B-52

Looks Yummy! Unfortunately I can eat EVERY thing there including cupcakes, I probably can eat 3 cup cakes in 1 sitting! I don't keep my band dangerously too tight to not eat junk food...LOL...they will slide right down... I have to have disciplineI 've made the same decision since I'afraid of possible issues caused by a tight band. I have to rely on my willpower and sense of discipline. But when it comes to chocolate..willpower doesn't work, because mine is addiction! Maybe I had better not eat chocholate at all. Have you ever heard a doctor telling a drug addict : " have just a bit" ? How do you know when your band is too tight that it is "Dangerous" ??? I hear many people say this, and It is true...it can be too tight...but how do you know when it is???

The ONLY reason I had the surgery was because I could never loose weight on my own...it is something I wish I had not needed to do...bit I made the best of it... Have you thought of other WLS ?...such as the sleeve procedure? If I ad to do it all over again, that is where i would be looking....

Having this surgery was the best thing I could have ever done for myself....I am the same weight I was in High School over 40 years ago,,,, And you're absolutely correct...it's not about #'s...it is about eating the way we were meant to...and not the way that made us Obese...simply getting back to that healthy lifestyle, everything else will take care of itself, and the #'s will follow on their own....eat normal, exercise normal, and have a normal body.....

Are you able to eat, or drink I should say, anything else...water? broth? When you say you cannot tolerate it, what does that mean exactly...cannot swallow? Pain? or are you just feeling bloated and gassy, or something else.... Jan 20th, you just had surgery, not even a week....you just might need to continue to rest and heal, and don't force anything....

As far as warning people to be cautious and careful, you are correct...everyone should be careful in everything they do... I need to be careful when I cross the street or I might get hit by a bus.... But I am mindful that things can happen with this surgery...but what is one supposed to do to take care of their band? Follow the rules? For me, the only things I am mindful of, is that I am careful to "Listen" to my band, and not fight it...the band will remind me what rules to follow, and when....when it says stop, I stop...when it says slow down, I slow down...same as it telling me smaller bites...chew better....or do not eat this type of food!....believe me, if I do not, my band will let me know it.... I am one of those who drink carbonated drinks (Not soda)....don't condone it to everyone, but again, when I do drink it, I am listening to my band with every sip! I read here all the time, people complaining they are suffering from this and that, and I sometimes wonder, are they fighting their bands? And not respecting the signals by changing their ways to meet the bands demands? If they're fighting it, they're asking for trouble.... I am also a believer, having been at my optimal weight for 2 years now, that I need to go all liquids for 2-3 days, every so often, just to give everything a rest, and perhaps some healing I'm not even aware about... There are signs as to when I should do this, but that is another topic.... But just as I go to the gym often, and run, I also need to have some down time, or I'm headed for a injury... It is true, there is a high band failure rate...don't know the %, and Dr.'s are promoting other WLS ... I did talk to my surgeon about this....I'M NOT SAYING THIS IS YOUR CASE.....BUT he told me the rates of success are lower than he would like to see, mainly because of Patient Non-compliance....patients have to much control with the Lap Band...other surgeries, it is what it is...no adjusting...

First, I'm not sure what people are talking about when they say "Feeling Full"...and ":Fuller for longer"...obvious the people saying this are not banded...I have NEVER felt full....nor see how it is possible... Myself, crunchy foods are at the top of my "Do not eat list"....raw vegetables, things breaded and deep fried...they are just too harsh passing through my band, and I can feel it....especially since I cannot drink while eating either.... But then it all depends upon how your band is adjusted, if at all....there can be a vast difference....

You'll be fine as long as you follow your Dr.'s directions, from visit to visit.... Sometimes learning and reading too much only adds to the confusion...I know I read everything I could get my hands on prior, and to be honest...most of it was very basic, and common sense...I learned more from experience in the first few weeks, months, by "Being there..doing that"

Your topic title says "I wish I hadn't gotten the sleeve", yet you talk about complications from the band?? Is it the other way around? Did they ever offer an explanation as to the cause of your band to slip? And it slipped down?

Manchester....as in the UK? If so, I'd love to sign up....but the Concord is no longer in service for me to make the weekly meetings....

