Meduseld

Hi, The ever present "list" will not guide your life after a certain point post-op. They are great suggestions and they should always be incorporated, but you will not be struck down with a lightning bolt for trying something different. For example, I'm 18 and in college (was banded in April) and junk food is more prevalent than healthy food. Last night, I partook in a, or should I say "half of a", New York Steamer Sub that was full of cheesy brisquet deliciousness. Healthy? Definitely not. Do I regret it? No, because I eat healthy most of the time! As for wine, it's more about the "empty" calories. But if you wish to go out and partake in a few glasses every once in a while, or even just one glass more frequently, you are going to be okay! The Lap Band is not meant to control your life, honestly. You are meant to be able to live your life normally and eat like a normal person, but just less. Sure, you have to concentrate on eating healthy, but you should not feel bad for trying something indulgent every once in a while. You'll be fine. As for the Pasta, it's a matter of what you can tolerate. You may still be able to eat it, but you'll just eat less of it. I used to not be able to handle pasta very well, but I tried it a few more times for experimental purposes and find that I handle it fine now. I can also handle certain types of bread (I can't do the "hard" ones). It is a matter of personal tolerance and you won't know until you get the band. Should you miss out on family time? Absolutely not! You can still have fun, and even eat! You will just eat less. Suggestion, don't pick along the way cooking. You won't be hungry at all when you finally sit down and eat. You have no room for that anymore. xD Take it from me! Good luck on your journey! I hope that you can incorporate this well into your lifestyle. Elizabeth

I don't actually have children because I'm only 18, but being barely an adult I can definitely tell you about the overweight kid thing. I was on my first diet at 8 years old. It eventually got to the point where my mother would lock the cabinets at night so that I didn't steal food. Then, I would actually steal slices of bread that were left out because my mom wouldn't let me have anything else. I didn't want her to know that I got it and I was so ashamed. Blocking food is definitely not the way to go about it. A change of lifestyle is more appropriate and better for her self esteem in the long run. These other ladies have given great advice! I'm a firm believer in genetics. Both of my parents were obese. My mother got a gastric sleeve and lost 200 pounds. My dad is still incredibly obese. I ate more than necessary, even as a baby. Every two hours I had to eat or I would cry and cry. It was just an upward spiral from there. I was 80 pounds in kindergarten and over 100 in the second grade. I have struggled my whole life with it, and there is no explanation as to why besides genetics. My mother strictly enforced a healthy lifestyle. No "junk cereal" or sweets were ever in the house but on rare occasions, yet I still gained weight. Ironically, my younger sister struggles with her weight, but not like I do. She just eats bad things while she is out and about. She doesn't have this... urge to eat even when she's full, so she has managed to stay much thinner than the rest of us. She only eats until she's full and stops. I didn't. I have no idea why we are so different. The only thing I can think of to explain this is genetics. Elizabeth

So, tomorrow marks a week since I had another fill in my band, but something incredibly weird is going on. The first few days, it was the typical swelling. You know, the whole can't eat much solid stuff? Then, Sunday and Monday nights, I was perfectly able to eat my dinner. I had an artichoke Sunday and went out to eat at the Cheesecake Factory and had some steak on Monday. Tuesday afternoon, I partook in some leftover steak, and since then, all has been hell. I can eat barely anything and I am never hungry. I mean NEVER. It's very unhealthy, I think. I'll wait 12 hours and absolutely nothing. I know that the steak I ate on Monday went down fine because I was hungry on Tuesday and I didn't throw up. I know my band has not slipped because I can drink liquids perfectly fine and I do not experience pain with them. I know nothing is caught because when something is caught, I throw up. Every time I eat something, no matter how little, I feel like I've overstuffed myself. It is an incredibly uncomfortable sensation and it is almost pain in my stomach. I know I NEED to eat. I haven't eaten in over 9 hours, and something needs to get down. I can eat about three bites before the sensation of "stretching" comes back in my stomach and I stop. I do not want to stretch my pouch. I'm starting to feel sort of weak and I'm getting hunger headaches. I'm not hungry at all! The ONLY thing I can think of is that I'm constipated. I developed a little pain this morning in my lower stomach, nowhere near my band or my port. I took some laxatives, but they have yet to take effect. We'll see how it goes in the morning. If this isn't fixed tomorrow, I need to get to my doctor. Has anyone else had this problem? Why would I be able to eat for 4 days and all of a sudden not be able to? It makes no sense at all! Thank you all, Elizabeth

