//hijack//

So THAT is what you look like! (looking at your Av)

Why no photo Av on the other board? You are pretty, show it off!

aww, thanks I have some photos in my profile over yonder, but I know when others change their avi, I sometimes don't recognize them anymore (moreso due to the format of that particular board), so I try to stay consistent.

I had RNY gastric bypass on 10/26/10.

My starting weight was 270 that day. Four months later and I'm at 209.

I'll continue to stick with my proteins and vegetables and occasional fruits and very small amounts of carbs. My 3 month post op labs came back beautifully, cholesterol was 139 (yay!).

Also wanted to add, if anyone thinks its the "easy way out" they're very mistaken. It's a rough road, you still have to make decisions, you still have to stick to plan. The difference now is I have a tool that chooses the amount of food I can eat, a smidgen more than that and I feel sick.

Tell us your story, why the revision?

The lap band almost killed me. I don't know if scar tissue grew under the band giving me more restriction than I wanted or what. But towards the end with an unfilled band I struggled to get water down. It was, without a doubt, the most miserable 18 months of my life. I have permanent esophageal damage from it, I have forever reflux from the esophageal damage, it was a horror. When I was banded there were no US long term studies on it. It was too new. I knew going into it that I was a guinea pig and I was okay with that. There were no long term stats on the sleeve (although it's been done since the 70s nobody started tracking numbers until a few years ago). I am not cut out for malabsorption so the band was really my only option.

I revised to a sleeve at goal so I could stay at goal.

My problems with the band ended up being pretty common for most people. Nobody keeps a band for many years, matter of fact 25% lose their band in the first 5 years. Some studies show 95% lose their band by 10 years.

Since revising to the sleeve life is great. It's my stomach, just smaller. No problems or complications from the sleeve at all.

I like my sleeve because if I want to gain a few pounds, I do. If I want to lose a few pounds, I do. No big deal! It's just not the battle it used to be.

Wow, how scary. Sorry you went through that! Glad your new procedure is successful!

I had the lap band done in 09. I went from 275 to 245 and that is it with a pretty full band. I have now switched to doing the lc with it and so far just 10lbs down which is a start.... I like my band some days and some days I just want to eat a big steak and not worry about it getting stuck!

Sounds like you had a very scary time with it! I am glad you found something that works!

This is an informative thread, even though I've never even been close to considering weight loss surgery.

What dietary recommendations (or regulations) typically accompany pre-surgery counseling?

I've sometimes wondered if people contemplating WLS fully realize the dietary consequences--worse than any diet they've ever tried in many respects, it seems.

It really depends on the surgeon. My surgeon has everything written out for us and there is a nutritionist MD that is available to us for life. It's basically LC while losing. Today my diet is mostly produce based, I just don't care for meat so I do supplement with protein shakes here and there.

My diet is loads better now that I am post op. I will tell you with a band I had a really hard time eating anything. That band made me miserable. But the sleeve, it's my stomach just smaller. If I would have had a sleeve the first time around my diet would have been vastly better. My diet today is certainly not worse than any diet I have ever tried in any respect.

Veggie salads
Lots of beans, cheese, lentils
Cucumbers with lime juice and salt or Tajin
Same with Jicama
Eggs (scrambled, hard boiled, deviled)
Veggies w/dip
Steamed veggies w/soy sauce, garlic, and sesame oil
Black bean salad w/pineapple
Celery w/peanut butter
Tuna salad Mexican style
Tuna salad American style
Tacos (Mexican style, not American)
Cheese quesadilla w/pico de gullo
Veggies marinated in Italian dressing
Veggie soups
Bean soups

Sometimes meat but not often--

Chicken salad
Chicken tacos (again, MX style and not American)
Carne Asada
S/S Chicken
Steak

I don't think that's worse than any diet I would have tried pre op, do you? Now, with my band there was no way I could eat these foods, that damn thing should be taken off the market. Had I had the sleeve the first time these are the very foods I was supposed to eat.

You know, I've said before if I could just have 1 day a year of pigging out at the traugh i'd be a happy camper! Just one day of eating like I used to. A big steak dinner, T-Day dinner, something like that.

But I'll take thin over that 1 day annually. ;o)

I do know what you mean about getting stuck. You DO keep a single serving size of pineapple juice with you wherever you go, right?

Thanks, Bipley. All those foods you listed look delicious and nutritious, like a pretty "normal" menu, although I'm guessing the quantities are small.

When I said "worse than any diet" I actually meant that you have to be very careful about the quantity and quality of the foods you eat, in a conscious way--just like on a "diet." Hopefully, as many of us have found on LC, the eating habits you learn are actually liveable.

Thanks for sharing.

True, I do have to watch quantity. I actually have to eat 4 meals a day on days I do not graze just to get my calories in but I'm totally okay with that, I like to eat. ;o)

Quality, very true. I eat quality foods first and if there is any room leftover I can eat something I probably wouldn't eat on a daily basis. But I'm thin, this got me to goal, and it's keeping me there. But this isn't a bad thing, everyone should watch quantity and quality.

Barbara, I had an all afternoon orientation I went to at my surgeons office...and was also given the paperwork given to post-ops so I'd know what was ahead of me. Two weeks pre op, I also had to meet with a nutritionist to plan out the amounts and kinds of food that would be appropriate further along after the "healing" stages such as liquids, pureed and soft foods.

I'm almost 5 months out now, and I try to eat as close to low carb as possible. We're instructed to start meals with 2 oz of protein/meat, then followed by a portion of vegetables, if there's any room left (most times there isnt) then a very small portion of something carby is ok.

So this leaves me with about 4-6 meals a day, although often a "meal" will be 1/2 c. of cottage cheese or a mozzarella cheese stick if I'm in a rush. I do rely heavily on my protein shakes. I'm tall, so 76 grams or protein is ideal...and trying to get that in at 2 oz of meat at a time is impossible. I use Costco's Premium Nutrition Protein shakes at 30 grams protein each. Two shakes and a bowl of the Target store brand of Cinnamon High Protein cereal (15 grams) and some skim milk and a small sprinkle of Splenda and I'm set daily. Like I said before, by the time you get your protein in...you just don't feel like there's any room for anything else.

I tried doing it alone with Dr. Atkins plans, for over 5 years. I guess I wasn't strong enough in the long run. But, I do believe with this new tool and the Atkins way of eating I will succeed.

Also wanted to add, after bypass surgery the following are no-no's forever:

Chewing gum
Sodas
NSAIDS (which blows, ibuprofen was always my choice)
Greasy foods
Sweets

Sincerely there's little "missing them" because I know that if I try them, they'll make me sick. An easy lesson to learn quickly.

Forgot to add...any food coming from a box, can or package needs to be 7 grams or below in fat and 2 grams or below for sugars (with the exception if the list of ingredients doesn't show sugar or an -ose type in the first 5 ingredients).

Not taking anyone's inventory; everyone has to do what is right for them. With respect to that, I also have never considered this an option even though I stayed above 250lbs for over ten years.

A doctor asked me once - just at a checkup or something - "do you REALLY think you can take this weight off on your own?" I found it so demeaning but it challenged me. Those words stay with me when I am pulling myself back up to stay on LC and exercise to continue losing weight.

I have to say I am shocked someone weighing only 221 lbs would be a candidate, though it seems like it was successful.