Welcome...sounds like you got your head screwed on right! Just be warned....this website has over 200 thousand members? Which means you are going to hear just about anything at anytime....it can get very confusing, perhaps negative....don't take any of it personal...it is THE INTERNET after all, not your friends and family.... You cannot be too sensitive and thin skinned.... I for one, am glad I did not find this group until AFTER I had my surgery... But like I said...sounds as though you've got a good grasp on things, so you can already sift through plenty of the "Talk" and focus on what's important.... Good luck...you'll do just fine.

Every visit to my surgeon, he would ask me a few questions about my hunger, cravings, eating....then, using the Yellow-Green-Red chart on the wall, he would ask me to point to exactly where I felt I was...he would look at my current weight compared to last visit, determine my average weight loss,....THEN determine if I needed a fill or not.... He made it very clear, even before I had the surgery, that the goal was to get me to the Green Zone as fast as I can tolerate....and that he did...took about 3-4 months to do it....THEN it took me about 2-3 months to adjust myself to the band so we both were in sync...THEN it all became heaven...no more bandster hell.... It's all about loosing weight....no matter how we do it....If I could loose on my own, then I would not have needed surgery...the same goes for fills....if I lost weight with no fills, then that is all that matters also....but for me, it took a few fills before I started loosing, and that is all the matters to me,.... Everyone has to find their own "Groove"....

In the beginning you will find you can eat jut about anything, and will have to force yourself to stay away from the foods high in calories...as the band gets adjusted, you will start to find there are foods that are less tolerable to swallow... The more you get adjusted...more restriction, the more types of foods that will become difficult, and perhaps some impossible... But keep in mind, the band is adjustable...so depending where you choose to have it adjusted will dictate the feedback it gives....and people will choose to have their bands adjusted to their liking... I like where I am at, and have been for over 2-1/2 years now, coasting along with little or no effort... Myself, I no longer eat anything made of dough, such as bread, pies, do-nuts, Pasta, etc, etc... I no longer eat meat...no longer eat rice, potatoes unless they're mashed........cannot tolerate anything breaded and deep fried.... I DO drink carbonated drinks, including beer...but I DO NOT recommended it to everybody, especially if you are just starting out...there is more important things to learn... It's funny though, majority of foods I no longer eat, are not foods good for me in the first place, and many are high in carbs... so I am not complaining, and it turns out there is a silver lining to it all....

I was at a support group once, and someone called this WLS a "Controlled Starvation"....I tend to agree. Ans speaking for myself, never had an issue with "Too Few Calories", and found the opposite to be true for me.

I do not know much about Gastric and Sleeve Patients.....but it is clear from your explanation that one thing is true regardless of how you do it...the less calories = more weight lost...add exercise on top of that to burn what calories you do eat, and PRESTO! Always has been, always will be.... It's good to know, from my experience anyway, that given the fact we banders adsorb 100% of the calories, I eat considerably less because of the band, so less calories to adsorb.....I quess it all evens out...

Interesting...wonder why bypass and sleeve patients loose more weight per month.... Sounds like even some of the medical staff are delivering these exaggerated #'s and this increases our weight loss expectations when in all actuality, I've not found any of this to be so. I've seen 10lbs+ a month with the gastric bypass and sleeve patients. 10lbs a month with lap band has to come along with a 1,200 calorie diet, no carbs, and a ton of cardio. Just my observation from my last 5-6 months being banded. I'm a Bander, and for a 7-8 month stretch, following my last and final fill, I was averaging at least 2 lbs a week, so that would be app. 8 lbs a month...average...I believe I had at least one 10lb month that I can remember...I had a 5lb loss one week in the month...then things started to level out as I got closer to a low body fat %.... And I never counted calories..still don't...that may have something to do with it...not sure. And I am a Gym Rat for sure.....

Sorry to hear about your loss.....and yes, Dieting can be tough.....

Everyone is definitely different on this one.....I take my daily vitamins/supplements whole.....others cannot.... But post surgery...I would go liquid....due to the probable post op inflammation.... What did your Dr. Advise? That is more important than what strangers may tell you.....

Seems that many who have gained weight back, have had issues with the band, and not that of teir own doing....such as your story...... If me, I would concentrate on getting my band back in tip top working order....

