isaviolinist

For the period right after my surgery, I just asked that people not bring foods like that into the house. Especially because its just so important to stick to the post op diet. So perhaps you could ask your husband to hold off on those kinds of things that get your taste buds going for awhile? After your post op diet, you should just try to eat things in moderation. I don't cut anything out - I just don't go crazy with it. When I was restricting certain foods, I would eventually break down and eat a ridiculous portion of it (like 4 milkshakes instead of one small one...now, if I want some ice cream, I have some, but I'm able to put it away after a moderate amount and I don't make it a habit of having ice cream everyday). But for now, maybe you should ask that people don't bring those trigger foods into the house.

Thanks so much mimi!!! I'm routing for you! I never thought I would get here, yet it came so fast!! You'll be in onederland before you know it!

Thanks Acadia! Yea, I would love to swap recipes and ideas. I'm constantly cooking and always looking for new and creative ideas!

Hey Maria - That's great that you're interested in being vegetarian! There are many easy things that you can do to start. You can basically take any of your recipes that you would make with chicken, red meat, etc and substitute tofu or seitan in for the meat protein. Tofu is very easy to cook with, and to some degree, takes on the flavor of whatever its in (although I think that it still does have a taste). Try to look for Organic vegetarian items and soy items that specify non-GMO ingredients (anything that is organic will not use GMO soy so go for the organics). I don't really use specifically vegetarian cookbooks, but I just swap out the meat for a soy protein (or seafood...I still eat seafood). Here are some recipes from my blog if you want to get creative: Noodless Veggie Lasagna , Cabbage salad with Peanut Dressing and Tofu Shrimp Skewers (omit the shrimp for completely veg), Edamame Burgers (one of my favorite things to make - there are a lot of steps in this recipe but its SO worth it!) Good for you for sticking to your guns! It is totally more than possible to get in enough protein on a vegetarian diet. I would just encourage everyone to seek out organic ingredients and products that use non-GMO ingredients. Better for your body, better for the farmers, and better for the earth.

The formula for losing weight is pretty simple. Consume fewer calories than you burn. If you do that, you will lose. If you consume the SAME amount of calories as you burn, you will maintain your current weight. If you consume MORE calories than you burn, you will gain. So OP, if you have not lost and have not gained, then you are eating the same amount of calories as you are burning on a daily basis. It really doesn't matter if you cut your portions in half, and cutting portions in half does not necessarily mean weight loss. If you were consuming 6000 calories daily previously, and now you are consuming 3000 calories daily, you won't lose weight (unless you spend your entire day at the gym....doesn't sound like that's the case for you). It is, in fact, possible to lose weight eating hamburgers or whatever other thing you feel like you want to eat. However, if you eat more than what you burn, you won't lose. That's the story. Simple answer to your query. Track your food, see how many calories youre consuming, and adjust it. (And if you do track your food and you find your eating 1600 or 1700 calories or day, and you're not losing, it means that your body burns that amount per day...I'm 5'2, and despite my crazy workouts, my body only burns 2300-2600 calories daily where others would be burning 3000-3200 doing the same activity...sucks for me, but just means I have to eat fewer calories).

Sometimes you can get maki that is wrapped with thinly sliced cucumber and no rice instead of traditional nori. When we go to a restaurant that serves this type of maki I always get a roll. Its pretty band friendly. There is also something called mamenori which is soy paper. Not many places serve it but I do much better with mamenori (and rice isn't generally a problem for me) so I also get a roll if that option is available. I also make my own maki at home which is a little better in terms of ingredients - and I can use cucumber or mamenori if I want.

Hm - I have 2 views on this. I don't think doctors should guilt their patients. It is part of the cycle of compulsive overeating and isn't productive. So you should talk to your doc about that. Its good to have constructive criticism. But just making a patient feel bad is counterproductive. As far as doing your part, the above poster is right. Its apparent that you must be cutting calories as you have lost. However, its easy to predict what you will lose based upon your calorie deficit. If you have a deficit of 3500 calories a week, you'll lose 1 pound a week. You can tweek that number via exercise and daily calorie intake. So if you're goal is to lose 2 pounds a week, arrange it so you'll have a 7000 calorie deficit and you will lose 2 pounds a week (if you weigh weekly, it won't be 2 pounds everytime since the scale fluctuates, but if you average your loss over a period of 6-8 weeks, it will come out roughly be 2 pounds a week). It sounds like right now you have a calorie deficit of 1700-1900 calories a week (if you're losing roughly 2 pounds a month). Eat fewer calories (track this on some place like fitday.com...you'll be surprised how much you're actually consuming) and exercise more and you'll lose weight. If there are other factors (head issues, compulsive eating etc), its definitely worth it to talk to someone about it. I've found that the band doesn't help me with my head issues surrounding food - that's 100% on me.

