kamala

Looking for other band folks engaged in randonneuring/ultracycling. Would love to hear your nutrition experience on 200K+ events and especially on 200 mile + events. Rocked my first double century on Saturday (Seattle to Portland one-day) but had some issues with gas and other intestinal fun.

Here I am earlier this week and in October 2008, 5 months before surgery, 154 pounds heavier...

Check out #10 in this article about endurance athlete mistakes. Bottom line is to keep doing what you're doing, have a small Breakfast, and start figuring out your race day nutrition plan. For a half-marathon, I'll have a small bowl of go lean Cereal with soy milk for breakfast, about 2-3 hours before race start. One packet of hammer gel about 30 mins before start, another 45 mins in, and another at 90 mins (figuring a 2-2.5 hour running time). If you're going slower, one hammer gel an hour would give you plenty to run on. But you need to train with it and make sure you can tolerate it during exercise.

Really? Nobody on this whole giant forum?!

I'm using hammer nutrition products almost exclusively. Perpeteum on really long rides (over 3 hours), hammer gel on shorter events (90 mins to 3 hours), plus endurolyte capsules on all rides. On supported rides with rest stops, I'll grab some fruit, and also maybe pick apart a turkey sandwich. The hammer stuff appears to have less additives and funky stuff than other brands and it generally sits well in my stomach up to about 8-9 hours of riding. If I follow hammer's serving guides, I have no bonk problems. The problems I experienced on my 200 mile ride were after that 8-9 hour mark. Very bad gas and I needed to hit the portapotties very frequently. Figuring out how to deal with this seems to be in every long-distance rider's story catalog, but obviously we have some additional special issues since chowing down on a pile of high density multi-grain bread isn't going to happen.

Thanks!!! Still hoping to find someone who is working on similar events, trying not to be the ultimate guinea pig if there's someone out there with knowledge.

No joke on the working out, but I've really come to love doing it. Haters will hate, that's their nature. Hopefully the article will continue to generate more LIVESTRONG fundraising (hint, hint :-)) 2010 LIVESTRONG Challenge - Seattle - General Donation

My 138 pound weight-loss journey thus far was written about in this week's edition of The Stranger, Seattle's Only Newspaper as part of a piece on my fundraising efforts for LIVESTRONG/Lance Armstrong Foundation. How He Lost 138 Pounds

Thanks! Comments thread on the article has gotten a bit ugly with band haters. But I am getting support for my Livestrong Challenge which is great!

My wife and I are taking a three-week European trip this winter and will likely run into situations where much food will be foisted on us and it will be considered very rude of me to eat only what the band will allow me to eat. Has anyone had their band emptied so they can eat more when traveling and then refilled when they return? Are there any repercussions of a complete unfill followed by a refill several weeks later (besides the likely weight gain)?

Little bit of an update... As you can see from my ticker, things are going quite well for me. I'm down 80 lbs since surgery in March, completed a triathlon, a half-marathon, and four 100 mile bike rides since surgery (could only ride 8 miles before surgery and couldn't run more than a mile (and calling it running would have been generous)). I'm not sure what my fill is, but I could probably be more restricted as I eat a bit more than a cup at lunch and dinner. My nurse practitioner and nutritionist are satisfied with my weight loss (consistent 2-2.4 lbs week) and figure that we shouldn't fix what ain't broken at this point. Of course, the trip that caused all the grief in this post is going to end up not happening due to scheduling. But after 9 months with the band, I'd like to say most of you are right. Which is essentially to say, there are many elements of truth from all sides of this discussion. My tastes and desires have changed somewhat, so I'm generally able to pick smaller item wherever I go. I also have a tendency to eat out at nicer restaurants where portion size seems to be smaller/more reasonable. I'm not fully comfortable throwing out as much food as I do, but I live with it. And yes, that's after I say "hold the toast, hold the potatoes, etc." It gets thrown out because I can't stand leftovers anymore, which I used to love. I love food and I love to eat lots of different things, so my desire to eat the same thing, only cold/reheated/not-as-fresh is gone. As for the big issue that caused such agita, my band was never filled enough to reach the question of whether it I should or should not unfill it. If we were going on the trip, I'd probably be able to make due with a couple of sips of Water to push things through and call it good. In most social situations, I don't think anyone has really noticed me eating much less than others. Basically, I think its important to recognize the need to change with lapband to get the most out of the tool. But you also need to know how to get yourself to respond. We can't make hard and fast rules for each other. For example, if I ride my bike 50 miles in a day, I allow myself a human-sized portion of ice cream. Ice cream was my kryptonite before surgery. If I denied it to myself completely, I'd forever be falling off the wagon. But I have a brightline rule in place that allows it under special, limited circumstances. Does this rule make my nutritionist cranky? Absolutely. But she also understands that if I'm riding 50 miles or more in a day, I'm not going to upset my progress with a couple of ounces of ice cream. Anyway, thanks again for all your input. Hope y'all are doing well and finding your path to fitness and happiness, and enjoying the journey on the way!

