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Honey, no worries. Ur doing amazing n its showing:). U have 5 months to reach your 100# loss in 6 mths, don't stress, cuz it causes weight gain. Just relax n let whatever happens happen. Remember its been many years since our bodies showed a loss such as is, so b patient and ur doing gr8, congrats!!! Now, when I'm impatient, u have to tell me the same, we are human, lol;)

It's not just empty calories... http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/arh21-1/76.pdf This publication does talk a lot about long term effects in alcoholics, but there are also some key findings pertaining to acute alcohol consumption that affect us sleevers. Everything from esophagus and gastric motility (resulting in reflux) to damaging the lining of the stomach and intestines. Believe me, I am not anti-alcohol and loved my evening cocktails. I could binge drink with the best of them! I have no doubt alcohol has played a part in my weight gain prior to surgery. But at this point I am going to be on the wagon for a very long time to help protect my health and surgical investment.

I'll fess up...I enjoy a cocktail or two (sometimes up to 4) a couple of nights a week...whether mimosas at brunch or a trip to one of Denver's many breweries. I know I am going to have to give up bubbles...so no beer or bubbly which I am just fine with. I also am prepared to give up alcohol for several months prior to an after surgery. However, I just got off the phone with my sister who is coming up for a visit this summer and one of the things she and her husband are looking forward to are brewery tours and festivals that will, of course, involve alcohol. I know I will have to be careful about how much I drink as it will effect me quicker than before and with less (I'm thinking similar to moving to altitude). I also know that most drinks are empty calories that can and will lead to weight gain if you over indulge. My question for you wonderful post-oppers is how many of you gave up all alcohol for 18 months as many Surgeons recommend? And if you didn't what was the result? Am I going to be the designated DD for the next two years?

sounds about normal to me... the weight gain that is...I actually gain from 10 to 15 pounds here and there, but for some strange reason I lose it all. the depression needs to be addressed... I can see why you get a little down.... we don't want to gain a pound... I'm a 10 year vet. so keep your head up and no matter what keep it moving somehow... good luck

Hi ... I am unsure if this message will be read or acknowledged but I thought I would give it a go. I'm Angela, 27 years old . I'm engaged to my college sweetheart, Paul. We've known each other for 8 years now and he has been my rock throughout the years. We studied sport and exercise and I had hoped to progress to become a fitness instructor. I loved working out, always made me feel good afterwards. I loved the gym, swimming, hurling and dancing (I know some people debate about wither dance is a sport or not but it burns calories). I grew up without a dad. He left when I was a baby. My mother had a hard time and I didnt make things easy for her as a child. She was my best friend. At the weekends she used to do fun an interesting things with me like make a tent out of a bed sheet and chairs and we would cuddle with hot chocolate and marshmallows and read stories. She was a great mother. She died during my third year of studies and I hit rock bottom. I gave up on the idea of being a fully qualified fitness instructor and running my own gym(s) and I took over my mother's business, a little florist shop. I began binge eating and I started off thinking that because of my body's metabolism, I wouldn't gain weight. I was very wrong to assume I would never gain a pound. I did not notice the weight gain until my clothes shrunk. At first I blamed the tumble dryer. This upset me and what did I do? Only retreat back to the cookie jar again. I no longer felt full after a mcdonalds children happy meal. Now I am able to eat an extra large big mac meal and a regular cheese burger meal together. My BMI has shot up to 45.8 and I am far from the thin girl I used to be. It amazes me sometimes how Paul is still standing by me. He has tried to get me up and exercising again but I've asthma now and I find it hard to do any form of exercising. Ive tried a few diets but they don't work long term. My last option is weight loss surgery. I have only joined this forum and will have a look into the different topics available. Thanks for reading.

My nutritionist and my OB both say that although Mirena doesn't cause weight gain, patients do complain about not being able to lose. My OB said roughly 60 percent of her Mirena patients complain about trouble losing weight. I have one but am having it removed soon.

Ten years of seminars, learning, disappointments, frustrations, HBP, diabetes, more weight gain and other health problems finally got us to the sleeve. If you quit the cigarettes praise the Lord. What an accomplishment! Asthma helped me to stop smoking 4 years ago. Now I can walk and breathe thanks to sleeving. Your day will come. It will be so worth it!!! best of luck!

