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Drink in moderation and remember to include the calories. Also be aware that alcohol often gives people the munchies which could sabotage your diet efforts. A glass of wine is probably one of the better options.

I agree you should see your Dr. Maybe you have some fill in your band which combined with the postop swelling is causing problems. They may need to remove some. I am really surprised that you got told to stay away from cold things. If you have swelling if any kind ice is what normally helps to reduce the swelling. In fact icechips are normally the first thing they give you in hospital. I would also not go anywhere near scrambled eggs yet. They can be a difficult food to get down at the best of times and at this stage of your postop recovery they could cause you further problems. Hope you feel better soon.

That is just one of the many things that has never been properly explained. i agree with you - if food is designed to stay there for a while then it shouldn't hurt but believe me when you are stuck it hurts like crazy. The latest theory is that food actually passes through the band quite quickly(within a minute or so) but again this doesn't seem to make sense - if it has passed through then how come it is possible to regurgitate food for a lot longer than this. (there is a big difference between regurgitated and actual vomiting and with the band most of us tend to regurgitate). Also if the food passes through quickly what is with the not drinking and eating rule. Most Dr's tell you not to drink for at least 30minutes afterwards as it will push the food through quicker ! It would be nice if one day we were given a proper explanation of exactly how and why the band works and how and why the rules that exist are in place. In the meantime it is best to just follow them and lose the weight even if neither us nor the Dr's fully understand how and why.

I think that most of the time people try to be helpful but a lot depends on the way the original post in the thread is written. For example. If you read a post that says I have been following my Dr's directions, exercising etc etc and the scale is not moving then the answers are likely to be sympathetic and helpful. If the post says I'm not following my Dr's directions because I can't and I'm still eating junk on a daily basis because I don't like healthy foods and I don't want to exercise and I'm not losing weight and I don't understand why and I hate this band because it was supposed to be a miracle cure that did all the work with no effort on my part then the answers are not likely to be sympathetic and helpful. We all have the same issues so if we can do it we expect others to be able to do it too. To borrow a quote " Lapband talk members help those that help themselves".

This doesn't sound like a salad to me. My definition of a salad would be lots of raw veggies - lettuce, carrot, mushroom,cucumber,tomato,green or red peppers etc . Adding one type of Protein such as tuna, chicken etc is fine but if the main part of the "salad" is mixed Proteins then what you are actually consuming is a high calorie, high fat meal. Avo's are good for you but they are high in fat. cheese is high in fat. Egg is fine and so is fish but you don't really need these plus the cheese etc. It seems these days anything passes as a salad so long as it has a couple of token lettuce leaves in it.

Use moist cooking methods rather than dry cooking methods. Stew, casserole etc goes down far easier than grilled or fried. Use sauces, gravies. Don't overcook. Eat chicken thigh rather than chicken breast as it is moister. Avoid reheated meats as they can cause problems. HTH

Obviously you have done well and obviously you are not as fat as prior to surgery. But you did say you still have a way to go and if your BMI is in a range that is overweight or obese or whatever then yes you are still fat. I don't mean that in a nasty way but it explains why you still have those fat days. I think being female makes it worse as well. We are never satisfied, we will always find fault with our bodies. I am at goal and well within a healthy BMI range but I look at my stomach and to me it looks gross. All fat and blobby, nothing like those perfect washboard stomachs I see on TV and in magazines all the time! So don't get down. Think of how well you have done and congratulate yourself on that.It is not like there was a time limit and that you have now run out of time. You will continue to lose weight and to look and feel better every day.

You need to stop weighing more than once a day as your weight fluctuates naturally throughout the day. It doesn't matter what scale you buy the same will always happen. You should pick a time and weigh at the same time. Generally it is not recommended to weigh more than once a week but I still do it daily, that is one habit I can't break. The best time to weigh is first thing in the morning, before you have had anything to eat or drink and before you shower. That way you will get a more accurate indication of any gains or losses. Be aware though that sometimes you will gain from day to day just because of Fluid , hormones etc which is why the weekly reading is the more important one.

Glad to hear that the end is in sight and that so far things have gone well. I am sure that the past couple of months must have been hell. Enjoy getting your life back. All the best. Lynn

That would be hard. I just had surgery - a hysterectomy but my surgeon and anaesthetist were happy to leave my fill in. I was impressed I came through really well - this was the first surgery I have had where I have not felt nauseous afterwards. I was dreading having to get unfilled and then slowly filled again. I do feel for you. For now just concentrate on healing and you will be back on track soon. And don't do what I have been doing because I am stuck at home bored - eating way too much chocolate!

Just found this on another of my message boards. From a different poster this time. Re: gastric sleeve Hi guys, I was going to stay quiet here but figured it wouldn't be fair. I had a band...lost all the weight and loved it I had a problem and had a second band...not the same and gained weight I had a BPD/DS (big and bad decision) and did not lose an ounce!!!! Copped all the side effects!! Live with it daily!!! I have third band and love it for the moment!! Hanging in there at 71 kgs down from 126....it's all good. Not any o9f of the surgeries are a miracle cure, we have to work with what we get and hope for the best. Maybe in a few years time I will look at sleeve, gastric bypass etc But, I think all of know that no surgery, no matter what it is, is the miracle. And we all need to do some work at the same time. They all work differently for different people but we all must persevere! We are all on the same side and want to lose weight. Give it a chance.

