anon

Be prepared this is a long one. I found this post on Wlsinfo.org and thought that you guys might benefit from the words of wisdom contained within. This is a girl called Delly from Manchester, she was banded last April.... I hope that it brings some comfort to those who are feeling frustrated and the certain knowledge that fills will provide them with the restriction and therefore results that we expect and crave....... Please feel free to post any additional pearls of wisdom or comments on the helpfulness of this post below:clap2: It saddens me to read of so many bandsters feeling despondent in the early months of being banded, even brandishing themselves failures! When I was conducting my research it became apparent to me very quickly that there appeared to be a pattern with bandsters, I admit not everyone fit the pattern but it appeared like a very strong trend to me. For most a pre-op diet is recommended and consequently most enjoy some weight loss, then in the 7-10 days following surgery another good weight loss is usually enjoyed as restriction is felt due to stomach swelling after the op. Some 3lbs some as high as 16lbs – all depending I suspect on our starting weight and pre-band eating habits. Most people seem to get their appetite back by 2 weeks post op so and weight loss consequently either seems to grind to a halt or even we regain some of the weight we lost. Yes there are the very disciplined/lucky or maybe the higher starting BMI’s who continue to lose after 2 weeks but they appear in the minority to me? So in most cases we have 4 more weeks to wait for our first fill (some NHS patients have 10 more weeks to wait) Its all very well for the dieticians to give us a post op diet to follow but lets be honest here whilst it’s a fantastic plan of course to eat as healthily as possible lets not forget that its continuous diets that got us fat in the first place. I have been on a diet for over 20 years and I don’t know about anyone else but I just got FATTER! I read of members joining WW or SW and if that works for them that’s fabulous but for me I have done WW etc more than 20 times and if it worked for me, if I could be a success on a diet then I wouldn’t have ever considered WLS! Long term success with a band stems from reduced quantity and satiety training not doing another diet! So we have to get through these 4-10 weeks whilst waiting for our first fill without feeling like a failure –that’s not easy I know because I'm currently going through it, yes I'm eating a lot less than I ever ate pre-op but obviously not enough to continue losing as I'm still at the same weight I was 1 week post-op. I'm not disappointed though as this is EXACTLY what I expected and it’s what everyone should EXPECT! If your expectations are realistic then you won’t be frustrated when things don’t go according to some weight loss plan you have hatched that had you in a size 10 by Christmas! LOL At last the day comes for our first fill we have been waiting for it like Christmas morning but again we must be patient as the very large majority of bandsters don’t feel adequate restriction after their first fill. We mustn’t feel despondent we must accept and fully grasp the concept that most bandsters don’t reach their “sweet spot” until their 3rd, 4th or 5th fill. If you’re having private fills this gets you to approximately 4 or 5 months post-op, if you’re having NHS fills this could be as much as 12 months post-op. Then of course you have to allow time to lose the weight, lets just say this could take another 12-18 months so before you know it your goal weight is 2 years away. This seems like an inordinate amount of time to wait but the statistics show that 18 months - 2 years is the average time to goal so there is little point expecting to reach goal before then and if we do then whoopee dooo darrr that’s a great bonus but if we are average or a little longer than average that’s whooooppeee doo darrr too because I bet it sure took a lot longer than 2 years to gain all that excess weight in the first place so what’s the rush? It’s not a race with a band it’s more of a marathon but we will all reach the finish line, happier, healthier and most importantly lighter!!!

thought I'd bump this up for those who missed it the first time.... Any chance of making it a sticky???

