Healthy eating

[eeyore10479 0]

I have read on many posts that the Lapband teaches people to eat healthier. I already eats LOTS of veggies and mainly chicken. I know my portions could be better, but will I have success with the lapband even though I eat a heathly diet already? I hope this makes sense!

Thanks!

[IndioGirl55 32]

I have read on many posts that the Lapband teaches people to eat healthier. I already eats LOTS of veggies and mainly chicken. I know my portions could be better, but will I have success with the lapband even though I eat a heathly diet already? I hope this makes sense!

Thanks!

Eeyore

I don't mean to come off rude here but if you were eating healthy then you wouldn't be in the obese category where you would require the band. So you must be eating more than chicken and veggies. Chicken is not always band friendly either alot of pple can't eat chicken unless it it very moist.

The band is only a tool - you choose the foods you eat - it doesn't teach you to eat healthy the only thing the band does is restricts your portions once you attain proper restriction and it doesn't exercise for you.

I too ate pretty healthy - I ate fish and veggies and salads prior to being banded - but those veggies had tons of butter on them the fish was fried and the salads drenched in high fat salad dressing - do you know that a chefs salad can have more calories than a hamburger.

Eating healthy means low fat - limited carbs (especially white refined carbs) and low sugar foods -

The band is a great tool that helps you feel full on a smaller amount of food - it's a different kind of full - it's not the same full that you feel now - and it takes awhile to figure that new fullness out - but after awhile you do.

I will be physically full after a meal - but I know I only at 1/4 of what I use to eat - I still want to eat - I still want to taste the food - I still have mental hungry which for me manifest itself in to me thinking I am physically hungry and I am not - cuz if I eat more I will pb.

Again - I really didn't mean to come off rude - it's just that in order to deal with our food issues (and we all have them - food is our drug of choice) we have to be honest about what we eat how much we eat - why we eat etc... The band takes care of the restriction for your Portion Control but there is tons of mental work that has to be done in order to be successfully. To me I have done 75% of the work as I am the one who has chosen to eat healthy and no to eat around my band and I have chosen to get my butt in gear and exercise and the band did the other 25% of it by providing restriction

As the saying goes diets don't work - cuz once you go off them and go back to eating normal - you gain all your weight back and then some - Our eating "normal" was what got us fat in the first place.. So this is about a lifetime lifestyle change in your eating - this isn't to say you can't have a piece of cake every now and then - heck 1 piece of cake isn't what got us fat - it's cuz we ate 2 - 3 - 4 pieces if not the whole darn thing.

A real serving size of mashed potato's is 1/2 cup - not 2 cups with a stick of butter in it - a serving size of steak is 4 oz not 16 oz - etc - so it is the combination of our serving sizes and the types of food that we eat and lack of exercise that has gotten us into the obese or morbidly obese category (I was morbid obese)

Wishing you the best on your journey to get healthy...

[Ale78 0]

I am a vegetarian that eats mostly whole foods and tries to stay away from processed foods. (I am totally serious!)

How will the Lapband help me? Portion size! If you are over weight it is a tool to help you lose. It won't do the work for you. The whole mental thing really is a bugger...I mean look it has you convinced you eat healthy even though, if you are looking into getting a lapband, you are not.

It sure makes it easier though. It makes me aware of everything I put into my mouth. It is different for everyone. I think eventually it does help you make better choices because you are just so used to making better choices!

My husband commented after Easter dinner that he had forgotten I had the band and he was wondering where the rest of my dinner was because I had very small amounts of food on my plate. Then he remembered and it was a huge aha! moment for him. We are starting to forget I have it because it is now second nature for me to not think about eating bigger portions. Well and I just got a fill so it's even less these days )

Try doing a calorie counter for just a day or two and see how many calories you actually consume...you may be surprized.

Good Luck!

~A

[chocolate_snaps 3]

Before i was banded I ate a relatively speaking healthy diet. No soda, red meat, fried foods etc. And the band helped me take my good habits to the next level. But truth be told my soft spot Cookies and cakes come in healthy forms but none conducive to losing weight.

Ive lost alot of weight with Portion Control from the band along with avoiding (for the most part) my weaknesses. However the "good foods" I ate like brown rice, doughy whole grain bread, and wheat Pasta are all out of the equation now. This has also helped.

I think it is easier for someone with a healthful diet preband to lose weight post band. The fact is that it may be a stronger foundation towards a healthier lifestyle.

Good Luck!

[Jachut 487]

I ate "healthy" before too, but I ate way too much and I had way to many treats on top of what was a well balanced healthy diet. If I'd not eaten as many muffins, cakes, Cookies etc on top of good wholesome foods like meats, wholegrains and veggies I wouldnt have been fat.