I want to wish the best of everything to each and every one of you! I won't say luck because there is no luck involved. It is hard work and you are each wonderful. I had gastric bypass surgery on July 31, 2007 and weighed 270 pounds. I was 57 years old, had chronic anemia (so the surgeon almost didn't do the surgery) and a 95% calcified gall bladder. So, it had to go at the same time. In 10 months, I lost 130 pounds, I never had the first complication and have had great labs ever since. I have however gained some weight since quitting smoking in December of 2012 (35 pounds). That is why I am here, to lose that weight gain and get back to goal. I have no doubt that I can do that with the support of the good folks here. Happy New Year everyone!

Depo is known for fairly significant weight gain. I gained 20 lbs in 6 mos on it and had not changed eating/exercising to attribute to it. I know lots of women who had this same experience. Further, Depo should not be used for more than a couple years at a time. It decreases your bone density. I became osteopenic in one vertebra after 3 years use. One year after stopping, my bone density did return to normal.

I have no side effects or weight gain. and much calmer so maybe you just need to find what WORKS for your body. There are some newer drugs that are time released and less side effects. Aren't Xanax habit forming and addictive? My son loves them. . I've never taken them so not sure about them. For me, it's easier to just take my one small dose a day.

Do you use FaceBook ? Linda Walsh from Nutley, NJ just posted the following question on the recently launched BariatricPal FaceBook page: Hi. I just returned home from losing my lap band due to severe slippage with a prolapse--the stomach had folded back over he band and twisted inside out. This was all due to a severe bout of the stomach flu twice last month. (I work in 12 Child Care Centers every week and am bombarded wth every virus you could imagine!) I could not hold anything inside me for a week. And of course I waited till I had things in control at home before seeking emergency care--of course it was a saturday. The Doctor said the stomach was very stretched out and battered--I had been vomiting blood and had bruised the top of the stomach badly. He refused to put in another band till it was totally healed. I agree, the pain and sickness it had caused me was not something I wanted to deal with before I got healed. The recovery is 100 times harder this time. My whole belly is covered in dark purple and red bruises. I barely can walk. The swelling is huge. I had nothing like this with the Lap band insertion surgery..Pain inside and out as well--He had to stitch the stomach closed also. Now what do I do? I didn't get a chance to think about what I would do in this instance. I am basically an emotional wreck, mourning the loss of this marvelous tool, and yet can't even think of putting myself through the agonly again. In the 2 1/2 years I had the band I lost 139 lbs. Previously I had lost 54 lbs. pre op. My goal is 150lbs. Ironically the time of the surgery I had weighed in at 192. I had gone below 200 and didn;t know it--well the fact that I lost 10 lbs in a week but puking and not eating or drinking. I was super dehydrated, and this morning the 10 lbs Water was replaced. Back to where I was. I have a goal of 150 (first goal weight) and know I am so close. I do NOT want to go back. But with a 10lb water weight gain in 2 days, how will I lose? I actually am not peeing enough still. I was seriously dehydrated!!!! Had to get potassium bags and 5 Fluid bags, and still very little pee. Dr said its my body absorbing again. I don't know. Im very depressed and very disgusted with myself for going through all the years of watching and measuring and hurting and not being able to get the right balance which destroyed my band and its usefulness. Is it worth putting my body through agony just because I haed the first band fail..IS IT STILL WORTH IT? Sorry for the rant but I.m feeling like a failure! Thanks for listening, Linda Walsh, Nutley NJ (Dr. Strom Montclair surgical associates) Click here to respond to Linda's question on FaceBook.

I have dieted off and on most of my adult life!! And if anyone would ask me if they should do it I would say go with your heart!! Do what you feel is right even if others don't!! But I agree I was just a few months from turning 30, but I say that it was a great time, I was done having kids, didn't have to worry about the weight gain there. But anyway long story short lol YES IT IS!!

