I'm being banded on Monday January 26th. Three days into my pre-op "liver" diet and so far I'm doing fine (except for some "head" hunger). My surgery is going to be done by Dr. Jaime Ponce (Gastric Band Institute) in Dalton, Ga (I live in Ooltewah, TN - near Chattanooga). Anybody else scheduled for that date?

I did a better job on eating yesterday. As of this morning I have lost 20 pounds since I started my pre-op diet on January 12th.

Wow, what was it about yesterday? :thumbup:

I had two cookies, no reason for it, didn't even need them I just wanted to be a little rebellious. :biggrin: I also went out to eat last night with some friends and ate much more fried food than I should have. Today I'm up about 2 pounds. But I also realize that I had a bunch more sodium yesterday so part of me is wondering if that didn't contribute to the weight gain as well. But you are all right, today is a new day and I'm ready to make good choices.

Thanks guys :tongue2:

Christy

Craig, that is great! Way to go!!

:biggrin:

Hey buddies! How ya all doing?

Not sure what I'm doing wrong but have gained 4 pounds in the last two days. I have been keeping my calories down to about 600-800 and am getting good amounts of protein in but also high on the fats and carbs. I'm wondering if it's because of water intake still. I've only gotten in about half the water I'm supposed to drink. We'll I'll keep keeping on.

I've started mall walking. It's been a bit amusing because you can see the people who are really serious about it. I just figure it's a way to walk when it's sub zero outside. I am tending to get lapped by 80 year olds.:cursing: Hopefully that will change soon, LOL.

Have a good day guys!

Christy

christy,

Hi there. At 600 calories maybe you are not eating enough to lose? The water could also have something to do with it....no matter what diet, plan, etc. I have been on I could never drink the amount of water I was supposed to...it would always make me sick to my stomach. I have lost 19lbs to date, but nothing in the last 3-4 days, which I attribute to eating more "substantial" soft foods. It is a little disappointing after losing so fast, but I knew to expect it. I cant wait for my fill... to see what this is really like and to not be so hungry and tempted to just eat anything, and fast (that is how I get when I'm hungry...eating whatever is handy and too quickly) though, of course I am trying to curb that now. Good luck and I'm sure you will start losing again soon.

A question for all. Does anyone have pain in their clavical after they eat? I seem to get this pain that radiates up (I can only assume from the band) to my left clavical. It only seems to be when I eat too fast or too big a bite. Just wondering. Thanks!

-Julie

Julie,

I got that pain earlier today. I felt like I could not breathe. I had to take a couple of sips of water to help get the food through. It was awful. I ate some tuna and I must not have chewed it properly.

Christy, you probably aren't getting enough calories and you body is fighting back by slowing down your metabolism. I was trying to keep my calories under 1100, but when I increased them to about 1500 calories I started losing consistently (21 pounds so far since pre-op). You also need to keep you protein intake up (about 50-60 grams per day). The protein should be easier at this point, but up til now I've been supplementing with a protein shot in my water.

I had the chest pain also this morning. We went out to eat for breakfast and I ordered a cheese omlet. When the omlet came it also came with a side of toast. After I had eaten about half of the omlet, I mindlessly picked up a piece of toast and ate it without consciously trying to chew it into small pieces. OH MY GOD. Fortunately all I got from it was a bad case of hiccups. The good news is that I ate less than I normally would have, since I had to immediately stop eating (and I know for sure the band is working, even without an adjustment). This is the band telling you that you are eating too fast or too much. I used to have this problem years ago due to esphogeal spasms, and you just have try to relax and let the food that is "stuck" go down. Worst case, you have to PB (productive burp), which means you regurgitate the food back up, but you don't get any stomach acid with it (since it has never reached your stomach). If you start feeling pressure in your chest, STOP EATING. Usually water will just make things worse.

I'm wondering about that. :thumbup: I have been trying to get more in but with only being able to eat three meals a day and trying to make it as protein heavy as possible I'm just not able to get that many calories in. I guess I gotta get creative.

I have not had the pain you guys are talking about but I have had a few times where there's a pressure under my ribcage on my left hand side. I'm thinking that is where the pouch is and it's inflating when I eat.

Oh and the best news!! My gas bubble is gone. :clap: I have no idea what I did (if anything) but I noticed yesterday while driving that I was able to take a deep breath without pain. Hurray!!

I hope you guys are well. I'm going to try to increase my protein, I noticed way more hair in my ponytail holder than I have ever had in the past so I'm thinking it may be due to not getting enough protein. So much to think about.

