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Same here. Also although the sleeve seems to be a good option I still think I would be quite hesitant to revise to one . The surgical and post surgical risks and complications sound so scary compared to a band. If something went wrong with my band I would be hoping that they could replace it. If they couldn't then I would probably go for a sleeve but I imagine it would take a lot of work to convince my DH that it was an option.

You must have been eating a lot of soy sauce!

Victoria, Australia! Our private health insurance is a bit different to yours.

Got on the scales this morning and I am up to 51.5kg. That probably has something to do with all the chocolate, biscuits and other junk I have been consuming lately. I decided I have to get this under control NOW before it gets out of hand. Step no 1 ignore the Cookies in the cookie jar - tick. Step no 2 have a sensible , calorie controlled, high Protein , quick and easy Breakfast - tick. Had a celebrity slim shake at approx 7.30am. Problem. 8.30am and I am STARVING. Trying to decide what to eat that will not set me off on a morning of binging as there is no way I was going to be able to make it until lunchtime. Decided to have some yogurt. My band at the moment feels like it is doing NOTHING. I have noticed that I am unwittingly eating faster. I was finished at the same time or before the rest of the family at dinner last night, OK I had a smaller portion but that is still not good. I have always been a fast eater and it seems without any restriction I still am. I only go back to see my Dr in about 3 weeks. How do I keep this under control until then? Should I be doing liquids, or low carb or just eating lots of bulky foods like fruit and veg? I'm confused - I haven't had to diet for 3 years and now that it looks like I need to I am finding it just as confusing as ever. Suggestions appreciated.

I think many people stay overweight because they are scared of what may or may not happen when they lose weight. In some ways weight is a shield to hide behind. If we haven't got a partner we blame it on our weight. If we haven't got a good job we blame it on our weight If we are not happy we blame it on our weight etc Once the weight is lost then we can no longer hide behind it and we have to start facing the reality behind our problems.That can be a very scary prospect.

Can't imagine why anyone would want to eat baby foods. It is easy enough to cook and pulverize your own mush and that will taste a lot better than stuff designed for babies. The only exception would be the pureed fruit, that is not too bad.

If you are able to eat and drink then you do not have a blockage. If you have a blockage then NOTHING goes down. You are not likely to choke in your sleep. It is possible if you have bad reflux that Fluid could seep into your throat whilst you are asleep but normally when that happens you will wake up coughing.

What kind of job do you have? Is it an office job or a physical job? If it is an office job I can't see any reason why you wouldn't be fine to go back after a week, most people are feeling Ok by then although everybody is different.

I am so glad that you are happy, you deserve to be.

Sorry to hear that and wishing you all the best with your new surgery.

I don't think you are alone. When I used to get a fill I used to go and have an icecream afterwards. I figured that it was a one off as the place near the Drs has the best icecream and being as I had to be on liquids that was liquid. None of us are perfect but we all have to take responsibility. You have recognised that what you have done won't help you to achieve your goals. So look at this as a splurge that is now behind you and focus on getting healthy liquids in from now on.

My experience of maintenance is that you don't actually do anything any differently. The lower your body weight is the less calories are required to maintain it so eventually you get to a point where you stop losing. To continue losing would require you to cut calories even more and that becomes really hard. In fact if anything the level or restriction seems to change after you have been banded for a while, things that were hard to eat become easy to eat, there is not the same discomfort etc so I think you start to eat a little bit more. The trick is to try to keep this under control as there can be a fine line between no longer having the same level of restriction and being too tight.

Wow Lellow you have a LOT of fluid in your band. Is it a Lapband or a Realize band? Seems scary that with so much fill you still aren't really feeling much restriction.

I understand where glove is coming from. She has had her own struggle with trying to decide if she should go ahead with the band or not. Most people when they are making a decision like to have information that backs up their opinion and confirms that the decision they have come to is right. So if we are going ahead we look for success stories. If we are not then we look for stories that support that not going ahead is the right one. It is good to look at both sides of the story so long as you understand the motivation behind a particular side. Each person can then decide for themselves if this information is useful to them or not.