We are all in the same boat, struggling with post-holiday weight gain, old, destructive eating habits coming back, and lack of exercise (other than shoveling snow). First of all I would gently suggest that you may have a sugar addiction. I know I do. So stop with the sweet tea and the cookies. You know what you need to do. I wasn't going to come back here either cuz I didn't like the new app but realized that I really need the support. So I'm back, hangin around. Check out the Valentine's Day challenge. That might help you get motivated. You are really close to goal, as am I, and I just need a little kick in the butt to get myself going again. Tell your hubby that you need his support and find out why he's potentially sabotaging you. He might think that you look just fine now or maybe he's tired of hearing you talk about the struggle. Up to you to have that conversation. For myself, it's the realization that I can't afford to become complacent about what I'm eating and not track my food. Otherwise, it's a quick and slippery slide back UP the scale!

I haven't gained any weight i spoke to my nut and she wants to put me at 2000 calories per day. I thought she was crazy I humored her and asked how many more calories do I need to eat while pregnant and she said 300 more per day so I'm going with 1750 for the day that will keep me at my current weight. Since I'm really at maintenance now. I'm going to be seeing a perinatologist soon so not sure if he is going to recommend a amnio or not. My OB wants me to gain 15 lbs max he's a real stickler when it comes to weight gain.

I'm 43 yrs old soon to be 44 ...this is my 3rd child ..I'm 16 weeks pregnant...I've already gained 19lbs...I'm getting worried more about weight gain then being an older Mom...I had lost over 60lbs...I was down to164lbs...how is your weight coming?My obgyn suggested an Amniocentesis? I'm not sure what to do??

It's like a love/hate relationship I have with my band -- UGH! Damn if I do (with restriction) and Damn if I don't (a looser band). I will tell you, after having a restrictive band year in and year out...sometimes it get OLD...at least for me. With my old band, I had kiss a@@ restriction and lived with that for years, until I had saline removed and I honestly (welcomed it) because I was sick and tired of getting food stuck, slimming, etc. chewing, etc. When my surgeon removed some saline back in 2012 due to a hiatal hernia and back pain when it was filled optimally-- I felt FREE.. a release from (lap band jail)...LOL.... I felt so free, I went wild....I ate a Five Guys burger, with melted cheese and fries without getting that ( Deer in the Headlights) Look...you know what I am talking about . Then I had a delicious philly cheese steak sandwich with toasted bun, onions the whole nine yards....I was on a roll.... I continued my FREEDOM...Until my pants started to get tight...and then I had to go shopping again for a new size.... At this time, my band was still pretty empty, I could not fill it properly because I had back and chest pains from my hernia, so I continued on a downward spiral of FREEDOM....forget about ice cream and candy...you know the sliders we sneak and eat with a very tight band....I wanted REAL food...and I got it... Well...50 pounds later and finding myself in a size tight 16-18 pants...something that I NEVER THOUGHT WOULD HAPPEN WITH A LAP BAND INSTALLED....HAPPENED TO ME...ME? I was the person that was obsessed with the scale, someone who walked at 5 each morning, in 20-30 degree temperatures for 6 straight years...because I HAD CHANGED MY LIFESTYLE FOREVER? EVER ...EVER? Once I found a surgeon to HELP me repair my hernia, give me a second chance to get my "grove back" I was humbled and grateful.. THE MORAL OF MY POST IS...NEVER THINK YOU GOT THIS WEIGHT LOSS SURGERY IN THE PALM OF YOUR HANDS....BECAUSE ANYTHING CAN COME AND TAKE IT AWAY FROM YOU .... When the lap band is UNFILLED AFTER YEARS OF EATING HARDLY NOTHING...your metabolism gets SHOT...and if you EVER have to get unfilled....THE WEIGHT CAN COME BACK QUICKLY...I GAINED 20 pounds in ONE month.... And oh yea....after I had ..had my feel of Burgers and Cheese Steaks....it was too late to eat Broccoli and baked chicken....no matter what I'd done with a LOOSE band...I could NOT get the weight off UNTIL I got my lap band properly restricted again..... It took over 14 months JUST TO LOSE the 50 pound weight gain, I was FINALLY BACK to my old lap band fighting weight ...it sure was not easy like it was when I was first banded... So while my lap band (SuzieQ) is working NOW in full over load.....I still want to stuff my face and I can't, I just can't do it.....and you know what? I glad.... ... Please respect your band and cherish with love, because one day...you may find yourself IN FREEDOM with an unfilled band and that is a very SCARY place to be!

