Sojourner

I eat spinach daily, either baked into quiche or raw as the leafy greens in my very small salad. I tolerate it better raw, as the frozen spinach I use in the quiche can be stringy at times. I would consider it a "mushy", just be careful of the stringy fibers. Your recipe sounds good!

My dietitian prohibits us from drinking all fruit juice, high calories, little nutritional value. I would call your doctor asap, dehydration is a real concern. If you are getting stuck, perhaps pureeing your food would help. This far post op, you should not be having these issues, and I agree with others that your band may be too tight. Reevaluate what you are eating. I was advised to avoid all bread for the first year, another food which often has empty calories and lacks nutritional value. Hope you feel better fast!

For hair loss, be certain to meet your daily Protein goals, and take all of the Vitamins you are supposed to be taking. I have not encountered this -- yet. Hope I don't...but the hair does grow back.

Call your doctor ASAP, dehydration is very serious. I don't know why you were not sent home with a prescription for both pain and nausea.

Yes, you are young, but that means that several things will work in your favor: You are male, and have a higher metabolism to work with. You are young, your skin has more elasticity to regain a shape to fit your reduced weight. If your skin does not look the way you want it to, there are reconstructive surgeries which will tighten your skin. It may help to see a therapist to address your fears about surgery. If you are not emotionally committed to the surgery, you may resent or regret your decision in the future. The fear you write about is normal for someone your age, especially if you have never had any surgery before. Good luck with working through your anxieties. There are many knowledgeable people on this forum who are willing to share their experiences with you...

txdee, The band is only a tool, and one which comes with a life time commitment to modify your thinking and behaviors with eating. It's imperative that you change your relationship with food to be successful with your weight loss journey. A person who is considering that amount of behavior modification has every right to be concerned about what all that means to them. One fact is true above others: if your "head" is not in the right place, your success will be marginal at best. Food is not your friend; how is your life different from what you want it to be because of your weight? The same concerns about having to eat slowly were in part how you got to the point of considering surgery. We loose sight of eating to live, rather than living to eat. You did not mention your age; if you are younger, most likely you do not have any serious co-morbidity medical issues like many of the active bandsters on this forum. For me, having the surgery was an opportunity to regain some of the health that my weight was taking away from me. If you are fortunate enough to not have weight related medical issues (i.e. hypertension, arthritis, diabetes, acid re-flux, to name a few), being morbidly obese as you grow older you are at increased risk of developing them. My surgery had to be delayed for over a year due to unavoidable life events and some unanticipated complications in my medical condition. When I finally received medical clearance, I had no reservations about what the right decision was for me. I would make the choice to have the surgery again...and would have done it sooner if it had been an option for me. ​I encourage you to give considerable thought to this life altering decision. Without a sincere commitment to change both your eating habits and relationship with food, you could end up resenting and regretting your decision. It's also possible that at this point in your life you have not reached a place where you are motivated to change. Either way, best of luck to you!

I would not be leaving my doctor's office if I did not understand their instructions or if I felt that they had not adequately addressed my concerns. Remember that you are paying for their expertise, and at the very least you need to have your concerns heard and questions answered. IMHO---your opinion may be different!

​I am on several different maintenance medications, which needed to continue to be taken daily. My primary care doctor prescribed everything which came in a liquid form to be changed to liquid. One medication needed to be changed to a "solutab" form (chewable). The other medications which only came in pill form had to be crushed, which I hated the taste of. The only "stuck" episode I have had to date was with a small pill...5 weeks post op. I carefully followed the advice of my doctor, and crushed everything for the first 2 weeks post-op.

When in the "mushie" stage, I kept to unprocessed foods, and pureed everything in the blender. Basics for me were: Scrambled eggs, homemade turkey salad, chicken salad, tuna salad. ​Cantaloupe, strawberries, blueberries, sweet potatoes, cooked carrots, baby food peaches and pears, and applesauce, all with no sugar added. I added the fruit to FF SF yogurt. I also was tracking my daily Protein intake carefully, and had usually 2 shakes made with 1% milk daily. I also mixed the fruit with 2% low fat cottage cheese for variety. I was cautioned to avoid any beef or pork until at least 6 months post op; I have read of far too many "stuck" episodes that happened with beef. I have yet to return to eating either of these meats. Congratulations on reaching this stage! I remember that after a month on liquids, anything to eat seemed like a banquet, even if it was all pureed...

