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A lot of people get worried during this stage, I see posts about this all of the time and when I first went on solids, I worried too, especially after reading how little some folks here were eating. At this stage we are not restricted and we can eat more than we imagined we would (not to say we should eat more than we should). We worry that there are problems with the band or that we have done or will do something to damage it. Just eat sensibly, do as your doctor says and you will be fine. My doctor didn't give me a measurement restriction. He just told me to eat until I am no longer hungry and in the beginning that probably took more than a cup. You have not had a fill yet, so it is normal that you can eat more than say someone who has had a few fills and has a lot of restriction. Even at restriction, I can eat more than 1/2 cup of food per meal (depending on what I am having) and my band is fine and my weight loss has been steady. I don't think that following the 1/2 cup rule is realistic long-term. Getting the proper nutrition and listening to our bodies (i.e. stop eating when you are no longer hungry) makes more sense.

It just sounds like you need a fill to me...that will happen as you lose weight, the fat around your stomach shrinks and the band is loser..isn't it great that it's so adjustable?

Yes I totally eat less. My Golden Corral days are OVER! I'm very glad I got the band eventhough the weight is coming off slow. Good luck!

I was banded on August 8th and wonder how others are doing and if they have experienced any of the same things. I am thrilled with my band and wouldn't trade it for anything. I have lost 41 pounds as of today and feel so much better already. 1) It seems at times that the band is tighter than others. 2) Sometimes when I am sitting it is hard for food to go down. Wonder if this is because my underwire hits about the same place as the band 3) I am almost never hungry! I forget to eat most of the time. This is a VERY different feeling for me! 4) Have already experienced the chest pain and having to throw up -- taught me not to eat things I shouldn't! 5) Hard to find things to eat when I am traveling a lot -- any suggestions Great things: 1) Knees and feet and ankles already feel better and allow me to walk 45 minutes five days a week -- couldn't do that before surgery without hurting the rest of the day and night 2) Blood pressure went from 150/92 to 120/72 as of last Wednesday. I don't have to go on blood pressure medicine 3) I don't think about food, because I always pretty much feel full all the time I am thankful to God for this opportunity and cannot wait to get the rest of this weight off. I wish you all the same success. Deby Dr. Barker, Dallas, TX 286/145 Goal 150

Basic Cheesecake 1 8-ounce container fat-free cream cheese ½ pound soft tofu ½ cup egg substitute 6 packets artificial sweetener ½ teaspoon vanilla ¼ teaspoon almond extract 6 tablespoons egg white substitute ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar butter flavored cooking spray 1) Preheat oven to 350 F 2) In large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat together cream cheese, tofu, egg substitute, sweetener, vanilla, and almond extract until smooth and creamy 3) In a small bowl, using an electric mixer, whip egg white substitute with cream of tartar until it forms stiff peaks 4) Gently fold whipped egg whites into cream cheese mixture 5) Coat an 8-inch square cake pan with cooking spray and pour in batter. Place cake pan into a baking pan until it reaches halfway up the sides of the cake pan. Place in oven and bake for 30 minutes 6) Let cool for at least 4 hours. Calories: 59.13 Protein: 7.98 g Fat: 0.84 g Carbohydrates: 3.91 g Cholesterol: 5 mg Fiber: .34 g Sodium: 185.46 g I got this recipe out of a cook book for bariatric surgery patients (Eating Well After Weight Loss Surgery by Patt Levine and Michele Bontempo-Saray). This cookbook has some great recipes and breaks each one down into the amount of calories, fat, etc. You can buy it at any Barnes and Noble or online.

