MamaMichelle

So as I have said before I haven't told anyone about the surgery, I just say that I have been eating less and working out (both true)... Now people are starting to notice that I have lost a lot of weight... so the question has changed from "Are you losing weight" to "Oh my gosh, how much have you lost?" Now call me weird but I don't want to say "Almost 70lbs" why? I guess I don't want people to do the math and figure out how heavy I was... maybe it just goes back to being such a private person, and since we don't have that many "close" friends and no family here in Vegas I am mostly getting this question from neighbors and the parents of my son's friends! So I was looking up some catchy responses and found these: 1) How much have you lost? "Oh, goodness! That's like asking a woman her age! I never lose and tell ;-)" 2) How much have you lost? "Enough to add 10 years to my life!" 3) How much have you lost? "Enough for me to know I'm on the right program!" 4) How much have you lost? "More than I EVER did on Weight Watcher's or Jenny Craig!" 5) How much have you lost? "Only my surgeon knows for sure, and he's not talking." 6) How much have you lost? "Who knows, how much have YOU lost?" Anyone else have some good replies for this question that ALL of us will be getting for the rest of our lives?

Hey Cindy- Great to see you posting again! I can't believe how fast you're losing, I remember in April when you were just getting into onderland and now you're in the 160's!! You need to change you avatar and post some before and after pics for us girl, what an ispiration!!

Another interesting idea from the BE website, this plan is similar to the 5 day pouch test that I posted a few months back... However this is a 3-5 day liquid only diet to get you over those bad habits we all tend to slide back into at times, also can help kick your carb/sugar cravings. It's similar to the way you eat/drink after a fill and we all know how those pesky pounds drop off right after a fill, it's not the fill itself working at that point it's the liquid diet. The only time I am "tight" these days is when I have my period so I usually do something like this on those days and I usually see 1-2lbs lost in those 3 days so maybe something like this would be a way for all of us to reset the bad habits and kick start our weight loss once a month?? The 3 Day LPT does not require special recipes and is only for three days. It does help you get back on track with your eating, AND allows more flexibility with your choices. Here is the 3 day liquid protein plan for those who may be interested: Many ask, “What does LPT stand for? What is it?” LPT stands for Liquid Protein Train. It is used by people who have gotten off track (or just plain derailed!), need to de-carb themselves (to get rid of that nasty urge to snack or overeat), or to jump start weight loss again. It also helps you to get in touch with how you feel when you do eat or drink (feeling full, stopping when you have the full sensation, etc.) I searched the message board recently and came up with several questions and responses by others... My final conclusion is that there are really no solid or set in stone rules. However, here are some general consistencies when people decide to do the LPT. Who Should do the 3 Day LPT? 1. If you have gotten off track (or just plain de-railed in your weight loss journey!), then the 3 day LPT is for you. 2. If you find that you are addicted to carbs, are eating junk food, are snacking and grazing, then the 3 day LPT is for you. 3. If you need to jump start your weight loss once again, then the 3 day LPT is for you. 4. For those who have no weight to lose and are not addicted to carbs, this is probably not necessary. Before You Begin: 1. How many days will I do this program? Normally it’s done for 3 days. You may choose to continue for up to 5 days. Anything over this might be excessive. 2. Will I drink ONLY protein shakes or will I add a light supper? The choice is entirely up to you. If you are able to get rid of carb cravings by cutting back to eating a light supper (high protein), then you may want to stick with drinking shakes all day but a light supper at night. However, if you are overly addicted to carbs and need a more aggressive approach, the full liquid shake only approach may be the best for you. Preparation for the Program: 1. Make sure you have plenty of protein shakes available – there’s nothing worse than to be in the middle of a program and run out of products! Stock up on high protein, low carb, low sugar and low calorie protein powders or ready to drinks. Bariatric Eating sells a wide variety of great tasting protein products. 2. Decarb your pantry – get rid of foods that you should not have (crackers, chips, cookies, high carb sugar free products) as these will be a stumbling block to you. Also, the purpose of the LPT is to get back on track and away from those items that cause you to fail. You don’t want to sabotage your own success by having these tempting products in the house. They do have a tendency to call your name at the most inopportune (usually your weakest) times! How It's Done: 1. Drink a protein shake whenever you feel hunger (whether it be real body hunger or head hunger) – one person said they drink a shake every two hours. I figured that if a person would start at 6 am, drink a shake every two hours, this would allow them to drink up to 8 pm! (Sounds great) 2. Consume a minimum of 800 calories for the day 3. You may drink fluids after consuming protein shakes. The "30 minute wait period" before drinking after food does not apply in this case. Keep in Mind: 1. Get off sugar products 2. Some people include a few additives in their shakes to help spice them up such as a little peanut butter, or sugar free Davinci syrups, or a little bit of fruit (although fruits do have carbs, so it depends on what your preference is). If the additive causes you to crave more, DON'T add it. 3. You may want to include thin soups with light vegetables, yogurts or custards as they are considered full liquids. 4. It has been suggested that if you are exercising, drink a protein shake right before your workout. Transitioning Back to Normal: 1. If you are doing full liquids for 3 days, on the fourth day you will want to add a light supper. When comfortable, add a light lunch until you are back to your 3 meals a day. The LPT will help you to be more in tune with how food makes you feel. In other words, you will know when you are full on a meal. Stop there, do not overeat. Listen to your body and pouch when it says its full. 2. If you did liquid all day and a light supper at night during the 3 days, then just add your light lunch back into the routine.