A lot of people go back to liquids for awhile. I usually don't eat anything solid until dinner (my band is too tight for solids until 6 or 7 pm), so I essentially do liquids for 24 hours or so, and that usually remedies any irritation that may have occurred.

Strange advice in this thread. Please follow your doctor's orders. And please don't substitute feel good advice from people who are not lap band surgeons for your doctor's prescribed plan. Sure, every doctor is different re: the preop diet, but just do what your doc says. Maybe some of the people on this forum who didn't get their band the first time around because they didn't follow preop diet instructions will chime in. Anyways, 3 bites of chicken isn't going to sabotage you, but just do what you're doctor has told you to do.

I can relate to what you are saying. My band was too tight after a fill and I started resorting to sliders like milkshakes. But even when I wasn't tight, I was still drinking milkshakes. Well, I gained almost 50 pounds back doing that. In September, I resolved to get my head back in the game. I started working out like a maniac (and chose a fitness center with a comprehensive program which includes classes, nutritional counseling, body composition assessments, rehab for injuries, etc), changed what I was eating, started getting creative with cooking etc. Since I started that in sept. I have lost all that I gained plus more. And I feel better than ever. It is hard to turn things around, and we get stuck in a vicious cycle of beating ourselves up for our choices, eating to comfort, beating ourselves up etc. Round and round we go with that. But the only advice I can give is get back on track before it gets out of control - you will be so thankful you did later. And honestly, he hardest part is initiating the process. Once you've gotten back to the gym that initial time, logged into your food tracker, etc it becomes MUCH easier. So just do it today. Don't make an excuse. Trust me. You don't want to be looking at the scale 50 pounds later saying, "wow, wish I would've gotten back on track before It got this out of control".

I eat fish but no pork, red meat, or poultry. Everyone said that type of diet would be hard with a band however I average 80-95 g of protein everyday and don't worry about all the unhealthy fat and other crap in meat. I always feel refreshed after eating meals and I don't get that rolly polly, can't walk, just want to sleep feeling that many people that eat meat get after a meal. I post tons of recipes on my blog (many of them veggie, and some with seafood). Check it out if you're looking for some ideas (URL is in my signature).

Same for me. We were on vacation for over 2 weeks and lost 4-5 pounds. I ate TONS on vaca but we also walked a lot. I was so happy (and surprised) with the results.

I've set a goal body fat percentage of 22% which is a healthy body fat percentage for a woman my age. Based on that, I will probably be somewhere between 145-160 pounds when I reach that (I currently have slightly over 140 pounds of lean mass which is quite a lot...most women my age and height have 110-115 pounds of lean mass...I'm assuming my lean mass will go down by 10-15 pounds as I lose weight...although as I've lost the last 60 pounds, I've actually gained 1/2 pound of lean mass....I'm not complaining as its burning calories for me). Currently I'm just under 29% body fat. Once I get to 22% body fat, I'll reassess and see if I can get any lower. BMI plays no role in determining my goal weight - it is a pretty worthless determinant of health and should really only be used by the companies to determine whether or not they'll pay for WLS. I love this illustration - it aptly demonstrates why BMI is so ridiculous: Silliness of BMI in an illustration

Hey everyone - checking in! This morning I weighed in at 197 which is 4.6 pounds lighter than last week! Late last week I was at 196, but I'm trying not to dwell on it because a 4.6 pound loss is still really good (thats why I shouldn't weigh everyday...if I never knew I was at 196 earlier in the week, I would be 100% satisfied with being at 197). Anyways, my name on the spreadsheet is 'isaviolinist' and this week I'm at 197.

