♥LovetheNewMe♥

http://www.weightlosssurgerychannel.com/breaking-wls-news/wls-success-separating-head-hunger-from-physical-hunger.html/#more-6768

Jennifer, I have to smile and roll my eyes, I just was thinking the same thing. I have also reached and surpassed my goal. I wanted to be a size 10 and now I am a size 6, I started as a size 24. Now I want to be tone, I hate my legs and I was worried about my arms but they are looking really good. I am sure this will level off after a while, I think my eyes and brain are having a problem adjusting to the new me, I think I have trouble seeing my self as small as I really am. I think I have the body size corrected, I am thinking I need to fix my thought processes now. So you got company girl, still taking this new life one day at a time. By the way you look amazing.

Agree with posts, and actually we all have a food addiction. Addiction is something hard for any person to face no matter what the drug of chose and all of our drug happened to be food. You are correct in saying that bariatric surgery will not fix the addiction thinking of any of us, only we have the power to change our behavior and we need help to do that. You do need to seek professional help with your addiction, the band will work but you have to make it work, it is just a tool and it will allow you to eat what ever you chose to put in your body. The only person who can help you develop positive coping skills is a professional and shame on your doctor for not suggesting this unless he already has. I am sorry there is no magic answer or pill we can take for our addiction because if there was I am sure all of us would be taking it. Good luck to you, I know it took courage to ask for help, this is a positive step in the right direction.

Drink more of your liquids more often, during this phase it is not about losing weight but about giving your body time to heal. You may not want to hear this but some people even gain weight during this early phase because what they want us to eat is higher in calories. Just forgive, forget and move foreward. This is a new process, cut yourself some slack you will get the hang of it.

I agree with MIS73 post. You have to find out what works for you, i was stuck for 6 months and I almost drove myself crazy looking at what I was eating and trying to figure out what I was doing wrong. Honestly I am not sure I was doing anything wrong, I think my body was just stalling at different times and adjusting to the weight loss. I did continue to lose inches even when I was not losing lbs though. I started dropping weight again at the end of Jan of this year after I had a fill. I currently eat 90-120 gms of protein a day, try to stay under 70 carbs and about 30% fat. So my diet basically is 40% protein, 20% carbs and 40% fat. It seems to work for me. I rarely eat, rice, pasta or bread and I don't snack between meals, my snacks are planned and consistent of protein bar or drink. I know it is frustrating but don't get caught up in the fact your weight has stalled, use this time to develop your healthy choices and changes in eating, because remember this is for a life time and we all need the practice.

This is a typical days menu for me: Breakfast: Oatmeal with 6 tbs of egg whites, 1/8 cup blueberries and 4 walnuts, one splenda and sprinkle of cinnaman. Mid morning Snack: 25gm Protein shake Lunch: 3 ozs lean protein plus a cup of salad, vegtables only no cheese or nuts, with oil and vinegar Afternoon Snack: 25 gm Protein Shake Dinner: 3-4 oz protein, salad or some other type of fresh or frozen vegtable to equal about a cup. I average between 1000-1100 calories per day, I rarely make it to 1200 unless I eat a Protein Bar that is higher in calories and protein or unless I add a starch, which I rarely do. If I am hunger in the evenings and I am under my goal for the day, I may eat some pop corn 1-2 cups or 1/4 cup of nuts. I have been pretty dedicated to changing how I eat and trying to train myself not to eat between meals unless it is a planned Protein Drink or bar. I do occassionaly have a small desert but I stick to eating this everyday 7 days a week, if i am going to stray from my plan I only do it on Sunday's, that seems to be my day of the week that I am always way under in calories and way under in protein. To date I lost 107lbs in 19 months and I am 13 pounds from goal, this works for me. Honestly you need to find out what works for you and you can not feel deprived or feel like this is a diet. It has to be a routine that you can adopt and feel like this is how I want to eat everyday because it makes me feel good. Now if I eat junk, I feel like crap. I love my oatmeal and eggwhites for Breakfast and look forward to them everyday. I used to have a quad latte from starbucks and pop tarts. Hope this helps.