Another suggestion they had was to mix the sugar free jello pudding mix with your favorite ready to drink protien shake (like slimfast) instead of milk, the calories will be a little higher but it's a yummy way to get more protein even in your dessert!

Found this on the bariatric eating website that I got the jello recipie from, this sounds like more of a bypass type diet but I think anything that offers healthy diet plan and protein rich is worth at least reading!! I eat in a similar way, 3 meals and 1-2 snacks and I eat pretty much the same few things each day! I also liked that it has links in the article to various protein products that maybe we haven't heard of or tried before! Our basic plan is to have three meals a day... plus two small supplements... Its called Bariatric Eating! Make it a habit for LIFE. Some of us need to lose ten pounds others 100 pounds. COME ON everyone... you know you want to lose at least FIVE pounds. Instead of being complacent, instead of taking what life gives you... LETS GET UP AND MAKE IT HAPPEN! Step on that scale now...early on the scale is our enemy, later on it is our best friend and motivator! In order to fuel your body for fat burning... you need to eat a healthy protein breakfast. Planning ahead gives us one less thing to have to figure out. Eat the same thing every morning for this week. This is a key to success... if you have set meals that you always make, you don't have to make the good choices off the top of your head. For example, if I know that every morning will be a yogurt with Kay's Apple Cinnamon Protein Cereal blended in and I have 7 cartons of Dannon Light and Fit in the fridge... there is NO room for straying. This is how we do it. Breakfast...250 calories and 15-20 grams protein...choose one and do it everyday this coming week! [/size][/font] Protein drink, protein shake, ready to drink protein Egg and Morningstar Farm sausage patty or a regular Brown & Serve sausage link Ricotta, cottage cheese, yogurt and fruit with a spoonful of Whey Gourmet tasty protein powder swirled in there (maybe a few sliced almonds) Two cheese sticks Muscle Milk Protein Chocolate Pudding cup Breakfast Vitamins: 1 Bariatric Advantage Chewable Multi Formula plus 1 Bariatric Advantage Calcium Citrate Lozenge with food Mid morning protein supplement... a 100 calorie, 15-20 gram protein boost AchievONE protein latte, Nectar fruity protein drink, Worldwide Pure Protein ready-to-drink shake, Extreme Smoothie ready-to-drink shake Mozarella stick Dannon Light and Fit yogurt 1/2 Power Crunch protein wafer bar, or 1/2 Revival Peanut Butter Paradise protein bar Coffee with Labrada ready-to-drink Vanilla Cream protein and DaVinci sugar free Caramel syrup Muscle Milk Chocolate Protein Pudding Cup bag of Revival Oh My Apple Pie Protein Crisps Lunch...300-350 calories and 15-20 grams of protein consisting of food you prepare for and take to the office. Don't leave what you eat at your desk to chance. PLAN YOUR LUNCH. You'll burn more calories digesting your midday meal because protein is more difficult to break down than carbohydrates or fat and it will stay with you longer into your day. Roast deli turkey rolled up. Use a little salsa or ranch for dipping sauce, or roll up with hummus or whole grain mustard, or wasabi mustard. (MAYO is 100 calories per TEASPOON as are all fats, so measure and use as little as possible or substitute mustard or salsa-based moistening