I'm very happy with my band, and the progress I have made to date with weight loss. I have empathy for your observations, and after reading numerous posts have concluded that there are 2 major types of people who post about their issues with the band. The first group seems to have not had a complete pre-op education as to what to expect post-op, and are greatly lacking in knowledge about nutrition and self care. The second group has not adjusted their beliefs about their relationship with eating and food in general. They seem to share resistance to the process of change and have not yet retooled their beliefs to understand that you either follow the simple rules, or you can complain about the rules and try to modify them to suit their particular needs. As someone successful with their journey to health(you, not me--yet), I can understand why you express frustration over seeing the same type of posts repeated many times. I value your presence and participation on this forum!

I was happy to read that you are working with a therapist to address your continuing issues with food. Though your weight loss has progressed impressively, your relationship and beliefs about food do not seem to have made the same rate of progress. Revising your thinking about food, and the requirements for your diet with your band has to happen before you can truly be in a different place emotionally. I have never felt that having to chew many times, taking small bites, and restricting the type of foods I can have were an imposition, or that I was "missing out" with the changes I chose to make with eating. These action items were part of what I still consider to be the opportunity to have better health. I had to wait an extra year for my surgery for a variety of reasons, none of which were planned or avoidable, so when I was finally cleared medically, I had no reservations to proceed. I believe that most bandsters have some pre-op questions to themselves about if they are making the right choice. There is no easy answer, but I believe that the answer is tied to one's priorities. At the Southern Woman's Show 2 summers ago, I had the good fortune to encounter someone who had been banded the previous fall. She helped me place my concerns in the proper perspective: which is more important to you? Being able to eat anything you want to for your meals covering several minutes a day during meals, or having some rules for those meals which require attention and mindful eating? It was a no brainer after that for me. We should eat to live, not the other way around. The longer you hold onto your flawed thinking, the more of a negative attitude towards diet compliance you will have. The things you mentioned that you disliked are the same things which got most all of us to the point where we had bariatric surgery. You cannot expect a sustained weight loss without increasing resentment towards compliance unless you redefine for yourself what your relationship with food needs to be. You have done so well with your weight loss...I hope you modify your beliefs about food. and let go of the ones which got you to your band surgery. Food is not your friend...and in many ways one can be addicted to food in the same way as one can be to drugs or co-dependent relationships. Wishing you continued success with your weight loss journey.

I'm not a medical professional, but here is what I have learned from speaking with others who are...our brains need carbs to run on, carbs are the only form of energy the brain uses. We get in to trouble when we have too many of the wrong kind of carbs, which are the ones which are quickly converted to energy by the body, usually they are ones found in "empty calorie" foods that contain refined sugar, wheat, corn syrup, etc. When we have those type carbs, the glucose level in the blood spikes quickly, and then falls. This falling leaves a person craving more carbs to use quickly...thus the cycle of carb addiction can occur. Healthier carbs, which are the complex carbs take more time for the body to convert to energy, and you avoid the glucose spike and the cycle of addiction. Many foods contain carbs naturally, tomatoes, grapefruit, peanuts to name a few. We need some carbs to function, but because the taste of sweet is preferred by people, the craving becomes hardwired into the brain, and we continue to eat them. When we eat an excessive amount, the carb calories are converted to fat. That's where I, and so many others get into trouble and gain weight. The craving for carbs becomes an addiction just like any other type of addiction; it can be difficult to break the cycle of eating too many carbs and gaining weight. When we loose the "sugar high", it is similar to a drug addict coming off of a binge; the brain wants more to get high again. What all of this tells me is that naturally occurring carbs are preferred, and that it takes the body longer to turn the complex carbs into energy. The exception is perhaps carbs in fruit juice, which my dietitian says is the same thing as drinking straight sugar water and is unhealthy for a bandster. To avoid the cravings, we need to have only the healthier carbs. We still have the energy to run on, but in a healthy amount to avoid the blood glucose spikes. That is my plan for me...I love chocolate, ice cream, cakes and fruit pies, but I know they need to be avoided if I want to avoid cravings and remain compliant with my diet. One of the reasons I opted for lap band surgery was because I was well on the way to becoming diabetic; my doctor was concerned that I would become diabetic while on my required 6 month weight loss diet for insurance. Glad I dodged that bullet. Now my A1c levels are much lower.

