Need Help, I feel like I'm "dieting" again!

[TraumaNurse 1]

So today I've been banded 1 month!!! I fit into jeans I haven't been able to in about 6 months! I've lost some weight, except gained 3 back this weekend, I think it's due to AF this week, i do usually gain some during that time of the month... I had my follow up visit with the nutrionist last Friday and walked away with some great new knowledge but also some bad feelings about this new lifestyle.. I've been kinda down since that visit. She told me to have 6 "meals" a day at only 200cal per "meal" To drink only things with no calories and that the carnation instant Breakfast that i'd been drinking isn't a good choice because of the sugar. Ok, I can do the no calorie drink thing but only 200cal per meal??? How is that living a normal life? How am I suppose to go out to dinner with friends and only eat 200cal?? Maybe because I have no restriction at this point? She was absolutely floored that I was able to eat 4 scrambled eggs in one sitting. She even commented that I was the only band patient that is able to eat this much... Well I don't have a fill yet... She says I should only be able to eat 1 egg and a 1/2 piece of cheese.... Oh, am I doing this all wrong?? She suggested I contact Dr Haag and ask for an earlier fill which I'm pretty sure he won't before the 6 week mark.( i asked at my 2 week check up) I'm ok losing slowly, I just want to feel somewhat normal.. I really feel like I've been put back on a "diet" i got that panicky feeling leaving the office like OMG I'm going to fail again. I'm back to counting and of course obsessing about calories and fat and protein... Has anyone else had this experience, what is it that I'm doing wrong??? Thanks for "listening" I'm sorry this ended up being a novel... ~Christina~

[donali 57]

Christina -

Your nutritionist is well-intentioned, I'm sure, but a little off the mark for patients who do not have restriction. Some patients are restricted for some time after surgery (I wasn't hungry until four weeks out, which means that my stomach was swollen enough from surgery that I basically was a little too tight). Some patients, however, have very little residual swelling, or swelling that resolves more quickly. You sound like one of those - without restriction you will be able to eat almost normal-sized portions.

I have read many articles that encourage the smaller/more frequent meals. I buy into that rationale, but at the same time it was uncomfortable for me to eat six times a day of any amount - my life TOTALLY revolved around food that way! I felt like I was eating all the time!! That was kind of the opposite effect I was hoping for - I didn't want to think about food at all - just eat when hungry, stop when full.

The period of time before your first fill is about healing, not about weightloss. I would not worry too much about how much you are eating at this point because you have very little restriction and are very close to your pre-band capacity.

If you do choose to incorporate the 6 meals a day into your lifestyle that DOESN'T mean you have to do that every single day! On days that you want to have dinner with family/friends or have a party or whatever you just make adjustments. You eat less during the day, or you cut out some of the meals, or you choose lower calorie foods, or you just eat more one day. Eating more calories than you need ONE day does not make you gain weight that sticks around.

You are not dieting, you are feeling your way into a new lifestyle. You need to find something that works for you that you feel comfortable with. You can try your nutritionist's suggestion, but ultimately you are going to end up doing what you can maintain - it's human nature.

[Tarafeena 1]

Donali, once again you hit it right on the nose!!! Trauma Nurse, please no that you are not alone and that you can do this. With or Without the band a diet is hard, lucky for us we will beable to get a little adj. if we are getting out of controll again.. Good luck to you..

[Zoe 6]

I agree -- I think the nutritionist forgot (or never knew) that most bandsters don't have much restriction until their first fill, if not even later. Now that you're one month post-surgery, you're probably able to incorporate regular (i.e., solid) foods in your meals. But you're still healing. I found the post-surgical weeks 4-6 very difficult: my appetite had come back, my abdomen was no longer swollen, and I wanted to eat anything that wasn't nailed down. My advice is to go easy on yourself, and not get upset over the nutritionist's suggestions. You'll get restriction eventually, and when you do, the band will take care of Portion Control for you. Until you get a restricting fill, you're in bandster no-man's-land, experiencing none of the advantages the band offers.

By the way, I should mention that I am not strictly following the band rules, and I usually eat 3-1/2 meals a day, not six tiny ones -- but eight months post-op I'm happy with my weight loss and feeling great.

TN, you'll get through this rough part of banded life. Meanwhile, hang in there, and if you can, try not to obsess about calorie counts. It gets easier.

