Frederic

Over the last year I've become increasingly suspect of anecdotal stories about the lap band not working. Usually with digging it boils down to the fact the person wasn't prepared for how the band actually works. I've also found that one of the biggest issues is that when the band works great people often don't talk about it. Either they're too ashamed to admit t hey used the band to lose weight or maybe they just want to get on with their new healthy life but ultimately people are more likely to make noise, complain, and repeatedly share a story when something goes wrong rather than talk repeatedly about how things have gone well. There are rare cases where complications from surgery are an actual issue but that's true of any surgery and if those risks are greater than your risks from chronic obesity then you simply shouldn't even consider bariatric surgery. Educate yourself with facts not stories learn about how the band works and not how people feel. The try to build good habits for eating and exercise before getting the band. The band will make those habits much easier to keep but it doesn't magically give them to you. You are the one who will decide if Bariatric surgery is right for you it's normal to be nervous about the change but being "afraid" means you need to learn more about what you can expect in my opinion. my 0.02

contrary to the urban myth gum is not as resilient as you may believe I've chewed gum to the point of disintegration many times and I literally swallowed my gum every time I chewed it for years since I though spitting out gum was disgusting.

I can totally relate. I have lost over 26% of my weight from when I started tracking but when someone says "you're looking good" I feel like they're saying "I can't believe how much fatter you used to be." At this point I think the only compliment I could accept would be from a stranger who didn't know I'd lost weight and to be honest I'd probably assume they were just being polite.

As another person who started above 400lbs I would also say you should be pretty happy with 40lbs in 32 weeks. Another thing to remember is if the weight comes off too fast your skin won't have time to adjust then you just replace one possible body image issue with another.

try to focus on changing your habits. The band will help but you can't rely on it to do all the work. Increased appetite and weight fluctuation are normal but just because you can eat anything doesn't mean you should.

I advocate people try to practice the post lap band restrictions for several months before being banded. If you build the habits ahead of time you'll be less likely to slip up when the consequences will be more serious. As for the drinking before/during/after meals it seems to be very specific to both people and their surgeon I'd encourage you to follow your surgeon's advice you need to develop a trusting relationship with each other the surgeon needs to trust you're being honest with them and you need to trust they have a reason for their recommendations. .

I had some restriction right after surgery and had 2 small fills so I'm currently at 3.33cc/10cc and the surgeon thinks I'm in the green zone since I'm still losing but I'm not getting stuck all the time. It really is different for everyone. SOme people have more elastic stomachs others have more sensitive satiation responses, and finally there's the simple fact that with or without the band we each metabolize our food a little bit differently. It's important to remember more fill doesn't automatically make it easier. At a certain point it's like trying to get better gas milage by trying to run your car on Water. The band makes nutrition and exercise more effective but it isn't actually magic.

Calorie intake post op is usually pretty low I was doing 300 to 400 calories a day for about 2 weeks. As you heal your appetite will increase so enjoy the weight loss as your body finds it easier to use it's reserves than to digest real food. Just make sure you're getting plenty of Protein so your body doesn't start using itself to get that particular nutrient and don't be surprised/depressed when your appetite returns and the weight loss slows down again.

Just to prepare you; the post op surgery isn't usually the hardest part. The hardest part I've observed is when you start normal foods again and you start to experience sliming as you have to adjust what your head and eyes think is a good amount of food to what your stomach and body can actually handle. That's when people often struggle with changing their nutrition habits and increasing their exercise and unfortunately feel like the band was a waste of money that just makes them miserable. That was my definition of bandster hell. Compared to that the post op hunger was cake (pun intended).

I don't know if it's true for everyone but for me some food have stopped tasting good since I got the band. Especially bread and I used to love fresh bread but I also find myself disliking broccoli which was a favorite vegetable and several other oddly specific foods.like tomato Soup even though I'm fine with tomatoes and tomato sauces otherwise.

For me the more I exercise the less hungry I am and the more consistently I lose weight regardless of calorie intake so generally I count calories to make sure I stay under the goal recommended by my fitness pal (I have it set to calculate for a goal of losing 2lbs per week). If I exercise I'll sometimes take in less than the 1200 calories regardless of the extra calories I "earned" when I don't exercise I'm more likely to bump closer to my recommended limit. My personal theory is when I exercise I'm tapping into my fat reserves and since I have so much in reserve my body gets more than enough to keep me active but without the exertion of formal exercise (increased cardio) my body finds it easier to just demand food from my brain. I doubt this is typical and it's far from scientific but it's my personal experience.

