I just wanted to introduce myself. I had the surgery on June 3rd and am going in for my first fill tomorrow! So far everything has been going well, but I feel a bit in the dark as to what I should be experiencing so decided it would be a good idea to join a support group.

The morning of the surgery I weighed 233 lbs. and so far (according to my scale) I'm down to 216.

The surgery itself went really well (performed in Germany by Prof. Weiner), and I had lost 10 lbs. before I left the hospital. They didn't offer any supplements from the doctor here, just instructed me to follow a liquid diet for the next 5 weeks until my appointment for the first fill. So, I've been eating a lot of cream of potato Soup (only thing I seem to have a taste for). I didn't have any appetite at all for the first 2 weeks, but then suddenly I was ravenous.

I've always been a bit of a calorie counter and it's a hard habit to break. I realized that the first two weeks I was eating less than 300 cals/day. The next week I ate around 500 calories, but felt like I was constantly starving. I pushed the calories up to about 700, but started gaining weight so tried to start doing a little more intense exercise. Still gained weight, which seems so crazy on just 700 cals/day! Talked to some nutritionists who recommended I go to 1,000 cals/day, counter-intuitive I know, but I figured it couldn't hurt to try so I did and wow...suddenly the weight just started coming off. I weighed myself every day for a week and was losing about .5 lb/every two days.

I'm sure this is just like any other form of diet control where everyone has to find what works for them, but I thought I'd share what's working for me. Hopefully all will go well at my appointment tomorrow, but I'm a bit nervous as to how I will feel with the fill and also whether or not I'm going to go crazy once I start eating real food again.

I hope I find the support I'm looking for here!

Katie

Minou

Hi it's Melanie (Banditmel) - I'm surprised that you're only on fluids so long after the surgery. I'm not being banded until the end of July but all my research says you'd be on quite normal food by weeks 4-6? Is this not the case? I would have thought you'd need some more protein but I'd be glad to hear what our more experienced posters say. All the best

Mel

Hi Katie, I totally understand the whole bumping up the calories... as much as we want to see low numbers we have to make sure our bodies still have enough fuel to burn the calories off. I try to stay around 900-1100 a day. I work out though and ride my bike alot.

Minou

Hi it's Melanie (Banditmel) - I'm surprised that you're only on fluids so long after the surgery. I'm not being banded until the end of July but all my research says you'd be on quite normal food by weeks 4-6? Is this not the case? I would have thought you'd need some more Protein but I'd be glad to hear what our more experienced posters say. All the best

Mel

Yeah, I was a bit surprised too, but it's the way it's done here in Germany. You're on liquids until you return for your fill. I've had to break down and eat a few semi solids though, like cottage cheese and mashed potatoes. They also don't supply patients with any kind of supplement, we're just instructed to go home and only eat things you could drink from a cup. I had to buy some diet shakes from our grocery store so that I could keep my protein numbers up, but it wasn't cloase to what they prescribe to US patients. However, things seem to have gone fine, I've lost almost 20 lbs and feel good, not hungry really, my scars are healing, my skin and hair looks pretty healthy, so maybe it's not so imperative to get the high protein.

Hi Minou

I'm just wondering how it's going now for you? Melanie (ex banditmel!)

Welcome, Minou!

I think it's a good idea to continue to get as much Protein as you can. It's important for several reasons. Also as I understand it, it takes awhile before you'd see an effect like hair loss, as the problem starts in the roots and it's not until the affected roots start to grow out that the hair falls out. That's not a very technical explanation and may not be completely accurate, it's just the bits and pieces I remember from the explanation.

Sounds like you're doing great, we were just about the same weight when we were banded and we're just about the same weight now, but you were banded two weeks later than me.... so you're doing well!

I'm definitely trying to get as much Protein as I can, I've mixed some Protein shakes and things since day 1, but I just can't eat very much of one so the amount I'm getting is minimal. I'm a little bit vain about my skin and hair so I've been really making sure I had a balanced nutrition intake the entire time.

Thank you for pointing out the numbers to me! Most of the other patients at my doctor's had the RNY, so when I went back for my checkup they had all lost somewhere between 30 and 60 lbs. The NP said I had done really well, but I just didn't know for sure. I know it's just like any normal weight loss attempt in that everyone will lose differently, but thank you for letting me see that it's a normal range!