[QWINNER 0]

Don't worry - you are only 1 month out. Isn't it great to put on those jeans and feel good and comfortable in them. That, to me, is better than what the scale says. In regard to the dieting perspective, I felt the same way as you did. I got my second fill the end of march and have so much restriction that I can barely eat more than a cup or 2 of food at a time and if I don't eat slow enough, watch out. Never PB'd but that stopping feeling is enough to drive the dieting theory away. Sure, I have to make good choices now or I don't get the right kind of nutrition. I can go to a restaurant and order a salad with grilled chicken on top, pick at it, have one of my son's Buffalo wings and I am stuffed. But, alas, I have lunch for the next day and I ate what I wanted but just a bit. On Saturday, I had a very stressful day and said to my husband, I would love to eat a bacon cheese burger and onion rings right now. He said order it, but it will probably last you a week. I thought why I wanted to put such junk into my body and realized it was just comfort food. I ordered something else and found that satisfying. I guess what I am trying to say is that until I got my second fill, (1st one did nothing and I protested my doctor to add more) I was upset that I had to do the dieting thing too. I was upset that I felt hunger with my band. That was the one thing I wanted to accomplish when I had my surgery was to not be hungry all of the time. Well, let me tell ya, now I am hardly ever hungry and I can hardly eat alot so I don't feel like I have to diet. I do feel that once you get to good restriction, you have to eat very healthy foods. All the bad stuff goes down way to easy. I could eat chips, Cookies, Icecream, pretzels and chocolate really, really well right now but it is harder and more of an effort to prepare, chew and not drink with my meals. I have to make to right choice and WORK with my band. I realized that the band doesn't work for you unless you work with the band. It takes will power on bad days and effort to make the right choices on good days. Sometimes it's painful if you eat too fast and sometimes it is just right when you feel the liberation from always stuffing your face. For me, I take to good with the bad. Sometimes I eat a Peanut Butter cup to satisfy my sweet tooth but atleast I am not eating 4 or 5 of them. I think if people wanted effortless weight loss, then the bypass was a better choice. If you eat the wrong things, you get sick, simple as that. More risks, more weightloss in the on set, but the band will be with you a long time if you treat it well and baby it and make a choice to eat right and over indulge once in a while and realize it is o.k. to have a serving of ice cream. The band won't work if you chose to have the whole pint. Hang in there until your fill. If after a week or 2 of your fill, you still feel no restriction, insist that your doctor add a bit more. There is no reason why we should feel hungry with the band. That is why we got it. It's been 3 months that i've had my band and I feel that the dieting mentality is all but gone. Good luck and don't get discouraged.

[gunn4ya 0]

Christina,

I think that the surgery just depends on the person. I was banded on March 30 and I have really tight restriction especially as the day goes on. I get my first fill on May 17 and I am wondering what that is going to be like. I can barely get a cup of Soup down and that is my main meal the other times I am just drinking no cal liquids. Don't worry you'll probably be ok when you get your fill.

[Jammin & Losin 1]

I must say this thread is helping me. Like Zoe said weeks 4 -6 are hard and that is also were I am right now. I feel bad that I can eat more than I should be able to and that 3 hours later I'm hunry again. I sure hope after a fill it gets better and I know this next couple of weeks I probably won't lose any thing but if I just mantain what I've lost till I get a fill I will be on to the next chapter of being banded!

To all of you at this stage in banding lets hang in there these trials are all part of making the positive changes and how we learn to be a good bandster! We can do this.

[La_madam 20]

She was absolutely floored that I was able to eat 4 scrambled eggs in one sitting.

I can eat 4 scrambled eggs at one sitting and I have had 3 fills )and have fairly good restriction) so you are not the only one

Once you get your fills you will notice a difference. My doctor told me that I should be eating 1/3 or less then what I used to eat pre band and I am and I am losing. Do what works best for you. I do agree with the liquid calories, I drink zero liquid calories except the little bit of powdered cream I put in my coffee other then that it is Water. Liquid calories do make a difference in hindering weight loss. Hang in there, it wont be like this once you have good restriction

[vinesqueen 2]

Isn't it funny how people react differently to the band? Christina and I were banded on the same day, and yet our experiences are so different. I still have lots of stomach edema, so I'm having a difficult time getting more than 800 calories in a day. (although since I've been adding Peanut Butter and nutella, I can get up around 1000 no problem!)

Christina, like you I am becoming obsessed with calories and fat and Protein and Calcium and ... and.. and.

You are doing nothing wrong, you just don't have any restiction. And I think all our pro-banders are right on the money (aren't they always?). It does sound like the nutrishonist isn't experienced with bandsters who don't have restiction right out of the gate.

Hang in there!

