March Bandsters!

[Jen75 33]

yep. chewing about fifty times to sixty times for meat and fish. it ends up with just the fibre left in my mouth.. which i feel like spitting out. lol. I had a little bacon with an egg last night for tea and that went down o.k. it took me an hour to eat it . Very small bites.

Im wondering now. I was away for three days this week. i was at our sons place. He lives on his own' date=' has a mental illness, and needs me there occasionally to help him with various things he needs to do. Id put off going for six months and there was so much going on when i got there. iwas nearly running the whole two days. I came home last night and this morning im wondering if it was stress that tightened me more?? we had big jobs like carpet cleaning, spring cleaning, shopping etc etc. you can imagine what its like when a man lives on his own. Do you think its possible? Has anyone here had issues with the band tightening due to stress?[/quote']

Judy, the stress can be a huge factor. I have found that when I am stressed it is nearly impossible to eat. Just drink your shakes/mushies for now and when you can eat more solid food then do. If you have the pressure (from stress) in your chest before you eat I wouldn't even try. In my experience that's when I PB the most. If you were not having problems before your visit then it's probably not the fill but the stress. Good luck. I understand what you are going through. I work with mentally I'll patients daily. Bless you and don't hesitate to ask any questions. Oh and as for the fibers... Spit them out!

[judych 225]

Judy, the stress can be a huge factor. I have found that when I am stressed it is nearly impossible to eat. Just drink your shakes/mushies for now and when you can eat more solid food then do. If you have the pressure (from stress) in your chest before you eat I wouldn't even try. In my experience that's when I PB the most. If you were not having problems before your visit then it's probably not the fill but the stress. Good luck. I understand what you are going through. I work with mentally I'll patients daily. Bless you and don't hesitate to ask any questions. Oh and as for the fibers... Spit them out!

thanks Jen. you would have some idea what responsibilities i feel then towards my son. thanks for being so supportive.

I go to spend time with him about twice a year. he doesnt drive so its my car we use, its driving through city traffic, in unfamiliar places, where im a country girl and not used to the pace or the pressure. Plus the fact there is so much to do when i get there. I dont mind doing it but im noticing that each year its getting harder for me. remember, im 66. My son has a unit which is lovely but its got stairs... ireckon i was up and down those stairs dozens of times in two days. lol. But, i must have really been feeling uptight before i left.

Im now about ten days out from my first fill. i was noticing problems immediately after the fill, to do with meat and fish especially.

thats o.k. i know that we have to allow time for things to settle. It was 7 days after i had my fill that i went to my sons place to help out.

He cooked me a beautiful meal with fish. I nearly choked on it and was really bad with stuck food all evening. It was embarrassing to try and hide how i was feeling from him as he doesnt know about the surgery. i think it took about two hours to settle. That was the first night.

i was eating small amounts of baked Beans and chick peas that i had taken. also i had some Protein Powder. im so glad i took these items. the second day i was just the same. by the second night i took nearly 1 1/2 hours to eat the rest of the fish meal he had prepared the night before. i wasnt going to waste it, but it was hard to eat.

Speaking of..... tonight i poached gently some smoked cod. Now... you cant get anything easier in the way of Protein than smoked cod. but, i had two small mouthfuls and realized i couldnt eat my meal, so, once again, its in the fridge for me to try again later. i really dont understand what the problem is.

For lunch today i grilled some bacon and had a poached egg. it took me over an hour but i had no problems and enjoyed the meal. Wouldnt you think that the fish would be easier to eat than grilled bacon?? im at a loss to understand this one. Plus the fact, ive been home over 24 hours and more relaxed as well so the fish tonight should have been easier to eat..

[judych 225]

..oh... an added comment. i will spit out the fibres after ive chewed all the goodness out of them. lol. thanks for this.

