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If you aren't seeing a counselor, now seems like a good time to start! If you're dealing with some self-esteem and self-doubt issues that are leading you to binge, then a therapist might be able to help you process these feelings and come to terms with them without having to resort to slider foods. It is my firm belief that everyone in this world could benefit from seeing a therapist once in awhile. You certainly don't need to be seriously mentally ill for it to be helpful

Hi everyone! My name is Jen and I am currently living in Ottawa, ON. I am 24 years old and weigh in around 270lbs. I have pretty much decided that the lap band is the way to go for me, but I still have some questions floating around in my head. Here are two that are on my mind today: 1. Do you ever get the sensation that you can feel your band? Not the restrictive effect, but like there's actually something inside you that if you move a weird way you can feel it? 2. I am concerned that I will never feel normal again. I will always have to eat with focus and explain to people why I can only eat a small portion. I am trying to arrange my finances before going ahead a booking my date. I will be self-paying because I live in Ontario. Thanks for any insight! Jen

i understand your frustrations. my clothes still fit the same way too. i was really discouraged in the beginning because i was not losing. then i started doing some reading on here to see what the "old timers" were doing to lose. i finally decided on a low carb, high protein diet. that has helped so much. now everyday the scales are going down. not a lot at a time... just 2 tenths of a pound or 4 tenths of a pound, everyday... but at least it's not staying the same or gaining. i eat meat and green veggies. and drink lots of water. anytime i crave something, i eat a piece of meat and it satisfies me. not sure if this interests you or not... just thought i'd share. good luck and hang in there! you can do this!

That's exactly what I was trying to convey. That eating beyond what your surgeon has prescribed for you could possibly be detrimental to healing and lead to possible detrimental consequences in the future. However, everyone has to make their own choices and live with the consequences. I think I'm through with this thread. About to go unsubscribe to it. Best of luck to all concerned.

Teekii, I know it is hard to stop those bad habits. Do some further research on the band and you will find that it does not prevent you from eating. It helps with portion control and hopefully hunger once restriction sets in. The types and choices of foods will be yours to make all through this process. Call your doctor, let him or his team know of your extreme hunger and see if he/they will allow you to advance your food levels. Try drinking added protein some for some folks it helps with the hunger. Wishing you luck in learning new ways....

Denise is right. The reason to progress very slowly to solids is to allow for healing. Contact your doctor and talk to them about your issues. They may allow you to progress a little faster, or may have suggestions to help you through this time. Medication for nausea would be better than changing what you're supposed to eat on your own. Hang in there, it will get easier. The saltines didn't get stuck cause they are a processed food.. basically pre-digested. Yuck.

For many surgeons, they put us on liquids post-op to allow our stomachs to heal. Unlike with bypass, our pouches still grind. Most surgeons anchor the band by pulling the stomach over it and putting in a few stitches. By eating solid foods of any kind you are forcing your pouch to grind and putting pressure on those stitches that are trying to heal and form scar tissue to anchor them down. You risk pulling them loose, and needing another surgery to repair it. Liquids don't cause any grinding as they go right down...thus leaving our stomachs empty. Now, not all surgeon's have the same post-op instructions and some people return to solids sooner than others. Each surgeon bases his or her post-op instructions on personal experiences of best outcomes. You should follow what you were instructed to do. If you were to eat something that got stuck at this point, the pain and trauma from that could be extreme. I'd not want to risk losing my band because I pushed the envelope. I was one of the ones who was very hungry immediately post-op. When my doctor called at 3 days post-op to check on me I told him I was ready to eat my dog. He said that would be a bad choice, but since I was doing so well, I could move to full liquids a few days early. Mashed potatoes never tasted soooooo good! If you are nauseous, there are medicines for that, call your surgeon's office and ask. Or ask if the saltines are OK. They might clear you for them.

