shortgal

http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f15/switching-addictions-54835/ There's a recent thread about the subject.

I eat about 1200 calories a day and it was 800 to 1000. I need a fill to get back to 800 to 1000 a day.

There has been other post on the forum about this. It's addiction transfer. Alcohol replaces the old carbs/sugars you once gave your body through food. You can try breaking the habit alone ( go to high liquid Protein diet, like the pre-op or post op ones) or make an appt to see the surgeon for advice. Be honest with the surgeon. I'm sure you're not the first one to tell them this. Good luck.

Can you buy a juicer and make your own juice? Most of the juicer receipes taste good if you add an apple to them. Check online for receipes first and then consider a juicer. You can use it after the surgery to get your veggies and Fiber in as well. Regular V-8 has way too much salt for me, too but I don't mind the low sodium one. Maybe you could find a used juicer on e-bay?

No you should not drink while eating and for one hour after eating. The liquid will make the food in your pouch empty faster and you will get hungrier faster. some people do get a small unfill of the band at maintenance time, some don't. That's the beauty of the band. While you're in the losing phase you have to make decisions about how much restriction you want or need. Maybe you'll want to keep your restriction kind of loose so you can eat most foods but realize you'll probably lose weight slower or have more hunger. You don;t ever want to be too tight, it only leads to problems like reflux, food getting stuck all the time etc. Some people prefer to be tighter and then getting firmer Protein down ( like we should eat) will take more time, as you'll have to take very small bites, chew them very well and go very slow between bites. Weight loss might be a little faster with this type of restriction. For me, I don't want to be so tight that I have to chew everything to a pasty liquid consistency, even though I do eat much slower and take smaller bites and chew a lot more since being banded. I want to be able to eat chicken, salad, apples, beef and healthly food in general. This is what restriction is and the band is a restriction method of weight loss. Bottom line is the band does have some flexibility to it, but you will still have to work with it. If you eat around the band, with poor food choices or drink with and right after meals, it can greatly affect your success.

Welcome to the forum. I would suggest as a trial, that you eat like a banded person should, and try a high Protein diet for a week or two. Start with 6 to 7 ozs of protein like steak, chicken ,any meat (chili meatloaf, turkey etc and add a salad and and veggies, like green Beans,broccoli. Limit your carbs like potatoes, bread, Pasta and rice to 1/2 c portion, once a day. Make the bread 100% whole wheat and no more than one piece a day. Add two pieces of fruit a day. No more than two alcoholic drinks PER WEEK. Eat the meals very slowly, chew every bite of meat very well and don;t drink with your meal. That is roughly the way you'll eat when you get to the maintenance part of life as a banded person. A lot will depend on how much exercise you'll be willing to do as well

Yes, the band ( with proper fill in it) can help. It will be harder for you to overeat at any one sitting and you should feel full faster and stay full longer. You must choose the right food to eat, the band can't make chicken and a salad instead of ice cream jump into your mouth. "Slider foods" like Cookies and ice cream and chips will not stay in your pouch long enough to keep you satisfied so that's why you must choose to eat the right foods. I am older than you, have been overweight (except for a few brief periods) since I was 10. I now weigh the least I have, in probably twenty years. I can't say I'm losing fast, but I'm losing. Learn as much as you can about the band and then attend a seminar near you. There are some very good threads here on the forum about "how the band works" that can be very helpful.

You cannot know how many calories unless you weigh or measure. A scale, a few measuring cups are all you need. I type in "calories and chicken" in an online search and boom it comes up and I write it down. Are you tracking your Protein as well? Do the same thing, type in "protein in chicken" on a search and write it down. The more you weigh and measure the better you'll be later at recognizing normal portions. I never measure any green veggies ( except peas) becasue nobody ever got too fat eating too many green Beans. ( ok unless you add bacon or something) but you see the point.

Eat mostly Protein and green veggies ( like Atkins diet) to get rid of the carbs in your system and get back on track. The carbs cause cravings. There are some people on the forum that will do two days of liquid Protein to rid themselves of the carb cravings. Which ever works for you. Track your calories and your protein and be sure you eat enough (at least 800) but not too much ( over 1200) and your protein should be at 50 to 80 gms a day. Track for at least one week so you get back on the right size portions. And get the fill you need.

Susan, I'm so glad you got relief from being too tight. It's only after people get the unfill that they realize the way they were before was just not right. Your common sense kicked in! I'm sure this post will help someone else at some point. I can sense all the relief in your update post! Good for you!