Well let me tell you this...I have my 6 out of 6 appointment coming and I want to tell anyone with Kaiser what to look out for...it's what I wanted to know... 1. you can possibly get more monthly visits added on but cannot do anything to reduce the time in the program. 2. you should start a diet to follow immediately and let that be what you track in your food journal...unlike me, who thought they wanted to just see what we were currently eating.. I was unaware that the diet begins at that first class you attend. 3. If it applies, don't stop smoking too soon...I gained about 6lbs immediately and never found out that losing any weight gained is you final goal in the program. 4. DO NOT GAIN WEIGHT!!! I never knew there would be any weight requirement, only the classes and appointments but at my 5th appointment, I found that I must get back to my lowest weight in the program before we can move on to submitting paperwork. Which only gives me 4 weeks but if you gained more than my 6, this could be a shocker! 6. Make sure you schedule all your appointments immediately after your visits because those appointments go fast and some time they may not even have a schedule up for the following month until the 2nd week of the current month. My 6/6 appointment is 1/31/14 and we will be submitting paperwork...feel free to hit me up and ask me any questions about the process... Good Luck neighbors!!

My doc wants me to go on some horrible daily drug and they cause all sorts of side effects. I don't need xanax daily... just a small dose, maybe right now a few times a week but I think once under control, just occasional. They hate you using it because of the addiction risk. Trust me, I have asked - she relented and gave me a tiny amount for the surgery. I will admit my friend P that went with me to Mexico had a more generous prescription and I did take it a few times when things were going to happen that stressed me - drain removal etc. Anyway, it is very frustrating. I am going to see another person next week that is a nurse who also does therapy so she can prescribe drugs. I will try to have an open mind but I am fairly adament I don't want to start on a daily anti depressant/anti anxiety. I don't want the side effects and the weight gain. There are alot of things that I have complex emotions about but the heart stopping anxiety is because I can't concentrate at work and I just get further and further behind. It's awful.

Yes, I have tried Melatonin. Sometimes it will help me fall asleep but I don't stay asleep. Sheryl Just tell your doctor you have anxiety attacts at times and you want the medicine as needed. All those SSRI's that they push cause weight gain!

Ok Ladies....... I am 6 weeks post op tomorrow and just started my first period since surgery and the scale shows I gained 3 pounds. While my brain tells me the gain is likely due to my period, I can't help but feel maybe it isn't. Anyone else experience this?

They denied me because 1.During the 6 month weight management I gained weight and 2.They said it wasn't a medical necessity. I have arthritis, degenerative disc, bulging disc and lumbago in my lower back. So I went to my pcp and told her I was denied. So she gave me a copy of my mri and all my records and she also wrote a letter. Then I had been to another dr and I got my records from them as well. Then I went to my ob/gyn and got my records. I also have PCOS and weight gain is associated with that. And with my back im not able to exercise or anything. I havent worked since August. So with all that and God, they reversed the denial and approved it.

I would love for someone to explain to me how to do a food log. I know the purpose, but I have no idea how to do it. I haven't met with the Nut yet, so this is still a learning process for me. I also use My Fitness Pal but others on the forum give Spark People very good reviews as well. The first thing you'll do with any of the apps is your settings. You'll enter height, weight, gender, age, etc. etc. and then you'll enter your goal weight and (at least with MFP) how much weight you want to lose per week. From that data the app will calculate a recommended daily calorie intake. Remember that number is just a "one size fits all" calculation based on the info you've entered. Every one of us is different and there are a lot of variables like exercise, calories burned in your job, raising a family, duties around the house, etc. Do not hesitate to experiment a little. Make adjustments to your calorie goal until you find "your" number - the one that works best for you and your lifestyle. So let's say that MFP "recommends" 1200 calories a day based on your settings. That's a good starting point but what you want to do is follow the recommendation for a week or so and see what happens. If your weight loss goal is a pound a week and you lose a pound, great. If you don't lose or even gain, then adjust the calorie goal down by say 100 calories and try it for another week. The point is that with a little experimentation you can fine tune the app for the calorie count that produces the results you're looking for. You're just a few weeks post-op. Perfect time to start logging! The longer you use it, the more you learn. But you're unlikely to be able to consume the number of calories that your app will recommend. That's fine - just adjust your calorie goal to either the number of calories your doctor recommends or if he or she hasn't made a recommendation, adjust the goal to whatever number you think you can achieve based on where you're at in your journey. Perhaps the most important thing to understand is what I call "The Law of Average". It is crucially important to understand and treat your calorie goal as an "average". Regardless of what your calorie goal is, you are not going to meet that goal every day for the rest of your life. Ridiculous. Unrealistic. And unsustainable. More importantly, you don't need to! When (not if) you exceed your calorie goal for a given day, all you need to do is reduce your goal by 100-200 calories for a day or two and you're right back on track with your - AVERAGE. It's easy, it's fast and it works like a charm. I've done it not once or twice but many times. And you don't have to do it too many times before your confidence soars. For what may be the first time in your life, you're managing your weight (and your diet) instead of your weight managing you. Food logs also make you accountable to the only person that matters - YOU. Logs educate you regarding the effects various foods are likely to have on your weight loss or weight gain. Logs "train" you to recognize what meals will lead to weight loss and which ones will lead to gain - and how much. They also allow you to track the macronutrients (Protein, fat and carbs) and see what effects (good or bad) increases or decreases have on your weight. They also allow you to track your exercise as well as many of the micronutrients aka Vitamins. That's a LOT of information all in one place and the app doesn't cost a dime. Finally, it has been proven again and again by countless studies that folks who maintain a food log lose more weight, lose it faster, and are more successful at maintaining their goal weight than those who don't log. Versatility, confidence, education, accountability and greater success in less time - all pretty compelling reasons to use food logs. You're gonna love the new you!!

