RedSox90

I eat an english muffin with peanut butter almost every morning. It keeps me full all day and is delicious!

Hi! I'm live about twenty minutes outside of Boston and I too was banded at the BI! I had Dr. Jones as my surgeon and so far my experience has been really positive. I was banded October 5 and have since lost about 80 pounds!!!!! =) How was your experience? Have you had a fill yet?

i am from boston, and they stock weight watchers bread in all the local supermarkets. stop and shop has the widest stock, but i don;t know if that chain extends down south. weight watchers is relatively inexpensive too for "diet" bread. that and the "Fiber One" brand of bread are the best. if you can't find it at the supermarket, maybe you could try online? it could be worth it.

the post about the Beans got me hungry! haha, i posted a link to this awesome rachel ray recipe. its so easy and its delicious. i eat it plain, and its an excellent source of Protein. you can spicen it up with any types of seasonings you like. i love it! Black Bean and Corn salad Recipe : Rachael Ray : food Network

congratualtions at being 6 pounds from goal!!!!!! that's incredible! you should be so proud of yourself! post pictures, stat!!!! i love seeing the before and after pics. =) we all have to think about what we are doing and what we have done, how far we've come! sometimes i get caught up in the day to day (oh no! i gained a pound! oh no, I haven't lost a pound in a few days...) but when it comes down to it, we are all fighting the good fight and winning! and i also love the "eat this, not that" guides! womenshealth.com sends me one every morning in different categories. if you guys are interested in those lists, i definitely recommend signing up for that mailing list. they can be really helpful, and also help you when ordering at restaurants. i love that this group exists! i feel like now i have people who know what i am going through at school! =)

i like weight watchers whole wheat bread. it's 90 calories for 2 slices, and you can't do much better than that.

I am in my second year of college, too! I am really lucky because although I eat at the dining common, the nutritional information (calories, Protein numbers, carbs) are posted above every food served, so I know exactly what it is I am putting in my mouth. I track what I eat kind of obsessively, but that helps me keep myself in line. Not to mention its helpful to look back and see what I was eating when I was losing a lot, compared to what I eat when I plateau. I weigh myself every day and log it into a website, so I can keep track of how much weight I am losing (or not losing, as the case has been recently). And I go to the gym every day. We're lucky because we're in college and probably have more time to spare than people who are working 9-5 jobs with babies to take care of at home. We can go to the gym for an hour or two and not feel the crunch of time. As far as tips for eating out goes, I always look the restaurants menu up online before I go. Too frequently in the past I've ordered a meal that I thought was healthy (oh? a strawberry-walnut salad? sounds healthy!) only to realize later it was like 1100 calories. Go to the restaurant prepared, knowing exactly what you are going to get. Also, remember you can ask for half-portions. I don;t think I would have the guts to do this, so I just ask for a box at the beginning of the meal to divide my plate into. If anyone asks questions, just say you need a lunch for tomorrow! It's a strange experience being in college with the band, and it made me so happy to see this post and realize there were other people out there! Don't you guys hate the girls who get ice cream every night at the dining commons and are still pin-thin! Agh! It's hard.

i drink water when i eat all the time. it's no big deal, and i don't think it makes a difference in "feeling full" in the long run.

I stopped eating meat after my lap band surgery because meat would always get stuck and make me feel sick. Every morning I have a Fiber one english muffin with Peanut Butter. I find the peanut butter really "sticks to your ribs" and keeps me full all morning. For lunch I might have so Kashi Cereal mixed with a non-fat yogurt (there's Protein in both the Kashi cereal and the yogurt). And for dinner I will make a salad with some vinegar/low-cal dressing with some cottage cheese on top. Other vegetarian things that keep me full: A toasted pita with hummus Bananas, apples, pears and other high-fiber fruits Granola bars oatmeal Popcorn (I've never had a stuck issue with popcorn, although I know a lot of bandsters have) Whole grain Pasta with marinara sauce Steamed veggies Brown Rice I would say if you are a big bread person, definitely convert to whole grains. If the first ingredient on the label reads "whole" - like "whole wheat flour" - then its a whole grain. It makes a world of difference in keeping you fuller for longer.