Glad to be of assistance..... Sometimes it's only a reminder of what has happened before.... I too lost lots of weight on lighterlife.... 7 1/2 stone my hair fell out, but I persevered because I'd never managed to lose that much in one go! Unfortunately it all came back on and I decided in Oct 2006 that I was going to have a band. It took me until Feb to save the money and persuade OH that it wouldn't mean that I lived on liquids forever more! Had the op on 21st March 2007.... Have lost 26lbs in 6 weeks no fill at all, but I have restriction.... which I'm surprised, delighted, and frustrated to experience! I started out at 21st so similar! Although I have to admit that when I decided that I was going to have op I was only 18st 9lb! 6lb more and I'll be back there.... My only regret is that I didn't have it done when I first thought about it, instead of having 4 1/2 months of 'last suppers'

If you eat a lot less calories than you need for 3 or so months then hair loss can happen. It's quite common in people who do VLCD's (LighterLife, Cambridge diet etc..) The good news is that you won't go bald, just thinner and it will start to grow back after around 2 months of normal eating (although you will still be 'molting' until your body is sure you're going to carry on eating!) The body sees hair growth/maintenance as 'non essential' if your calories are very low. You can either live with it until you reach your desired weight or live with slightly slower weight loss, have more hair and eat a bit more!

Your Pic don't work:confused: please fix so I can have a look! Yesterday was a bit manic and my restriction just disappeared..... B cambridge shake L boots shapers tuna baguette (218 cals) went down without a second thought! Snack; cambridge peanut bar Another Snack! 500g cherry tomatoes.... YES 500g that's a lot of tomatoes! Dinner; Beef fajitas made with leftover roast beef joint that I'd frozen a couple of weeks ago. Usually I'd only eat one, but I had two of those as well!!! :D Well total calories: 1154 not too bad and I managed quite a lot of protein! Which reminds me.... make you moussaka, invest in some good plastic tubs and freeze the leftovers for another day when you're too bushed to cook! Don't give it away when it will do for another day!

Well today has been difficult, I've felt quite tight all day and have struggled to get anything to stay down! And yes, I have NO FILL!!! B: Thought I'd try Cereal..... NOooooo!!! S; managed a chocolate velvet cambridge pack! L: crackers and edam cheese Nooooo!!! One mouthful and stopped! so had cottage cheese and pineapple S; Cambridge bar managed all of that! Plan for dinner: Tuna fillet with mango chilli salsa, new potatoes and peas (wanted broccoli, but that would be asking way too much! Did the body for life cardio solution this morning! OMG! I was completely exhausted by the end! The only bonus was that it was all over in 20 minutes bar the stretches!

OK today I've been told that my breath stinks in a ketosis kind of way! So I must need to eat a bit more! B: Cambridge bar L; 130g l/f cottage cheese with 75g fresh raspberries D: roast chicken breast (pb'd half of it!) stuffing ball 1 new potato, green beans-about 6, cauliflower 1 floret .... Must learn to chew chew chew!!! Total calories 870 I was quite hungry after going to the gym and working legs and abs.... I should really have eaten more before going and then wouldn't have been so hungry (When will I learn????)

OK Saturday 28th April! this is the day I allow myself to make foolish choices!!! B; 1/2 sausage sandwich L; Baked sweet potato with homemade ratatouille D; 4 mouthfuls of chicken anarkali, 1 mouthful of naan bread, 1 1/2 poppadoms with onion raita, couple of mouthfuls of Saag paneer. 2 glasses red wine, 1 after 8 mint! total calories; 1200! 45g Protein. Well I did try.... I soo wanted to eat more of everything.... it just wasn't happening!

Hi Sara, Are you still on sloppies? I hope so! Or I'll be asking you what happened to your Protein intake too!!!??? Suzy.... the bandster rules!!! Remember them?? If not a quick recap.... 1. EAt 3 meals and two Snacks per day, Chew your food really well, at least 20 times, eat small mouthfuls. 2. Choose solid food that will stay in your band and keep you satisfied 3. Eat the protein FIRST then the vegetables and if you have any room left the carbohydrates, eat until you feel full, and stop before you are stuffed! 4. Avoid Soups and liquid forms of food as this will not lead to a full feeling for any length of time. 5. do not drink 30 minutes before, whilst or 1 hour after eating. This will only serve to flush out the food from your band and again lead to eating more than you need to. Avoid carbonated drinks. 6. Exercise... take it at your own pace. Patients who persue a more active life style following gastric banding tend to do better than those who remain sedentary. 7. Drink at least 2 litres of Water every day 8. If, despite following the rules, you do not lose week for 4 consecutive weeks then it may well be time to consider a fill. Contact your surgeon to discuss this and arrange an appointment. It maybe that you need another fill...... to help you make healthy choices. Hope that this helps a bit!