Hello all! Hard to believe it's been one year this week! Crazy! Wanted to see how everyone is doing. I bottomed out at 209 in August while working on my 5K training (the race was in October). After November, I stopped running, and did elliptical inside more. November and December were my first two months post-op when I GAINED on average! Yikes! I had been averaging 215 in August, September, October...a little up some weeks, a little lower on others. In November, I averaged 216 and then averaged 219 in December!!!!!!! I started off 2014 at 220. It's a little disconcerting to see how it can come back, but not surprising. Work, life, holday stress, etc. Food's been our "friend" for so long. I joined a '365 miles in 365 days' group to recommit to activity (which, truthfully, I never gave up on, which makes the weight gain even scarier!). Now, I just need to focus on the head battle. I'm still far below my own goal, far below my nut's goal, still wearing clothes in the size range from high school, but this monkey never will leave our backs...the modest weight gain has been a mixed blessing in some ways to recommit to this path we've chosen. Rock on January sleevers!!!!

As mentioned in Satiated vs Stuffed, satiety is not quite the same as being full. Full means your upper stomach has reached its maximum capacity: that you have overeaten again – an old habit that made you obese enough to qualify for weight loss surgery. Satiety happens on your way to being full. With a properly adjusted band, you will be comfortable if you stop eating when you're satiated, but you’ll experience discomfort if you eat until you're full. This third article in the Satiety 101 series discusses the signals your body gives to tell you you’re satiated, but that’s only half the battle. The other half involves heeding instead of ignoring those signals. That subject could fill a book (which that I might write some day). Today we’ll focus on recognizing your own unique Stop Eating Signals. Because of its anatomical position (near your diaphragm, and pressing on the vagus nerve at the top of your stomach), the band’s presence (but not your band itself – which we must remember is an inert piece of plastic without any magic at all inside) can give you quick feedback about your eating behavior. The feedback is written in a language issued and understood by your brain, with assistance from your endocrine and digestive systems. Even if you were lousy in your high school French class, you will have to learn how to get directions in that language, so you won’t end up on Weight Gain Road instead op Weight Loss Avenue. Those directions come in the form of what I call Soft Stop and Hard Stop signals. To understand those directions, you’ll need to slow down and pay attention while you eat. It takes 15 to 20 minutes for satiety signals to reach your brain and to be broadcast to the rest of you. If you usually eat with a crowd (family, friends, coworkers), you might need to try eating by yourself for a few meals so you won't be distracted. Stop signals can be subtle and they can come from unexpected parts of your body. It's better to heed a gentle reminder than wait for a hammer to hit you on the head. SOFT STOPS are your early warning system, gentle reminders from your body that it's time to stop eating. Because they don't hurt much, they're easy to ignore. They include: · Mild queasiness (an icky, but not about-to-vomit, feeling) · Fullness or pressure in the back of the throat · Pressure in the chest or just below the breastbone · Throat clearing · Some difficulty swallowing · Burping (or the urge to burp) · Taking a deep breath · Mild coughing · A sigh · Hiccups · Watering eyes · Runny nose · Left shoulder pain · A sneeze · More saliva in the mouth than usual · A sudden distaste for the food you were enjoying a moment before As soon as you notice one of these signs, stop eating! I don't care if your stubborn mind is insisting that it's okay to continue (because it thinks you have room for just one more bite, or the food tastes good, or you haven't cleaned your plate, or you deserve the food, or whatever's going on in there). If you go on eating past this point, you won't be changing your eating behavior and you're likely to get into trouble…that is, a hard stop. HARD STOPS are the equivalent of running into a brick wall. They can happen without any apparent warning, but usually you have sped heedlessly past a soft stop before you hit the wall. Hard stops are the painful and sometimes embarrassing reminders that you have eaten too much, too fast, in bites that were too big, without chewing enough. They include: · Chest pain and/or painful pressure or tightness in the chest · Feeling like you have a rock in the back of your throat · A burning sensation in the throat · A “stuck” feeling, as if the food you’ve eaten has nowhere to go · Productive burps (PB's) – regurgitation of food, kind of like the way a baby erps up milk · Sliming (excess saliva and mucus that's so profuse, you have to spit it out) When you experience a hard stop, STOP EATING! It's not at all a good idea to keep eating after you experience a hard stop, even if the discomfort goes away and your plate of food still looks appealing. You may feel fine and may in fact be able to eat some more, but you should not eat more. The hard stop has irritated your upper gastrointestinal system. Continuing to eat will just perpetuate the problem, getting you into a never-ending cycle of eat-hard stop-pain-eat-hard stop-pain. Cycles like that tend to turn into complications like band slips and esophageal and stomach dilation. That’s the reason for my next piece of advice: follow a liquid diet for 24 hours after a hard stop episode, then transition carefully back to pureed then soft then solid food. If you’re like me, you did not have WLS in order to live on liquids for the rest of your life. That’s yet another reason to learn how to prevent hard stops in the first place, so that you can eat and enjoy real food at every meal. Now here’s one last chunk of information before the bell rings and today’s class ends. You may not experience any or all of these stop signals any or all of the time. At breakfast you might get one signal and at lunch, an entirely different one. At dinner, you may notice no stop signal at all. As time goes on and you lose weight and the amount of saline in your band changes, your stop signals may change as well. All that can be frustrating, but it will force you to go on eating slowly and carefully for the rest of your life, and that’s actually a good practice for anyone, banded or not. That plate of food before you is a blessing that some people in this world can only dream of. Those small portions may look puny to you, but would be a feast to someone else. So treat your food, and your body, with the care they deserve. Learning to recognize satiety over and over again is an ongoing process because our bodies are not statues made of marble. We are all marvelous, unique, and complex creatures who change by the minute, every day of our lives. Click here to read about how those changes can affect soft and hard stop signals. http://www.bariatricpal.com/page/articles.html/_/support/post-op-support/restriction-riddles-r93 This is the third and final article in the Satiety 101 series of articles.