Kicking a** and taking names! Been a little sloppy over the holidays but had an all around great year. Down 81 lbs since surgery, 137 overall. Completed my first triathlon, four 100-mile bike rides, and my first half-marathon. Keep it up folks!

Sashimi FTW! Fresh tuna and salmon will practically melt in your mouth.

I know it seems less than manly and there can be a lot of older folks but after my first two sessions, I'd like to throw out a vote for hydrofit/water aerobics as a convert. I thought it would be wussy, but my wife wanted me to start going so she would be committed to an exercise buddy. I don't have much problem getting myself to the gym, but my wife does so I thought I'd take one for the team to help her get going with her fitness goals. The type of hydrofit/water aerobics I'm talking about is in the deep end of the pool, so there's no resting/standing. Pretty damn good 45-60 minute cardio workout (especially if you go faster/harder/more weight than the AARP crowd, no offense to those present here:biggrin:). The smoking hot instructor didn't hurt either.

I have a desk and meeting type job. Had surgery on a Tuesday, took two hours worth of meetings the following Monday, did maybe 2-3 hours of work at home at the computer the rest of the week. Went back to work the second Monday (13 days) after surgery. Definitely could have went back a few days earlier, but I was enjoying netflix and playstation way too much and doing some stuff from home kept me in good stead at work.

My doc typically thinks a reasonable goal is 60 to 70% of your excess weight. That would put me around 230. My personal goal for now is 199 because I haven't seen the other side of 200 since my Bar Mitzvah. That still puts me in an overweight BMI, but I think at that weight the Doc and I can better evaluate what is a healthy weight for me considering my big frame, lean muscle mass, and however much excess skin I've got at that point. I played HS football (shorter than I am now) at 220-240 and was plump, but could motor and lift like no one's business. All my coaches ever wanted me to do were push-aways and I would have been in outstanding shape, but I couldn't do them. I figure that weight minus the rolls should be around where I am supposed to be.

MRM 100% Natural Whey in chocolate or vanilla. Nice bonus of no added sugars. I prefer it with costco regular soymilk, especially when drinking it 4 times a day, but its good with nonfat milk also. Blends super-easy with a blender bottle (the shaker with the whisk-like metal ball in it).

It's disappointing that having a conversation is equated to "worrying" around here. I'm not worried. The issue came up in a normal conversation around my house since we were booking vacation stuff and I just had surgery and am at the stage where I'm trying one new food per meal. I've spent maybe 20-30 mins on this in the last 2 days. I've also worked, worked out, cooked, prepared for my first day of teaching grad students, watched a little tv, and read up on some things I might want to do in Europe (none of which were eating related). Apparently some of you think I'm curled up in a ball quaking at the thought of a meal 8 months from now. I don't get it. As to the normal people point, "normal" people of my age, sex, and gender require 2000 to 3000 calories per day. I eat 800-1200 calories per day just like the rest of you. If I am in denial about my "fat" mentality, then many of you are in denial about the fact that even with the band you are not "normal" when it comes to eating. Normal people don't get stuck, tight, PB, have to avoid certain foods, avoid drinking at meals, etc. Lipstix64, no one is looking to eat like a pig. I have all sorts of tools developed along with the band (that will only get better in the next 8 months) including eating slower, recognizing fullness better and earlier, etc. If those tools don't count for anything, then why are they beaten into us by our doctors. Moreover, you, like everyone else before you in this thread, refuses to acknowledge that not every meal you ever ate pre-band and while not dieting was a gorgefest. Nearly all of us have lost weight doing something other than lapband, but we put the weight back on, that's why we went with lapband. So why is it not possible for a person with an empty band to eat as a normal person would for a limited, specified amount of time? Can someone explain to me without accusations about my mental state, desire to succeed, or any other takedowns, why exactly you believe there are only two meal sizes in the world for people with bands: band-meal and feed trough? Basically, explain why anyone needs to see this as a black and white issue rather than one with shades of gray?

