MerryHearted

If you can't eat normal meat and veggies, then you might be too tight now. Soft food syndrome is common for people who are too tight -- like you drinking Soup and eating stuff like Cookies that crumble and go right through. Can you eat a piece of chicken if dipped in sauce of some sort? Are you cutting it into very small pieces and "chewing to goo" -- and spitting out anything that won't chew all the way down to nothing? Literally sit there and chew and chew and chew and chew until nothing is left to chew. It takes me a LONG time to chew one bite. I don't swallow anything that doesn't chew down to nothing, and I need my meat to be reasonably moist or else dipped in sauce of some sort even if it's just broth. (right now I'm eating a chicken breast for lunch and dipping in BBQ sauce). salad can be a problem -- lettuce is fibrous and doesn't always chew down all the way. I love salad but I do end up spitting out some of the lettuce pieces that don't chew down. Try broccoli or cauliflower florets -- cut off the fibrous stem and eat the top part. Carrots, zucchini/summer squash, peas, etc. all work well too. Raw, I like radishes, peeled cucumbers, cauliflower, carrots, broccoli, bell peppers and tomatoes -- although the peels often get spit out for those last two. Celery can be problematic. I peel my fruit now, like apples or pears. I don't know if that's helpful or not -- I hate to see you feeling so down. :thumbup:

My center is great for providing information and support before & after surgery. I always feel a little sad for people who got stuck with bad staff. :thumbup:

Your weight loss is right on target for 1-2lbs a week, right? That's a safe, healthy rate of loss and just right. Keep working at it and the pounds will add up spectacularly over time. And those girls on the diet pills? Are going to gain all their weight back. Just like most of us did every time we dieted in the past. And I always recommend The Beck Diet Solution now because it really helped me come out of a slump and I've been doing great ever since.

There will always be some people with regrets about getting this done. I don't have any. I was at my PCP yesterday for my yearly physical. He was very happy with my weight loss so far, and told me that other patients he has who have had the band are doing great. He strongly warns his patients AGAINST getting the RNY, as every single patient he has had that has gotten one has ended up with complications -- severe ones that have landed them back in the hospital. In some ways it's about trading one set of issues for another -- you have to chew carefully, you have to avoid overeating, you have to monitor your fill level so as to not get too tight, watch for reflux, etc. It hurts a bit sometimes, if you irritate your band. But compared to being Morbidly Obese? I had several health issues that cleared up with losing weight, and at least one more I hope to get rid of (my sleep apnea). I'd much rather have the "problems" of caring for my band than the much more severe health problems that come with being far too overweight. And get to look and feel better too. :thumbup: In the end, the decision is very personal. Good luck making yours!

I do, for all meals except lunch on weekdays, because I'm at work then. But otherwise, this has given me a fixed meal schedule which works great for me as I can plan my eating for the day. And it's nice to sit down as a family and eat together. For the most part my body has just adjusted to the eating schedule. If I come to a meal not feeling particularly hungry, then I just eat less. If I'm hungry before the meal, I just wait til the mealtime unless it's more than 2 hrs off. I have too long of a gap between lunch and dinner, so I have a small snack in the afternoon so I don't get a headache.

One of old my comfort foods that I rarely have anymore is hot tomato Soup with veggies mixed in. I usually use the "frozen mixed veggies" that have lima Beans, corn, green beans and carrots. And I use milk to make the soup, not Water, which both makes it taste better and adds Protein. It's still not all that low-cal. But hot soup when I'm feeling sick always makes me feel better. I get the regular old Campbell's stuff, which is both sweet and salty. Funny, but I really had to think about it, as comfort food eating is kind of a thing of the past for the most part. Hope you feel better soon!

I think sometimes there is confusion between the need to avoid "fibrous" foods, and eating high-fiber foods. Fibrous foods are things like celery, asparagus, and pineapple -- they are stringy and hard to chew down small enough unless cut into tiny pieces. A lot of banded people have trouble eating these types of foods. food with dietary fiber -- both soluble and insoluble -- is a different thing. It's unhealthy to not eat adequate fiber. Not to mention uncomfortable since you'll probably be constipated. :tt2:

I love veggies. I just chew chew chew and anything that doesn't chew down enough I spit out. So yeah, sometimes pieces of romaine lettuce end up discreetely tucked under the edge of my plate. :blushing: My doc warns about salads more because people tend to not realize how many calories salad dressing has in it, or don't measure. (Hmm, that looks like about a tablespoon... but it's really 1/3 cup)

You're normal and doing great. The pounds add up nicely over time. :blushing: I always have to remind myself that it's not a race, and in the end it doesn't matter if it takes me 4 yrs to get to goal, as long as I get there in the end and stay there!