agents) 1/2 cup tuna salad or ricotta or cottage cheese on top of a slice of tomato Shredded salmon or deli meat blended with shredded lettuce, baby tomatoes, and lower fat dressing NO crackers, no rolls, no chips, no tortillas, no low carb wraps Lunch Vitamins: 1 Bariatric Advantage B-12 plus 1 Bariatric Advantage Calcium Citrate Lozenge with food Mid-afternoon protein supplement...a 100 calorie, 15-20 gram protein boost AchievONE protein latte, Nectar fruity protein drink, Worldwide Pure Protein ready-to-drink shake, Extreme Smoothie ready-to-drink shake Mozarella stick Dannon Light and Fit yogurt 1/2 Power Crunch protein wafer bar, or 1/2 Revival Peanut Butter Paradise protein bar Coffee with Labrada ready-to-drink Vanilla Cream protein and DaVinci sugar free Caramel syrup Muscle Milk Chocolate Protein Pudding Cup Supper...a target of 300-400 calories and 20 grams of protein consisting of lean protein and a small salad or lower carb vegetable. Make this a standard meal comprised of grilled, pan sauteed, or baked protein such as fish, chicken, or egg... with different bottled sauces or jar salsas to moisten and a small salad. Pan sauteed shrimp, with a little bottled salsa to moisten Grilled or pan sauteed turkey burger Baked salmon Broiled tilapia filet Two egg omelet - saute a few mushrooms, red peppers, spinach, onion, and add cheese All protein served with a tossed chopped salad of romaine lettuce, sliced grape tomatoes, cucumber cubes, and tossed with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. (1 tablespoon olive oil and 1 teaspoon balsamic... toss in a big bowl to coat entire salad. If you make a bigger salad, use 3 tablespoons oil and 1 tablespoon vinegar... be sure to season with salt and pepper!) You can use different salad ingredients for variety... sliced olives, cubed cukes, sliced grape tomatoes, chopped artichoke hearts. Sometimes, I just have sliced grape tomatoes and red onion... or tomato and avocado and spoon it on to pan sauteed shrimp with salt and pepper... easy and fast. Supper Vitamins: 1 Bariatric Advantage Chewable Multi Formula plus 1 Bariatric Advantage Calcium Citrate Lozenge with food No bread, no potato, no rice, no pasta, no tortilla, no wraps, no low carb bread, no crackers. If you are an evening snacker as I am... use either your mid morning or mid afternoon supplement as an 8-9pm supplement so you will not mindlessly snack. Give yourself permission to have one of the 100 calorie supplement foods listed as a planned eating event. Bedtime: 1 Bariatric Advantage Passion Fruit Chewable Iron

I did a mainly liquid diet for the last month of my pre-op diet and lost 15lbs in that 4 weeks, the month before I was semi-dieting while doing my research on lap-band doctors and only lost 6lbs. I really liked the optifast shakes and also used them as the main source of my 3 week post-op liquid diet, I was able to lose 14lbs during those 3 weeks right after surgery! The optifast is pretty expensive but you get up to 5 shakes a day (each 160 cal and 15 g of protien) and after adding a little sugar free vanilla syrup to it made it just heavenly! I believe KittyCat did a pretty lengthy liquid pre-op diet and lost a lot as well, it takes a lot of will power and I did have those farewell to food moments where I went to eat somewhere that I knew I wouldn't be able to after banding but the low calorie shake regime offset any damage those big meals might have done!

