Jean McMillan

At the mioment, I can't remember how to put a picture into a post, but here's a link to a green zone chart. Briefly, the green zone is where your restriction is providing early and prolonged satiety and reducing your appetite and hunger. http://www.lapbandtalk.com/uploads/gallery/album_10295/gallery_229179_10295_276667.jpg

It's hard to make suggestions without knowing more about your eating & exercise habits, food choices, medications & medical conditions that could affect your weight. I've encountered some bandsters whose weight loss was disappointing for a wide variety of reasons, and also quite a few who have struggled to find a good fill level because they're very sensitive to fills. Does True Results not have a dietitian on staff who can work with you on an eating plan and on strategies for avoiding eating problems? If they've told you (basically) that there's nothing more they can do to help you, I'd be looking for 2nd opinion from a more supportive clinic.

To prevent that kind of breakdown again, it might help to think about why it happened, because if you like pizza, it's likely to tempt you again and again. Were you feeling deprived because of being in the mushy food phase? Were you bored, angry, stressed, unprepared with "approved" food? If it happened because you're tired of mushies, remember that phase is temporary and solid food will appear on your plate soon. If it was a case of emotional eating, make a list of 10 things you can do instead of eat the next time you're tempted to eat for comfort. If it's because you didn't have any mushy phase foods with you (in the car, at work, etc.), make a shopping list of easily portable foods (yogurt, pudding, etc.) to keep in the fridge at home and at work.

Molly, Did your surgeon not tell you how long to stay off work? And whether you'll have a limit for how much weight you can lift while your recovering? It may depend on what kind of work you do. If you do anything physical (waitressing, nursing, etc.) you may need more time off than if your work is sedentary (office). I was working at home doing a sedentary job when I was banded. I had told my clients I was taking a month off but I was so bored after 3-4 days, I started working again. An acquaintance who's a hairdresser had surgery on a Thursday and went back to work the following Tuesday, but she wasn't real happy about that decision. Good luck with the surgery! Jean

Okey dokey! Buffalo chicken potato skins - recipe is here: http://jeanslapbandjourney.blogspot.com/2012/10/buffalo-chicken-potato-skins.html Baked shrimp w/ tomatillos - recipe is here: http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/baked_shrimp_with_tomatillos/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+elise%2Fsimplyrecipes+%28Simply+Recipes%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher Baked oatmeal w/ fruit & nuts - recipe is here: http://jeanslapbandjourney.blogspot.com/2012/10/baked-oatmeal.html

