Just Banded

After a pb- do you go on liquids and mushies or continue eating as normal?

my pb's are usually 5 minutes or less. I start feeling the pain and then the mucous starts coming... and sometimes my nose gets stuffed up... and usually I go to the bathroom and it ejects inot the toliet. the food has left me, and also left me hungry. It's such a bummer to have to not finish your meal and eat Soup or yogurt later on... Although most of the time when I pb I never want to see that food again unless it was my fault for not chewing well enough.

This is so weird- I tried eating tortellini the other day- it was served cold and went down fine. Then I bought some at the store and boiled it and ate it hot. It got stuck and I had to pb it up! I just tried it again today COLD and everything was fine Does anyone have any information on the temperature of foods mattering to the band?

I joke about it all the time that I had plastic surgery!!

I have been reading this new book called the Stubborn Fat Fix. It discusses all kinds of foods and how they affect your body. For example, think about the meat you eat- the animals were fed antibiotics that cause them to gain weight and it gets passed to us. So I am trying to make sure the meat I eat is antibiotic and hormone free. I think the ONLY way to know for sure is making it yourself. The lost goes on about so many foods.... I will post more later ...food for thought

Laura's lean beef website Laura's Lean Beef: Lean, natural beef. you can put your zip in and see where you can find it locally

No, you can purchase it at the market. I don't know what each state has, but I have seen Laura's ground meat in our local Kroger. I know Whole Foods Market also has many items like this. Wherever you live you can google or do some calling. All I'm saying is to think about all the places you eat from, because you never know what is in it. It sucks because this kind of meat is more expensive- but if you have the means to experiment and switch to this way of eating for a little bit, it might help a few lbs. Of course there are so many things to do in addition like eat more naturally, stay away from additives, chemicals in foods that we don't know what they mean and hydrogentaed stuff. Oil was a lesson for me. For instance, they say olive oil should be drizzled because the heat alters the substance. Just random things like that are in this book.

I used to majorly over eat- like polish my plate and seconds, here are some examples to show my point of various meals I would eat. I could eat 3-4 slices of pizza in a sitting, be hungry an hour later and eat 2 more slices. I could eat a plate of Pasta with chicken- probably 2 cups worth. I could eat an entire portion of a chinese food dish. I could eat an entire burrito from baja fresh with chips I could eat an entire sub from subway I am sure my stomach was pretty stretched out from all my over eating... so my question is... after all this restricted eating has my stomach shrunk? I am wondering because I am considering trying to get pregnant in a few months but I am not emotionally ready yet to let go of the all the Fluid in my band. I am terrified that I will be starving all the time and revert back to bad habits. If my stomach has shrunk, I may not feel this way. But, I do have a limited window on when I can have children and I would like to start trying sooner than later.

Emma- after reading the posts under the pregnancy forum on here I understand most doctors do reccomend unfilling because you get morning sickness and naseau and throw up and it can cause major complications on the band. Additionally, getting the proper nutrition for the baby is essential. I am not really sure how it all works until I get there, but for now I am still struggling with trying to lose weight. At least if I can lose another 20 before I get prego I won't be THAT much bigger and might feel better. Also, it might also help boost fertility.

Hi, we are both in Houston- how can I contact you? Do you have an email

how can they be carbonated if you don't see bubbles?

some things don't take an hour...let alone 15-20 min... like Soup or pureed foods. I think it depends on how retsricted you are. Just take it slow and if it's someting that needs to be chewed, try chewing 20 times before swallowing to make sure you are taking your time and so it won't get stuck. Also, there is a hormone called gherin that signals your brain that you are eating and to tell your stomach you are full. Some people have issues with the brain signaling in a normal amount of time, that is why they over eat because they do not know they are full... I over eat because I love food...the band is supposed to help me feel full so I won't - that is why staying away from easy to eat foods is such a challenge!

Parrotheadcathy brought this up on another post and I thought it was very interesting and something I have never even thought about! Can you eat better when its hot out and do things get stuck more when its cold out?

Cathy- that is something I never even thought about! I wonder if it really works! I am going to post it to see what others say

Last Monday I was in the dr's office getting 2 cc's removed on their reccomendation because I was taking one bite and unable to finish eating until 20-30 minutes later...I was also pbing frequently This Monday... I swear I am up 10 lbs. I look and feel horrible- I can see it in my face and thighs and and feel sluggish and bloated. I am able to eat waaaaay more than I should and am getting hungry an hour or two later. I am also having a hard time staying away from things I shouldn't be eating because I was so deprived of them for months with my last fill. I don't know what else to do besides electric shock therapy!!! Should I call the doctor and beg for some fill back in? I am afriad they are going to deny me because of my problems before. I don't want to have to be told to try another diet! I can't believeprefer the agony of eating one bite and pbing- but I swear it's the ONLY thing that has helped me! I am so ashamed of my backsliding and really embarrased that I was doing so well and looking so good...the power of not being hungry and thinking about food all the time is what I need. Anyone else been in this situation- what did you do?

