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You are not alone!! I have been a night eater for as long as I can remember. That was one of the main reasons as to why I couldn't lose weight in the first place. Once I had surgery about 3 1/2 months ago all of my cravings stopped because my body completely changed how it craved food. Well once I started eating "real foods" again, it was game over lol. I work second shift so breakfast isn't until 11am lunch around 3pm and dinner, anywhere from 9-1am!!! I did this for quite awhile and realized I wasn't losing weight. After two weeks I decided it was time to switch it up. I started eating a protein bar for breakfast after the gym at 9am then I would snack all day long! Veggies, peanuts, a salad, etc. Then I would eat a decent dinner around 7:30 at work then when I get home from work at 11pm I will munch on chips and salsa. I started losing again thankfully. Just remember to eat small meals all day long to keep your metabolism up and you shouldn't crave as much at night! Good luck

No need to be sorry, Cheri. It is good advice! Dan

Hello all, I am trying to find out some definitive answers regarding pouch stretching. I can find answers to questions such as 'how hard is it to stretch the pouch', 'is it permanent when a pouch is stretched or can i shrink it back down', 'how do i know if my pouch is stretched' and so on, but the answers vary. I was banded a little over two years ago now and my weight loss stopped at roughly 60lbs. I haven't really lost any in a while and I actually gained some back after a bit after hitting the 70lb mark. 60lbs is a decent amount and I worked my butt off for it, but I am a pretty big guy and could stand to lose another 100 haha. Like many people on here I feel like I've lost touch with the band, or feel like it doesn't really work anymore and I often wonder if my pouch is stretched, or I have slippage or something. Hopefully it's just paranoia. When I try to read up on pouch stretching, some people/sites say that it happens if you overeat. Other sites say that you can't really stretch the pouch because it's in an inelastic part of the stomach that doesn't really stretch, and you'll vomit if you eat that much well before you can stretch the pouch. Some say once it's stretched your screwed. Others say that it shrinks back down. Well, which is it? I got my band at University of Pennsylvania that has a huge bariatric division with bigwig surgeons and zillions of dollars in resources. Even they say that it is extremely difficult to stretch the pouch. The bottom line of this post is that lately I've really been wanting to get back into lap-band culture (for lack of a better term). It pretty much feels like it's not even there anymore, and I'd really like to start using it again if I can. I'm trying to get affirmation that it's not too late, my pouch and band are ok and I can start over. Unfortunately, I am without health insurance and in a financial situation where I'd need to decide between making my car payment or going to UPenn for a checkup. I don't even want to know what an upper GI would cost out of pocket. I'd probably get evicted if I got one! So I hope to get some insight from you guys on this in the meantime

In the end, its how much you eat. You can be thin and eat a diet of only rubbish. But you wont be healthy. You know that. I have lost weight eating pretty much what I ate before being banded, including some bread. But I didnt eat entirely rubbish - I ate a good healthy base diet and then shoved in a lot of sugary carb foods on top of that. I've personally never had much of a problem with junk foods like Mcdonalds and KFC, I've never overeaten them or craved them unduly. But muffins, cakes, biscuits, that's another story. So yes, I cut out those foods for the most part, but I do still eat them on occasion. If I go out for dinner, I'm not going to piss fart around ordering sauces to the side and quizzing the staff about whether there's butter in something. I just have what I fancy, and I dont eat a lot of it. But my basic, everyday diet, what I eat 90% of the time is healthy. Its healthy, but I really dont believe in low carb atkins style diets. I do eat bread and cereals and I eat good amounts of Protein but not HIGH protein. So again, the next person here will tell me diet contravenes all their rules and I'll never lose weight. But I did and kept it off - so it comes down to calories in/calories out, I think. Post op, I did exactly what I was told to do and ate really healthy foods too. I actually find it really hard to understand how just after surgery you can not be so bouyed up by enthusiasm, hope and determination that you find this period difficult. I found it really very easy. The hard part of wanting bad foods again came a lot later on. But everyone's different I guess. After the post op period, my doc actually HAS no real rules, the m.o. here in Australia tends to be eating a very normal everyday diet but only a lot less of it. Its about integrating the band into normal life, not about a bunch of rules that really swaps overeating for a life of imposed rules.