It's normal for weight fluctuations especially as you transition from liquids to real food. Food hold more Water in our body and some foods have more salt. You can't expect after losing 15 to 20 pounds for the weight to continue to drop rapidly. We all want it to happen, but it's unrealistic. Until you get a good fill, if you are careful of what you are eating, you can still continue to lose weight, it will just happen more slowly. Remember that is how the band is supposed to work, this is not GBP. When you say you are not hardly eating, it is hard to determine waht that means. Compared to pre-band eating or compared to "normal" eating. A better description is how many calories you are having in an average day and how many grams of Protein in a day. If you are not tracking those, you should. Weigh and measure your food and write it down for a week and see where you are. That is the only way to know exactly how much (or little) you are eating.

Welcome to the forum. Consider locating the group on the forum that was banded the same month as you. Look on the main page fo the forum and scroll down to "support" section. Then look for "2008" and then your month. You'll find lots for people in the same post op period as you are. There are also lots of other groups by location or by age or by how much weight you have to lose.

Welcome to the forum. Consider locating the group on the forum that was banded the same month as you. Look on the main page fo the forum and scroll down to "support" section. Then look for "2008" and then your month. You'll find lots for people in the same post op period as you are. There are also lots of other groups by location or by age or by how much weight you have to lose.

Talk to the surgeon about the previous problems you've had after anesthesia and let the anesthesiologist know before the procedure as well. They can prescribe anti-nausea meds for you. any surgery has possible complications, you can help minimize some by following your Dr's instructions both pre-op and post op. Some complications are unavoidable no matter how careful you are. Many can be fixed ( like flipped ports) with a small revision procedure. Even a band slip can sometimes be corrected with an unfill of the band for a short time. I haven;t even lost half of my excess weight yet and I feel so much better.

Sometimes you don't eat enough? How many calories is not enough? Track your calories for a few days AND track your Protein? Are you getting enough protein? Are you having too many carbs? I would start there. If it's not an exercise problem ( because you are exercising) then it's a food problem... too much... or not enough... or not enough of the right combo of foods. 1200 calories of carbs is not the same as 1200 calories of protein.

Dr Grant Dewar, Glynwood Medical Center Benoni, South Africa I found that name on an old thread. Hope it helps.

My post op was very similar. You'll manage, each week you get to move to a new phase and that helps.

You really don't know if you have restriction until you are able to eat solid food. You ate soup, cottage cheese and other soft mushie food ( as you should after the fill). The pouch is meant to hold solid food, so wait until then to re-evaluate. I suggest when it's time for solid food you take a small portion of solid Protein and a little serving of veggies. Eat it carefully and slowly and stop eating. Wait 30 mins and then decide if you are hungry. It takes time for our head to catch up to the band. Your eyes can deceive your stomach by sending signals that the amount you ate, isn't what you usually have. Just try a variety of solid food for a few days ( when it's time) and that will help determine if you need more fill.

I agree with your Dr. and I think some Dr's tell us to take them for any placebo effect. The gas after surgery is not in our colon, like gas from food. It is pumped into our belly for the surgery and just takes time/ movement to go away. It's just easier for people to want something they think will help.

I'm only five feet tall and my surgeon said I'd probably get to 150. Now he did not say that was my ideal weight, but I guess that might be where a lot of his patients end up at. I'm aiming for 140. In my entire adult life I was never under 128 pounds, with age, menopause, lower activity level, I don't think I'll ever see 128 again. No problem for me. I'll be fine If I end up at 150. I had no co-morbids before banding and would consider myself healthy, if still overweight by some random chart. If a taller person can be healthy at 150, why wouldn't I be. As long as my BP is good, my cholesterol is good etc. I know much thinner people that have much worse eating habits and have HBP or high cholesterol, does that make them healthier because they weigh less? I know one woman that is very thin but she wasn't eating, her calories came from alcohol, is that healthy? You can decide what you are comfortable with.

I was allowed ( but don"t like anyway) cream soups like cream of chicken, maybe that would help?

Well it's true you can eat around the band, but you can eat around GBP too. Trust me, even if you are a sweet eater, you'll find a way to get "your drug of choice" down with either procedure. If you've had GBP, and trying to get your fix they substitute alcohol becasue it's metabolised like a sugar, some find they can eat things like cheesecake ( my friend) or cake. But low Iron counts, rerouting my insides, longer recovery and more complicated, risky surgery was my reason for choosing lap band. It is a hard choice to make. Good Luck.

I was not allowed mashed potatoes on the liquid stage. Are you supposed to be on CLEAR or FULL liquids right now? Potatoes were not on either of those stages for me.

Luluc Sounds perfect to me and exactly where I want to be. I sure hope this one gets me there becasue timing for another might be difficult. I'm going to France the end of April and sure don't want to end up too tight while out of the country. If this fill is good, timing should be just right. I'm keeping my portions reasonable, but I am always watching the clock waiting for the next meal and extra Snacks ar sneaking in, so weight loss is stalled.

You sure waiting long enough! My next appt is Thurs. Hope this is the one. Thinking I need at least .5 cc's. How much fill did you get for this last one? And are there things you can't eat now or what have the changes been food wise this time?