elcee

Avo would be because of the fat. It is fine to eat so long as it is only a small portion and not the whole avo. I didn't eat a lot of fruit before being banded and eat even less now. I think it has something to do with the slippery texture, it makes it hard to chew and it is too easy to swallow a big bit. Melon and mango(which I love) definitelly slips past without being chewed. Kiwi fruits have all those pips in the centre which make me uncomfortable. Other stone fruits need to be peeled as there is nothing worse for me than having bits of skin stuck. These days if i do eat fruit it is usually tinned or cooked in some way. Strawberries lightly poached over greek yogurt are great. With veg I can eat most veg but being a Brit I prefer my veg soft! I cannot stand it when you go to a restaurant and they serve you green Beans and carrots which are still hard. Raw carrots are good though in salad or on sandwiches - the easiest way to eat them is to grate them or cut very thin pieces using a potato peeler.

I met a guy yesterday that was probably in his early 50s. He was telling me how he had about 3/4 of his stomach removed when he was in his teens due to ulcers and other problems. So in effect what he had is very similar to having a sleeve. Whilst this guy was by no means obese he looked like your average guy of around that age. Overweight with what looked like a beer belly. So this tells me that even with drastic reduction of stomach size unless you continue to aim to keep your weight under control it won't happen. That it is still easy to gain weight. He also mentioned that he has a lot of problems with excess acid. Something that I believe is a common problem with surgeries that reduce the size of the stomach.

You may still have food stuck and drinking etc may just be aggravating it. Try to relax, if you are tense it will be worse. Suck on crushed ice, it helps to reduce swelling and may make enough difference for the item to slip through if it is still there. Even if it isn't there you have obviously caused swelling which is painful and the ice will help to soothe that. For the record, onions have given me problems a number of times. they can be pretty tough and indigestible so you may want to be careful with them in the future. As to the heavy lifting I have no idea as it's not something I do.

In reply to your title - How long is a piece of string?

OK Jen, please tell us, if you are not going to eat animal Protein, fat or starches what are you going to eat? For the record animal protein is healthy and is one of the things most band Dr's advise you to eat first when you have a band. Fat is an essential part of a healthy diet and helps to control hunger. The important thing is to choose the right type of fat. Nuts, avo's ,fish etc all contain healthy fats. Foods with lots of fats added such as croissants or donuts are obviously not healthy. Starches are fine, they help to give bulk and are still the bodies best source of energy. Again you should choose wholemeal, grainy starches over white extremely processed ones. I assume that you do not have your band yet. You may find that once you do your opinion on what is/isn't healthy may change. A good example is that a diet preband would probably contain a nice grilled chicken breast with lots of salad. After you are banded you will probably find either a) you cannot eat the chicken breast because it is too dry or you can eat a small amount but it makes you too uncomfortable or c) find that it gets stuck. You will probably go for option d) still eat chicken but choose thigh over breast and instead of grilling it you may cook it in the crock pot and serve it moist with some kind of sauce. If I am wrong and you are banded already then please share some of your favourite meals with us. The title of the thread was Can You Tell Me Your Favorite Meals!!! not What are the healthiest foods to eat that I should be eating once I have a band.

I would say that yes it is because of dehydration. Alcohol dehydrates and dehydration makes a band tighter.

I take pills with no problem. I just make sure to have a swallow or 2 of liquid first then drink the pill with more liquid. Capsules are easier than pills but even the pills go down fine for me.

I have flown a number of times - long haul flights and have never had a problem. What I was told by my Dr was that an unfilled band can cause problems in the air as the air in it can expand but that if it has saline in the saline does not expand. Obviously you want to be careful what you eat while you are flying as it would be the worst place in the world to be stuck and sliming.If you are concerned order a special soft meal or Soup before you fly.And if the worst comes to the worst and your band does feel tighter in the air then as soon as you land it should go back to normal. If you do get an unfill make sure it is because you really are too tight and not just because you want to eat more on holiday. As the others have said , if you do that then you are getting into really dangerous territory.

Well done.

They sound yummy. What is EVOO ????

LB4ME I think he might be! Toddy I don't think he is deliberately trying to sabotage me as he prefers me slim, I just don't think he thinks sometimes. I also think that he forgets that weight is a constant battle - he probably thinks that now I am at goal that I can eat what I want and not regain. If only that were true.

