I am a 41 year old mother of 4 who went through the lap band surgery on Jan. 12. I am currently going to college for a degree in social work and this surgery was a one step in remaking or taking control of my life. I am in NY, though I don't know if it really makes a difference in a mentor to be in the same location. I am looking for someone to hold my hand along this ride because every few days seems to bring with it something I'm not sure how to deal with.

Thankfully my weight never went up beyond a BMI of 40 but my latest A1C showed that I was diabetic. My father is diabetic and I hope never to have to go through what he is going through. Even though I got from many people that they were surprised I was interested in doing the surgery, I'm very thankful that I didn't listen to them. For the first week after surgery I actually got a glimpse of what it can be like with the appropriate tightening of the band--I couldn't swallow much and the feeling of fullness lasted for a long time. Now that the internal swelling is down I'm getting hungry and yet at the same time I am afraid I'll put back weight I lost during the last three and a half weeks when I begin eating more than the protein shakes. I also need to start exercising and could use encouragement in that department as well.

I am a 41 year old mother of 4 who went through the lap band surgery on Jan. 12. I am currently going to college for a degree in social work and this surgery was a one step in remaking or taking control of my life. I am in NY, though I don't know if it really makes a difference in a mentor to be in the same location. I am looking for someone to hold my hand along this ride because every few days seems to bring with it something I'm not sure how to deal with.

Thankfully my weight never went up beyond a BMI of 40 but my latest A1C showed that I was diabetic. My father is diabetic and I hope never to have to go through what he is going through. Even though I got from many people that they were surprised I was interested in doing the surgery, I'm very thankful that I didn't listen to them. For the first week after surgery I actually got a glimpse of what it can be like with the appropriate tightening of the band--I couldn't swallow much and the feeling of fullness lasted for a long time. Now that the internal swelling is down I'm getting hungry and yet at the same time I am afraid I'll put back weight I lost during the last three and a half weeks when I begin eating more than the Protein shakes. I also need to start exercising and could use encouragement in that department as well.

Chayamom

As my thread says "I'm here for you" come join my Thread "I'm here to help"

I am 18 months out (banded 7/17/07) starting weight 250 - current weight 138 - I eat healthy & exercise - one of the ladies (long2bthin) on my thread just hit 100 lbs gone mark today...

You are welcome to join us.... .Hugs - Janet

I started on mushie food this week and I want to know what is normal. Somehow there is safety in just having your three shakes a day and clear liquids (and not needing any more). I do get hungry faster than I have during the first week after surgery. My doctor won't give me my first fill before six weeks even though I have heard of people getting it earlier. My band is completely open and I don't know what size it is. I guess I'm afraid of gaining back what I've lost during the first three weeks (pre-op and the first week following). If I really keep track of what I am eating its not that much but I'm not weighing and measuring everything that goes into my mouth. Should I be?

Any information you can give will be highly appreciated!

I started on mushie food this week and I want to know what is normal. Somehow there is safety in just having your three shakes a day and clear liquids (and not needing any more). I do get hungry faster than I have during the first week after surgery. My doctor won't give me my first fill before six weeks even though I have heard of people getting it earlier. My band is completely open and I don't know what size it is. I guess I'm afraid of gaining back what I've lost during the first three weeks (pre-op and the first week following). If I really keep track of what I am eating its not that much but I'm not weighing and measuring everything that goes into my mouth. Should I be?

Any information you can give will be highly appreciated!

Chayamom

I am a firm believer in weighing and measuring and keeping a food diary(dailyplate.com or fitday.com) - you don't have to do this forever just until you learn what is a normal portion size and how many calories are in your foods - knowledge is power - as fat chicks we think a pint of ice cream is 1 serving of ice cream - when in all reality it's 4 really 4 servings.

A normal serving size is usually 1/2 cup - look on the container your food comes in - it gives you the portions per servings - calories - carbs - Protein etc - you gotta read labels..

1/2 c refried Beans is like 126 calories and protein 6 grms

I was able to eat this amount per meal when I was at your stage.

You are going to find out every doctor is diff - you gotta follow only your docs rules

I didn't get my 1st fill until 8 weeks out and that's pretty normal

It really doesn't matter what size your band is or how many cc's are in it - a lot of pple here concern themselves with that and I don't know why - cuz for each of us it's totally diff - we both can have 14 cc band - I could be at my sweet spot with only 1 cc and it could be 5 cc for you.. So don't worry yourself with those numbers - the only thing you should care is the # of calories in the foods you eat and the #'s on the scale... Losing weight is all about the math calories in vs calories out - Our bands are only tools to help with the amount of food we eat.

You will be in what's called bandster hell time between surgery and your 1st fill - during that time you need to concentrate on eating healthy

I am not dieting - I am eating healthy and exercising.. and for me that's the secret - I allow for real treats (cake cookie chips) but not every day- I eat low fat - limited to sugar free - some carbs/starches - when I want sweets it's normally sf stuff -

thanks for the info regarding the online food diaries. Also do you have any idea how many calories I should be aiming for daily? I don't recall my doctors mentioning anything about that.

thanks for the info regarding the online food diaries. Also do you have any idea how many calories I should be aiming for daily? I don't recall my doctors mentioning anything about that.

During my weight loss phase I kept my calories between 800-1200 varying them daily.