Have any of you ever dreamed of what success with lapband will look like? Have your goals changed along your journey or have they stayed the same? Well first I will say. losing the weight to get to goal 2 years ago seemed like such a distant goal and I had no idea how I was going to get there or if I was going to get there. Well here I sit 19 months post-op and I am 13 pounds from my ideal body weight. My personal goal was 148 and I have passed that goal as of last Wednesday. Honestly I find it both exciting and scary that I am here. I feel like I have worked hard to use the tool my physician gave me BUT, whats next maintaining and toning and that really scares me. Now that I am almost at my ideal weight I realize, there is no end to this journey but a continuation of maintaining the life style and honestly that still scares me. Have my goals changed, no I think my goals are very close to my orginal goals, I wanted to be healthy and feel good. I am both of those things but I still have this drive to tone more and lose that last 13 lbs. But on the flip side if I stayed at my current weight I would be happy. So please share your dreams and if you are happy where you are and if not what we can do to help you be successful. Have a great week everyone, Diane

I forgot about the cabbage soup diet and I thought of a couple more crazy things I have done over the years, I must admit I am a life time member of weight watchers, I hit my goal in 1990 and was never able to maintain my goal weight so I always had to pay the $5 dollar meeting fee. I also did this crazy diet where you ate everything in 3's. 3 eggs for breakfast, 3 burgers for lunch and 3 pork chops for dinner. That was all I ate for weeks, than there was the grapefruit diet, you ate or drank grapefruit before ever meal. Than there was South Beach and Atkins, the Zone. But hey I always lost it was the double and triple pounds that I always added back in the place of the lose. Should I say they all had my number and name, DESPERATE...

lol, it is hard to keep up with everyone on here.

Gabby welcome to the forums, I am sure if you look around you will find the information you are looking for or someone who has experienced some of the very same things you are experiencing.

I am also on myfitnesspal.com, several of us from this group are. Join us my user name is the same as on this site. LovetheNewMe.

I do not drink while actually eating but I do drink right before a meal and about 15 tp 20 minutes post meal. If I drink with a meal it is no different than before I was banded the fluid feels me up. If you read the literature the food does not stay in the pouch but for a few minutes. There will continue to be new articles as the band is in use longer, what I am more interested in is the long term effects of lap band. How are people responding 10-12 years down the road, are the still successful, do they still get fills or did they modify there behavior to the point of not needing the band. Those are the type of articles that I am more interested in not drinking while I eat.

Agree with above post, if you are having complications due to your excess skin and can document some medical problems some insurance companies will pay for at all or part of corrective surgery. Make sure you keep your appointments with your medical doctor and make sure he is documenting well your complications. Good luck to your and awesome job on the weight loss.

It has taken me 19 months to loss 107 lbs, I am 13 lbs from my ideal body weight. I hit my personal goal of 145 lbs last Wednesday.

Ami, I am not sure there is a right answer here. I do understand your frustration. I was stuck also from last summer until this past January, I had a fill and then the weight started to fall off again. I can't explain it, I was doing everything right, eating and exercising. I searched the forums looking for answers. The one think I did start doing was logging everything I ate faithfully, and I do mean everything I put between my lips. Even the tastes of something when I was cooking or just a bite of this or that. The other thing I did was increase my protein to 90-100 gms per day and decreased my carbs to less than 80 perday. I am not sure what worked, the fill, the really looking at what I was eating, increasing my protein or decreasing my carbs. What I really think worked is the last adjustment, and really being in my sweet spot (green Zone) I honestly don;t think I had ever been there before this past January. Also, you may think this is odd but I have no idea how much is in my band, I lost track along the way and all I know is what ever is in there now is working. Point to my long winded comment, do not get discouraged and stay focused you will start losing again. Keep up the good work.