Do you know when to stop eating? To learn the when, you must pay attention to your “stop eating” signals. How do you know when to stop eating? Do you eat until you're full? No, you don't. You should never again try to eat until you feel full, not just because that’s how you became obese enough to qualify for bariatric surgery but because if you’re like me, your stomach (or soul) is an endless void that no amount of food will ever fill. You’re going to have to figure out a new stopping point. As mentioned in Satiated vs Stuffed, satiety is not quite the same as being full. Full means your upper stomach has reached its maximum capacity: that you have overeaten again – an old habit that made you obese enough to qualify for weight loss surgery. Satiety happens on your way to being full. With a properly adjusted band, you will be comfortable if you stop eating when you're satiated, but you’ll experience discomfort if you eat until you're full. This third article in the Satiety 101 series discusses the signals your body gives to tell you you’re satiated, but that’s only half the battle. The other half involves heeding instead of ignoring those signals. That subject could fill a book (which that I might write some day). Today we’ll focus on recognizing your own unique Stop Eating Signals. Because of its anatomical position (near your diaphragm, and pressing on the vagus nerve at the top of your stomach), the band’s presence (but not your band itself – which we must remember is an inert piece of plastic without any magic at all inside) can give you quick feedback about your eating behavior. The feedback is written in a language issued and understood by your brain, with assistance from your endocrine and digestive systems. Even if you were lousy in your high school French class, you will have to learn how to get directions in that language, so you won’t end up on Weight Gain Road instead op Weight Loss Avenue. Those directions come in the form of what I call Soft Stop and Hard Stop signals. To understand those directions, you’ll need to slow down and pay attention while you eat. It takes 15 to 20 minutes for satiety signals to reach your brain and to be broadcast to the rest of you. If you usually eat with a crowd (family, friends, coworkers), you might need to try eating by yourself for a few meals so you won't be distracted. Stop signals can be subtle and they can come from unexpected parts of your body. It's better to heed a gentle reminder than wait for a hammer to hit you on the head. SOFT STOPS are your early warning system, gentle reminders from your body that it's time to stop eating. Because they don't hurt much, they're easy to ignore. They include: · Mild queasiness (an icky, but not about-to-vomit, feeling) · Fullness or pressure in the back of the throat · Pressure in the chest or just below the breastbone · Throat clearing · Some difficulty swallowing · Burping (or the urge to burp) · Taking a deep breath · Mild coughing · A sigh · Hiccups · Watering eyes · Runny nose · Left shoulder pain · A sneeze · More saliva in the mouth than usual · A sudden distaste for the food you were enjoying a moment before As soon as you notice one of these signs, stop eating! I don't care if your stubborn mind is insisting that it's okay to continue (because it thinks you have room for just one more bite, or the food tastes good, or you haven't cleaned your plate, or you deserve the food, or whatever's going on in there). If you go on eating past this point, you won't be changing your eating behavior and you're likely to get into trouble…that is, a hard stop. HARD STOPS are the equivalent of running into a brick wall. They can happen without any apparent warning, but usually you have sped heedlessly past a soft stop before you hit the wall. Hard stops are the painful and sometimes embarrassing reminders that you have eaten too much, too fast, in bites that were too big, without chewing enough. They include: · Chest pain and/or painful pressure or tightness in the chest · Feeling like you have a rock in the back of your throat · A burning sensation in the throat · A “stuck” feeling, as if the food you’ve eaten has nowhere to go · Productive burps (PB's) – regurgitation of food, kind of like the way a baby erps up milk · Sliming (excess saliva and mucus that's so profuse, you have to spit it out) When you experience a hard stop, STOP EATING! It's not at all a good idea to keep eating after you experience a hard stop, even if the discomfort goes away and your plate of food still looks appealing. You may feel fine and may in fact be able to eat some more, but you should not eat more. The hard stop has irritated your upper gastrointestinal system. Continuing to eat will just perpetuate the problem, getting you into a never-ending cycle of eat-hard stop-pain-eat-hard stop-pain. Cycles like that tend to turn into complications like band slips and esophageal and stomach dilation. That’s the reason for my next piece of advice: follow a liquid diet for 24 hours after a hard stop episode, then transition carefully back to pureed then soft then solid food. If you’re like me, you did not have WLS in order to live on liquids for the rest of your life. That’s yet another reason to learn how to prevent hard stops in the first place, so that you can eat and enjoy real food at every meal. Now here’s one last chunk of information before the bell rings and today’s class ends. You may not experience any or all of these stop signals any or all of the time. At breakfast you might get one signal and at lunch, an entirely different one. At dinner, you may notice no stop signal at all. As time goes on and you lose weight and the amount of saline in your band changes, your stop signals may change as well. All that can be frustrating, but it will force you to go on eating slowly and carefully for the rest of your life, and that’s actually a good practice for anyone, banded or not. That plate of food before you is a blessing that some people in this world can only dream of. Those small portions may look puny to you, but would be a feast to someone else. So treat your food, and your body, with the care they deserve. Learning to recognize satiety over and over again is an ongoing process because our bodies are not statues made of marble. We are all marvelous, unique, and complex creatures who change by the minute, every day of our lives. Click here to read about how those changes can affect soft and hard stop signals. http://www.bariatricpal.com/page/articles.html/_/support/post-op-support/restriction-riddles-r93 This is the third and final article in the Satiety 101 series of articles.