[judych 225]

Thank you Judy, I will try and add you again today. How are you doing?

im doing o.k. but have some issues with meat and fish right now. im getting Protein in though which is the main thing. im hoping that this will ease as the next few weeks go by. im not sure that i will need any more fill at this rate. i dont want to have any fill taken out. ive had 3 ccs. in a 10 cc band.

[Sunshyne068 97]

Judy dont try to force yourself to eat if youre feeling too tight. Start you meal with a hot cup of tea to try and loosen you up.

[judych 225]

Judy dont try to force yourself to eat if youre feeling too tight. Start you meal with a hot cup of tea to try and loosen you up.

yep.. i have a small half cup of black coffee ,especially of a morning. im also starting to notice that eating tea of a night is harder. So, im thinking as well that the band tightens at the end of the day?? Im in the process of trying to work out how i can get around this. i had a small piece of bacon and one egg for brekkie. thats good as it fills me up for the morning. it takes and hour to eat. i reckon now that perhaps in the middle of the day i will have some meat /fish with some carbs. Then at teatime i will have a thick Soup? what do you reckon? i still have my tea in the fridge from last night. i made two attempts to eat it and couldnt do it.

[Alerker 10]

I had my second fil yesterday 5/19 - lost another 5 pounds which makes me very happy because I have been struggling. Everyday is a new day and I'm so happy I did this. It is great watching the pounds come off no matter how slow that may be :wub:

[MelVan 10]

Alerker, congratulations on weight loss. Another 5 lbs is a nice additional loss....in what amount of time? I assume that is since your last apt. I am down 27 and my surgery was 3/21/12. At best now I lose 1lb a week but I'm happy with "slow and steady" keep up good work. MelVan

[Karla0306 16]

Hello march bandsters, I want to thank you all for your wisdom and encouragement. Your stories of your journey help me so much. I am down 27 lbs now and lose 1 or 1 1/2 lbs every week now. Slow but steady. My only problems are if I eat too fast , not chew enough or eat something too dry....I get a temporary discomfort above the band. This is nothing I can t handle. 2times of sliming but not PB ing. If I had not read about this on online, I would have been a little scared. Now I know this is all a learning experince about what I can eat. All in all I am pleased with how easy this has been so far. I know this could change as the band is tightened, I have read the scary horror stories but my bloodwork is better and meds are being reduced. This will buy me more time to enjoy grand babies. My skin is starting to look like a saggy baggy elephant. Melvan

I am on a plateau right now and so don't like that the scale is not moving but I still feel like I am losing inches. I started working out at the gym this week and feel really good, so can't wait to continue my journey because I know this won't last very long. You are doing great, keep up the good work

[Karla0306 16]

im doing o.k. but have some issues with meat and fish right now. im getting Protein in though which is the main thing. im hoping that this will ease as the next few weeks go by. im not sure that i will need any more fill at this rate. i dont want to have any fill taken out. ive had 3 ccs. in a 10 cc band.

I don't seem to have any problems with meat except with steak and I have only eaten it just a couple of times. I have 5.5 cc in a 10 cc band and it scares me that after my last .5cc that I don't feel alot of restriction . I have hit a plateau on the scale and really don't like it. I go back and see the doctor on 5/30 and hopefully will be down a few more pounds by then, I love working out at the gym. My family and I are spending between 1-2 hours at the gym 2-3 nights a week and hopefully will increase the days at the gym too.

[Karla0306 16]

hi there sleeping beauty. this might be my second post in reply. lol.. who cares?? lol. I didnt have any fill either when i had the band put in. it was strange because it sure does feel like its got some. i did ask my dr about it and he said no.

but, it feels like restriction. im wondering how much swelling would be still in my stomach after just over four weeks?? i had a nasty episode this morning which i posted about earlier so i cant take anything for granted at all. i certainly cant fool myself that i can eat anything anyways.. it just doesnt happen for me. Im pleased about that though.

having said that... im wondering about my first fill. im assuming that i will have some fill put in on the 7th when i go back to the dr.