BreBre, You will have some discomfort post op like with any other surgery. You will have some mild gas pains and possibly some nausea. They will or should offer you pain medication, my suggestion is take it. When I woke up in the PACU I was having a lot of pain in my back, GAS. They gave me medication it helped some but actually the moving around helped me more. My second day post op was my worst, I was very nauseated and had a hard time making my self drink or eat. I lived on GAS-x and phenergan for the first few days. I will not tell you that you won;t have pain because you will, but it is bearable and you will make it. Good luck and I know you will do great.

My hardest fill was after my third fill, it took me 3 weeks to learn to eat again and not get stuck. That being said, I think my third fill put me in my green zone for the first time in 19 months. I rarely get stuck now, only when I eat to fast or eat something leafy like, greens or mixed green lettuce.

One more thing, fibrous vegetables and fruits are not uncommon for bandsters not to be able to eat. Apples and broccoli are both harder to digest. I suggest on the broccoli only eat the florets and cook them a little more than you used to and peep the apple. I also have trouble with fresh asparagus, chicken and anything that is reheated in a microwave.

You may still be a little tight. You are the only one that can be the judge of how tight you are. After my last fill in Jan this year I was tight. I had an over fill last summer and had fluid removed and I never seemed to have full benefit of my band so this time I decided to tuff it out. I was able to keep liquids down with no problem but I struggled with solids for about 2 weeks. I went back to my orginal post op diet plan and gradully progressed my diet, liquids, mushey, soft than solids. Now that being said, that was my choice I made with out my MD's advice. I had been stuck at the same weight for months and wanted to move so I worked through this. I got my protein through shakes. This is probably not the healiest way to do this but again it was my choice because I hate fills and unfills. Talk to your doctor if you still are unable to eat next week, try softer proteins this weekend, fish, add some egg whites to oatmeal (this is my morning stable for breakfast), If you are still unable to eat your solids next week or if unable to get liquids down call your physican. Good luck to you.

I am 19 months post op and I still forget sometimes and eat to fast,if I allow myself to get too hungry. As stated above the negative reinforcement does make you realize how important it is to chew.

Everyone is different, even though I had no fluid in my band immediate post op I still felt the effects of the band. Some people never have a fill, just the band being there is enough to help them to reduce there intake, some people are more sensitive than others to the placement of the band. If you continue to fill painwith eating than I suggest you call your WLS, the physican is always the best solution to real medical problems. Learning to eat with Lap Band is different, as I stated I had some restriction before my first fill and I thought this is not bad, then I got my first fill and I really had to re-evaluate how I ate and how I chewed. You really have to chew your food, the reason he wants you to try fish first is that tilipa breaks down better than most fishes and is a little easier to digest. Again if back pain persists with eating, after chewing and taking smaller bites please call your MD.

@ babasleever, slimming is not fun. I had no idea what it was either until the first time it happened and you know what it is. Slimming is when your gastric juices are trying to pull a piece of stuck food through your band, the stomach produces a large amount of mucus and trys to break down the food but if it can;t it projects the slime and food out. It erupts like a volcano. It is gross, my first slime episode was a chicjen nugget from McDonalds, that was 15 months ago, haven't had another one since. When it happens you will know it. Sorry for the grapic explination.

You just got to wait out the stuck episode. Most pass in a few hours but sometimes you may have some swelling afterwards and not able to eat solids for 24 hours. If during a stuck episode if you try and drink you will generally throw up. It is better to try and walk around, burp or cough to help the food go through. I generaly slime myself and just don't even try and eat until the next day.

Eat the cracker. I stayed true to my liquid diet 90% of the time before surgery than I got a GI bug and I caved and had mashed potatos. The purpose of the no carbs is to shrink liver but one or two crackers will not hurt you. But it you can resist it is a test for how you will do when facing these issues post op.