Fab day for you Suzy! Today so far and my plan! B: apple S; cambridge bar L: tuna salad D; poached salmon with mange tout, new potatoes and baby carrots. S; cottage cheese with pineapple total calories 965 Total Protein 72g Not bad, having my eat junk day tomorrow, which WILL be appalling!!!

OK, yesterday was a bit of a non starter foodwise.... Didn't eat the apple, or the cottage cheese or the salad as I had a horrid pb on the chicken Euw!! I also changed my dinner to turkey chilli with rice, as it was a mushy consistency with lots of sauce. I was hungry and knew that this would go down.... Today has been bad... I've been in a meeting all day; B; 1 viennese biscuit and cup of tea L; small baked potato, grated cheese and 1 dsrtspn coleslaw with small salad, I even managed the skin! D: will be the hake I was going to eat yesterday Not as good as it could be but nothing too terrible. I haven't drank nearly enough Water today either so I'll have to work on that now before I start cooking! Total calories 859

Hi Patty! Sorry for the tardiness of this reply! have you tried Simon Dexter? He's in Leeds... does NHS and private, telephone his secretary at the Leeds Nuffield hospital and ask if he'll take you?

Forgot to add 91.7g of protein!

Well I'm not going to add to it Sooz! Plan for today is B: Cambridge diet shake Snack: Steel cut oats L; chicken salad S: cottage cheese and apple D; Hake with veg and new potatoes (if I can manage them!) Supper: Cambridge bar... well that might not happen but it's an option! Total planned calories: 919 Lower body and abs work out this morning! Ouch!!! Dog walk scheduled for this afternoon! Keeping active keeps me out of trouble!

Nothing wrong with porridge! Thoroughly good for you complex carbohydrate that gives you the necessary energy to be able to function throughout the day!!! There's plenty else you could give a miss, IYKWIM!! As for coffee, I only ever drink one cup a day, and I REFUSE to do without it!!! food planned for today is B: cambridge shake Snack: apple L: chicken salad (I've had the chicken but couldn't manage the salad, so will try again in a bit! S: 125g l/f cottage cheese with pineapple D: poached skate wings with brown rice mange tout and baby corn. Total planned calories: 835.... could probably do with more but I'm happy as I've managed 97g of Protein today... a new high for me! I'm aiming for a 40% protein 30% fat and 30% carbohydrate in my daily diet.... so far it's doing OK, but I think it's only because I can't get much else down me once I've done the protein thing.... and all with NO FILL!!

Been in the gym again this morning... here are 6.50am!!! Still here in the cafe posting on t'internet! This morning was cardio workout... 20 minutes of a sort of interval training... It was HARD WORK....you work through level 5 to 9 at one minute intervals four times.... My son told me what it was called, but have forgotten! (some Swedish bloke's name who devised it) Main advantage is that it's short and sweet! Then supported OH through his lower body work out... he said I was a slave driver!!! I've only had 600ml water and a coffee as I can't manage solids first thing, and have forgotten my shake. Not hungry so, not bothered, will eat something later.