Actually, I was advised to puree all of my food...I mostly had home made chicken salad and tuna salad from the blender. I recall having over cooked carrots(ok), sweet potatoes, cantaloupe(absolute best!), scrambled eggs(those were soft, and did not need to be pureed), baby food peaches and pears (no sugar added), and Protein Shakes usually 2 a day. It's critical to get all of the protein you should have every day, so I was careful to track this. I fell short every day, but I did enjoy my shakes. I have never branched out to the different cream soups like some have; my doctor prohibited them as not having enough protein value for the amount of calories. Every doctor is a bit different with the diet they want you to follow. Mine seems to be more strict than most...no processed anything from the grocery store. Also advised to never eat anything which sugar is added to. Naturally occurring carbs are ok (like in fruit), but become a "label reader"; there are many hidden carbs that can derail your diet! After being on a liquid diet for a month, any food, even pureed, was like a banquet! Hope this information helps...continued good luck with your journey!

When I was younger, I did successfully loose significant amounts of weight (one time 85 lbs, another 65 lbs, both times post pregnancy) and I kept the weight off for over 20years. Then I was over medicated with a prescription med I should never been prescribed, and my metabolism slowed after menopause. I had no success with dieting after that point. I also was successful with loosing 8 lbs in 3 weeks by dieting to get my weight below the number assigned by the surgeon just prior my pre-op appointment. Great short term success, but not sustainable in the long term when you need to loose 100 lbs. Having past success with diets increased my confidence that I would be able to maintain diet compliance with the band. The band helps to keep you in line, as I choose to avoid the negative consequences if I don't behave myself!

I really have no idea how many calories I have every day; the dietitian told me it was more important to remain compliant with the diet than count calories. Essentially if you eat the food that are allowed ( not processed, no white anything) and in the amounts allowed, you will not have too many calories. My best guess is I have about 1000 calories daily. I have increased my Water intake quite a bit since being banded, which helps with the weight loss. I was also advised by the dietitian that weight loss will slow if you do not have enough Protein every day. I have been loosing between 2-3 pounds a week. I'm certain it would be more if I had some Fluid in my band. I hope that my first fill will be done on May 9.

I made all of my protein shakes with 1% milk from the first shake I had to this day. I struggled with drinking all of my fluids during that time of initial adjustment to my band. I was not hungry at that stage ( it took about 3 weeks for my hunger to return). Now, hunger is my cue to drink some of the 60-80 of free fluids recommended every day. I rely on the hunger to remind me to drink Water, so I will not end up severely dehydrated again. Every doctor seems to have some slight variations on their recommended initial post op diet. Did you meet with a dietitian yet? I was advised of what I could have during that meeting. If you have not yet met with a dietitian, I believe it would be helpful if you did.

It took awhile, but I have finally determined there is a connection when I have increased carbs related to sugar and getting the "munchies", especially late at night. Over the Easter holiday, we had our traditional dinner, which included honey baked ham. I had about 2 oz, and the rest of my Protein from regular smoked turkey. Later that evening I was craving a piece of the chocolate fudge cake left overs. I opted for a half teaspoon of Peanut Butter instead. Last evening we went out to TGIFriday's. I ordered their Jack Daniel's chicken, which did come with the delicious JD sauce, which I believe has honey in it also. Just like clockwork, the munchies hit again by 11pm. I hate when that happens...when you want to eat everything that is not nailed down. I have learned my lesson...I will have to avoid those kind of carbs; they place me on the "slippery slope" of non-compliance with my diet. Has anyone else had this happen??

