it's worth, I also really embraced exercise and walk almost every day, hike multiple days a week, and hit the gym a few times a week now that they are open again.

Thank you so much for all of this information. This helps me so much.

On 1/21/2022 at 2:55 PM, MaryRN66 said:

Hi, folks. I got a lap band in 2014 and did well for a few years but the band "migrated" and I had to have it removed. Now I'm going in for gastric bypass 2/3. I am excited to get my body in a healthier place but I'm nervous about the massive changes I will have to learn to live well. The band simply wouldn't allow me to get most things I wanted to eat through. It was more of a surgical device for bulimia than a life-style change tbh.

Can you folks who have gone through a band to traditional gastric bypass (not sleeve) surgery tell me what you found to be the MOST helpful tool to maximize your success? I need peeps who've been where I'm heading in 2 weeks.

Hello! I am in the process of converting from a band to another type of WLS. I got the band in June 2009, and had it removed in June 2021, due to complications with acid reflux. I met with my surgeon in May of this year to discuss a revision. Due to the issues with the band, he doesn't recommend the sleeve, but the bypass. I am nervous about the re-routing and the fact that I am almost 50. My current weight is 250 lbs. Would you be able to share some of your experiences/challenges before, during and after the revision surgery? I have completed most of my clearances and will meet with the surgeon on September 1st--I think during that visit we will discuss my surgery date and the type of surgery.

I appreciate any insight you can provide.

Thank you!

On 7/30/2022 at 6:40 PM, CDMC1972 said:

Hello! I am in the process of converting from a band to another type of WLS. I got the band in June 2009, and had it removed in June 2021, due to complications with acid reflux. I met with my surgeon in May of this year to discuss a revision. Due to the issues with the band, he doesn't recommend the sleeve, but the bypass. I am nervous about the re-routing and the fact that I am almost 50. My current weight is 250 lbs. Would you be able to share some of your experiences/challenges before, during and after the revision surgery? I have completed most of my clearances and will meet with the surgeon on September 1st--I think during that visit we will discuss my surgery date and the type of surgery.

I appreciate any insight you can provide.

Thank you!

The bypass went really well. Less pain than I experienced with the band procedure (weird, I know!) and the weight is coming off at a steady pace. Gotta keep myself in check and not get comfortable and start snacking on the wrong foods or thinking I'm home free. The one big plus...being able to eat FRUIT again! With the band, it never seemed to pass through and I love fruits! I need to increase my veggie intake to be the majority of my meals and summer time being so hot this year, I haven't been cooking the veggies in the oven to keep the house cool. But once it starts to cool down, I intent to go in on baking and air frying a whole bunch of fresh veggies.

My surgery was 2/3/22 and I have lost 46 pounds thus far and well on my way to my goal weight. I'm drinking 64-96 ounces of water with crystal light lemonade (yummy) every day and this has been a HUGE help in keeping my appetite in check. I also stop eating by about 5 pm most nights which also has helped. I'm working out with water aerobics and calistenics at home so my body doesn't look like melted wax at the end of my body transformation.

The surgery was the easy part though it was the part I was most fearful about. I have a life to live and plans to enjoy my getting older years with my amazing husband. I hope the same for you!