I don't possess any home exercise equipment beyond the dog! I do use the balance ball at the gym tho' to give core resistance to most of my upper body work out. My thoughts are that if I had it at home I would use it as an excuse not to go the gym and then not use the equipement at home either.... I have too many friends with really expensive clothes hangers in their houses!! Well, I have to say today has been challenging, felt really tight until this evening then was ravenous.... but my pouch said NO to big portions and I still only had a small dinner! Gym in the morning upper body weight training B: 600ml water 1 cup black coffee Drinks 600ml tea 600ml water, 400ml oasis light L : one rye crispbread, 100g of cottage cheese.... managed 3/4 of it. a couple of mouthfuls of tesco sweet and crunchy salad (carrot, red cabbage iceberg lettuce mix) S: 1/2 apple.... wanted more but knew I had to stop! 500ml water D; 100g cooked prawns 2 tblspns heinz salad cream Light, steamed broccoli and cauliflower .... had new potatoes on my plate.... NO WAY was I going to get those down me!! I'm aiming to eat a Cambridge bar before bed to take my calorie total to 658 NOT NEAR ENOUGH!! But hey, I've drank loads and I've still managed 71g of protein!!! WooHoo! Going to take the dog for 5km now, she needs the exercise almost as much as I do!!!

Oh Dear Sooz!!! Crapola city!!! Still it's good to write it down, it makes you less likely to do it again! I've just one word to say to you..... PROTEIN!!!! If you eat enough of that, you won't have room for the other stuff!!! Get some cottage cheese in the fridge, eat it on crackers (whatever you like best, rye ones have no gluten in so you could manage those!) mix it with fruit (pineapple is good and it's better to eat it than drink it! You had 500 calories worth of juice ... IMHO a waste of calories there's no fibre in it at all!) Feel free to poke at my diet too, it helps you know!!! My day yesterday was as follows B: Cambridge diet shake L: 140g canteloupe melon plus 175g cottage cheese D: Red Snapper fillet with one tsp green pesto, 1 new potato and a small green salad. 5 mile walk with dog, 10min jog at gym(!me jog!!) Need to eat more as today was only 750cals!

Yesterday's food 21/4/07 B; canteloupe melon with cottage cheese L; two rye crackers (finn crisp... the best!) with more cottage cheese D: curry night....2 spoons Chicken bhuna achari, 2 spoons rice, 2 bites keema naan 1 spoon of saag paneer. Large glass of red wine. Total calories 974 Had a really nice night out and enjoyed meal... although was totally stuffed on that little lot! I am still ordering pre band portions.... then only really eating a bit of everything that I previously would have polished off no worries.... I was really hungry before I started and ate the first mouthful a bit fast.... that hurt, I can tell you, but I knew as soon as I'd swallowed it that it was going to be a problem....must learn to eat before I get to being really hungry! It was 9.30 before we sat down, so my own fault... no pb, but it could have easily happened if I hadn't slowed down.

Ah the old head needs to catch up with the new stomach size.... I too do that all the time.... order loads and then can't eat even a 1/3 of it! Such is life... the best thing is you get to eat for 3 days on just the one meal! so it really does save money in the long run! good luck with your decision.

<p>My Protein is around 55g level which is OK for my level of activity (Light exercise 3mile walk and light weight training 2x weekly) </p> <p>If you're really going for it then you'll need to up it to around 100g a day or 1g per KG of weight..... I'd really struggle to get there. </p> <p>19/4/07 </p> <p>B: 1/2 apple </p> <p>L: coq au vin with green Beans and courgettes (steamed)</p> <p>D: marinated salmon with red peppers, green beans and broccoli </p> <p>1/3 of a piece of chocolate brownie with ice cream and a strawberry Daquari (sp?) TGI Friday's!!</p> <p> </p> <p>Total Calories: 846</p> <p> </p> <p>20/4/07 </p> <p> </p> <p>B: apple Slice canteloupe melon </p> <p>L: Cambridge meal bar </p> <p>D: Salmon fillet, cooked in foil with corriander and lime, green beans with lemon, pepper and butter new potatoes </p> <p> </p> <p>Total Calories: 820</p> Also had 225 ml red wine ... really nice treat!

