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When an adjustable gastric band is first placed in the body, the band itself is usually empty or only partially inflated. Immediately following surgery, your goal is not to start losing weight, but to allow your body to heal and get used to your band.

Four to six weeks after your surgery, you will return to your doctor to have your first band adjustment. Using the port underneath the skin of your abdomen, your doctor will insert fluid into your band to adjust your restriction, or the degree to which your band allows food to pass into your stomach.

After having a secret weight-loss surgery in 2013, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie claims his decision was the best he has ever made for his health. Although he hasn’t publicly revealed the exact amount of weight he has lost through weight-loss surgery, it’s speculated that Christie has lost over 100 pounds. Christie’s LAP-BAND procedure limits the amount of food he eats every day. Along with this procedure and a healthy diet and exercise plan, Christie’s health has improved so much that his doctor has given him a clean bill of health.

In the weeks following LAP-BAND® surgery, you’ll need to follow a post-operative diet that will allow your stomach to heal and grow accustomed to its new changes. The stages of your diet plan post-surgery will include the clear liquid phase, the full liquids phase, the pureed food phase, and the soft foods phase. After you complete all three diet phases, you will begin eating solid foods, but in much smaller portions than before the procedure.

Check out the infographic below to learn more about LAP-BAND diet stages and see a list of approved foods for each phase.

Mikey Robins is an Australian comedian best known for hosting an Australian game show called Good News Week. Mikey first began his years-long battle with obesity at the age of 10 right after his father passed away. Shortly following the death of his father, Mikey gave up playing sports for fun, and focused more on eating. His mother even sent him to a Weight Watchers facility after he began gaining weight, which failed to motivate Mikey and suppress his desire for food.

Regardless of the bariatric surgery procedure you choose, chances are you may come upon some uncomfortable eating experiences from time to time. These are most common as you transition to a different food-texture stage (eg: soft diet to a solid diet) but can happen to even the most experienced. Below are the three main eating concerns I hear about and some solutions:

Overhauling your diet, getting a gym membership, and making various other lifestyle changes for the sake of losing weight isn’t easy for everyone, including celebrities. Although celebrities have a knack for making beauty and weight loss look easy, even they turn to bariatric surgery when diet, exercise, and other weight-loss interventions fail to work. Are you searching for a new source of inspiration for your weight-loss journey? Check out these impressive and surprising success stories about celebrities who have had weight-loss surgery.

A study published in the September issues of Diabetes Care indicates that both adjustable gastric banding and gastric bypass may be cost-effective methods of treating diabetes and reducing diabetes-related deaths in obese adults.

Researchers from RTI International and the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention used the CDC's Cost-Effectiveness model to simulate the costs of bariatric surgery compared to continued diabetes treatment in adults with a BMI of 35 or higher. The research looked at two different groups of people: those who have had diabetes for more than 10 years and those who have been diagnosed with diabetes within the last five years.

Immediately following LAP-BAND^® surgery, your bariatric surgeon will place you on a strict diet so your body can adjust safely and healthily to the band itself. For the first few days after surgery, you’ll be restricted to liquids only. After the post-surgical liquid diet phase, you’ll eventually move on to thicker liquids such as soup and soft foods until your stomach has become completely healed and adjusted to the band.

Any successful weight-loss program, including those using bariatric surgery, must include a psychological component. Everyone's reasons for gaining weight vary, but often emotional eating or another emotional issue is a factor. Whether your tendency to overeat is due to a lifestyle change, boredom, stress, loneliness, or other factors, something caused you to gain weight. Embarking on a weight-loss program without addressing the underlying reasons for the weight gain is setting yourself up for failure. Even people who have had bariatric surgery sometimes regain the weight if they don't address their reasons for their weight gain in the first place.

LAP-BAND patients can usually reintroduce salads into their diets at two to three months after surgery; your doctor may give you the green light to start eating salads even sooner. Salads are a great way to get vital nutrients, including your daily protein intake. However, some LAP-BAND patients find they are unable to tolerate lettuce and raw veggies, so you may need to experiment to determine what works for you.

Protein is an important nutrient for Lap-Band patients: it is essential for maintaining muscle mass, growing healthy hair and nails, and achieving optimum weight loss.

Many Lap-Banders get their daily protein intake from protein shakes, but patients should exercise caution when using protein powders. Most – if not all – contain MSG, which can cause migraines and a multitude of other health problems.

LAP-BAND patients sometimes find that their weight plateaus several months after surgery. These periods of stagnation can be extremely frustrating: you may be doing everything you can to follow your doctor's and nutritionist's advice, but the numbers on the scale still aren't budging. Getting past these rough spots may require switching up your routine and re-examining some of your habits.

Allergan, the makers of the LAP-BAND AP System, have applied to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to make the device available to more Americans. The FDA has announced that its panel of outside advisers will meet on December 3 to discuss whether the qualifications for gastric banding should be modified.