Hi Everyone! I have been checking this forum out for the past few days and just registered today. There is so much knowledge and support available here. It should be a requirement for patients to register for this site! I am currently saving for my lap band surgery since my insurance doesn't cover it. My main reasons for having surgery are for my future health. Diabetes and heart disease run rampant in my family and it's just a matter of time before I am diagnosed. Also, my joints have been really bothering me lately. I went through the posts and have seen numerous questions regarding excess skin, cosmetic surgery etc..... What I ask may seem to repeat other posts however I want to see if there are others my height, size shape etc.. that can tell me their experiences. I am 33 years old, have never had children and am engaged to be married. I have been overweight my entire life however I have always remained active. In High School I was a 3 sport champion athlete yet still managed to graduate weighing 235lbs. I am tall (5'10) and my body has always been pretty well proportioned. My great grandmother was 6'6 350lbs (I'm not kidding!!) :smile2: I have always had a lower "pooch" belly but it does not hang down real low like a lot of others that I have seen. I've always been told that I have a shapely figure. (just a bigger one) My weight is currently at 305lbs. I wear a size 42D bra and wear a size 24 at Lane Bryant. I have steadily put on weight since High School and have not lost or gained anything significant other than 25lbs on weight watchers. Unfortunately, my lower stomach now has an upstairs neighbor. I've had stretch marks since I was young however all of the stretch marks that I have are very faint and thin. I can still see them if I really look but they are nothing like the stretch marks that I have seen on some people that have had children. I know that everyone is different but I am wondering how many other people like me faired with their skin bouncing back after weight loss.. Are my chances good that my skin won't be saggy since I will lose weight slower than gastric bypass? I appreciate all responses........ Thanks for listening.... Emily ..........waiting for the day where I can wear ultra low rise jeans and LOOK GOOD!!!!!! :thumbup:

Vangirl. Please try to keep an open mind as to your weight loss. In all probability your body is trying to compensate for the weight loss by retaining water. I think some call it starvation mode. For what it is worth, I am a scale nut. I found that by weighing myself everyday and charting my weight of ups and downs, I learned what was happening. If I ate high calorie foods and showed some gain I know I have to settle down and eat hard protein as prescribed by my clinic and stay off the "goodies". If I showed a gain and I knew I was doing everything right, then it was a water gain. Eventually, I have come to know my cycle and don't panic or get discouraged. Others never want to step on a scale or diet. You will have to determine what is the best for you. All I am trying to say, is work on learning your body rather than give in to being upset at every gain. I wish you the best in your journey and if you keep posting there is always someone who has been through what you are experiencing and be able to help.

That is exactly how I've had to view this operation. I call myself a serial dieter. I would go on all sorts of wild and wacky diets, fasts and alternative regimes and stick religiously to them for months only to have a weight loss of only 5 or 6 pounds, nothing like the losses I should have had. And I would inevitably fail because I would see all the effort and willpower I'd shown and not been rewarded by weight loss. So I'd say "screw this, I want to eat like a normal person" and within a week or so, that loss would be gone. I explained it to many people as a hike up Mount Everest. You get your supplies and Sherpas ready and say goodbye to everyone at base camp. You hike all day and feel you've done well and set up camp for the night. Next morning you wake up and there you are back at base camp again! Morning after morning you wake up after a successful climb and still find yourself maybe at the foot of the mountain, but still not getting anywhere. After a while, you give up as your Sherpas are getting tired (and secretly think that in the middle of the night you are moving them back!) and you feel like an idiot. With the band I feel that I haven't been allowed to ever give up. And although I still seem to be only making slow progress up that mountain where people who started after me are further up to the top, I can finally see that I am inching forward. I've never stuck to a regime before where it is so slow. But I feel that I don't have a choice and this is my last hope. I'm not letting go of it. Doddie and I are what Doddie calls Turtles. Slow and steady wins the race and we'll get there but won't compare ourselves to anyone else and will be happy in our own victories. Good luck tomorrow! Mary

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! Damn, I just got my picture taken for my license in September. Maybe after I loose the weight I can go down there and tell them I lost mine so they will have to take a new picture. LOL

A girl i work with used to be a weight loss consultant, she told me to curb the cravings for sweet things to have a little of something very salty. What she suggested was a small dab of Vegimite on the end of your tongue. It works for a short time. And for those who don't like vegimite, it might just put you off food for the rest of the day .lol

My dietician gave me a sample of vitamins especially made for people having weight loss surgery. They're called Optisource. You can get them at Walgreen's or order them from the Walgreen's website. A little pricy I think, but then I really didn't compare the price to Centrum chewable. You take 4 of them a day. They have an orange flavor...not bad...very doable.

Welcome to Bandland! So glad you got through the surgery ok - and congrats on your 5lb weight loss already! Sorry you're still aching, but it really does get better every day. wishing you the best of luck on your journey

I had the Mirenea IUD for like 3 1/2 years. I did enjoy not having a period, but it wasn't worth the other side effects. It was harder for me to lose weight no matter what I did. I had a lower libido, felt moodier among things. I feel so much better having it out. My periods are lighter than before Mirena. I am very glad I had it out! Weight loss was also easier after I had it out. I am glad it's out now for my weight loss with the band. Audree

Thanks ladies! Was hoping it wasn't anything permanent. I guess it will all get better when some of the weight is gone too. Appreciated, thanks.