Have a good day, everyone!:thumbup:

Christy

Hi everyone! Sorry I've not been on for a while, I have missed you all! Welcome to Kara, I'm glad you found us over here! I've moved on to mushies and I've had a problem with portion control. I'm finding it hard to eat slowly and recognise when I'm full so I end up over-eating and then feeling really uncomforable for hours afterwards. I couldnt sleep last night as I felt too full all night. I've also had a bad fall today. My feet got caught in some wire and a I went down like a ton of bricks! Fell on my left knee and elbow. The fall has pulled all of my stomach and its really sore again. I've gone back to liquids since it happened as I dont want to stress it out by adding food to the equation too! I haven't lost any more weight either which is getting me down, I'm not scheduled for my 1st fill until 9th March. I too have that clavical pain that you were discussing, not pleasant is it? Anyway its great to be back online, keep up the good work everone, we'll get there in the end!

Jacquie

KD- omg...that's when I first had the pain, eating tuna! I wonder if it is too "dense" and I would guess you're right, chewing it better will help.

downsdc- I had a "mindless" moment too...I walked by my son eating doritos and just grabbed 2, I think I forgot completely about the surgery! Well, needless to say, the chest pain was bad...I almost felt as though I would be sick but wasn't. Going to try to be completely mindful from now on...it just goes to show the amount of calories I was taking in before without a thought to it.

Christy- I was on a diet before were I lost 60 lbs. in a short period of time (and gained it all back plus in the same amount of time), however, I started to loste an alarming amount of hair...increased protein is definately the way to go, but flaxseed oil can help also. It doesn't really taste like anything, I used to just take a Tablespoon of it or make a salad dressing with it and vinegar, italian spice, etc. and it had no effect on my weight loss and it really seemed to help. I am definately going to be looking out for that (the hair loss) so I can jump on it right away, and am eating a lot of protein to keep it from happening (as well as the fact that we are supposed to).

Hope- I know what you mean about portion control. I am feeling really bad about being hungry and eating more than a portion at times...then I remember that there is no fill. I don't want to use this as an excuse, but I don't want to feel like a failure either. Maybe you have stopped losing because it is harder to get enough calories on the purees? Just a thought...

Well, have a good rest of the day everyone...!

Is anyone else not feeling any restriction?? I have not felt a full feeling once..it is getting frustrating b/c I know my doctor will not let me have a fill for another 4weeks...I'm soo scared I will gain my weight back in the next month..

I actually ate a tuna fish sandwich (on toasted whole wheat bread) today, but I ate small bites and didn't have any problem getting it down. By now our swelling from surgery is probably pretty much gone and we won't have much if any restriction until our first fill. My first adjustment is two weeks from tomorrow (Tuesday). My doctor warned me that I might gain some weight back before the first fill and to not worry about it. I did gain a pound back over the weekend, but we mostly ate out and I didn't track my calories Saturday or Sunday. What I'm doing is trying to make healthier choices (no fried foods, etc) when we eat in a restaurant. During the work week I'm on more of a routine and I eat most meals at home, so tracking calories isn't a problem ( I actually kind of enjoy doing it - it's a challenge to stay under goal). It would be too hard though without thedailyplate.com. Pretty much everything I eat is already in their database. I was told not to snack, but if I start getting hungry I eat a few almonds or some sugar-free Jello. I don't want to be starving and cause my body to shut down my metabolism. So far, so good.

I had a friend bring my weight bench up from the basement this afternoon, so I'm going to do some light weight training (8lb dumbells) tonite. What I'm not doing yet is walking everyday on my treadmill. Gotta get in that habit. We did walk some over the weekend (it was almost 70 degrees here in Chattanooga) and it was nice to get out in the fresh air.

Summer,

I am not feeling any restriction either. I spoke with my Dr's office today. They said that I should focus on my stomach healing fo rthe first 6 weeks. These weeks are going to be the toughest but they sadi to get plenty of protein, keep the carbs low and drink lots of water. I won't have a fill until week 6.

Hang in there and stay stron. I also log my food in thedailyplate. It helps.

I have some restriction but not too much. I can't eat large portions without feeling the tightness.

I'm going to have to check out the plate website. I have been using Sparkpeople. I start soft foods which is basically just about any food I want as long as it doesn't have fiber. I'm also able to have bread now (toasted) and had a slice of bread with sliced roast beef and muenster cheese melted on it. Yummy!! I also had some cottage cheese, gotta get the protein up.

I'm off to my follow-up appt with my surgeon (actually, his PA) today. Wish me luck!!

Christy

I feel like I need a fill too because I can't seem to stay full. I have been trying very hard to watch what I eat and workout. The only thing that I have found difficult to eat is rice. I won't make that mistake again! I like the support and the updates from everyone! Thank you! We all need to band together. Sorry, I couldn't resist that one:tongue2: I am going to my first support group tomorrow night and I am looking forward to hearing what others in my area are experiencing.