2muchfun

Hang on, this is why we all needed WLS. Soon, those cravings will be reduced to a fraction of what they are now. We all still have cravings but it's so much more manageable now.

1-2 lbs is all you will lose here on out unless you're an extreme runner/biker/climber? Like I said earlier, we lose a lot of Water weight the first 30 days and then it slows down to 1-2 lbs/wk if you follow the rules. Especially for low BMI patients like you. I hope I'm wrong and you're the exception to the rule and can lose more than that but it's virtually impossible to accomplish. You are doing better than almost anyone here so far. I lost 12 lbs the first 4 months. That's all. Then I lost another 38 over the next 4 months. I'm not the poster boy for weight loss but I believe I am somewhat normal if there is such a thing? If you want a scientific reason regarding early weight loss vs stall/plateau, go here: http://www.dsfacts.c...ml#.UqP7uBLn-Uk

I don't get it? Your nut told you you should lose 1-2 lbs a week but you're losing 3 lbs a week? How is that not great? It's virtually impossible to lose more than 2.5 lbs per week and that's only if you eat 1000 calories a day and burn off 900 more calories via extreme exercises. You're going to have to lower your expectations to something more realistic like 1-2 lbs per week unless you plan on doing heavy exercises 2-3 hours a day. It's just simple math and physiology.

Do the math? 36 lbs in less than 3 months is about 3 lbs a week. It won't continue at this pace but you're doing as well as anyone else and much better than most? Most of the weight we lose in the first 30 days is Water weight. By now you're losing fat lbs so Celebrate, you're doing awesome.

As long as you stir constantly while adding the egg, the egg parts are small, very soft and slippery. It's about as close to liquid as you can come. But if you are struggling with any kind of fluids, don't consume anything until the swelling goes down. This may not be within your doctors guidelines so you might want to run it by him? Mine was fine with it 4 days out.

Awesome pics Ivy!!!

Try some egg drop soup. Lots of protein and very satisfying.

The link does not connect.

I find this to be true for me several times a week. I'll be eating, chewing and then I get this slight feeling/signal that food is backing up in my pouch or esophagus. I can either spit out the food in my mouth or chew much slower till the feeling goes away and the food passes through the stoma. This is actually a step forward for me. 6 months ago I either didn't recognize the signal or was eating so fast that I just ignored it. Now, I'm having much fewer total stuck episodes.

Wow?

LPC, No need to apologize. I love these long threads. It's almost like a chat room and I hate chat rooms and instant messenger programs. These threads are slow let's get acquainted type forums and it's nice to go back and revisit who some of the forum members are.

Can you list the foods you eat and how many calories a day you consume? Do you exercise and what kind of exercise?

I have no problem with failed bandster's telling their story but I do have a problem with the exaggerated tales of studies they usually pull out. It's only natural for someone who failed with the band or visa versa to seek out reasons why they failed. Unfortunately they cling to the worst study they can find and run with it. Alex recently posted a much newer study with many many patients and I'd like to post it here again. Sorry Maestrita that you had complications, but it's not nearly as bad you make it out to be. Maybe it was 16 years ago as your study indicates, but much has been learned since the 90s. DO THE MATH 164 Studies, 161,756 Patients Over Nearly 10 Years: What Does This Add Up To? BARIATRIC AND METABOLIC SURGERY IS EVEN MORE EFFECTIVE THAN PREVIOUSLY REPORTED AND GETTING SAFER! A new meta-analysis of studies carried out between 2003 and 2012 shows higher remission rates of diabetes and high blood pressure and a lower mortality rate than previously reported. The study, published online in JAMA Surgery, is an update to a meta-analysis of studies conducted between 1990 and 2003 and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA, Buchwald et. al.) back in October 2004. Researchers from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis reviewed outcomes from nearly 162,000 patients in 164 studies (37 randomized clinical trials and 127 observational studies), over almost 10 years. They discovered 92 percent of patients in randomized clinical trials experienced diabetes remission after surgery, slightly higher than the 86 percent remission rate found in observational studies, but significantly higher than the 76.8 percent remission rate found in the 2004 JAMA study. Remission rates for hypertension were about 75 percent in both the randomized clinical trials and observational studies, while the remission rate in 2004 was 61.7 percent. Body Mass Index (BMI) loss five years after surgery ranged from 12 to 17 in the new study. Before surgery, patients had an average BMI of 45.62. "With the 2004 study, we now have 22 years worth of data from over 180,000 patients and 300 studies," said study co-author J. Esteban Varela, MD, MPH, MBA, Fellow of the ASMBS. "The data continues to prove bariatric surgery is not only safe and effective in providing significant and sustainable weight loss, but is the most effective treatment today for diabetes, hypertension and an array of other diseases and conditions in people with obesity." In the new study, 30-day mortality rate was 0.08 percent, down from the 0.3 percent reported in 2004. Complication rates ranged from 10 to 17 percent and the reoperation rate was about 7 percent. Complication and reoperation rates were not reported in the previous meta-analysis. By procedure, gastric bypass and sleeve gastrectomy resulted in the greatest weight loss, but had a higher rate of complications and mortality than adjustable gastric banding. Gastric banding had the highest reoperation rate (12% in randomized trials), while gastric bypass had the lowest at 3 percent, followed by sleeve gastrectomy, which had a reoperation rate of 9 percent. The new meta-analysis included sleeve gastrectomy, which was not available in the 1990s. Of note, sleeve gastrectomy had comparable weight loss to that of gastric bypass at 5 years. "This is but the latest study to validate the high degree of safety and effectiveness of bariatric surgery," said Ninh T. Nguyen, MD, FACS, President of the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) and Vice-Chair of the Department of Surgery at UC Irvine School of Medicine. "Today we are performing operations that are as safe or safer than gallbladder and hernia repair surgery." According to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 78 million adults were obese in 2011–2012.1 The ASMBS estimates about 24 million people have severe or morbid obesity. Individuals with a BMI greater than 30 have a 50 to 100 percent increased risk of premature death compared to healthy weight individuals as well as an increased risk of developing more than 40 obesity-related diseases and conditions including type 2 diabetes, heart disease and cancer.2,3