I'm in for 28 pounds!

4 shakes per day, 10-12 ounces regular soymilk with MRM 100% Natural whey Protein (bodybuilding.com is where I got mine), would also work fine with non-fat milk but I can't take a gallon of dairy a day (and frankly no one in my office would want me to given the effects). salad greens with 1 cup veggies and either balsamic vinegar or lemon juice. Couple of cups of sugar-free Jello. Some days I would go 2 shakes and 1/2 a trader joe's meal for two. Worked like a charm, dropped a little more than 20 pounds in 3 weeks. Basically my doc's instructions were 4 shakes of 220-250 calories or 2 shakes plus one microwave meal of 300 calories or less plus salad plus SF jello. I didn't want to use ensure or nutrisystem because I was trying to wean myself off processed sugars.

No hunger on 3 properly-sized meals a day (about 1 cup), no Snacks, and no Water 1 hour after or 20 mins before meals. Despite all this talk about meals on the board today, I had to remind myself to go eat dinner. I haven't written too much about my lap-band experience on the board because I have had zero problems and I know many folks here have problems and I don't want to be all woohoo about it in their face. Insurance approval, surgery approval, three week pre-op liquid, surgery, hospital, liquids, post-op visit, mush, now starting solids, all good. Part of that has to do with being younger without co-morbidities, part with following my doctor's instructions to the letter, and part with finding the right Protein Drink. I understand how thinking about a meal 8 months from now would be cause for concern, but I don't think the timing is anything more than I had surgery two weeks ago and we have been booking various travel accomodations every other day for the last few weeks. So it is only natural to be thinking about some logistical issues. But I agree the fixation issue is definitely something to monitor and keep an eye on to make sure it doesn't crop up.

Smaller oysters like kumamotos and tottens might be a tasty solution. They are closer to being a normal bite-size piece of meat unlike the larger varieties that are probably 2 to 3+ bites if you were actually going to cut it up and eat it.

I could not take that the wrong way, that's the central issue. I definitely understand the perspective of taking care of yourself and everyone else be damned at this point because that is what is going on in my daily life right now. The only difference with my trip is that I'm exploring if there is some cost I am willing to accept for taking account of issues external to myself and if that cost is inline with what cost I am willing to accept. You just decided to stop spending and I definitely understand that decision!

If I asked "I am going on vacation and will keep my band filled, is that the right thing to do?" would there be any discussion or comments? Of course not. I posed the appropriate question necessary to generate information and thoughts on the issue that I am trying to work through and about which I have not made a decision. As people challenge my question and assumptions and I challenge theirs in return, we all learn more about both positions and their validity or invalidity. That is the nature of a didactic dialogue. If the only thing you can draw from that is that it looks like rationalization then so be it. Obviously other posters are willing to accept this issue as undecided for me, as I have stated repeatedly. You have not explained why this is a "bad, bad decision" without relying on unsupported pat statements. We can disagree as to whether or not the eating issue is a big deal and whether it is a useful for me to spend my time in Europe talking about my surgery over dinner, but that's not the issue. I already stated that if I can avoid the rudeness problems and not get the unfill, that is the solution I will choose and I am currently working on getting an answer on precisely that point. While I am working on that solution, there does not seem to be any reason not to have a discussion about whether a temporary unfill is something I can recover from in a reasonable amount of time. At the very least it will provide people researching whether to have the surgery some better understanding of what I suspect is an issue for people other than myself.