But as far as heading through a drive through for every meal, no I didnt do that. I didnt often eat McDonalds, KFC, I didnt eat out more than once or twice a month, I didnt eat a lot of processed foods for my basic meals. I ate healthy. Its been easier for me not having to learn to cook, learn what healthy food is, learn how to eat healthy foods. I just had to cut out the extras.

Dont underestimate Portion Control and what it can do - for most people it'll turn out to be at least 95% of the equation.

You can eat a diet horrifically high in saturated fat and lose weight and you can eat a diet high in processed carbs and lose weight. Weight loss is really only about calories in and calories out no matter where the calories come from.

So if you already eat healthy foods - that's great. Portion control will make the difference. But a band is also great at reminding you how many extras you eat because I find when I eat that muffin with a coffee at the shops, I cant eat my dinner. It makes me "remember" I ate it and my body forces me to account for it. And I feel very guilty for having a muffin for dinner! That's NOT healthy.

If you truly only eat healthy foods, and dont eat extras, then I'd highly recommend working out just how many calories a day in healthy foods you are taking in - they must be big portions to have gotten you to the stage of needing a band. Or is it possible that you have the usual food amnesia that most of us have and that you certainly fit a fair bit of fat and sugar into that healthy diet to result in enough calorie overload for a weight problem?

Edited April 14, 2009 by Jachut

[eeyore10479 0]

Eeyore

I don't mean to come off rude here but if you were eating healthy then you wouldn't be in the obese category where you would require the band. So you must be eating more than chicken and veggies.

I hope I didn't come across rude in my first post. That is one thing I am not, I'm not rude. I maybe obese, but I'm not rude!

I wasn't paying very close attention to what I was writing last night...I was watching Dancing With The Stars. What I didn't mention was I have Syndrome X, which most people do not know about (even doctors). It's called the "Silent Killer". PCOS, pre-Diabetes and many other health conditions are all included in Syndrome X. My endocrinologist actually recommended this procedure in hopes that it would help me lose weight.

On top of Syndrome X, I also have Hypothyroidism which is another strike against me.

I have grown up with my mom suffering from many metabalic disorders. My mom NEVER makes anything fried...it's always grilled or baked. An average dinner is 3-4 vegetables during a meal and an average of 4-5 ounces of meat and 1 cup of carbohydrates. I do not use butter on vegetables. I grew up not using it so I don't use it now. In fact, I don't even use margarine.

I'm not trying to make excuses, but I want people to realize that food is not the only reason I am obese. I have medical problems also. I know I need help and I want to lose weight. I have been overweight my entire life. I'm so tired of watching people be able to eat whatever they want. I know I will never be one of those people.

When it comes to exercising, I have not been doing much of it since I am banned from activities from tearing my ACL 6 months ago.

I have done Weight Watchers many times. As soon as I stray the least bit from the 'diet' I gain weight back. It's sooo frustrating.

[IndioGirl55 32]

[quote name='eeyore10479;1200137

I hope I didn't come across rude in my first post. That is one thing I am not' date=' I'm not rude. I maybe obese, but I'm not rude![/color']

I wasn't paying very close attention to what I was writing last night...I was watching Dancing With The Stars. What I didn't mention was I have Syndrome X, which most people do not know about (even doctors). It's called the "Silent Killer". PCOS, pre-Diabetes and many other health conditions are all included in Syndrome X. My endocrinologist actually recommended this procedure in hopes that it would help me lose weight.

On top of Syndrome X, I also have Hypothyroidism which is another strike against me.

I have grown up with my mom suffering from many metabalic disorders. My mom NEVER makes anything fried...it's always grilled or baked. An average dinner is 3-4 vegetables during a meal and an average of 4-5 ounces of meat and 1 cup of carbohydrates. I do not use butter on vegetables. I grew up not using it so I don't use it now. In fact, I don't even use margarine.

I'm not trying to make excuses, but I want people to realize that food is not the only reason I am obese. I have medical problems also. I know I need help and I want to lose weight. I have been overweight my entire life. I'm so tired of watching people be able to eat whatever they want. I know I will never be one of those people.

When it comes to exercising, I have not been doing much of it since I am banned from activities from tearing my ACL 6 months ago.

I have done Weight Watchers many times. As soon as I stray the least bit from the 'diet' I gain weight back. It's sooo frustrating.

Darling you didn't come off rude - I just didn't want you to take offense at what I was saying - I just wanted you to know that I wasn't being mean - your 1st post didn't indicate that you had medical issues..

There is a thread for PCOS go to the forum tab above and look for it - since I don't have these issues and am not well versed on them I really can't help.

I just gotta put this out there you say "I have done WW and as soon as I stray I gain weight back"

That's cuz you are not eating healthy when you stray

I strayed this weekend ate too much candy - the scale was up 2 lbs on Monday - but I am back eating healthy and those 2 lbs will be off within a week infact it was down 1 lbs this morning..

Again - good luck on our journey - wishing you the best