Cazzy

I didnt get my first fill for 6 weeks either. Uk here.

Prunes are very good, either the juice or stewed or just the soft prunes, start slowly tho u dont want any accidents !

From my perspective having the lap band was the best thing i did for myself, i found the surgery relatively easy to be honest, i really wasnt in much pain at all, a little discomfort with some gas in the shoulder but that soon went, the liquid and mushy stage post op was not easy, but to me, having time frames really helps get through the boredom. I had 4 weeks liquid then 4 weeks mushy first band fill after 6 weeks, i took this as a challenge and made my own Soups, did not eat anything starchy or carby, and i got through it. Now I eat around 1000 calories a day mainly good lean protien and green veg, plenty of fish,chicken and salmon ( i adore smoked salmon ), plain low fat yoghurt with bran added and a spoon of maple syrup or sugar free Jello with some berries added. I actually have really good quality healthy food and i rarely ever get hungry. I drink coffee and tea with skimmed milk and dont really restrict these at all. The band doesnt impact my life as much as i thought it would, protien and a some veg is a staple diet in the UK so not sure how much it will impact you if the food choices are a little harder if you go out or celebrations etc. When i have been out for a meal i stick to a Soup starter then have fish with either salad or veg. Exercise is essential for me to lose weight so i do cycling and strength training, the more u lose the more you can do The great benefits of losing this weight far outweigh any of the downsides like eating out etc, I make certain i have a sharp knife to cut food up small and if i cant resist my husbands food i take a teaspoon full, i was told if you do feel like cheating make it a small cheat. I rarely am sick/get food stuck as i just dont take chances, some food will bite you back on one day and not on another but the longer you have the band the more you will get to know what food to avoid and what to not take chances on. We are all different and everyones copes with things and deals with them differently, i have been banded 10 months and do not regret one single day of it, arming yourself with all the knowledge that you can before u make a decision and get banded is the best start you can give yourself. good luck !

great news well done

lots of loose skin

I wish you better and hope all goes well when u go back to the doctors.

I drink around 3 cups of coffee a day with no problems, i also use skimmed milk frothed up so i get my frothy coffee fix without the calories

good luck with the surgery, im sure all will go well and u can start looking forward to a leaner life

Congratulations , i hope to be joining you in onederland soon too

Thank you both , i have fought for every pound but its been so worth while i wish you both good luck on journey too !

I am also 57 yrs old and to be contemplating at 22 yrs old this surgery is a big deal. I used to play a lot of sport when i was your age and i did eat a very healthy diet, but life over took me and the sport and exercise became low priorities, then a heavy duty stress job and diabetes boom my weight exploded. If you can possibly do this on your own please do try to. I have had no problems with this band, am losing on average 3 lbs a week and it suits me really well, my diabetes is gone now and i am exercising like mad, but the biggest change was in my mind, eating what is considered a healthy diet is a mind set change having the band fitted can be the trigger that changes your way of thinking about food but it doesnt make the right choices for you, its just finding that trigger to get you in the right frame of mind to do it and then to stick to it. I cant give you any horror stories about the band as i havent got any if i had my time again would i at your age have the band, then i would honestly have to answer no i wouldnt, not unless it really was the last resort. I was also self pay so this was an investment for me for the later part of my life. The minute i used to tell myself i was on a diet, i was more hungry than ever, so dont look at what you need to do as a 'diet' just get fit and eat healthy and i am sure with your sporting activities things will change for you I wish you good luck and support is on the forum whatever your decision is.

I am almost there its my goal to reach 200lbs lost by christmas

It doesnt sound like u are eating too much of anything although i tend not to eat more than around 50 carbs a day as this does affect sugar levels and i was very insulin resistant. What sort of yoghurt are you eating that contains 20 carbs, the ones i eat have 6-8 carbs I understand how difficult it is for you to be driving and at night, snacking keeps you awake and also helps the boredom, i would suggest maybe some sugar free sweets, carb free Snacks which are low in calories and some raw veggies and fruit etc( when u can eat them ), take plenty of Water with you and maybe even a flask with some skimmed milk coffee ( if you are ok to drink it ), maybe even a low calorie Soup or a premade protien shake ( low carb/calorie) with you if you stop somewhere. If you eat from the roadside places temptation will always be with you and if you are hungry and smell cooking u will need more will power. I use an exercise bike which obviously isnt really practicable for you while driving i burn around 800 calories a day and my intake is around 1000. I also use dumbells and resistance bands which u can easily take with you and if u stop do some strength training, driving is a very sedate life and u need to move as much as you can. Put on your fave radio station and sing, i know u may think this sounds silly but singing along increases your general fitness with breathing etc Any carbs you do eat should be the 'good' carbs and give u other nutrients with a high fibre content, this then counteracts the amount of natural carbs in the food, stuff like white bread has empty carbs and if you want to lose weight, for me anyways, it just doesnt work. The longer you have your band the more you will get to know what works for you and what doesnt, i really hope you find the information you need and continue on your journey to losing the weight you need to