I had most of my fill removed a couple of weeks ago as I ended up in emergency as I thought I had a slip. They took out 4ml and left me with 2ml. I went back to see my Dr 10 days later and he also said that generally they would leave things for a couple of weeks to settle before refilling but he agreed to give me another 2ml bringing me back up to 4ml. I have to see him again in about 3 weeks, that cannot come soon enough, I am always hungry and struggling to "behave" like a bandster. It feels like my band is empty. At meal time I don't think I am eating quickly but I finish at the same time as or sooner than everyone else and sometimes I am still hungry.My weight has been fluctuating up and down by approx 1kg for the last few months and I think that is still where I am. I am terrified that I am going to gain but I seem to be self sabotaging by eating stuff that I shouldn't be. I hope that you are able to stay on track better than I am doing and that there is nothing seriously wrong with your band.

Yes it is. You have been on a preop diet and probably lost some weight and it can take time for your body to catch up. Plus after surgery you tend to retain more fluid etc. And it takes a lot of weight loss before you start noticing a difference in clothes. Don't panic. Just keep doing what you should be doing and the weight will come off. You didn't gain it overnight and the same is true for losing it.

I have a food processor but I didn't use it much to prepare food for my postop diet . I made Soups but I blitzed those with a hand held blender. For mushies I ate foods that were naturally soft e.g tuna, avo. mashed potato. I think the only thing I used it for was to grate veggies to make veggie lasagne or to add extra veggies to sauces. If you will get a lot of use out of it later on then go ahead and buy one, but if you are only going to use it for 2 weeks of post op diet then it is not worth it and you can easily manage without it.

Even with a band if you drink your meals you are still likely to feel hungry soon afterwards. A band is designed to perform best when you eat small quantities of the correct foods. The focus is on solid Proteins and veg and depending on your Dr some healthy carbs. Once you get to a point where you have some fills in your band you should be able to eat a small meal of some meat veg and possibly a carb and not be hungry for a number of hours afterwards.There is a big difference between the not being hungry feeling and the full or stuffed feeling that you get when you overeat preband. The band does not stop non hungry eating and a lot of us that are/were overweight have issues with that. We have to find ways of recognising and dealing with that kind of eating. The band also does not make food choices for you. In order to be successful you need to follow the recommendations given to you by your Dr. If you were instead to choose to eat things that are not recommended such as candy,Cookies,icecream,milkshakes,crackers etc then the band will not assist at all. These type of foods are called sliders as they easily slide past the band, they are normally high cal and low in nutrition so they should be avoided. Everybody is different and everybody loses weight at a different rate, you will do best if you do not compare yourself to others. Some people find that after they have a band there are some foods they can't eat but these foods are different for everyone. Common problem foods are things such as dry meat, doughy foods such as bread, stringy foods such as celery. foods with skin on(especially cooked skin) such as tomatos and peppers. etc.

It could be reflux. Have you discussed it with your Dr?

At that point all I was eating was soup and other liquids so I would have no idea how many carbs/proteins I was getting.

It could be referred pain form the gas or it could be from the way that you were lying on the table or maybe they had to move things around a bit to get the band in. Take the meds your Dr has prescribed and if it doesn't get better then he/she is the person to speak to.

There is a problem with some people in that they do seem to encourage others to blatantly disregard instructions because they did it and they are fine(or so they think). They really annoy me too. I like to try to point out why the rule is there and the reason a person should be following it. You cannot stop these people posting you can only try to show others that what they are suggesting is wrong and what the right way should be. Above all a person should trust and listen to their Dr and if for some reason they disagree with their Dr's instructions then they should discuss it with the Dr. But I believe that you are probably quite close to the truth when you compare all these posts to the posts that say Help I'm not losing................

Great that you have nipped your problem in the bud and got back onto the losers bench.

Congrats and welcome. There are lots of experienced people here that will be more than happy to support you and help answer your questions. Glad that you are feeling so good and hope you achieve all the success that you hope for.

It sounds as though you were not educated about how the band works prior to surgery. Having a band is not a magical cure for obesity. The band is a tool that you have to use to achieve success. It will not choose the correct foods for you, it will not stop you putting chocolate and other low nutrition, fattening foods in your mouth, it will not force you to exercise. You are the only person that can do those things. I think you need to go back to basics. Eat what you should be ating in the recommended amounts and move more than you are currently.Having your band tighter will not necessarily help. If it is too tight you gain weight and set yourself up for all sorts of complications.