Hello everyone! =) Some of you may remember me from before, some may not..but after being banded since april 5th, I wanted to update everyone just to let them know Im alright. I missed everyone from this board, but at the moment life is as hectic as ever. I have lost nearly 25 pounds total since surgery..along with going from a size 41 waist to a size 38. I saw a friend yesterday at the grocery store who hasn't seen me since I was roughly 50 pounds heavier and made the comment of "I didn't think it was you, it didn't look like you, god you have lost alot of weight". It was enough to make me smile from ear to ear. Im doing alot of things I probably would have hesitated to before, or even not done at all. The band may very well be helping with saving a part of my life. I hope all is well with everyone else! -Kendra

Great weight loss Kendra! I'm glad you are well, and got back to us for an update, too! Gracious! Don't stay gone so long!!!

Well it's done I was banded Monday (6/6/11) also found out I had a pretty good sized hiatial hernia. Thankfully my surgeon was able to take care of it at the same time. Yea!! two surgeries for the price of one!!! Other than all the bloating from the air they pump into you during surgery I feel pretty well. Reported to surgery at 6:30 a.m. ended up having to wait while someone was brought down from another floor in the hospital who needed emergency surgery I wanted to be grumpy but hey while I know this surgery is important to me mine is still an elective surgery. After a little over an hour and a half wait it was my turn. The surgery took longer than we thought it would we thought between 30min - 1 hour but it was a little over an hour and a half! Was transfered to my private (YEAH) room around 2 p.m. What can I say that has not already been said the air/gas they pump into your stomach cavity to aid with the surgery is just about the worst part of this whole thing. I have had a procedure done in the past that pumped air into my uterus so I at least knew what to expect. I also knew that after my c-section 3 years ago that the best thing I could do was WALK, WALK, WALK so by 9 p.m. that night I had made a couple of laps around the entire floor that I was on ...slowly The next morning I had a Barium Swallow at 9 a.m. and yes!!! everything was great. Now I could go home sometime early afternoon...oh the best laid plans of mice and men. Well in order to go home by 2 I had to have eaten (what a joke LOL should be swollowed) a clear liquid lunch to make sure it stayed down and that everything was still ok. Well it took the Dr. in the radiology department over 6 hours to make the official report! Finally had the report by 3 p.m. ... lunch by 3:30...walking papers by 5 p.m. and was in the car on the way home to my kids and my bed by 5:15!!! My 3 year old son was so sweet ...are you ok mommy? does your tummy hurt? can I see?! Took a nap then I got up and went for a walk around by cul-de-sac since it was dark and the temp was below 100 degrees. Came home got ready for bed and went to sleep for the night! The only time I have taken any pain meds were monday and tuesday night just to help me sleep. Took tylenol today twice but that is it. I feel great all things considered. Once the gas disappeared (UGH) I am just a little sore. This will only last a short time when put into prosective with the rest of my life. I know there will be bumps in the road that is to be expected. I have never driven any road that does not have any ups and own or twist and turns. We had to learn to navigate those roads and we did with a little time, a little more practice, and whole lot of patients. If I can do that then I know I can do this too!! I am ready to live my life at the front of the line not hiding in the back of it....!!! Good luck to those of you who have already had lap band keep up the good work and take it easy on yourselves we are only human and we all make mistakes see as far as I know there was only one perfect person in this world and while he may not be physically on this earth any longer he is still here when we need him. I thank God for allowing me this opportunity to find out how strong of a person I really am. I have already learned so much about me in the last few weeks that I had forgotten that each day is kind of like Christmas it brings something new every day that I have either forgotten or even things I did not believe I was capable of doing, of being, of becoming. To those of you getting ready for Lap-Band this site for me has been a blessing I read more than I post but each day i learn something new. I have gained strength by the kindness and generosity of others on here who have taken the time to help each other and those who questioned their choice/decision, those who have simply lost their strength to do this alone. God did not intend for us to ever be alone and I believe he has shown that through the kindess of those on this forum. Remember, take this one day at a time and if that seems to be to much then hour by hour, before you know it those hours equal a day. Life is a gift not a right and I plan on making the rest of my life worthy of that gift!