I don't think anorexia is an uncommon disease for lap band patients. Before I was banded, my surgeon was going over all the knitty gritties with me and one of the things he mentioned was anorexia. He said that anorexia is one of scenarios in which the team would have to remove the lap band. When a patient develops anorexia, the doctors try to convince them to remove the band. If you take away their tool to not eat, my surgeon explained, they may have to start eating again, if only out of shear hunger. Of course, there are complications with this solution, the foremost being convincing your sister to go in for surgery to remove her band. And especially where you said her band has never been filled, the band is probably not giving her much restriction anyway. So taking it out may not solve matters. But you should know that your sister in law isn't the first lap-band patient to acquire this disease. She and your family are not alone. I hope she gets better, and I think you are doing a great thing by trying to help her.

I'd love in on this! I'm around 188 now, and would love to lose 20 pounds by Easter. That would put me in at 168. =)

I had a goal of 193. For the first few weeks, I thought there was no way I was going to lose it. And then I dropped like ten pounds in a week! It's funny how the body does that, huh? Now I am down to 187 and feeling really good. I might be single, but it's still a good Valentine's Day! :smile: Congrats to everyone on this board! I know a lot of people made (and surpassed) their goals, but for those who didn't, don't worry about it! You lost something! The weight we lost during this challenge is weight we never have to see again! I can't wait for the Easter Challenge!

I am five months post-op, and when I got home from the gym today I felt a pain at one of my surgical incisions. When I lifted up my shirt, I saw that the edge of one of my surgical incisions had turned black. This is kind of out of the blue because I haven't recently had issues with this incisions. After surgery, this incision gave me slight problems because the stitch in it didn't fall out right away like the rest of them. The stitch eventually came out but I do remember it may have pussed/bled a little, but nothing so serious that I ever went to the doctor. The part of the incisions that has turned black is the same area where I had the issue with the stitch. I am just wondering if anyone has had this problem or if anyone has ever heard of a reaction like this, especially five months after surgery.

i have this issue too! technically, it's a "yeast" infection so if you buy something to treat a yeast inflection (like vagisil) it clears up within a week. unfortunately for me, its a chronic problem, so it is always flaring up. it's so annoying. and the smell is rancid!

I just want to let you posters know that i loved this thread! I do all these tricks: the four/five morning weigh-ins, the obsession with the number (even in the 1/10 place) and especially the stepping on the outer edges for the lesser number (that one's my favorite!) I know everyone says its really unhealthy to weigh yourself every morning, but I actually just read an article that discussed a study that showed people who weighed themselves daily maintained a lower weight than people who weighed themselves weekly or even less frequently. So even though it is probably psychologically destabilizing to weigh ourselves every morning, we may be doing ourselves a favor in the long run! No need to feel guilty.

I would love to get in on this! I am around 208 now, and would like to lose 15 lbs by Valentine's Day. That would get me to ONDERLAND and then some! ps: i have no idea if that's how you spell "onederland." haha

I had my first fill the day before Thanksgiving and I feel no restriction. Unfortunately, I am not scheduled for my next fill until March. Does that seem really far off to anyone else? I was thinking about calling my doctor and seeing if i could get one sooner, but I don't know. maybe there is a reason for this very long interval between fills? It is frustrating though. I got this surgery as a tool to lose weight. So far, it isn't helping me much...

well, it's not a book, but i have found a really good website that can help you track calories and break down the kinds of calories you are eating. On Livestrong.com, you can search for pretty much anything from the nutrition information in specific restaurant foods to the calories in produce. The daily journal can track both your calories and your exercise. It's not lap-band specific, but it also has some articles on it about diet and exercise that I find really helpful.