i have a small oesophagus so am used to choking sometimes, getting stuck with my band is really not the same feeling at all for me anyways. U arent fighting for breath and the pain/discomfort is much lower than when choking. Most episodes of being stuck i have been able to pin point why it happened, eating too fast, not chewing enough, the wrong food etc, my best friend is a very sharp knife and i do take my time eating and cut up food into small pieces. Being stuck tho is for me not a 100% predictable, on a rare occasion a certain food would get stuck that i was able to eat the day before but these occasions are rare. So to answer your question, for me yes it is a choice as to what you eat and how you eat it , but sometimes / rarely food can bite you back and get stuck for no good reason. I know some people prefer to have a very restricted band, and some struggle more in the mornings, but if you master your techniques for eating and choices of food you can eventually live wthout the band thoughts dominating your day I would say that after 11 months being banded i have been stuck no more than 10-15 times in all and that to me is an acceptable level, most recently as the weight has been lost and i get more 'expert' at what i can eat then it happens only very rarely. The time for more caution is normally after a fill. I would not let the concern over being stuck prevent you from taking control of your weight and life with the help of a band

I also do a lot of lightweight / high rep training and exercise bike, i was very insulin resistant so had to eat first and then exercise after to help my sugar levels. I eat around 1000 calories a day and eat 50 grm protien fresh food and no processed food . It does work for me but we are all different. Keeping a food dairy of calories in and calories burned is one way of seeing where u may be having problems, others on here use the fitness pal site. Sometimes its just a case of trial and error. I have been lucky and found a formula/mix of exercise and food that is working for me but if it stops before my goal i will try something different. Some people can eat just small portions of 'normal' food and like me some can't , u mention u are 'watching' what u eat but u dont say what u are eating so maybe the clues are there. I do feel for you it must be very disappointing to not get the weight loss u want. Just keep at it and maybe wipe the slate clean and start over doing something different food wise and exercise wise, i know sometimes our bodies need a good shock to get them to do what we want them to. I hope you find a solution

great work

I think that theres a fine balance between eating enough to feed your body and not enough to lose weight. It does sound like u dont eat enough which must be hard for you if your band is very tight. If you do a lot of exercise on a small amount of food it can actually prevent you losing weight, we all have an optimum amount that we can eat and do our exercise which enables us to lose weight, the trick is to keep going til you know what that magic amount is. For me protien shakes should be supplements to your food, they shouldnt really replace it. I would definitely speak to your Doc or Nutritionist, some people do feel more restiction of a morning but really you should always be able to drink Water without it having trouble going down. good luck

I have trouble eating anything bread related too so i dont and if i eat cheese its 1 teaspoon of grated parmesan, which satisfies me on the cheese need as its a strong flavour. If you go on a long journey take your food with you, take snacks with you, that way you dont have to rely on whats available roadside

does seem an unusual problem i wracked my brains and came up with with 2 suggestions, either try drinking the protien shake from a bottle with a sport cap ( u know the bottles with nozzles on) as that way your nose will have very little interaction with the drink, or try a small drop of something like almond oil vanilla essence near your nose and mask the smell with another, Quite often vaseline/or similar is used near the nose to mask the smell of dead bodies in mortuaries so thought it may work just to mask the smell b4 you drink it ..I hope u are able to find a solution

I am very pleased with my weight loss and have worked hard to get it, but its been worth every effort. I am on the homeward stretch now and the light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter

Leslie Sansone is a good work out for walking exercise at home. Dont dismiss sitting exercises, you can do dumbells and restance training while watching tv, why not sit and burn some calories .

100% happy with the band.

good news ..keep up the good work now

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I was sad to read of your loss but encouraged to see that you are not prepared to suffer the same fate. You wont be giving up food you will just be eating differently. I think a fair few of us have been heavy nearly all our lives but as we get older the weight piles on and our bodies dont deal with it so well. There are so many reasons why the weight loss for everyone is different. As with all things relating to humans we are all different and our bodies deal with food in different ways, we all know people who can eat what the hell they want and never put on an ounce, or someone like me who could gain weight just by looking at food. Willpower is a part of this weight loss journey and sometimes we will need a lot of it. For me it was more about determination, i was determined that if i underwent surgery it wouldnt be for nothing, i was determined to get as fit as i could again and take back my life, which was slowing ebbing away both physically and emotionally. My willpower kicks in when i go food shopping, theres no medals for having unhealthy food in the house and not eating it, as against just not buying it. When i first started it felt like i had mount everest to climb, i felt almost envious of people who had half the weight to lose that i did, but with the right surgeon, the right support and the right mind set things began to change and suddenly that mountain i had to climb actaully seemed possible. I really hope that you can get the surgery you want and wish you well for the future