How do you get the things you want, like weight loss, a better job, a baby? Do you wish for them, maybe write a letter to Santa? You may believe that all you need is willpower to get what you want, but I believe you also need WANTPOWER. WANT VERSUS WILL You know me: I’m the girl who spent hours reading the dictionary for fun when I was a child. I’m fascinated by words, their meanings, and how their meanings change depending on the context in which they’re used. Take the word “surrender”, for example. An army surrendering to the enemy is (to many) a shameful act. But when the enemy surrenders to our own army, that surrender is (to many) a triumph. A small change – the order of words in a sentence – can make a huge difference in the meaning of one word. The words I want to talk about today are WILLPOWER and WANTPOWER. Wantpower is a word coined by my friend Valerie. She was banded with plication on June 6, 2012 and has lost 73 pounds. She has a lot more to lose, but she’s off to a great start by following the “rules” to the very best of her ability. Valerie says that’s not because she has any willpower. It’s because she has wantpower. I hear people bemoan their lack of willpower all the time. Even control freaks like me can regret their weak or absent willpower, especially when they’re trying to sustain weight loss momentum over months and years, and after that a lifetime of weight maintenance. It’s such a common lament that I sometimes wonder if willpower truly exists in humankind. That lacking may hold a spiritual message for us, about surrendering (there’s that word again!) to the will of God or to our Higher Power. Spiritual messages can take a lot of time to process, so what are we to do in the meantime? First, let’s make sure we’re clear on the meaning of the word willpower. Webster’s defines willpower as strength of will, mind, or determination. When we use willpower, we choose our own actions rather than submit to someone else’s will (including God’s). These actions are conscious choices. We’ve thought about them, considered the costs and consequences, decide to act on them. In the world of weight loss, that might represent a decision to follow the Atkins diet and to act upon that by eating mostly protein, a fair amount of fat, and very few carbohydrates. In that scenario, we must use plenty of willpower to resist temptations like cookies and garlic bread. So far so good, right? This is a good thing that’s going to move us closer to our weight goal. Every day we ignore the candy in the vending machine at work is a triumph of willpower. But did you know that the word “will” also has a negative connotation? Willfulness means doing as we please, out of sheer stubbornness or defiance, whether our actions are good for us or not. It’s hard to say where willpower leaves off and willfulness begins, but there’s a value judgment somewhere in there. To follow your diet-du-jour to perfection represents willpower, but to eat a giant piece of birthday cake despite your doctor’s admonitions about your sugar intake represents willfulness. One is considered good, the other is bad. In the bariatric world, willpower has another meaning, and believing in that meaning can actually take you further from rather than closer to your weight goal. As Presbyterian minister and author John Ortberg says, "Willpower is trying very hard not to do something you want to do very much." Read that sentence again. Can you detect the pitfall? Let’s look at it again. "Willpower is trying very hard not to do something you want to do very much." It’s no wonder that so many of us struggle with insufficient willpower when it involves avoiding something you want badly. It’s a battlefield generously mined with bombs, because every second of every waking hour of every day of our entire lives involves making choices that go against our own desires. Those desires, wishes, needs and cravings appear to be dangerous, and we fear that giving in to them will send us to hell. But the wantpower they represent can be put to good use, and may be easier to come by than the willpower we think we need but lack. In my own case, my will makes my executive decisions and my want gives me the fuel to carry them out. WHAT SHOULD I DO? Even if you’re blessed with (or have cultivated) a great deal of willpower, that alone isn’t always enough to power you to your goals. First you need to identify your goal (in very specific terms), and then you need to really, truly want it. Not just because it’s a good idea, or because your doctor or friend or partner wants you to have it, or because you think it will solve all your problems. Using your wantpower means reconnecting with that feeling of wanting on a frequent basis. It means keeping your goal always in sight, like the proverbial carrot on a stick (see, even donkeys are motivated by food). It also means disconnecting from the doubts and fears and negative thoughts that can pop up to ask you if that goal is even achievable, desirable, or otherwise deserving of your effort. A few weeks ago I wrote a Bandwagon on the Road newsletter article about knowing your limits, and I’ll be the first to point out that the ambition of a 59-year-old woman like me to lose (for example) 200 pounds, become America’s next top model, marry Tom Cruise, give birth to octuplets and become a reality TV star is probably not achievable. I hope that when identifying life goals, you subject your dreams to a reality check and/or carefully consider all it’s going to take to make them come true. There’s nothing wrong with the top model goal above as long as you realize that achieving it will require climbing a mountain instead of strolling across a meadow. When packing your luggage for that trip, don’t forget to pack your wantpower. It will take you a lot further than a long list of “shoulds.” And doing something because you WANT to is a heck of a lot more satisfying than doing something because you (or someone else) think you should. WANT is the fire that cooks your life’s meal, seasons it to taste wonderful, and provides the fuel to keep you moving forward. So the next time you’re tempted by a donut, ask yourself this: Is this little thing I want going to make me happy for more than 2-3 minutes? Is it going to get me closer to the big thing I really, really want (weight loss)?

The new line that is being spun is actually quite hard to swallow ( excuse the pun). The way it is stated it actually sounds like a cross between utopia and/or the band doing nothing. I am still not sure which it is. Thanks, Elcee, I needed that laugh!

The best meal plan would be one made for you by your dietitian. One way to learn what other people are eating (and stave off boredom) is to start a thread entitled something like What Are You Eating Today? That way you'll get a good variety of responses. If you had posted a thread like that today, here's how I would have answered: B: Protein latte S: baked oatmeal w/ fruit & walnuts S: Greek yogurt w/ a few blueberry Fiber crisps L: baked shrimp w/ tomatillos S: tomato salad w/ Havarti cheese D: Buffalo chicken potato skin S: trail mix S: Peanut Butter banana oatmeal bar That looks like a lot of food but I'm only eating about 1/4 cup at a time (that's all I can manage right now) and I have to eat every 1-2 hours because of a blood sugar issue. But it does give you an idea of the variety of things I like eating.