Irene pretty much stated it really well. My inspiration to get surgery came from my mother who had a sleeve two and a half years ago and has lost 195 pounds. The reason I got the band was because my horrible insurance said that the sleeve was "experimental." If I were you, I would go with the sleeve. My mom had a little more trouble than I did in the beginning right after her surgery, but two years out she is perfectly happy. She never had to go through fills or anything and still has food restriction. She is not malnourished at all. With the band, there tends to be a lot of complications after surgery, so I'm just waiting for them to occur, while with the sleeve, there are very few. It's up to you, but I would strongly urge you to do the sleeve. I love my band and I'm incredibly grateful for it, but I believe I would have liked the sleeve even more if I had been given the chance to get it.

I do sometimes, like when I'm with friends and they are having a bunch of food that I want to eat, but I can't. My problem is at restaurants when I order a meal, I eat till I'm full, and then I want more because my MOUTH wants more. It's good, so I want to eat more of it. You have to remind yourself that you can always eat later and that this is not the last supper. To go boxes are you friend. Just remind yourself constantly: Nothing tastes as good as thin feels.

I was banded one month after my 18th birthday on April 25th of this year. So far, I've lost almost 40 pounds and I'm still dropping. It really has changed my life.

Totally get it. If anything, I gain weight, and it takes about a week for it to come back off. It's mainly water weight, and the best thing you can do to get rid of it is keep your diet and drink, drink, drink. My problem is during my period, I get massive cravings and it's almost like the "full receptors" in my stomach turn off. I can eat and eat and eat and never feel satisfied. It's real hard to maintain during that.

I have actually told pretty much everybody that cares about me. I'm not running, screaming it down the streets, but a lot of people know. I figured that they were gonna ask, and I wasn't gonna lie. And truthfully, if they can't handle it and think I'm a "cheater", then they definitely don't know me. Most everybody knows I struggled with my weight my whole life, and they all love hearing about how I'm doing on Facebook and such. Everybody that I know is incredibly supportive and a lot of people have even asked about it themselves. This lap band is now a big part of who I am, or at least my lifestyle, and people need to learn to accept it. If they think badly of me for it, it's their loss!

Hi guys! I normally don't post much, but I follow the posts all the time! Today I have a question, though. I had the lap band on April 25th, and since my second fill, I have actually been losing about a pound a day. Yeah! Really! I normally would not weigh myself every morning, but since this has been happening, I have been so excited to weigh myself and it makes me practically cry every morning when I look down and I weigh less than the day before. However, I'm noticing that my band seems a bit different than a lot of others. I'm able to eat more than half a cup of food. I can eat about a cup. I'm pretty sure that I'm not stretching my band and I stop when I'm satisfied, but is this normal? I mean, I'm losing weight rapidly, but everywhere I go I hear stories of "half a cup", and that's just not the case with me. I am a younger lap band patient. I'm only 18. Could that have something to do with it? I have absolutely no idea. Thank you all! Elizabeth

It is pretty crazy. Some doctors are more conservative on the fills, while mine is more aggressive. My doctor suggests, for after a fill, eating liquids for the rest of the day (of the appointment) and then the day after. Then, slowly move back up to solids. He's basically told me to move as tolerated while other doctors are REALLY strict on the regime.

UPDATE: I had an appointment with my surgeon yesterday, and I know why I'm eating a cup of food. They hooked me up to a machine, made me drink some contrast, and used an x-ray thing to literally watch what I drank go through the band. Turns out, I didn't have enough restriction. I was losing the feeling of "fullness" and now I know why. The doctor literally watched the contrast practically go right through the bad without being stopped even a little. Turns out, when I was eating, all my food was going just right through the band with almost nothing holding it up, so it was pretty much like nothing was there. I just stopped myself at one cup through will, not because I was satisfied. So, with the help of the x-ray, my surgeon filled me up a little more and now I'm doing great! Still eating more than half a cup, but not nearly as much as I was. Just thought I'd let everyone know.

