I dont know what to do!!!!!!!!!!!

[banded_for_life 2]

Thanks Babs....that was some awesome snacking advice to a new bandster.

Nykee, there is really nothing that I can add to this post, you have been given some super advice. You have to want to make changes in your head as well as your body for them to work. Eat some Protein of some sort...mash some Beans up! Get off those mashed potatoes.

[riverrat 0]

You are WAY TOO TIGHT!!!! You will never lose weight eating cheetos and carbs. You need to get your band loosened and start eating Protein. You should be eating 3oz of meat and 1oz of veggies with each meal. You will be full on this. If you cannot eat this amount than you are OVERFILLED. Haven't you talked to your doctor--come on--use common sense here. You need food, not liquids. The band does not work with liquids, only food. So if you aren't lossing weight, it is a no brainer. Get a UNFILL ASAP and start eating food and using the band--you will lose weight if you do this!!!!

[La_madam 20]

Becasuse I never go past my bands first clue to stop.... I dont abuse my band and regardless of how tight I am, I am not abusubg it so I am not worried of it slipping or eroding.

Some of the most perfect bandsters here have had erosion or slippage, it has nothing to do with being a good bandster or not! Erosion happens and no one knows why.

Nykee, I'm tight in the morning too, all I can say is I drink hot hot coffee, it opens me up, anything cold closes me up. Try the hot liquids in the mornings and the ice ice cold Water in the evening. At night keep an ice cold bottle of Water with you at all times, we all know water curbs hunger and cold water helps to tighten us up. You are not the only one who suffers from this problem, I do too, but I have managed to lose weight. it takes discipline and will power to some degree, the band will not do all of the work, we have to do some of it. I bet if you took a poll and asked how many of us have eating issues at night almost all of us here would answer yes! You can do this!

["with the band" 1]

Nykee -

Aside from all the band problems you may have - being too tight....your true problem is not realizing that you are "so worth" having this tool "in your hands". You are trust worthy and with this "tool" you now have the power to fight the "fat war" that has raged against the health of your body.

You can say no to the cheetos - when you feel satisfied. Until you loosen your band and take in Proteins and veggies and fruits - you will stay on the carbohydrate race of surging and dipping. The mashed potatoes are deadly...the cheetos are useless and the Cookies are not necessary.

Instead of cookes - slice a peach or an apple and bake in the oven till tender. Sprinkle with a little brown sugar and brown....here is a sweet treat you can have with a little sugar free fat free ice cream....it will certainly be easy to digest and a satisfaction much better for you than 10 - 12 Cookies.

Instead of the cheetos - try some kashi Cereal to munch on. A small portion. Try Breton crackers with cheese or meat slices and get a little creative with your Snacks - they are your time to eat something good and good for you...make them worthwhile.

I like hummus to dip and I like pimento cheese spread.

I try to get Protein in everything I take in.

Nykee - you are having the recurrence of your diet nightmare - you actually have responsibility here. But you have the "tool" you never had before....learn to use it as it was given to you to save your life.

I have recently felt the ability to eat much more and my "fear" of eating has subsided. I have to have a postitive attitude that instead of trying to outsmart my band - I am going to learn to use it to my advantage. I just need to realized that I must control it...I must realize that it doesn't control me.

Nykee - please examine your own post to see that this is more of an emotional thing - you want to not have responsibility here...you have to accept the fact - that you do and no one ever said in these lap-band pre-op meetings that we wouldn't. You knew that. Now just accept it and realize - you do have the help...you just need to tweek it a little right now to help you.

Take care and know that you can be an expert at using "your tool" - You can turn away from the mashed pot and cheetos....look at all you did to have the surgery and to prepare for it.....you risked your life - now heal it - nurture it - accept it.

Nancy

[La_madam 20]

Being too tight so you cant swallow your own saliva in the morning is ludicrous. Banding is not about deprivation. It is about finally getting some satiety with smaller portions so you can lose weight. It is about making wiser food choices cause you are not hungry all the time.

Very well put!

I hope Nykee listens to you Babs

[Parvathi 2]

For about a month after a good fill, I'm very restricted in the mornings - to the point where I can't have my coffee even. Three things I have found work for me (and I do realize this might not work for everyone):-

• Work out in the mornings. While I find it hard to even drink anything on a normal morning with a good restriction, if I go workout I can really down some Water at the gym. When I'm done with that, I'm lose enough to go for a protein/fruit smoothie afterwards, which I thoroughly enjoy
  
• Eat less at night. Its hard the first few nights, yes! But if you get in the habit of eating less at night (and earlier in the evening), then there is usually more room in the morning to fit something in
  
• Drink hot tea - seems to losen up the band enough to fit something else in at times. Especially good if you're one of those ppl that gets two or three bites in and then get pain.
  

But you've got to come to grips with the fact that the band is a tool, to help you lose, not the end all, be all. It does take work and good decisions. We all have our days/weeks when we don't make good decisions or eat too much - its a matter of pulling yourself out of that rutt. This place is great for that, because people will be honest with you (sometimes, brutally so lol). For me, I need that...