I found this on: http://www.bariatriceating.com/ For those of you using the New-Whey Protein Shots (or similar products) here is a new way to use them!! PROTEIN JELLO- Make REAL Jello... not the rubbery premade store kind. It's light, soft textured, and fruity. Follow the directions for speed set on a small box of Jello. Adding two 42 gram New Whey protein bullets along with the ice. Ready to eat after a twenty minute chill. Add a squirt of Reddi Whip light aerosol whipped cream to make it a delicious way to get in your protein.

That happened to me, I was scheduled for Feb 29th and I arrived at 11am on Feb 28 went to the OCC for the bloodwork and asked if I could have surgery that day and I was banded by about 4pm!! Also I didn't find anyone on the board that was going to be banded on my day (the 29th) but found a great group of bandster buddies that were banded on 28th... Dr. O is popular enough that he's doing 4-6 bands per day so you'll meet friends while there and maybe you can be the one that encourages them to check out the message boards (I met someone banded on the 29th who had never heard of this board and I told her what a great supportive group we have here and now she's a member)

About how much are you eating per meal and how long is it keeping you full? If you're making healthy choices and are not losing weight then it sounds like you might need another fill!

I would say go for it, both for the new goal and the fill! I remember LisaL saying she was only thinking she could get down to a size 10 or something and now she's a 4/6 so her body had it's own goals that's what I am hoping happens to me as well!! As for the size thing it's really weird, I think it's all about how your weight is distributed I was able to get into most size 10's once I hit 180 but my weight is pretty evenly spread across my body (mostly in my thighs and hips) when I was at my lowest, about 140 in high school I was a size 6-8 so it will be interesting to see once I get down in that weight range what size I will be!

I have the Grape Flavored New Whey kind with 42g of protein, it tastes like kids grape cough syrup... I take 1/2 a vial 4 days a week after my workout it's not the worse thing in the world, you take it like a shot so it's down the hatch before you really even get a taste of it...

lol, thanks my husband is such a dork! As for my goal right now that's just a number on my ticker, I really wanted to lose 100lbs before my 1year bandiversary so thats where the 147 came from! Honestly I would be totally fine staying where I am now since it's such a far cry from where I started from but I really think that I am just going to let my body do what it is going to do, once the weight loss really plateaus I guess I will go from there!!

At this point I can see both sides of it, by forcing myself to do the headwork and not relying on the band 100% I am learning habits that will help me stay slim once I get to my goal weight... On the other hand I got this tool to help me lose weight and by not keeping my fills tight I run the risk of falling back into bad habits when those temptation moments return! From the Dr's standpoint he says that pretty much all band complications come from being overfilled and too tight, so he feels if I am losing weight now that there's no point to risk anything by giving me another fill. He's seems pretty conservative with the fills anyways, when I told him about my un-fill experince during my 2nd fill he didn't even want to give me some then. Again I am happy with my progress, I think I will wait another 2 weeks and make a choice about another fill then!! Here are those pics from our hike today:

You guys are sweet, I wish I could say the fill did the trick but I just finished lunch at On the Border where I ate 1\4 a bowl of chips and 2 chicken fajitas with tortillas all dipped in queso no less. Now this is my 1 weekend splurge meal and I skipped breakfast but still it's clear to me I am not tight enough, the rest of the time I stop myself mentally. I tried to book a fill but my fill doc asked about my progress and when I said I was still losing he said he won't fill me unless I go 3-4 weeks without losing weight and tha's yet to happen (lol I know poor me) but that's his rule to prevent undue complications... My family went on a hike today I will post some of those pics later tonight.

I never heard the M&M comparison, interesting way to remember!

Go for it, enjoy them now since you're getting so few calories right now anyways it won't make much difference!!

