2muchfun

If they put a large amount of fluid in, your stoma area could be swollen. This is why they ask you to only drink fluids for about 24 hours.

It's OK to eat or not eat. Whatever floats your boat.

I've got the book and I'll take a look.

This is your 4th entry for the same topic? I think we heard you the first 3 times?

Hash Browns....Yuuuummmmmm!

So, today is my lovely wife's 14th anniversary of her 39th birthday. She's been on a paleo type of diet with some concessions and lost about 25 lbs and is down to about 138 lbs. Looking good. She said all she wants for her Birthday is a pizza. So, we know this high quality pizza place that we both love. I save myself for this treat 1 or 2 times a year. I'll only be able to eat one or 1 1/2 slices but it is so worth it. I love the band and I love the fact that if I follow the rules I can still eat my favorite foods within reason. And no, there will be no cake and ice cream.

You asked a question and then answered it yourself. I relate to your own answer. I believe I can speak for nearly everyone here that WLS was our last resort to becoming healthy. I know I tried every diet, and tried them over and over as if I didn't really understand them the first time. I understand the societal and cultural pressures of "taking the easy way out". And don't you believe that phrase for one minute. If you do this, you will work harder to lose weight than ever before. But, unlike atkins, WW, Jenny Craig, the work will pay off if you follow the rules. No, you don't have to diet. You won't need to diet if you listen to your tool. Look forward to your progress. tmf

Your surgeon must have had one or more patients go south due to clotting issues and is erring on the side of caution. I wouldn't trust the opinion of his nurse, go directly to him and if he's rational he should grant your request. Find out if it's temporary or can it be removed. I too wouldn't want a surgeon leaving a filter behind "just in case". And I was on blood thinners myself. tmf

Do you have clotting issues or why would you object to a procedure that could possibly save your life?

Do you not have your own scale? It's been a month since you last weighed? Some here will say that's OK but I believe in tracking my weight every day. That way I know what foods and exercises effect my progress. Some find any setbacks a grave disappointment but I understand that the scale will go up and down and as long as it's down at the end of a month, I'm OK with that. Hope your first fill is the magic one. If not, keep eating right and buy a scale imo. tmf

Please fill in your profile so we know more about you? It's hard to recommend anything without some basic info?

Sometimes they venture over here to throw rocks at us. It's true that some patients can't conform to eating with the band. Of course, you'll never see folks from here saying duragatory comments about the sleeve. This is why some of us get the band. If it doesn't work out we have options. Once you go sleeve or bypass, there's no turning back or revising. tmf

What do you consider slow?

First, read Jean McMillan's article on "Tighter isn't always Better" Just to the right of this post in the Magazine articles. Feeling full should not be your goal. Maybe you meant feel satisfied? That's the goal. Feeling satisfied with less food will win the race.

Consider your butt kicked!!

There are numerous ways to beat a plateau, not all work of course. I like to change my diet up. If you're taking in very low calories, your body could have gone into a starvation mode and has slowed down your metabolism. Increase your calories for 2-3 days up to 1600 calories to fool your body into thinking it's OK again. Change the types of food you eat. Maybe go low/no carb for weekend or eat only veggies or go liquids and creamy foods for a few days. Just don't do the same thing over and over again. And the closer to your goal weight you get, the harder it is to lose. One to 16 week plateaus are common but stay the course and it will happen. tmf

Learning to eat with this band has been one of the hardest parts of my own journey. It's taken me over a year to get it down right and I still mess up a couple times a week. Give it time, follow the rules as best you can and it will all fall in place. tmf

Maybe I glazed over this in your article(and I realize it's about soft calories due to overly tight bands) but using the "restriction" word again, how else can a newly banded patient grasp the satiety concept? It seems to be such a slow process for many of us. I know for me it's taken a year to finally recognize those signals. In the meantime I've seen other bandsters flounder and even fail due to not being able to find the zone. Restriction seems to be the first signal the band is in our body? This forum is a good tool for many patients who aren't getting the feedback from their support systems(docs) and yes, one must wade through the misinformation to find the truth. Now I've come to the point where I go back to one of your early articles "Restriction, the holy grail" and it seems like the heading is very prophetic. Sorry to ramble, but the green zone, sweet spot or whatever one calls it is illusory and can be non existent for some. Seems like more one on one, mano e mano would surely increase the success ratio? Dan tmf

Well, many if not most of us have experienced plateaus or standstills so you are not alone. If you are getting stuck a lot due to eating too fast you will have to learn to slow down and eat smaller and slower. Learning to eat with the band has been the hardest part of my journey so far. And it seriously took me over a year to accomplish this. But I still have my difficult moments as do most of us. I only lost 12 lbs my first 4 months so you're doing fine but you should sit down with a nutritionist familiar with lapband patients and get educated. jmo tmf

Good idea Hunnie. I was 4 months into my journey and had only lost 12 lbs. I had a nut consult and she pointed out many mistakes I was making. I didn't want to give up all of my food fetishes so we compromised and I started to lose immediately following that visit. I lost about 40 lbs in the next 5 months. I do eat low carb but not no carb. I try to keep the simple carbs out of my diet. So, I'll eat brown rice, occasionally eat flat bread and I eat fruit. I just try to keep my food in the low glycemic range. Stay away from high glycemic foods, they'll slow down your weight loss and cause you to be hungry too often. tmf

And I have no idea how many CC's are in my band but I do have quite a bit of restriction. However, restriction is not really the goal. Read Jean McMillan's "Tighter is not always better" article under the Magazine Articles section on the right side of this page. You could possibly be in the green zone if you are eating properly? tmf

Increasing pressure around the stoma can cause short term edema to the lining in your stomach. This makes the Stoma/hole smaller for a few days and sometimes longer.

Going to need a lot more info if you want an informed answer? Please finish your profile. What are you eating that gives you problems? What can you eat that goes down fine? Are you sipping or guzzling?

Fish and chicken are very low in cholesterol. You seem to be eating far too many slider foods and too many carbs. Every food you list has very little Protein and are loaded with carbs. A more balanced approach could enable you to lose more weight. I can't imagine that you feel satisfied with the foods you eat? Do you get hungry often? If not, good for you? I hope you can lose weight with the diet you've developed but for most of us it would be very difficult. I would suggest adding chicken and fish to your lunch and dinner routines. More vegetables like broccoli, spinach, asparagus, green Beans and other lower carb vegetables. I'm not anti carb, but in my experience a more balanced diet with fewer carbs seems to work better. Oatmeal is OK but again, too many carbs will make you retain fluids and oatmeal seldom provides the satiety you need to be successful.jmo tmf

Why are you on Atkins? You should be able to eat most any foods. I know of no other bandsters who are required to be on Atkins. Do you feel any restriction? Do you ever get stuck? Lots of questions I know but: Have you talked to a nutritionist? What are you eating? Do you exercise? Do you count calories? Have you had any fills? Again, sorry for all the questions but you didn't give a lot of information in your topic comment? tmf