Sorry - hit the wrong button - these new-fangled computers are so danged complicated for old-timers like me to understand...

First of all, to the OP (oh-la-la) - please don't let the controversy surrounding this thread discourage you from posting a question or an opinion again. To everyone who joined in the fun - y'all will have to carry on the foolishness without me, at least for a while. It's 4:50 pm where I am, way past my bedtime, and I have to get up early tomorrow to take my walker to the medical supply house for its annual tune-up.

We used to make awesome spitballs out of that cheap, soft white bread when I was a kid. Back in the Dark Ages, you know...

If ony the adjustable gastric band had been available here in the US back in the Stone Ages, when I was your age. But it wasn't, so all I can say is: better late than never. Thanks for the entertainment!

A sense of humor is like wine - it improves as it ages.

Aside from general health concerns and the challenges of safely administering general anesthesia to and maintaining respiration in a smoker, smoking can interfere with healing after surgery. That's why lots of surgeons want their patients to be smoke-free in advance of surgery. I don't know of any reason (aside from general health concerns, see above) why you couldn't smoke after you'd healed after band surgery, though.

Head for the hills, TKW, Missy, and oldsters like me! The children are rioting!

You are not a failure! It usually takes more than one fill for the band to start doing its job. In the meantime, you'll have to white-knuckle it, but believe me, it's worth it!

Speaking from 5 years experience on several online WLS forums, people who appear to be part of a clique because they are repeating the same information over and over again are doing so because they're sharing information they got from their surgeon, not because they belong to a clique and have all sworn to sing the same hymn every time they respond to a forum post. Information that doesn't vary from one surgeon to the next tends to indicate a trend in bariatric surgeon's beliefs and practices that didn't originate in the imagination of an LBT member.

It's not false information just because it doesn't line up with your personal experience up until now. The band indirectly limits food intake by doing what Missy explained. How it works (in more detail) is by pressing against the vagus nerves in the top of your stomach. The vagus nerves are responsible (among other things) for exchanging satiety messages with your brain so that you experience early and prolonged satiety after eating a small amount of food. Also, when you ingest solid food (like animal Protein, veggies, fruits), the food also activates the vagus nerves. So the net effect is that you eat less and feel less hungry and/or hungry less often. The patient Lap-Band instructions developed by Allergan years ago did explain that the band restricts how much you can eat. According to my Allergan rep, those instructions are being revised because clinical evidence shows that in the longterm, relying on eating problems (like PB'ing, puking, sliming,etc.) to tell you when to stop eating is a bad idea because it can lead to complications like esophageal or stomach dilation and band slippage.

That's often what it is for me.

I've heard the same thing. I know a bandster who revised to the bypass for that exact reason. The revision resolved her reflux but also introduced a whole new set of problems. I sure wish there were a risk-free, effective WLS surgery. Or a cure for obesity.

Hiatal hernias are common in obese people and common in people with reflux, whether or not they're obese. The band can resolve reflux by acting as a barrier between the stomach and the esophagus, but a band that's too tight can also cause reflux. You need to ask your surgeon about why. Also, it's not uncommon for hiatal hernias to develop after massive weight loss. Again, ask your surgeon why. I know several bandsters that's happened to. The gastro doc who diagnosed my hiatal hernia 20+ years ago told me that hernias usually develop in people who were born with the potential - they have a weakness in the diaphgram, and weight gain can aggravate it enough to encourage a hernia to develop. Finally, large hiatal hernias are considered a contraindication for band surgery, but most surgeons repair the hernia during band placement.

Congratulations! Have you made arrangements for fills and aftercare here in the USA, or will you have to return to Madrid for that? Jean

Good luck, and I hope you have arrangements made for fills and aftercare.