Justme9786

I was a vegetarian for about a year or two. I felt the healthiest when I was a vegetarian and saw the most weight loss as well. I wasn't a vegetarian because of cruelty reasons or anything, just because i didn't eat much meat then. Now I'm the complete opposite doing Ketogenic diet, trying to shock my body back into weight loss!

You should be able to at least have a few glasses of wine, etc. Just keep your calorie intake up....which you can do with a soft diet too. Just don't overdrink...

I had a colonoscopy post op and they didn't have to do anything w/the band. Of course, the pre-op sucks w/all the laxatives!! If you ever have to do an EGD, they do have to deflate your band usually. Depends on how tight you are. Mine had to be deflated.

I appealed w/my insurance company for 8 or 9 months before they finally approved.

Yes - I usually get the pain if I am eating too fast as well.

Oh yes. The only time I get this noise is when food is having a hard time going down.

I don't think anyone is "falling off the bandwagon" by drinking liquids. We should all be hydrating ourselves. The reason your band loosens up a bit and allows you to eat without problems when you drink liquids before hand is probably because you are hydrating yourself. I drink liquids all day long. Always have a bottle of Water next to me and will drink a half a bottle of water right before eating, not because it helps me eat more, but just because. We should all be drinking as much water as we can throughout the day - it really makes a world of a difference with the band. I will say the only time I do anything to aid in my band more than just keeping myself hydrated would be by drinking a cup of coffee in the morning, because that is when i am the tightest. I've told many of my band friends that have trouble more often than I do with eating to try keeping a bottle of water with them all the time and re-filling throughout the day. If I drink at least 6, 12.9oz bottles (of COOL water, not ice cold) a day I usually don't have problems eating at all. I definitely notice when I am not hydrated, get stuck more frequently.

Even .1 makes all the difference!! lol I've went up and down with my fills so many times. 4.4 was WAY too tight, now I 'm at 3.9 and pretty good restriction, but could probably go to 4.0 or 4.1. The teeniest tiniest unfill can really make a world of a difference!

As others have said, it could be a number of things. Low bp, blood sugar, ear infection, dehydration, etc etc etc. I will say that I had a bout of dizziness that lasted for about a week or two after my gallbladder surgery and it turned out to be postural hypotension (blood pressure dropped as I would sit up and even lower when I stood up). Doctor told me to drink Gatorade to bring it back up some and it helped tremendously! (ive never had BP problems) Gatorade always seems to help me whenever I feel like crap I'm general. However, if you have high blood pressure, Gatorade would not be a good idea. So either way, I'd check with your doc.

lunch is my biggest meal of the day. I wish I could make breakfast my largest, but I'm just not that hungry in the morning and that's when I am the tightest. Breakfast I usually have 1 egg and 1-2 pieces of bacon w/cup of coffee. If I stay hydrated until lunch I can usually eat a fairly big salad (spinach greens w/chicken and cottage cheese) then by dinner time I'm eating a piece of meat with a small side (like dinner yesterday I had a burger w/cheese no bread and half a tomato sliced with parm cheese, pepper and olive oil drizzled on top) I'd rather have lunch as my biggest meal because at least I have the rest of the day to burn off some of what I ate.

Hey all - just thought I'd share some insight on the band and Water. They should be best friends! I've always struggled in keeping myself hydrated...but I'll tell you what...if I don't, my band notices. Since starting my most recent diet again, I told myself I was going to drink at least 6 12.9oz bottles of water a day and I was and all of those days, I was able to eat NO PROBLEM. No stuck feeling..I was able to eat NORMAL. lol Today, I got busy at work, etc. etc. and missed out on some water like I should have and my band is yelling at me now that it's lunch time. I'm on a high Protein high fat low carb diet and I've always had problems with protein (chicken) going down, but if i drink enough water throughout the day, it's way easier. So, just a tip for new & old bandsters. DRINK THAT WATER! It really does make a difference!

I agree with other posters. Too tight. Even the slightest unfill can make a world of a difference. Even like .1-.2ccs only. If you can't drink hot tea in the morning you're too tight. I can drink a bottle of Water I'm the morning, then my coffee, then my Breakfast. And I have pretty decent restriction. Once you're a little more lose, you can eat healthy foods other that soft unhealthy foods.