I am 5' exactly. If I had weighed 199lbs when I got banded I would have had a BMI of 38.9! Sorry that makes you mad. What makes me mad is people that don't think some people are/were fat enough to get surgery. Personally I am glad that I had the motivation to do something when my BMI was only 32. Being obese was bad enough , I don't see why I should have had to wait until I was morbidly or super obese to do something about it.It is always better to do something sooner rather than later.

Actually Shirley's suggestions were spot on. She didn't say anything about fried foods(except the mushrooms). Steak is healthy if you are able to eat it.Have you ever heard of grilling or baking it? Most foods require some kind of sauce post band. Dry foods are very hard to eat. Gravy does not have to be full of fat, it can be made with stock, flour or cornflour and a stock cube or other seasoning to your taste.

Glad it's not your band. Sorry that it is still something serious. How are they going to treat this?

I'm considering having fillers in my cheeks to help with the tired look from the bags under the eyes which are accentuated by fat loss . Would love to hear from anyone that has had them.

That is just disgusting

I would rather be underweight than overweight. The normal BMI range is quite wide so I think it is easy to settle on some point within that and be happy. I certainly wouldn't be happy if my BMI still said I was overweight. I am forever being told I am skinny but it's not true. It is simply that my friend/s are jealous(which they admit) and also that they are no longer used to seeing normal weight people as there are more overweight people these days than there are ones that are at a healthy weight. I would actually like to lose a few more kilos but i need to be able to choose where they come off ( my stomach instead of my legs) As for the wrinkles - the bags under my eyes are more prominent than they used to be. I actually went for a consultation last week and was told that it happens with age as you lose fat in your cheeks so fillers would help. I am seriously considering having them done but they are so dam expensive and only temporary. I still think the slightly tired look that I have now is preferable to the big round face and lots of chins that I had when i was overweight.

Maybe you can feature on the next "people of Walmart" movie.

Cazzy is 100% correct.

I also do not diet, do not count calories and simply eat smaller portions but I think it would be easy to "cheat" the band if your head wasn't in the right place. Unfortunately most of the high calorie foods that cause weight gain do not cause pain and discomfort. Well for me they don't, I think if they did it would be great as it would discourage me from eating them. chocolate and the foods I mentioned earlier are too easy to eat . B52 maybe the reason you don't have an issue with these type of foods is because you are male? Males seem to naturally prefer foods such as steak, meat etc whilst us females are generally the ones that have issues with chocolate. I am sure that there are some exceptions to that rule but on the whole it seems to be true. There are people that have been banded that have had limited success. I believe that for many of them it was because they were unable or unwilling to change their eating to the way that it is recommended you eat with a band. A lot of them were looking at the band as being a magic wand and it isn't. It is possible that the band was not the correct type of surgery for them. They may have been better suited to something such as a bypass which causes malabsorption of food as well as restriction and some people also get dumping syndrome. I think it is important to carefully investigate the different types of surgery available and work out as far as possible (with the help of a Dr) which one would suit you and your particular type of eating issues best.

Congrats Denise.I love hearing from people that have been successful and are happy with their bands.

It is perfectly possible for the band not to work especially if the person with the band expects it to be a magical cure that does everything for them. There are lots of foods that it won't stop you eating. e.g chocolate Icecream Milkshakes custard candies crisps Cookies etc These will go past the band really easily, they will not make you feel full and you will gain weight. For the band to work you have to work with it. Follow the dietary recommendations your Dr has given you, don't drink your calories, don't eat all day long and do some exercise.

I assume you must be a consultant.

!!!!!!! You are only 5 days out , relax. You didn't put the weight on overnight and you aren't going to lose it overnight either. Plus it is normal for a persons weight to fluctuate from day to day because of Fluid, hormones etc. That is why many Dr's only advise you to weigh yourself once a week. It would be nice to think that we could have the surgery and wake up slim but unfortunately that doesn't happen. The surgery is just the beginning and the actual weight loss takes time afterwards. Some lose quicker than others but the speed doesn't matter as it is not a race. The recommended weight loss with a band is 1 - 2lbs per week.

Sounds rather odd. What type of band do you have? Allergan ports are stitched into place so it is unlikely that all the stitches would have pulled loose at the same time. It would be more likely that a couple of stitches could have been pulled causing the port to flip. I believe that the Realise band is held in place by teeth. Again I would have thought that for it to come completely loose and travel that far would be really unusual. Have you been doing anything unusual lately. Any kind of strenuous exercise that you are not used to? I would be going to see a DR ASAP. Freaky bumps are not to be ignored, you never know what they might be.