Neenornina

I think she's afraid of the unknown, if she has been overweight for a long time, she may not be happy with it but the familiarity of the situation is somehow reassuring. If you put on a lot of weight you are liable to get loose skin , even dieting conventionally. Loose skin is worse if you are very overweight, it's to do with genetics, age etc You don't necessarily avoid it by losing weight slower although it can lessen the effect somewhat. I think she has to face the fact that she will change and have to have a totally different attitiude to food and life in general. Maybe she's afraid of losing a layer of protection that fat gives her? Or maybe the fat is an excuse not to do more with her life? At any rate, losing the weight is going to be a positive change to her health and possibly she will enjoy the changes , rather than be scared of what's ahead.

Thank you Annie and Debbie! I have to say it is so refreshing to be on an entire site of banders and see so much positivity! I am on a forum that's UK based and very biased towards bypassers...the mood is very anti-band there and it's really hard to feel good about my choice of operation. Being here has really given me a morale boost and I am enjoying reading around the threads and getting a feel for the place. Thankyou so much ladies for welcomming me and your kind words xxxx

Sounds a bit like she's talking about a Gastric Sleeve to me I could be way off though! GASTRIC SLEEVE I know a few people who have had this, it's sometimes done in the UK as a pre-bypass operation to get the patient to a safe weight for a bypass if they are very big but most sleevers have the op as their only surgery and do very well.

Hi Candice x To be honest it seems to me you have done really well in terms of weight loss. Banding is not a fast track to weight loss by any means, and some people (like me) need their bands quite full , almost to max, before they hit a good level of restriction. Especially if they are really addicted to food and sweets. I very much understand the sweet thing..I try and allow for a little light dessert around 200 cals max a day and one day a week to have treats. I wrote some tips down for a fellow bander in UK , I'll copy paste it for you. OK this is what I wrote for her You want to be eating as much veg, fruit and lean Protein as you can. You can eat some wholegrain cereals and breads in moderation as these give you fibre, energy and help fill you up. I'm saying this because you aren't yet anywhere near decent restriction and you aren't going to be straight away. Aim to eat every 4 hours in the daytime so that you don't get too hungry. This is what is happening to you at the moment and no wonder you go off and eat a lot of the old foods that got you into trouble in the first place. Have some Snacks ready prepared for you to have mid morning and mid afternoon so that you can go to them and avoid your blood sugar dropping right down between meals. This is what is happening when you find you are starving hungry. Have a bowl of drained tuna (in brine) mixed with a splash of vinegar and black pepper ready in the fridge to dig into. This is really excellent for you, hardly any fat and very very filling. You can eat a whole tin and it will not do you any harm at all. Also get a pack of almonds or walnuts and have a few of them (half a dozen) to nibble before tea to get the edge off A couple bananas or apples , or a fat free yogurt Make sure you have a snack ready for you to grab mid morning and mid afternoon. At your current weight you can still have quite a nice generous calorie allowance and lose weight so don't be scared to eat regularly as long as you choose a healthy food. What this is going to do is help you avoid getting so desparate that you eat uncontrollably and damage all your efforts. Drink as much nice cold Water and sugarfree cordial as you can. Get yourself some sugarfree lollipops to have when you fancy something sweet.. And most of all, stop running the same old negative thoughts round and round in your head...they are doing NOTHING for you apart from keeping you fat and making you give up every time you make a little mistake. If you accidently choose something you wish you hadn't, straight away forget it and get back to taking one day at a time. You can do it , try and stop expecting yourself to fail and remember to take it a day and a pound at a time. xxxxxxx Hope some of that is of use x

Hello everyone xxx I am really glad to have found this thread, I am currently trying to get back into control of things and be more responsible with my band. I have done so many things the wrong way and hoped for the best or felt doomed to stay half way and this week , I found this site and now this thread too! It's so wonderful to not feel isolated and ashamed that I have let myself down. I hope I can get to know all of you and help you as well with anything I can x Hugs from the UK x

Hi Rose :thumbup: I would say , don't expect to have great restriction from the get go. After the recovery (liquids then slushies stage) you might be suprised you can still eat larger portions than you expected. Things that still go down like choc ice cream and chips will need some will power to manage as the band cannot stop you from having these. There is a degree of restrictive feeling even if nothing is in your band so it will be a lot easier to stick to a healthy eating plan. From my experience as a UK bander, I know that some surgeons will put a little saline in at the time of surgery but most leave it empty. As soon as you feel well in yourself, begin a gentle walk daily , say about 30 mins a dayto start with but be careful of trying to get back into housework etc too soon. Get some help around the house organised for the first couple weeks after. Plan your meals and don't be afraid to eat every 4 hours. If you choose healthy it will help you stick to a good eating plan until you get to noticeable restriction and you won't fall off the wagon. Hope thats useful but feel free to ask anything x

Hi Charlene x Lovely to meet you:smile:

Aw that's brilliant thanks! Call me Neen if you like xxx And hello and thank you Great2bThin also x I have quite a lot of saline in my band but still get the urge to eat too much...a lot of comfort eating as I said.,..major sweet tooth as well which is difficult to wrangle in with a band as choc and ice cream go down a treat and always have!!! I picked up a tip this week from my landlady who said her Aunt had lost a lot of weight and placated her sweet tooth by eating tuna every time she felt a craving....for anything! So this is the 4th day of the tuna plan...basically I have a bowl of drained tuna (packed in spring Water or brine only) with vinegar and a bit of black pepper , laying in wait in my fridge. It has worked great so far and I have had PMS all week til today. I have just grabbed the tuna and eaten a load til I feel full (about 3 or 4 forkfuls max) every time I have wanted to eat unnessesary food....like when I am making my kids packed lunches or dinners and in the evening whilst watching TV. It has been great and it stopped my sugar craving so I hope that is going to be a bit of a life saver in future!

:thumbup: Hi Apples and thanks very much x I had my band in 2008 and started at 350 lbs (which for someone 5'2" is rather chunky right?) I have had plenty of stalls that were self inflicted through comfort eating and just this week , decided to have another real push forward if I can, to gather some momentum together for the remainder I have to lose. I have stopped calorie counting this week as I feel it's time to focus on being normal around food and learning to cope with stress in a better way. I am always eager to help swap good ideas, the forum I am on in the UK is bypass orientated and quite anti band....you can imagine how happy I was to find this place! It's banding heaven for me!

Always! It's weird eh :thumbup:

Hiya ! I hope you are open to new wanna be buddies xx I would love to contribute if you will have me

Hiya x I am new to the site today and I hope you get the answers and support you seek. Seems like just the right place :thumbup:

Hello Kat and Hi Suzy x Thanks for the lovely welcome ! Hope I can contribute in some way :thumbup:

Hi Tracy! Thanks so much :thumbup: Well I had my band placed in July 2008 and I am trying to get back into some losses now. I had a defill back in early April this year and since then I have been repeatedly losing and regaining the same 6lbs! Hoping to see goal next year and beat my crazy emotional eating !