I'm planning on getting banded in Sept 2008.

Between now and sept I'd like to focus my diet and exercise towards reducing my risk of complications rather than worry about my weight.

I feel my time would be well spent if I focused on reducing the amount of poor circulation and Water retention in my legs( to reduce the risk of blood clots)

Are there specific things that I could do? or should I just do a lot of generic diet and exercise stuff?

thanks

Tyler

For the legs, I would do walking and move them around as much as possible. That will increase the circulation in them, reducing the possibility of clots.

As for dieting, I would say try to cut down sugar, and carbs. Try to lessen the amount of calories you eat each day by a little and gradually keep doing that weekly.

Stay more active and don't eat a lot of high fat,sugary foods.

Good luck.

Hi Tyler:

Congrats on taking the plunge in September! One thing I would highly recommend is tracking your food intake at an online site. I use www.Dailyplate.com and recommend it tremendously! It's been quite an eye-opener in May as I tracked everything I ate. I input my weight and other stats as well as how much I wanted to lose a week (2 lbs.) and it computed the calories I was allowed each day.

By following it fairly strictly I have already lost 11 pounds prior to surgery. I try to keep my fat below the allowed amount, my Fiber higher and tend to be over on Protein and sodium. It's interesting to see how many fruits and veggies I can eat compared to say a processed Lean Cuisine pizza. (Although I eat everything - I am just much more aware of portion size as I now measure everything religiously!)

It might seem like a pain to fill this in each day but I've had a lot of fun and it keeps my worst days from being overblown. Yesterday I went over calories (I'm allowed 1,797 - was higher until I lost the pounds) by 366 but since that means I ate 2,163, but it's still not like the old days when I would eat well over 3,000. I am not inputting my exercise - I figure that's just icing on the weight-loss cake (a cake with no calories I might add) but you may want to see how a 15-minute walk will affect your intake abilities.

Oh yes, I am eating as many whole and raw foods as possible and that has been very helpful and I've pretty much given up sugar and fake sugar except for Stevia. That tends to help me stay on track but it's not for everyone.

Best of luck and keep us up to date on your progress.

Susan