I'll be 40 or close to it when I finally reach goal, with lumpy, saggy thighs. I'm thinking I should skip the miniskirt and stick with some nice, fitted jeans, maybe with spanx underneath to smooth out the lumps. :tongue_smilie: People will thank me for sparing them the horror. But then, I couldn't pull off a mini even when I was the right age for it and skinny. Some women, slim or not, just aren't... sexy. Kwim? It's like dressing your Pug in a frilly bonnet. It's cuter without the hat.

Like Jena said, shakes should hopefully not be a big part of your life post-banding. Once you are healed up, stick with normal food. If you end up being tight in the morning, have a latte or something until you are ready to eat. The milk in that is enough to get you started.

It's very normal to feel that way, but: :tongue_smilie::welldoneclap::thumbup: If you do find yourself struggling along at some point down the road after banding -- also normal! -- then have a plan in place NOW on what you will do about it. Write it down somewhere. "If I start to backslide after banding, I will __________ to get myself back on track". (Seek counseling? Pick up The Beck Diet Solution and work your way through it? Join a local support group? Talk to your doc? etc)

For me, 2-3 oz of Protein and 1/2 to 1 C of veggies, depending on the type of veggies. 1/2 c of cooked green Beans, for example, but if it were something raw and fluffy like spinach I'd eat a cup of it - it compacts pretty small once chewed up. Those are the guidelines I've gotten from my doc, as well. I suppose that comes out to between 1 and 1.5 cups of food at a time. That satisfies me but does not make me uncomfortable at all. I easily stay in my 1000-1200 cals/day target on that, with healthy food choices, and only have to do some minor supplementation to meet my nutritional needs.

Congratulations!!! That must feel SO great! I'm going to hit mine in a couple weeks, and then I'm going to not look at the scale again for at least a week or so -- I never want to see myself above 199.9 again. :tongue_smilie:

You probably won't have any problems with fettucine or most other Pasta until you are filled. I don't, even now, but I avoid it because it's not particularly conducive to weight loss. Watch out for those eggs! They might go down fine, but a lot of bandsters have trouble with scrambled eggs. A little salsa helps, I've found. :tongue_smilie:

Probably not what you want to hear, but 55 lbs in 9 months is fantastic. I'm not sure how much you had hoped you'd lose, but those are great results even if you have a long way to go. I understand the "weird shaped" -- my belly looks awful right now. Not just saggy but weirdly lumpy, like the fat is being burned off unevenly. It does give me more motivation to keep going and burn off the remaining fat. Then there's the whole issue of clothing being more fitted as you get into smaller sizes. If your body isn't the standard shape of the clothing, it's more obvious than before. Do you think the shyness is tied to the attention you are getting now that you didn't used to get. I know sometimes obese people are practically invisible, and once you lose a bunch and you realize people are paying attention to you and "seeing" you now, it can be a bit scary. Hang in there. Keep working on losing the weight. And really, sometimes talking to a counselor to work through these issues can be really helpful. I've done it in the past and probably will again on this journey.

Most of the time I cringe. I did like Hairspray. :tongue_smilie:

Liquids after a fill must be doc-specific. I'm not on liquids after a fill. I think docs that do that are wanting you to make sure your band is not irritated from the fill, perhaps. I'd do Protein shakes or smoothies if it were me. chicken broth would leave me starving too.

My suggestion is that she use something like TheDailyPlate.com to track her intake for a few weeks. That's a great way for her to really see if she's eating in the 1400 calorie range that her doc is suggesting, and if not, examine where she can cut down. Sometimes just the act of having to document everything you put in your mouth is enough motivation to cut down a little. If she finds that sticking to 1400 cals is too hard because she's feeling hungry all the time -- that's where the band becomes the tool she'd probably do well with. It helps keep you feeling satiated so you don't need to eat as often or as much.

I have heard nothing but good things about Dr. Ren -- sounds like you are in great hands for this surgery. Hope to be seeing you around here long term!

How exciting -- good luck to both of you on Wed! And don't forget -- it's completely normal if, a couple days after surgery, you think "What the $*#(@ have I done to myself??!!" That feeling passes quickly, especially as the weight drops off.

Completely normal. It's often referred to as "Bandster Hell". You have no restriction but can't go in and get a fill for at least a couple weeks probably, depending on your doctor's policy regarding post-surgery filling. Hang in there! Raw veggies in particular are great for taking up room but being low calorie. If you are concerned about continuing to lose while feeling like you could eat an entire buffalo for dinner, try tracking your food intake with something like TheDailyPlate.com and setting a target calorie goal for your day.

Oh, I hope it does -- this is a great tool. Welcome to LBT!