Spartan I agree that it is odd. I was quite shocked when I read it as I thought that weight loss with a bypass was guaranteed. This is a genuine post, the poster is a genuine poster and she is obviously in trouble. I have no idea why. I just thought it would be useful to post it to show another perspective .

Good luck, I hope it is the solution you are looking for. Interestingly this came through last night on another group that I am subscribed to. Hi, haven't posted in months and this probably isn't the place to post but I'm really depressed about my weight. I had my band removed back in october and reverted to a gastric bypass in december last year. I lost 12 kilos over the first two months and since then I have lost nothing and have put on 3 kilos this month. what do I do now? I have not been back to the surgeons again as I am too embarassed. I do not have any restriction when I eat, I dumped a few times at the beginning. I don't eat that badly or that much.. (sounds cliche I know!!) Where do you go once bypass does not do what you thought it would do. Are there any options left? Can you convert to a sleeve from here I have read you can but there isn't much out there on it. I know I need to go back to my surgeon and I will.. just want to hear any thoughts that any one may have before I make myself do that.

I've said it before and I'll say it again - my only regret is not getting banded sooner.

I don't weigh or measure. I eat off normal sized plates but put a lot less on. I know a lot of people use a side plate instead of a dinner plate. If you use a small plate imagine about 1/2 filled with Protein, 1/6 carb and 2/6 veg. My typical breakfast is 1 poached egg on a slice of wholegrain toast. lunch might be tuna, salad + crackers or something on toast or a slice of quiche etc. Dinner is the same as the rest of the family but a much smaller portion. I also snack on yogurt, fruit(not very often) and nut bars.

Not all of us go through "bandster hell". After surgery I was on 2 weeks liquid, 2 weeks mushy, 2 weeks soft but it really wasn't that hard. With the liquid stage I was allowed as much as I wanted so if I was feeling hungry I just ate(drank) some more. I was allowed things like Soups, custard, yogurt, jelly etc. Yes it gets boring and it felt great to be able to go onto mushies but I can't say that I was ever starving. I had my first fill at 3 weeks - yes it was only a tiny 1 but every little bit helps.Again with the mushy stage I was allowed to eat enough to satisfy my hunger. The focus post surgery is about healing more than weight loss. Remember that and you will do fine. It does make a difference having the band. It may be mental, I'm not sure but I know that I have never been able to stick to a liquid diet previously. Knowing that I was getting a band and that each of the food stages including the preop(which is the worst) were finite made it far easier. You know that none of these stages are forever. You can see the end and you know that you have a tool that is going to help enormously.

I have just had a hysterectomy . My periods were all over the place - shorter gaps, longer bleeding, heavier etc. In fact of the last 83 days before my op I was bleeding for 66 ! Nothing to do with weight loss - it was age, hormones and apparently severe endometriosis. The joys of being female and of getting older. Hope you sort out what is causing your problems and that you find the best solution for you.

Sometimes a little bit of what you fancy does you the world of good. Why deny yourself everything you love forever. To me the band was about no longer dieting which means that I should be able to eat what I want not what my diet sheet tells me. You may want to count calories and factor the treat in. You may want to do extra exercise. You may decide that you are going to have a fun sized chocolate bar instead of a family sized chocolate bar. However you do it is up to you. Success is about what you do 90% of the time , no one is 100% perfect.

I gurgle so loudly other people can hear it. It is especially loud when lying in bed at night.

Pain from overeating is usually felt in the chest - close to where your heart is. I can't picture why overeating would cause your port to hurt, it's not like the port is inside or close to your digestive system but then everyone seems to have a different experience. I also don't know how you managed to force a food ball down with Water. For most of us it doesn't work. Drinking when you are stuck either causes sliming, more discomfort or PBing. It is possible that you have pulled the muscle that the port is stitched to. This apparently is quite easy to do. You may have even ripped some stitches. It is doubtful that you have done any serious damage but if you are worried then you should consult your Dr. I would also advise caution about getting too many fills too quickly. You do not want to end up too tight. Remember restriction is not about the band stopping you from eating too much, or restricting what type of foods you can/can't eat - if you go looking for that you will end up being too tight. Restriction is about being a able to eat a smaller portion of healthy food as recommended by your Dr and not feeling hungry again for approx 3 hours afterwards. If you can do that then you are where you should be. The majority of the control has to come from your head - the band is only a tool that will assist you by helping to control your hunger.

Every surgeon is different, some even put some fill in at the surgery phase. My first fill was at 3 weeks.

I saw something about this technique on a UK TV program called Supersizers go. When you watch how they did it it was pretty gross. Most foods you couldn't possibly chew that many times as they would dissolve before then. meats it could possibly work. I remember as a kid my mother would tell me to chew 30 times so I didn't choke. If it works for you great but I couldn't imagine actually counting each chew. Man that would be laborious!I also find that if I chew that many times my food loses its labour, instead of appreciating the taste I get jawache! I think if you simply concentrate on chewing well that should be sufficient.

It sounds good. It mentions that it is a tool. It outlines some of the people it is not suitable for and also outlines some of the risks.

Of course you should celebrate. You are doing exactly what you should be doing.It is not a race to see how quickly you can lose it - remember you didn't gain it overnight either.

I remember thinking someone else had a weird Dr as they had been told 3 minutes between bites. 10 minutes is ridiculous. I would swap Drs. If yours seriously thinks that is how to eat with a band then he/she doesn't know much. It is important to eat slowly and to wait to make sure the bite you have just swallowed is sitting comfortably and not stuck before taking the next one but 10 minutes between bites is a joke.