[Scotty 0]

The small regular meals thing is a bit of a fad I think. I have a friend who's a nutritionist who says that eating like that has little effect on your metabolism. Your body uses up energy at a near enough constant rate. We know that because our core temperature stays the same except when we do vigorous exercise or are ill.

There's so much nonsense talked about nutrition. So little is really understood about it. And the professionals seem to change their minds with the seasons. Remember when eggs were bad for you? Read this. I found it on Weightlossresources.com -

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"Going to work on a couple of eggs might be the way forward if you want to shift those pounds. According to new research from the Rochester Centre for Obesity in America, eating eggs for breakfast could help to limit your calorie intake throughout the rest of the day, by more than 400 calories.

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In the study, 30 overweight or obese women ate either an egg-based breakfast (2 eggs) or a bagel-based breakfast, containing the same amount of calories and almost identical levels of Protein. The researchers recorded the women’s eating habits and found that just before lunch, the women who had eaten eggs for breakfast felt less hungry and ate a smaller lunch as a result. Better still, over the next 36 hours the group eating the egg-containing breakfast consumed, on average, 417 calories less than the bagel-eating group.

Weight Loss Resources says…

This study suggests that eating eggs for breakfast makes you feel fuller for longer so that you eat less at your next few meals. This is great news if you’re trying to lose weight as it means you may find it easier to cut calories without feeling hungry. In fact, based on these results you could expect to lose up to 2lb a month, simply by eating eggs for breakfast!

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Eggs are packed with a variety of nutrients including Protein, zinc, Iron and Vitamins A, D, E and B12, but contain just 85 calories each. Old advice to limit eggs to just a few each week has also been abandoned. According to the food Standards Agency, there’s now no limit to the number of eggs you can eat in a week as part of a healthy balanced diet. If you fancy starting the day with eggs we suggest you avoid frying them and combine them with wholemeal toast and a glass of Vitamin C-rich unsweetened orange juice, which will help the body make the best use of the Iron in the eggs."

Bottom line is, eat a varied diet, when you want to, find the foods that satisfy you for longest and exercise more. Oh...and stop obsessing about food if you can. (Pot, kettle, black...!)

[babsyintx 0]

Hi Christina,

Well meaning nutritionist who doesnt know much about lapbanding. The six meal a day concept does work to help your body stay on an even keel and burn calories more efficiently, but for bandsters, I personally dont think it is the way to go. I would say most of us here already obsess about food, preparation and the time it takes to eat it. I would say that there are probably more lapband surgeons that encourage 3 meals a day and a snack . Its up to you because it really boils down to calories in and calories expended. I prefer to have my 1200 calories a day divided into three meals and a snack. And regarding the 4 egg meal, I have great restriction and could still eat that quantity. Four eggs really only equates to a 4-5 oz portion of soft food and for an unrestricted newbie, that is an acceptable amount of food. Although you might try to eat more solid Protein to give you fullness for longer. eggs dont usuallly fill me up too long. I only eat 1-2 as a serving now that I have restriction.

Babs in TX

334/180

-154

new goal: 170 or less....

[Feel2Young2B40 0]

Hi! I'm right there with you all! I was banded 3/25 and by this past weekend I feel I can eat anything not tied down! I am trying to keep to the 3 meals a day and high Protein, low carb and within 1200-1500 calories but I get hungry and even faint if I go longer than 4 hours without eating. Part of it might be the lack of carbs I've been eating and I am back to normal solid foods.

I do notice I eat much less than before the band at a meal but I feel "guilty" about eating as much as I have been and not been losing weight for the last week or so. I know it's just temporary, I know it's because I need a fill but that's not happening until the end of May. My doctor refuses to do a fill earlier than 2 months post op. So, here I sit feeling like I am dieting, instead of getting the benefits of the band. It's like a "band no-man's land" right now. I'll get over it, but I just wanted everyone to know I know exactly how you feel and I'm right there with you.

[Alexandra 55]

Hi there, don't mind me, just following Donali and Zoe and Babs around and vigorously nodding my head!! I completely agree with everything they have said.

My own approach was to throw the "rules" out the window before my first fill. Being hungry or obsessing about calories doesn't work for me in my life, so I picked the one rule I could live with and not feel deprived: Protein first. That was it. And it worked! Protein really DOES keep you full longer, so it works on all levels. And even without a fill I simply couldn't eat as much as I'd been able to preband (which will likely be the case for most people), so I wasn't gaining.

It's not a race, and the idea of getting a quick start out of the gate is meaningless. Sadly, that's what many people think is going to happen after surgery. If you don't want to diet, don't diet! When you have restriction you will discover the miracle of being full on less, and then even less. There's plenty of time.