Ok so I was picking up my daughter from daycare and speaking to a lady friend there about the lap band surgery and someone who had overheard the conversation decided to chime in and tell me how dangerous the lap band is and that there's a big risk of internal bleeding and blah blah blah... I just need to keep my mouth shut because other peoples opinions really bother me. The lady who put it into my conversation was thinner than a toothpick and had not had lap band or any of the weight loss surgery herself so I'm not sure she was qualified to advise me either way. I'm already pretty emotional trying to mentally and physically get ready for this surgery and comments like that just throw me off.

Interesting. My first thought is that it could be the muscles where the port is attached adjusting to your weight loss. I know that is why I felt so much pain initially after surgery (in the port area).

I'm almost 6 months out and I am just recently feeling my port inside me. I don't feel anything like you're describing though. I think I'm feeling mine because I have lost enough weight to make it more pronounced. Do you think this your situation too? Either way, I think you should mention it to your Doc as well. Good luck and I hope you feel better!

I recently was admitted to the hospital for a bad cold and asthma problems, I have an immune deficiency so I have trouble fighting off colds therefore I usually get admitted 2 or 3 times a year for this problem...Since lapband this was my first admission and I was given IV steroids which of course increases your appetite. So I am now home and I am ten pounds heavier and have the hungry horrors So I called my lap band doctor's office so they are going to do another fill On 3/7 But I wanted to know Has anyone had this happen where they have gained some weight back? It is so discouraging and now I fear that I will be stuck at this weight forever, is there hope in sight for me?! I just hope to be restricted again to the point where I don't feel hungry so much.

Tinker I agree with Luckygirl. You may be eating very little, however, it could be the amount of calories. Also, the Protein is Key. It will give you the energy and nutrition you need. If you can only tolerate soft foods, try having a Protein Drink. I use a strawberry Protein powder with 22 grams of protein in one serving and there is only 110 calories. Add that to 1/2 cup of lite apple juice and about 5 frozen strawberries and a scoup of ice in a blender and you have a great smoothie for under 200 calories and a ton of protein. Most importantly, do not skip meals. By missing meals and eating very little, your metabolism is thrown completely off and your body will become accustomed to this which will slow the weight loss process to a snails pace. You need balance and you can do that while eating small portions. Be sure to take your Vitamins too. Just remember PROTEIN FIRST!!!! Good luck and remember you can do this! We are all in this together and the support is so important.

Hey Tinker, I hear the frustration in your post! Please remember that this band is not a miracle maker but a tool. I too am 6 months out and have lost 48 lbs. I know for a fact that when my weight loss slows down or stops it's because i am not moving enough or i'm eating bad stuff. It's so easy to eat bad carbs and stuff like that because they go down easy. Make sure you are getting your protein in every day - and that means drinking a shake for breakfast. You have to start up your metabolism with something in your stomach first thing in the morning. Get something down around lunch if you can that's healthy and with protein and make sure you eat your last meal a few hours before bedtime. Drink your water, take your vitamins and excercise as often as you can and you will see the pounds drop. If not, you need to see your doctor!! Hang in there - remember that you are 40lbs lighter - would you be if you didn't have the band? Think of this band as the blessing that it can be and make it work for you - take control and rejoice at each smaller size that you buy! good luck!

i have this post going on another site, but would like to know if any bandsters here want to contribute. question: does anyone have body image issues? i mean, i started out at 188 and a really tight 14 and a tight 16. i was banded on 6/29. i am 5'3. now some may think 188 is not that bad, but it is when nothing you do to lose weight works and you actually gain! so, i was banded. now, i am about 150, my goal weight was 140-145. now i am in an 8/10 very comfortably. tight clothes are gone. the scale is down, other people comment on my weight loss, but when i look in the mirror, i see the same 188 image.my husband says i clearly don't see myself how others see me and that i have issues. he is afraid that when i get to my goal i will be dissatisfied and get on the pursuit to lose more.

It is amazing how every body is different in the healing process. I was very fortunate in my recovery. I was off pain meds and back to work in 3 days. I am almost 7 weeks post op and I don't regret my wls decision. Just hang in there and you will start feeling better soon. Best of luck on your weight loss journey. May you have a happy and healthy new you in 2015!!