My doctor game me a semi-liquid diet to do two weeks before surgery. Basically, it boiled down to slim fast shakes for Breakfast and lunch and then a reasonable dinner. The women's plan restricted calorie intake to 1000, and the guys were given 1200. My doctor wanted his patients to lose weight before the surgery in part to demonstrate they were serious about the procedure, but mostly to shrink the fat around the liver. If your liver is too fatty, the surgery cannot be performed laparoscopically and they might have to cut you open. My doctor told us a story about a guy who lost something like 30 pounds before his surgery, but then splurged the weekend right before his surgery on two big lobsters. Even though he'd lost a lot of weight, the doctor still couldn't perform the procedure laparoscopically because of the fat he had recently consumed and its affect on his liver. So yeah...long answer I guess! I guess it all depends on your doctor.

92 pounds! That's fantastic! Congratulations! You should be really proud of yourself. You've lost nearly one-hundred pounds, so clearly you are doing something right! I don't think the sodas are hurting you one bit! I think the doctors give us a lot of rules at the time of the surgery. And for the most part, these rules are very helpful and provide a great guideline of how to alter your lifestyle for the band. However, I also think these rules can be flexible. Originally I wanted to get gastric bypass surgery. But because I am still young, my doctor recommended the band. With the band, he made a point to say, I can still eat the occasional brownie, drink the occasional soda, and have the occasional beer. liquids funnel right through the band, so he told me the carbonation wouldn't cause any damage - as long as you take small sips, just like you do with Water. Obviously our doctors have told us different things. So why don't we just stop the name-calling, the judgements, and the promises of others failures. Not only is that inappropriate, but its mean. We come to this website for support, not to be judged.

I have these same worries. Obviously I told my mom and dad, and my brother and sister both know. And I told my three closest friends at school. But beyond that...I told my grandparents and they just seemed confused. I don't want to spend my whole life explaining what LAP-Band is or why I decided to get it. Plus, I feel like the LAP-Band leaves a lot of the responsibility up to you. After all, its up to us to eat right, exercise, and take care of ourselves. If someone asked me how I am losing weight, I might tell them I had the band. Or I might tell them I have lost weight with portion control and exercise. Both are true, right?

I did Atkins for the longest time, and when I would get a craving for yogurt (you sometimes crave the healthy stuff when you are eating nothing but sausage links and scrambled eggs!) I would always get Dannon Light and Fit Carb Control. I think they have about 4 carbs if I remeber correctly, and its a small portion, which is perfect for the band and it tastes pretty good! Now, I eat a lot of Yoplait Lights. They have so many different flavors that you can always mix it up and keep from getting bored of the same old vanilla or strawberry. I am a big fan of the Orange Creamsicle and Key Lime Pie flavors. Not to mention its a brand thats always on sale at the grocery stores!

I am in the same boat you are. I was banded October 5. The first two weeks or so, I was eating nothing but a few yogurts a day and was totally satisfied. But then the swelling went down and, while maybe I can't eat AS MUCH as I could before, I can definitely eat whatever kind of food I want. It's definitely frustrating. I am hoping it will become easier to lose weight (and harder to eat!) after getting my first fill. I go in the day before Thanksgiving! So it might help me out that I will be on full liquids on Turkey Day! The mashed potatoes would have killed me on mushies!

I just tried Jimmy Dean D-Lights and they are delicious. I too am in college and live in the dorms, so my breakfast on-the-go options are pretty limited. These you just pop in the microwave for a minute or two and they turn out delicious. Sometimes I eat half before class and then the other half after. They pack plenty of protein and keep you full for a while. With 18 grams of protein, 29 carbs, and under 300 calories, they are pretty healthy. Not to mention they taste good.

I was banded October 5 and my band is on my left side underneath my rib cage. I don't think you have to worry about it though. Hopefully, if you ever had an emergency, a doctor would feel around your abdomen to feel the port. Although I think it's a good idea writing which side the port is located on your card.