It's not that you shouldn't try it because you can't mash it with a fork. I actually haven't heard that. My soft food diet consists of ground meats and all kinds of other stuff you can't necessarily crush with a fork. I wouldn't try it because it's very "bready" and you might have trouble not getting it caught. I would avoid breads at all costs for a while, just to be safe. Good luck!

Hi everyone! My name's Elizabeth and I was banded on April 25. I am a little bit different from most though, because I am barely 18 years old and did it as soon as I could. My mom got a sleeve a few years ago and lost 190 pounds and I watched how wonderful she felt and wanted it for myself. However, my progression has been atypical. For the first three days, it sucked. I was down and couldn't eat anything except liquids in small amounts. Then, though, after about five days, everything changed. I was perfectly fine and started dabbling with thicker foods and handled them perfectly. I couldn't wait for the soft solid stage! I was so tired of Cream of chicken Soup. My mom called the nurse practitioner at my doctor's office and asked if I could move on because I am handling it so well and she told me to "move as tolerated." Well, it's been about two weeks and I can eat and handle anything fine, and that's a problem. When I first started, I could BARELY hold half a cup in my band if I was lucky! Now the swelling has gone down, and I can handle SO MUCH more and I am legitimately hungry all the time. I have learned to recognize when I am legitimately hungry and when I am not. My food choices are still good, though. I'm not eating as MUCH as I would have had I not had the surgery, so don't worry. It's way less than that, but way more than I should be able to handle. I healed really really fast, and now I'm frustrated. I ate my dinner last night and broke into tears in front of my mom and tearing up now. I lost about 17 pounds since the start of this whole thing about three weeks ago and gained a little back. I REALLY don't think it's because of my eating habits. The doctor said that weight loss is ridiculous and I may spring back a little because it was so fast. But I don't want to gain it back! I worked SO HARD and was SO diligent with my dieting and everything! It's just that I healed way faster than expected. My first fill date is May 26. It's two weeks out and I feel as if nothing has been done at all. I can eat a decent sized meal. Is this normal? Does this change when the band is filled? Is this just because the band is not filled, is just sitting there, and the swelling has gone down? Please help me. It's stressing me out and I don't want to have to struggle like this for the rest of my life with this band! It seems like it's not working!

I always try to control how much. That was my demon beforehand, and it's becoming my demon again now. The relief I felt when I could only eat 4 bites and feel like I ate a whole meal was so great I can't even describe it. I try to only eat three meals today. Like right now, it was Mother's Day and I loaded my plate (not intentionally. It's a lot of ribs they give you.) with Protein filled things and only ended up eating the ribs. I was still kinda hungry, but stopped myself and took the rest home to munch on tomorrow. The rest was Beans (not the sweet kind) and cole slaw as opposed to macaroni and potato salad that I normally would have gotten. So I consider tonight a small victory. size10again- Yes. I have started walking my dog early in the morning before school. My dogs losing weight with it too. Ha!

Hey, I totally feel you. I had a triple patty Wendy's burger with a large fries and a milkshake as a last meal. I never had the triple...ever, until that day. You will be able to eat pizza again, I'm sure. Just with small bites and chewing well. It totally sucks and I completely understand, but know it's for a good reason and keep that goal in mind. The point of the surgery is to be able to eat normal food, not protein shakes (which I am SICK of) and cottage cheese for the rest of my life.

Thank you so much for the advice! I was getting so frustrated and just about to burst into tears every time I ate. This makes me feel so much better!

Thank you so much. You got your surgery in DFW? I'm from there and had it two days before you. Where did you get it done?

<br /><br /><br /> Thank you SO much. It's good to be reassured that I'm normal and not a freak for tolerating all this stuff.