What is a normal pouch? The gastrointestinal tract is made of smooth muscle which streches and constricts to pass food along the tract and to accommodate different sizes and consistencies of food. The lapband is surgically placed at the gastroesophageal junction where the esophagus wides and becomes the upper part of the stomach. When the band is tighteded, it narrows this area creating an hour glass appearance and a small pouch of stomach above the band. It is the small pouch that aids in your weight loss by limiting the amount of food you can eat at one time. Once it is stretched, you will feel a fullness or slight pressure in your chest area. This is a signal to stop eating. (Some people also experience hiccuping, runny nose, and other things.) What happens when a pouch is dilated? The pouch can be overstretched by overating, eating too fast, taking bites that are too big, eating foods that are uncomfortable, vomiting, or having your band too tight. If you continually overstretch your pouch, you can cause your pouch to dilate or "stretch out" and then it will hold more food. You may notice weight gain or that you can eat larger portions of food. If you continue eating the larger portions, it worses the problem by further stretching the pouch. What is a slip? Slippage occurs when the stomach below the band 'slips' up through the stoma (the opening inside the band between the pouch and the rest of the stomach), causing a prolapsed or herniated pouch. This herniated area can hang over the edge of the band causing food to be stuck in the pouch and preventing it from passing through the stoma to the larger stomach. This is what causes heartburn, regurgitation, vomiting and pain that can be associated with a symptomatic slip. In severe 'slippage' circulations to the stomach can be compromised requiring a second surgery to repair the slippage or to remove the band if there is too much scar tissue to repair the area. It is believed that vomiting is the biggest symptom of a slip, so go to the doc if you are experiencing ongoing vomiting. What should I do if I think I have a dilation or slip? Although these complications are not common (I think they are more common than they are reported, but that is my opinion and not in any way based on fact.) they can be serious. Summarizing now...Follow the rules. If you think there is a problem, go get it checked out. Don't wait. What will happen if I am diagnosed with a dilation or slip? For most dilations or slips the first non-surgical step to treat the problem is to remove all fluid from the band to allow the system to rest. This will relieve some of the stress on the pouch which has led to dilation and hopefully allow the pouch to regain some of its tone so that it can again function to limit portions. (Translation - back to liquids.) In a slip, removing the fluid enlarges the stoma, increasing the chances that the stomach which slipped above the band can slip back down.

There is a chain of Supplement stores here in the US called GNC (their website is GNC.com) however I found better prices at local health/supplement stores the best way to find one near you is to look in a shopping center that is close to any large gym in your area...

Glad she is doing better, from her few posts she seems like such a spunky chica!! Hurry back soon Merideth!

Yesterday my husband (very nicely) told me that my jeans were too big and that they were giving me that saggy butt look, so I went and got some new capris so no more saggy butt for me!

I would say YES you might need a fill, but you also might need to just refocus on the bandster rules! Either way making an appointment at the OCC or at your local fill center will give you a chance to speak with someone who can get you back on the right track! We all stumble but the band is always there to do it's job!! You have done it before and you will do it again!

Congrats on being banded, a "protein bomb" is a vial of liquid that is high in protein and low in calories and carbs! They look like this: Basically instead of drinking a whole shake or eating 2 chicken breasts you can get the same amount of protein in about 2 sips... It might be a good idea for you now or maybe once a week later in your journey when you're feeling tight, but you run the risk of taking the "bomb" and finding yourself hungry later since it's just liquid that goes right through your pouch...

I do find myself more confident and taking a lot more "pride" in my appearence! I can see a change in the way people react to me, and I never really thought people treated me like a "fat" person!! There are some minor annoyances that have come along with it, I am 26 and people tell me I look young but I am getting carded EVERYWHERE... In the casino at a resturant it's sucg a pain. Also my wedding ring is so big now that I have been wearing it on my right hand and I am getting a lot more looks, comments and flirting from the opposite sex again it's annoying but does help my confidence, lol!

I burped many many times in those first few days, some people expell the gas from surgery that way... Congrats on being banded and on the 10lbs, it only gets better from here!!

That's so great! I love your new hair color!!