thank you for all your responses and congratulations to heather on your pregnancy! I just made an appointment with an endrocrinologist to get some bloodwork done and see if my thyroid condition is playing any part in this. Unofrtunately I can't get in for another 2 weeks... For the most part I know the things I can control like eating right and excercising. I feel so good when I do them- but my mind is so reisistant- probably rebeling from all the years I was told to do it! I know the nurse said something like it might take a few weeks for the unfill to kick in- which I have NO idea what that means... because I usually hear that when I get fill put in. Is there a possibility I could become tighter? All I know is...when the hunger isn't there- my life is much much easier. Forget about head hunger- I never felt it when I wasn't hungry 24/7. But the Water drinking does help!

I was traumatized by a french fry many months ago but somehow my darn brain just KNOWS that i will have no problem with Ice Cream!!!

Ultimate Exercise - Body Fat: Hard Facts About Soft Tissue

If you hate having to discuss your weight NOW- you will hate talking about it the rest of your life, because once people know- it is always up for discussion. Plus, you never know who you can trust. I wouldn't even understand this whole band thing and I have one if that makes sense... Only a handful of people know, some got really jealous because maybe they are afriad. Some were cruel about it and say I didn't need it because all I needed was self control and diet and excercise. Even a doctor doubted me and was against me getting the surgery! A lot of people will be "watching" you if you know what I mean. It's a crazy life, because sometimes I am in very akward situations with people who don't know, like getting stuck, running to the bathroom a few times during dinner with people, the list goes on. But, if they did know, it's guranteed the topic would center around it. I even have to deal with "oh, can you have this and that" and with me, my situation is CONSTANTLY changing with what I can and cannot eat depending on my fill and when I get stuck. I just know who the judgemental people are in my life and have chosen to keep this a secret . We will see what happens when I hit my goal weight...But for now it is on a need to know basis. I am sure people have discussed it behind my back... You have to do what is right for you. For me trying to explain to someone that I literally had and have no self control without this thing is hard. Even last week I had to deal with someone's judgement as I wasn't feeling well because I got stuck after eating like 2 chicken wings. This person said that I shouldn't be eating chicken wings because they aren't healthy. Yah, but it was the only thing I thought I could eat at this partiular restaurant that was the best of choices vs. fried items. Whatever the case, I can only eat very small portions so SO WHAT if I ordered 6- not the end of the world! Turns out I ate 2 and threw them up so basically ate nothing!

Fill #1 4/15- 2.5 Fill #2 6/24- 3.0 Fill #3 9/2- 3.5 Fill #4 10/28-4.0 Fill #5 1/6/09- 4.7 or 4.5? need to check- dr's office has in records but I swear when I was there they took out .2 and would not give me .7!! not like they removed all the fluid to check so who would know. Anyways 4.5 or 4.7 whatever it was, I was suffering on a daily basis with getting stuck more than I should on foods that I had before on same fill level. It's the nature of the band but they alo said it depends on what I have eaten before eating and the consistency and said If I know I'm going out to dinner to stay on liquids all day to make sure band has room. Unfill 3/30/09-4.5 or 4.3? Whatever I am at- I am hungrier!!!! btw, it's no charge to take out but they charge $150 to put in but, the issue is- I was stuck with 2 more cc and now hungry... I am tryyyying to give this a chance it's only been a day- what is the nxt step- having to pay $150 for 1 more cc to possibly get stuck again

just wondering if you are supposed to take it easy after getting some taken out

This has happened so much, I thought I'd ask if it's normal: Sometimes I will take one bite and feel full. I know that can't be normal, because no way could I actually be full after one tiny little bite and there would be no way I could get any nutrition. Believe me, I could win an award for being a slow eater... and I never ever drink with meals and have cut out even drinking 15 minutues before meals. It's very awkward, especially in front of people to take just one bite and that's it. So I try to take a few more bites of my alreday small portion... So, basically as I am eating along I feel like I hvae to burp before I can take another bite- because I am deathly afraid of pbing and I have had some really bad pb episodes! So what the **** is this about? I have to wait for these tiny little burps before I can take another bite and chew it to hell. Dining with me is an hour long experience!!!!

Need some creative advice here... it's such a bummer to have had these dinner plans for weeks with friends and now after an unpleasant "pb", I am on liquids. I know for sure the new place everyone has been dying to go to does not serve soup- it's a BBQ place. I am not going to spoil everyone's fun and change the place- but how akward for me to make some story up why I can't eat! what to do? what to do? (these are ppl who don't know)

Stay away from raw carrots!!!! I had a catastophic episode with them. My horror story was posted a few months back and they continue to haunt me in my nightmares

well said, restless! honeydiva- whatever you do- stay away from carrots!!! they made me do more than "pb", the way they were violently thrusted from inside me was one of the most horrible experiences ever!