In case you haven't viewed these videos, they're a wonderful intro to what is to come. But, remember, all doctors have different protocols so don't be surprised if your doctors advice differs from Dr. O'Brien's. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qa3Lwt6ElIs&list=UL Part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4jYJipQ7vc part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wbdhf44ZweI&feature=relmfu Part 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KF3TCKUn3YI Part 4

Do you have plication as well as Lapband? I got my first fill about 5 weeks after surgery and then one every 3-4 weeks thereafter for the next 5 fills. I did feel that the band helped me the first 4 months. The amount of food I could eat in one sitting seemed to be less but not less enough to lose weight.

In the very beginning pre-op and post-op phase, most bandster's lose excessive amounts of weight. It's not all fat. In fact, very little of it is fat. It's mostly Water weight we lose during the pre-op and post-op diet/phase. After the first 30-60 days we settle into losing fat. You need to burn off 3500 calories to lose 1 lb of FAT. Most of the girls need to eat about 1600 calories a day to maintain their current weight and physique. So, let's say you walk every day and walk off 300 calories per walk. That means you're burning 1600(daily maint)+300(exercise)=1900 calories burned per day. Now, if you eat 1000 calories per day, you are burning 900 calories more than you consume. So, 30 days X 900/cal = 27000 calories burned per month. 27000/3500=7.7 lbs per month. Losing weight can be simple math but the losing/doing the deed is where the rubber meets the road. Many cheat and eat more than 1000/cal or don't exercise 30 days a month. So, if you lose 4-6 lbs per month you are doing better than most. Click on the link for the explanation re: water loss: http://www.dsfacts.com/weight-loss-stall-or-plateau.html#.UqP7uBLn-Uk

The only foods I no longer crave are fast foods. I never was a sweets eater. I just overate a few hundred calories every day. I eat about everything but try to keep it all healthy. Red meat 2 times a week maybe. Sea bass is not really available here in Denver and if it was it would be very costly. Speaking of EVOO. We have about 8 bottles of EVOO in our pantry. We go to a couple of different Olive Oil stores and they have dozens of different flavors including just organic. Great stuff. I like to put the lemon EVOO on our fish. And I put the Tuscan on the mushrooms/onion/red pepper I stir fry. Check out your local olive oil store. Lots of different balsamics too! http://kristosoliveoil.com/

I had plateaued 4 months out from surgery and I had a consult with my nutritionist. She helped me find about 300 calories a day that I was not accounting for. She also made some other suggestions which I followed and the weight just started to fall off for months afterwards. Maybe you need a consult?

Chilean Sea Bass is my total fav fish of all time. Usually I order it in Asian restaurants but not many fix it properly. You'll have to send me your recipe???? Re: quick fix meals...I just threw that in in case your also a smoothie drinker? Or even too many protein shakes can doom your weight loss. Fish with sauces on it can be too slippery. I sometimes put a hollandaise on my salmon just cuz I love it and I end up eating too much vs non hollandaised salmon. Like I said, you're in Bandster hell now just like most of us went through and it won't go away till your band is adjusted properly. Keep getting those fills!

Most bandster's do not have so many good/bad experiences while being banded so you're experience is not typical and fortunately you were banded so it's reversible where if you would have had another WLS and experienced problems, you would be stuck with that surgery. My advice is to demand a fill under fluoroscopy to see where your band is and if it's still operable?

One more thought. Plateaus can occur and I find that beefing up my exercise routine with long bike rides and racquetball or tennis helps to break that cycle. Varying your weekly caloric consumption also keeps your metabolism active. jmo

Lisa is right. Cut back to 1000(you need a fill for this) calories a day and the weight loss should return. But, if you feel like you can still eat anything a small fill is in order. I didn't find any satiety till my 3rd fill 4 months into my journey and did not find the green zone till my 6th fill 7 months into my journey.

There are a few foods that I have to pay close attention to when eating but I can still eat most anything. I had sushi last weekend and did have a stuck episode. The problem for me with sushi is the bites are so big and it's so difficult to nibble on sushi. Shoving an entire or even half a unagi or dragon roll bite in my mouth is a surefire problem. If you can find a way to nibble on all your food, you should have few problems.

If you go back to your original reason for this thread, "wanting to eat everying after 4 pm", juice won't give you long term satiety. But I don't think adding vegetables alone will satisfy your hunger, but it could mitigate that hunger. No need to give up the juice though. Juice has no Fiber where whole vegetables do have fiber. The stomach will process the juice rapidly where it won't with whole vegetables. You want that slow digestive process to stay satisfied longer. You're still in the Bandster hell zone but as you get fills and your band is adjusted properly you might want to leave veggie juice and quick fix meals behind as they don't allow the band to work it's magic. Dense protein, vegetables, brown rice and crisp fruits offer much more in the line of long term satiation. Your smart so you'll develop this love/hate relationship with your band as your journey progresses and find that some foods give you that 4-5 hours of hunger satiety. It took me 8 months to figure it out and I'm still learning.

I watch my 22 year old son eat and it's the size of a golfball, 5 quick chews and shovel the next golfball in. One burger takes 5 bites. One burger with bun for me is 25 bites and 20 minutes.