I eat salads every day. I usually use spinach, but have also thrown in iceberg and I never have a problem with it. However, my mom (also banded) can only eat chopped lettuce (kinda like lettuce for tacos). So everyone's different.

And it really is different for everyone. My friend has the 10cc band like I do and she was up to around 7ccs before she could feel anything, where i was at 4.4 and couldn't keep anything down.

There is another brand as well called Tervis that is sold in stores that carry it (like MAcy's, Bealls, etc) They keep ice and drinks cold. Also, if you want something a little cheaper, Walmart has "to-go" like cups with the straws in them that are plastic and they work great as well. I try not to drink ice cold water though which is why i usually just carry bottled water with me. Ice cold water tightens me...especially if i drink close to a time i am going to be eating.

Keep water bottles in your house at all times! You can get generic case of 24 for like $3-5. I keep my frig stored full of them and ALWAYS have a water bottle with me everywhere i go. Like at work, I bring my water bottle and refill at water fountain everytime it's empty.

Hi there. Sorry to hear about your struggles. As others have said, it is hard to give advice on your particular problem because everyone is so different. When reading your sample menu, it sounded okay to me. Although, maybe not quite enough. As Elcee has said, some people require different diets even WITH the lapband. I, myself, am one of those people. If I eat healthy (kinda like your menu plan) and eat sweets occasionally....I will gain. The ONLY way I lose nowadays is if I exercise heavily and shock my body with a fad diet. Right now I am on a high Protein, high fat, but almost NO carbs (<10/day) and I am working out 3-4 times a week. The diet is similar to adkins, but a little different. It's called the Cyclical Ketogenic Diet. As far as working out - I see that you have some issues with your feet. As do I. I broke my ankle in April and required one surgery where they put in a plate and 5 screws and then another surgery 2 months later to remove one large screw and then a week after that surgery I had my gallbladder removed. Working out was impossible for me up until recently. However, even now that I can go back, my ankle is still not 100% so my foot gets very sore and stiff and swollen (a lot of symptoms of arthritis which my doctor said would ilkely happen). So I too am limited on what I can do, but I adjust my work out routine. Here's a list of what I tend to do in the gym that's easier on the foot: 10 minutes on bicycle, med-high intensity to get your heart rate up. 10 minutes on treadmill brisk walking, slight elevation. Then the rest of my time is doing weights. I work with 5-10lb free weights and just do a bunch of arm, back, chest, shoulder exercises and a lot of these you can do sitting down. If not sitting down, at least most of them you can do in a standing still position. I usually sit down in between reps and stretch my arms. Then if my foot isn't too sore by now, I do lunges or squats to work my thighs while holding the 5lb free weights. Then I go to leg machines and work on my thighs and calfs. These are all sitting down and not high impact on your foot. I usually end with crunches (which is laying down, even better! ) So it can be done, you just have to adjust your work out style. I hope this was at least a LITTLE helpful.

Welcome!! This is a great site to be apart of. Lots of great advice and lots of forums to read through of different experiences! I'll be 26 in 2 weeks and have had the band for over 4 years now. Best decision I ever made. The energy, confidence, everything has increased! Keep us posted on your journey in the bandster world!

Yay! Congrats on the 20lb weight loss! We all have struggles in life that prevent us from doing our absolute best. Keep the motivation going and keep us updated! Best wishes!!

Hi there! Whatever you feel most comfortable with. Eventually, they will most likely know, so I told everyone ahead of time. Yes, there will be some who are against it, but remember this is YOUR decision, not theirs.

I have the 10cc and 4.4 was too tight for me so i am now at 3.9 and have good restriction. I could probably go to 4.0-4.1, but I'm comfortable with this feel so sticking with it.

Oh girl - I'm right there with you!! My chin is horrible! I've heard great things about the laser treatment. Friend of mine who was also banded had it really bad and she did the laser and saw AMAZING results. I blame a lot of mine on my genes as I am mixed syrian (middle eastern) so we naturally have a lot of dark hair. However, I've also been told by my GYN that I have all the symptoms of PCOS as well and I do have ovarian cysts, but tested negative for the actual PCOS test. I am hoping to do laser soon, but until then, I may try what Possum84 suggested, the No No.