Have you been very hungry these last couple of weeks?? what do you think your hunger has been for?? ive found out it was for red meat. last night i had my first plain hamburger... and it was just sooooo good. lol. im having another one tonight. just mixed in with some sloppy veges and some gravy. I never ate a lot of read meat... but obviously my body was missing it a lot. i have had some chicken now for the last week... it was the red meat that really did the trick.

... i havent lost anything in at least a week. not since my food has been more substantial anyway. how many others experienced a loss of weight gain when their diet was changed from liquid?

I have only experience a plateau for the past 2 weeks after I got my .5cc fill, doesn't make alot of sense but that is how it has gone, don't know if I am lacking restriction or what it is. I am hoping that working out at the gym (now that I have no wt restrictions) will kick in my wt loss again

[Karla0306 16]

MWest I can't believe this! I'm so sorry. Did he explain what he meant by "opening a can of worms" and what does your age have to do with it? I don't blame you for wanting to cry, I would have broken down there in the office.

I had surgery on 3/6/12. My second fill a week and a half ago gave me good restriction. But up until that time I didn't have any and I told the PA I was getting a little tired of the $16K DIET I was on and she laughed and said "Well I don't blame you. Let's get you the help you paid for."

I sure wish you the best, dear. Dieting is so very hard, and if we were successful at it, we wouldn't have the surgery. You need and deserve the help the lapband is supposed to give you. You paid for it, you should get it. Good luck dear and in the meantime, hang in there. Try to stick to the diet and I wish you the best.

We are band buddies/twins I had my band on the same day and had good restriction up until this last fill of .5cc and now don't really feel like I have any restriction and the scale hasn't moved, not sure what is going on but hoping working out at the gym will jump start my weight loss again. This is typical of me, lose 40 lbs and then stop except this time I have lost 44 lbs and have stoped.

[Karla0306 16]

..i want to add a comment to this even though these posts are a bit older.

im about ten days out from my first fill... in an empty 10cc band. i find it very hard to eat. ican eat baked Beans, eggs, a little... chick peas, but when i go to eat veges and meat i have difficulty. about two mouthfuls and im in trouble. i know that i must eat more than this at any one time. im taking no more than a teaspoon of food. any advice or anyone else had this? at this rate im not having any more fills for a long long time.

I was the same way, the important thing is to get your Protein and as much calories as you can 1200 is what is recommended. I wasn't able to get past 3-500 calories until the past 2 weeks and now I am up to 1000 most days, meeting my protein intake but the scale is not moving. You maybe too tight and may have to have some Fluid removed.

[Karla0306 16]

nicole, so you are stressed, hungry and sick? You poor thing! I'm so sorry things have been like that for you. I was banded on 3-6, I have had one fill and felt restriction for about 2 days and I have had to cancel my appt. for my second fill 2 times! Can you call your doctor and make an appt, for another fill? Or maybe just tell them you don't feel restriction all day. If I take too big of bites, or eat too fast, I can feel it, but at night, I have practically no restricton and am just trying to stick to my 1200 cals a day until I get another fill.

Hang in there dear! Call your doctor! and take your medicine!!

Something you learn quickly is to chew your food well and take small bites because if you don't you hurt really bad, I have learned that lesson the hard way, been in a hurry and starving and eat way to fast and to big of bites. Right now I don't feel like I have any restriction but I go back and see the dr on 5/30. I hate to have too many fills to soon because I only have a 10cc band and already have 5.5 cc in. but the scale is on a stand still and I don't like it

[Alerker 10]

I had my second fil yesterday 5/19 - lost another 5 pounds which makes me very happy because I have been struggling. Everyday is a new day and I'm so happy I did this. It is great watching the pounds come off no matter how slow that may be :wub:

Since getting my second fill, I get a feeling of food stuck in my throat is this considered a restriction???? I definitely need to slow down and start chewing my food better. I'm not complaining just asking???