So funny - me and Alien are like the same person My surgeon also warned me about flying without getting a tiny little unfill first. I was bad and have never gotten unfilled before flying (we travel a lot and I just didn't feel like going back and forth for fills/unfills everytime). Over the Christmas/New Year holidays I flew 5 times - flights ranging in time from 30 minutes to 11 hours. I was concerned about the 11 hour flight as I figured we'd be flying at a higher altitude because of the flying time (I was right...and prior to that flight, the longest flight I'd taken with my band was 6 hours). Like Alien, I was able to eat better on the flight than I do on the ground. And then strangely, for 3-4 days afterward, I was able to eat REALLY differently than I usually can - i.e. breakfast was not a problem at all (generally, I do eat anything until noon, and its a protein shake, and I dont eat any solid food until like 5-6PM), I wasn't getting stuck on anything at all (not even a little bit...usually I get at least a little bit stuck every now and again...especially if I attempt breakfast), I ate a pancake without a problem (I would never attempt something like a pancake unless it was like 2am, as my band would be loose enough by that hour....luckily I'm usually not thinking about pancakes at 2am ). Anyways, flying is not a problem at all for me, thank goodness, but I think I have heard some stories from others stating the opposite. I think, like everything with the band, its individual. I took a chance with flying without getting an unfill, and it worked out. But that's not to say it will be the same for all people.

I'm following everyone in this thread now! My blog link is in my signature below!!

Just wanted to let everyone know, I made the spaghetti squash spaghetti for dinner tonight and it was AMAZING!!! I just baked the squash whole for a little over an hour in the oven, then scooped out the squash, tossed it in a skillet with my favorite veggie tomato sauce and then topped the dish with a little bit of skim mozzarella and fresh parmesan. Wow. So amazing! I still have half a squash leftover and I think I'll make spaghetti squash macaroni-less "mac and cheese" with it tomorrow.

I use this moisturizer on my face before putting makeup on: http://www.ddfskincare.com/c-37-moisturize.aspx I love it. Its expensive but worth it. What kind of moisturizer were you using?

Welcome to the site everyone! This can be a great resource and support tool. I started out at over 280 pounds (I'm also only 5'2) and am now down to 196. I felt pretty hopeless about my weight but now I know there is no doubt I can lose this weight! My suggestion would be to start taking care of your relationship with food (especially if you are a binge eater) before you get your band. I didn't really do that and did great initially with my band but then regained almost 50 pounds bingeing on slider foods (foods that go right through...like ice cream and milkshakes). Ive since lost all that I regained plus more and am seeing an eating disorder therapist which is really helping me work through my food issues. Good luck to everyone considering wls!

I don't wear much makeup but I also love bare minerals. It feels light, doesn't look like I'm wearing makeup and gives me the right amount of coverage and color. Love bare minerals.

I think I'm going to make spaghetti squash spaghetti for dinner tonight. Thanks to this thread for the inspiration!

I'm confused why you have to eat baked chicken everyday. I don't eat poultry or red meat so I've never eaten baked chicken with my band. It's pretty easy to eat a diverse menu with the band. I'm never bored with what I'm eating which is key for me staying on track. For an idea, in the last week I've eaten Alaskan king crab legs, homemade baked lobster ravioli, stuffed tomato, fish sticks, soft tofu stew, miso glazed sea bass, and an array of veggies and fruits (and I also had some Hagen daaz on Friday night). So I'm just wondering why you feel you are limited to baked chicken. I imagine I would be pretty frustrated If that were the only thing on my menu as well.

Hi everyone - just wondering if anyone else experiences this? I think this is really the first time I've actually gained weight during my period. I generally always experience a loss before hand (which happened this time...over 3 lost pounds in the 3 days before), but I usually don't gain and this morning the scale said I was almost 2 pounds up from my lowest before my period 3 days ago. Im trying not to get stressed out but its a little upsetting...I've been doing my regular workout (cross training or 55 minutes on the elliptical and walking) and have been sticking to 950 calories or less. Any reassurance or advice is greatly appreciated!

I have my eye on this vera wang gown for my wedding in 2012: http://brideguide.ehclients.com/images/uploads/Esther.jpg I would love to wear it and look beautiful in it (including having some semblance of a waist line).

Love this Mel. I wanted to post so I could bookmark it. Thanks for posting it!