Be especially careful to get all of your free fluids every day. I did not realize that nausea is a symptom for severe dehydration, until my doctor sent me to the ER instead of doing my first fill on March 29. Apparently, thirst is not one of the first symptoms of dehydration. I had been ill for several days, and was continuing to drink the amount of Water I usually do, but that was not enough to replenish what I lost. I was clueless, but it will never happen again...

Maddy, Try not to get frustrated with the weight loss. It is very common to reach plateaus where the scale stalls. Be compliant with your diet, and the scale will move in the right direction. The band does not provide the rapid weight loss that other types of bariatric surgery do. Try to be consistent with exercise to boost your metabolism. One plateau lasted 7 days for me; I was totally compliant with the diet and exercise. We also have some hormone adjustments with the surgery, so the mood swings you are describing are within the parameters of what is normal. Stay focused, and keep your eye on the prize. We did not gain the weight which brought us to the choice for surgery overnight, it will take patience to reach your goal weight. Good luck!

I'd say you have some "perfectionist tendencies", which is alright as long as you are realistic and have no expectation to raise others to your level of functioning. In the grand scheme of things, is a misspelled word really that important...even if it happens frequently? Be content that you spell the word "correctly", and leave the rest alone. I don't believe that your feelings have anything to do with "American spelling"...the word of the day is "tolerance". Develop some, you will be much more calm and happier!

I can't say that I have had an identical situation, but can relate to what others have said. My husband and I have been married for 39 years. During 2 of my 3 pregnancies, I gained way too many pounds ( 85 with son #2, 65 with son #3). I managed to loose all of the "baby weight" both times. I lost the weight because I wanted to do it for me, not to seek his approval, though he did make me aware that he did not find me at all attractive while pregnant and overweight. I had this surgery because of health issues related to my weight (highest weight 246), and my husband was supportive of my decision. The point I am trying to make is that you will resent him if you are not loosing the weight because YOU want to. To get past the hurt feelings he has caused, and avoid resentment from developing, you must get in touch with the reasons you are having the surgery. That this surgery is something you will do for yourself is the key. That he approves or does not is not relevant. You can take the credit for the hard work and investment in yourself as you reap the benefits of health and improved self esteem. In psychology, we call this "cognitive restructuring", and changing the way you think and feel about your weight issue is essential for success. I hope that this helps you...good luck for success!

Around 3 weeks before my pre-op appointment, I was notified by the surgeon's office of my confirmed surgery date. At the same time, I was informed of the weight I needed to be under by the date of my pre-op appointment. Literally, my entire family had just returned from a cruise, and I went into panic mode. I had 3 weeks to lose 6 pounds! I was told that if I weighed at or over my assigned goal weight at the pre-op appointment, my surgery would be rescheduled. No exceptions made. Needless to say, I made it happen, and weighed in at 8 pounds under my goal on the day of the appointment. My husband even asked me if I could loose 14 pounds in 3 weeks, did I really believe I needed to have the surgery. Well, short term I can manage just about anything, however when I got my band, I still needed to loose 80 pounds. I had no confidence that I would be able to loose that much weight and at my age be able to keep it off. You had some extenuating circumstances to cope with...but the reality is that in order to be successful with weight loss, it needs to become "Priority 1". That means that you place your diet at the top of the list, ​and become more self centered about compliance with your diet. Others may not understand, but that is their issue to manage, not yours! Good luck!

I missed getting my first fill on March 29; the doctor determined I was severely dehydrated, and I ended up being sent to the ER instead. Before leaving for the ER, I was told to schedule an appointment for 6 weeks, so I am still waiting for May 9 and then hopefully my first fill. I get hungry often, but now use this cue to start drinking water. I don't understand why, but remembering to drink enough has been a problem for me. Now I use hunger as a tool to remind me to drink water. I want to avoid any return trips to the ER. I was loosing 2-3 pounds every week for the first month, then it slowed. I continue to watch portions and calories. I want to believe that this is a plateau as I have adjusted to the initial feeling of restriction, which is now almost none. We are all different, and no two will have the identical experiences with their band. I am looking forward to sharing some "skinny pics" also. This journey is going to be about developing patience for me...I'm taking a day at a time and keeping my "eye on the prize" of improved health...