[DevilMayKare 1]

Nykee,

You sound like you're in a very painful place. I won't offer any advice because I don't have any you haven't already heard. I do so understand how frustrating it is to be told the same things you've tried many times.

Certainly the band-- but weightloss in general to me is sometimes a real mystery. For instance, I have no idea WHY sometimes I have the willpower and sometimes I don't. You can sure as hell bet I ALWAYS want and mean to have to willpower to stop eating. It's my experience that--often--many WL tips do NOT work... but SOMETIMES they do. I keep trying them all for those sometimes.

Please don't think I'm some 188 pound skinny (it's all relative) that does not know what she is talking about. I was 312# in 1999 so I've been close to where you are and well I know what it's like.

Your frustration is heartbreaking. Your courage to share it is inspiring. I feel for you and as a sister in this often Hellacious journey, I salute you.

And consider yourself hugged for good measure.

[ErinR 0]

I am passing on a file from a fellow bandster and his experience with this same thing. It is long, but really informative! (I hope he does not mind) I hope this may help a bit. I was just banded on the 19th and am also a night eater so I am hoping once I can eat that this will help me too. Good Luck!

::

<TT>Subject: my revelation (LOOOOOOONG post, but worth reading!)</TT>

<TT>NEWER POST:</TT>

<TT>HI again, folkses! Wellll, I promised I would post regarding the significant</TT>

<TT>something that I learned last weekend, tomorrow, but I'm at work with not too</TT>

<TT>much to do today and need to look busy, so I'll type this on wordpad and cut 'n'</TT>

<TT>paste into an e-mail! >;o)</TT>

<TT>When I was in Tijuana last Saturday getting my fill, Dr Kuri showed me that my</TT>

<TT>restriction was in fact adequate on the flouro. Being the stubborn cuss I am, I</TT>

<TT>asked him for a small top-up anyway, because I've been HUNGRY for the last three</TT>

<TT>or four weeks, and my weight loss has essentially stopped. (Please see my post</TT>

<TT>ABOVE for the continuity) I could eat a horse; hooves, tail, shoes and all! I</TT>

<TT>have had some meals in these last three weeks or so that would AMAZE any</TT>

<TT>bandster! An Example: one dinner was a McD hamburger (bun and all), a Del Taco</TT>

<TT>bean burrito, and a Del Taco taco-supreme (WITH the tortillas). Any ONE of</TT>

<TT>those should have been enough, but in LESS than 20 minutes, I ate all 3, with NO</TT>

<TT>golfball!!!! I felt like my band was WIDE open. I wasn't even particularly</TT>

<TT>careful about chewing well. I felt each bite I took go through the stoma within</TT>

<TT>SECONDS of swallowing it - it wasn't staying in the pouch, and I wasn't getting</TT>

<TT>filled up! - Logical conclusion: My band is too loose. Maybe I have a tubing</TT>

<TT>leak, or a bad port. Maybe I just lost too much weight and the fill I got on Jan</TT>

<TT>9th wasn't enough. - I dunno, so it's off to see the wizard, and I wind up</TT>

<TT>telling Dr Kuri what I have just related to you all.</TT>

<TT>Dr Kuri asks me what I eat for the whole day, and I tell him. I have ALWAYS been</TT>

<TT>too tight to eat solid food in the morning and ANY attempt to do so resulted in</TT>

<TT>me looking at my Breakfast again! I always had 20 oz of hot tea and then 8 to 10</TT>

<TT>oz of lowfat milk with a scoop of powders?utm_source=BariatricPal&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_campaign=CommentLink" target="_ad" data-id="1" >unjury Protein in it, instead. lunch isn't</TT>

<TT>much better, but I could get a Protein Bar down if I took my time and went slow</TT>

<TT>- dinner was the only meal loose enough to be able to eat solid food.</TT>

<TT>When I told him that, Dr Kuri was HORRIFIED! He told me to make lunch my biggest</TT>

<TT>meal of the day and to have a very light supper (dinner - whatever you want to</TT>

<TT>call it...). I have heard this advice before, but I had always discounted it as</TT>

<TT>"cultural bias" because that's the way Latin American countries customarily do</TT>

<TT>it, and then they sleep off the big meal in the afternoon siesta before</TT>

<TT>returning to work. A very nice custom, but not conducive to the way things work</TT>

<TT>here in the states!</TT>

<TT>Welllll - I was wrong! Dr Kuri explained the reasoning behind it to me and it</TT>

<TT>made sense: the big meal doesn't pass out of the pouch before you go to bed - a</TT>

<TT>large portion just LAYS there in your stomach while you go to sleep. The stomach</TT>

<TT>isn't designed for prolonged food storage. It is designed to help break the food</TT>

<TT>down and mix it with the acid then send it off to the intestine quickly. When</TT>

<TT>the food just sits in there, it irritates the finicky thing and makes it swell</TT>