I also keep a supply of chunk cheese in my fridge. I prefer extra sharp cheddar and usually cut it into 1/8 oz cubes. Whenever I feel a bit hungry before a meal 1-3 of those chunks usually hit the spot and tide me over much better than any "100 calorie pack" ever does.

We tend to focus on the mechanical function of the band but in addition to affecting volume it also affects body chemistry like metabolism and satiation response. For those if use who don't need a lot of fill (I'm at 3.33/10cc) our weight problems were more likely biochemical so we may not be as dependent on the physical reduction of stomach capacity. I for instance always ate healthier and generally exercised more than my thinner friends but could never lose weight; post surgery my efforts actually accomplish something.

If you really struggle with cutting out soda you can always create a food aversion. For instance you could decide you can drink as much soda as you like but you have to stir in a tablespoon of salsa or salt and you can only drink it flat and at room temperature. But you can have iced tea and other non carbonated low cal drinks however you like. Sometimes it's easier to make things unpleasant than it is to abandon them when we're trying to change our behaviors.

When starting to exercise the thing to focus on is building a habit. Ignore anybody (including yourself) who says it's not worth exercising if you can't workout for at least X minutes. I started with 5 minutes of walking post surgery. 5 minutes was easy I could do that just walking around my house before getting in the shower. I did that for 5 days. Then I walked 6 minutes for 6 days. That was easy it was just an extra minute. The 7 minutes for 7 days. I now run over 2 miles in the morning I've been running 28 minutes every morning for the last 24 days. In 4 more days I'll set my goal to be 29 minutes for the next 29 days. It's easy to add just 1 more minute especially if you pace how quickly you ramp up. In the past my problem was it was easy to convince myself I don't have time for a 30 minute workout but by focusing on the habit my schedule has just naturally shifted a little but at a time. My showers are quicker, I get dressed faster, and I wake up just a few minutes earlier than I did a year ago.

That would be nice but don't depend on it. For instance my wife is really struggling with my weight loss. She is now becoming overly concerned about her own eating habits and developing more of a negative self image it seems. Basically even though she's the same size she seems to think she's getting bigger because I'm getting smaller.

I believe the pre-op diet serves 2 purposes a) reduce the liver give you a chance to prepare for the post op diet. Pre-op diets seem to fluctuate based on which of these (if either) a surgeon feels the patient needs to focus on.

Lately I've been struggling with the fact none of my clothes feel right. My pants feel like I'm wearing them too low and my shirts feel way too lose and they probably look pretty baggy; but at the same time if I try on clothes that look like they fit they feel too small and I'm afraid they'l make me look fat again. I'm still losing 5lbs a month on average and have alot more weight to go so I don't want to buy a ton of clothes but I know I'll need to pick up at least a few items before my goal. I know it's just something I'm gonna have to work through but I wanted to vent and see if anyone else had any strategies for getting through this phase.

Oh yes, the gas pains definitely need to be mentioned since they don't feel like gas at all. It feels like you have a muscle knot in your shoulder or back. I didn't believe it could possibly be gas I assumed I'd pulled something right before surgery and just didn't notice but no amount of massage or muscle relaxant would help until I skeptically tried a Gas-x strip and within 5 minutes the pain was simply gone.

For me the band has basically made all of my efforts actually effective. Before the band I ate better and exercised more than all of my friends but I still weighed twice as much as them. Finally with the band I'm losing the weight you'd expect to see a person lose if they ate and exercise as I did (and the eating and exercise have both gotten easier to boot). If someone asked me what you need for the band to be successful I'd say focus on the habits first because the band just reinforces them.

I eat pretty much the same but in smaller quantities but I arguably ate relatively healthy before (at least much more nutritiously minded than anyone around me). In fact I specifically chose to get WLS because I was working so hard to watch what I ate and still couldn't lose weight and I chose lapband because it was the procedure least likely to impact the variety of foods I could enjoy in moderation.

I take it you didn't have regular follow-up. How often did you see your surgeon post-op?