Keeping a food diary is the best thing to take stock of what you're eating and means that you are accountable for the things you put in your mouth!! I'm not as good as I could be, but I'm better than I would be if I didn't fill this in! With this in mind today's intake is as follows! 18/4/07 B; cup of tea and 500ml water... still felt like I'd just eaten! S; pear L: seafood cocktail and green salad from M&S Deli cafe took ages to eat it... a woman who started her dinner 10 minutes after me had eaten, packed and left just as I was on the home straight.... either she ate extremely quickly or I'm definitely eating really slowly! S; plum 1 brazil nut 2 cashews and a couple of raisins D; home made italian meatballs and pasta with a tsp fresh grated parmesan. I feel totally stuffed!!! Total calories for today 695! :biggrin1: makes up for the past couple of days of stuffing myself.

Been away at a meeting but heres the last 2 days foods.... Monday B; none felt full from night before ??? L; 10 chips, 1/4 pitta, filled with chopped beef and cous cous. 1/2 small individual cheesecake ( hotel) Afternoon in meeting: 10 fruit pastilles, 50g dried fruit, 1 chocolate, 2 mini flapjacks I felt guilty, but it didn't stop me doing it! D; 1/2 bottle red wine, one spinach and ricotta cannelloni, grilled turbot and green Beans, 2 florets of cauliflower with cheese on. 2 spoons zabaglione, 1 limoncello, 1 cointreau, 1 espresso coffee (italian restaurant) It seems a lot but it wasn't even half of what I'd have eaten at any other time! Total calories 1647! 17/4/07 B; small bunch grapes 2 mini flapjacks and 1 orange. L: Roll mop herring salad leaves tomato, cucumber, beetroot. followed by.... 3 profiteroles with cream! :hungry: :hungry: Oh god I hate hotels they put far too much temptation in my way! I'm back home now and have had 3 spoons of homemade chicken curry and 2 spoons of basmati rice. I'm so much better without being surrounded by such choices of gorgeous food! total calories 963

You know at your level of restriction just a 1/4ml defill could make all the difference to you. I've not been there as yet and am still a very baby bandster, but my friend works with her band best with really tight restriction. She can only eat 3 spoons of anything at any one time... Her words of wisdom for your delectation are as follows... 'the feeling of being full is different with a band, you have to learn to abandon the old feelings of satisfaction for the new 'full' feelings you get with a band. Use your 'soft signals', I find I get hiccups, others, start to yawn or get a 'feeling' in the back of their throat. Don't fight with your band by continuing to eat, seeking the feeling you want, all that will happen is that you end up with your head down the loo... which in turn causes trauma to your pouch and provides you with increased restriction! My Surgeon told me when I moved up to this level of restriction that if I felt I had to 'fight' with it all the time, and ended up pb'ing a lot, I might cause slippage or dialate my pouch. Instead I should book a small defill, and live with slower rate of weight loss.' apparently you may be over restricted if you *cannot keep down enough fluids...remember 2l+ per day ( I noticed lots of J20!) *Find yourself drinking your meals/calories, to get things down *Are unable to sleep at night because you end up 'gurgling' *Are miserable with the restriction.... As Jen says.... I chose a band so that I was in control of my restriction and rate of weight loss. A lesson to us all.... Choose a level of restriction that give your choices and a rate of weight loss that you can live with. Do not be impatient to lose all your excess weight overnight and don't test your band too much... it might just come back to bite you on the bum! I really hope that this helps you t

I too must do better..... Yesterday: 14/4/07 B; Cranberry crunch cambridge bar L;Chargrilled chicken minifillets and 2 tomatoes D; small curry, 1/3 portion rice small piece of naan bread and 1 poppadom Snacks, satsuma, apple, 4 dried apricots Today; B; pear, satsuma, plum L;2 slices roast turkey, rocket salad, 100g lowcal coleslaw D; Greek lamb stew with Pasta (homemade of course!) and a piece of german, marzipan cake, probably too big really... Later... tried to sneak a bit of leftover stew.... wolfed down too fast without chewing, huge golfball and then pb'd:( 1st real one.... not nice all that slimey stuff and the spoon of stew made for a painful and messy experience.... will try to remember that chewing makes all the difference!