If you test to your band to see what you can get away with, you're going to find yourself "winning" a lot But in the end, that's not a game you want to win, right? It sounds like once you're healed and can eat solid food again that your band may be working-- giving you a feeling of satiation after only a little food. But for a lot of us (me included) the band did never and will never stop you from eating anything. Your job= choosing what to eat and listening to the band Band's job= giving you a sense of "not hungry" after a relatively small amount of food That's it. Good luck to you! I know it's hard to figure out with every other person, and every other doctor, saying something different.

I agree with the above posts. My 2cents is to stop the juice and the milk. You are drinking the calories rather than eating. Orange juice has tons of sugar, natural sugar but still sugar. It will cause your blood sugar to spike wich leads to your body storing the sugar as fat. Once you get to solid food, you will be much better off eating an orange, then you get fiber which helps control blood sugar. You will find it more filling as well. Eat low fat cheese for your calcium. Good luck on your journey!

Well I agree and disagree with the other posters... The key to losing fat - (I say fat because even muscle loss = weight loss and who wants to lose muscle?) is understanding and applying the energy balance PLUS understanding how your body uses food as fuel and how those fuels differ (carbs, fats, Proteins, alcohol). Your body has a strong will to survive. It will not voluntarily give up its' fat stores. You have to coax and burn them off. You do this by creating a calorie deficit created by BOTH exercise and reduced food intake. Creating this deficit by intake alone will not take an obese person down to a healthy body fat percentage - at best, it will create a skinny fat person. Calories In Vs. Calories Out is a bit too simplistic. 1000 calories of cotton candy and 1000 calories of skinless chicken breast are profoundly different. The difference in insulin response alone (not to mention other body chemistry) is huge! All calories are not equal. Ponder this... "Joe" eats 1000 calories a day, day after day. He needs to lose 100 pounds. This low calorie diet gives him a deficit of 2000 calories a day. By this calculation he should be able to completely lose his excess body weight in 175-200 days....(Bet he doesn't)... But what if he continues this trend for several years? Does he completely disappear? Of course not. Because it's not just about calories in/calories out - it's about managing your metabolism via your energy balance. I eat 1000 calories some days - I eat over 3000 other days. I still have challenging food demons, but I manage them. If I'm going to eat cheat foods, I do so on planned high calorie days. By cycling calories this way - combined with a challenging exercise schedule consisting of both strength and cardiovascular training - I keep my metabolism white hot. My body fat percentage continues to fall, while the scale stays relatively stable (small lean muscle tissue gains). This lifestyle allows fat loss on calorie deficit days and muscle gains on calorie surplus days. There are several scenarios of posts on LBT that leave me grumbling... One of them is very low calorie diets. People who eat very low calories (600-1000) love the weight loss they initially see. But how much of that weight is lost muscle? Your body is a machine. If it's being starved is it going to give up metabolically active lean muscle tissue which is high maintenance to keep - or fat stores which costs next to nothing to maintain? Some of both, but the ratio is going to tip toward the lean muscle tissue. As muscle tissues decline, your body adjusts it's metabolism in a fight to avoid starvation, the weight loss slows and then comes the unavoidable - yet easily predicted plateau. They havn't lost weight in months, but hey, plateau's are normal right? No... they aren't normal - they mean your body has adjusted your metabolism accordingly to try to stave off starvation. It won't give up without a fight. But their doctor prescribed the 800 calorie low carb diet, so that must not be it... :tt2: Here's another one... I've read a lot of posts where people are eating 1000 calories and gaining weight and they try to suggest it's muscle gains... Not a chance... It is physiologically impossible to maintain that large of a calorie deficit and gain muscle tissue, which actually requires a calorie surplus. One person is starving themselves eating 800 low carb calories a day, while at the same time I sit here on a high calorie day snacking on Peanut M&M's dipped in Peanut Butter. "So Brad, if your so damned smart and think this is so easy, then why did you get so fat you needed WLS?" Because I didn't understand the energy balance and how my body used fuel and how those fuel types differ - BUT now I do... And I want everyone else to know too... It may be simple - but it isn't easy... The band is a great tool to help you achieve your goals. Your body is a wonderful efficient machine when properly understood. Fuel it appropriately and it will reward you! Good Luck! Brad