<TT>up, so when you get up in the morning, you can barely drink WATER! Because you</TT>

<TT>have to wait for the swelling to go down, you get insufficient nutrition during</TT>

<TT>the day. So, by evening you are HUNGRY again and you get your maximum hunger at</TT>

<TT>just the same time as your band finally opens. You then overeat, which causes</TT>

<TT>the whole cycle to start over again! By having a larger meal at lunch time, you</TT>

<TT>are still fairly full by dinner time, and you can get by with a light meal - say</TT>

<TT>a bowl of Soup or some such, that passes out of the pouch completely before you</TT>

<TT>go to bed. Result: no overnight swelling and you can eat Breakfast again the</TT>

<TT>next morning!</TT>

<TT>Sounded good in theory; Lets see how it works out in practice.... I wanted to</TT>

<TT>wait to post this info till I had had a chance to try it out and could report</TT>

<TT>ACTUAL RESULTS! Well, the results are - Dr Kuri was (as usual) Right!!!!! I have</TT>

<TT>been able to eat breakfast again every morning since I started following his</TT>

<TT>advice (note: for this to work, you HAVE to start with a big lunch, then a light</TT>

<TT>dinner, then sleep, then the next morning's breakfast will go down!), and my</TT>

<TT>weight loss has resumed. If anything, I'm almost uncomfortably full all day</TT>

<TT>without eating NEARLY as much as I was before I tried this and was still hungry</TT>

<TT>within an hour or so even then!</TT>

<TT>I took a banded friend with me who thought she also needed a fill because weight</TT>

<TT>loss had stopped and she was able to eat the whole house, including the</TT>

<TT>linoleum, in the evening, too. She got no fill, but DID get the same advice from</TT>

<TT>Dr Kuri as I did. She has been trying the same regimen as I have, with similar</TT>

<TT>results; weight loss started again, no more HUNGRY feeling all evening, and the</TT>

<TT>restriction provided by the band is again adequate to the task.</TT>

<TT>I now believe that MANY American bandsters are in the same situation and for the</TT>

<TT>same reasons as I have just discussed. And, MANY others are OVERTIGHT and</TT>

<TT>suffering reflux from getting too tight a fill to try to deal with this very</TT>

<TT>problem! Instead of getting another fill when you are already at your sweet</TT>

<TT>spot, when the loss begins to slow and stop, and the hunger returns, LOOK AT</TT>

<TT>YOUR EATING PATTERN!! If your big meal and/or problem time is in the evening,</TT>

<TT>this is very likely what is affecting YOU! Before getting another fill and</TT>

<TT>becoming overtight, try altering your meal pattern as discussed above - give it</TT>

<TT>a week or two and try to really follow it carefully - I'm here to tell ya, IT</TT>

<TT>WORKS! What the heck - if it doesn't, you can always still go get another fill,</TT>

<TT>but hey; it's worth a try isn't it? (Not to mention being a </TT><?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:place><TT>LOT</TT></st1:place><TT> less expensive!)</TT>

<TT>What have you got to lose besides a hundred pounds or so... ?</TT>

<TT>polarbear Mike, Hesperia CA</TT>

<TT>Dr Kuri, </TT><st1:date Month="5" Day="8" Year="2003"><TT>5/8/03</TT></st1:date><TT>, 378 at surgery</TT>

<TT>427/250/227-180 (-177 so far)</TT>

<TT>BMI 53/32/22 (50 at surgery)</TT>

[banded_for_life 2]

Erin...thanks for the post...I will remember that for the future!

[La_madam 20]

Erin, What a great post, thank you for sharing it with us, finally an understanding to al lthe tightness we all experience in the mornings.

[Margo 0]

Erin,

Thanks for the wonderful post....great information.

Nykee,

O.K., you have your band, so your body is ready to loss weight....now you must prepare your "head" to loss weight....you CAN DO IT because you are WORTH IT, Nykee.

[the best me 6]

"the big meal doesn't pass out of the pouch before you go to bed - a <TT>large portion just LAYS there in your stomach while you go to sleep. The stomach </TT><TT>isn't designed for prolonged food storage. It is designed to help break the food </TT><TT>down and mix it with the acid then send it off to the intestine quickly. When </TT><TT>the food just sits in there, it irritates the finicky thing and makes it swell </TT><TT>up, so when you get up in the morning, you can barely drink WATER!"</TT>

<TT></TT>

<TT></TT>

<TT></TT>

<TT></TT>

<TT>So THAT's how the "tight in the morning" thing works. That just makes perfect sense. Thanks for posting that Erin. Very helpful. </TT>

[PinkMary 3]

they band our stomach but not our brain they must do something about it also :D

[HotLikeHer 0]

My Dr said that most people are tighter in the am due to all of the settling down of the band and liquids from laying down for so many hours-sleeping. ?

[Danistar 0]

One word of advice....why don't you talk to your doc about all of this and see what he says?

Huggles