In my experience, rules are guide lines, that mean very little in the beginning.... I've been told no bread and no heavy steak ever again. I'm confused. Did anyone else get these rules? Also no asparagus I was told, and given a handout with a list of do's and don't s, many of which made absolutely no logical sense....and I told them what I thought....both the Dr and NUT laughed at me and said "Learn them to memory now...there will come a day you will HAVE to live by them...just wait and see...." And they were right....now, if I don't follow certain rules, I would not be able to eat at all.....nothing would stay down unless I follow certain guidelines, and stay away from certain foods..... And learn I did...THE HARD WAY, from numerous stuck episodes and other problems, that were not there in the beginning... So, eating meat and bread, as well as many other things like rice and Pasta, may not make sense to you right now...but eventually, it might mean whether you are successful or not... I read many posts were people get that fill, and then are very upset they can't get anything down, they're getting stuck, etc....then go back and get a un-fill.....THEN turn around and say the band is not working, they're not loosing, etc....and then they are told they have to do all those things you would do on a traditional diet, as though they never even had the surgery....and that it is hard work! I'm not speaking for everybody, but I do see this vicious cycle.....perhaps, if they learned the rules in the beginning so that when they did reach that place,after a few fills perhaps, they would not have had so many problems? And would not have been so quick to blame the band? Just a thought....

If someone had shown me what I would be eating in a typical day, as far as the ...quantity and portion size, and then tell me I would not experience any hunger on top of that, always feeling satisfied, and have no desire or interest in eating - cravings, ....PLUS having more energy that I know what to do with.... I would have said that they were full of you know what, and that they were trying to sell me on a scam! There is no way a person can survive on so little and still be so healthy, and never hungry? I would have read into this as no different than those "Miracle" diet cures, pills, gizmos, whatever, advertised on TV everyday.... What were they smoking???? And yet....there it is....it really is real, and amazing to say the lest...it does work! I used to eat an entire LARGE pizza, with toppings, all by myself every Friday night, and wash it down with plenty of soda or beer....NOW, it is impossible to eat 1/2 slice, so I don't even bother anymore....and that is but one example.... Me and my friends were once asked to leave an "All you can eat" steak restaurant...I don't eat meat anymore....

You should expect to continue to "Heal" and return to normal, the same as you were before the surgery.....there is nothing physivvally THEN you will be ready for the next phase....where your Dr. will begin adjusting the band to get this whole thing started.... Until then, it's just follow our post-op diet plan, and "White Knuckle" it......you may experience some post-op inflammation creating some restriction, but that will pass and it will be as though you never had the surgery....

I weigh myself everyday, usually twice a day...when I first get up, and later at the gym..... First, I have to say my weight loss journey has stopped 2 years ago...I am at a optimal Body fat %...there is nothing left to loose other than lean muscle, and that would be unhealthy. I say that to set a baseline...... Weighing myself everyday, I have noticed how normal it is for my weight to rise and fall within the same 5 lbs...everyday it is something different, can even see it change throughout the day.... IU can be 3 lbs up fro yesterday, then tomorrow I'm down 2, next day up 1, then down 4... I say this because all too often I see people getting upset over 2-3 lbs here and there...IT IS NORMAL....there is NOTHING WRONG..... You have to look at the big picture...believe in the band, live by it's guidance by eating right and differently, and your body will adjust by dropping the weight....

30 days after surgery, had my first fill, which did absolutely nothing.......then I gained weight....and was heavier at my next visit, after a fill, than I was at my previous visit 30 days earlier...because the band was not doing what it was designed to do...not yet anyway...at that point it was still up to me and my own will power...just as it was before the surgery.... 2nd fill, things evened out 50-50....did not gain, and lost very little....still fighting hunger and eating more than I should....3rd fill did the charm for me.....THEN the weight loss began consistently..... All you have is a band installed...but it is not necessarily "Activated"...normally, it takes a few months and a few adjustments to get it working as it should....took me 3-4 months, and 3 fills...some are more, some much less....everyone on the point finds their different "Sweet Spot...Green Zone". Everyone looses on the pre-op diet...that's the point of it...

Well, I am a banded person.....little different than the others.... However, I did have this discussion with my Dr....about reaching goals...and his response was "Whose Goal?" "Your Body will stop when it is ready to stop" In other words, I was Obese because I lived a very bad lifestyle..primarily eating...how much, how often, and the trash I would eat... NOW...I have adapted a new lifestyle...eat considerably less, and make good food choices... If living a bad lifestyle added my weight and body fat, then living a healthy lifestyle will only lead in the opposite direction...and eventually level out...reach equilibrium.... And that is exactly what has happened...I continued my new lifestyle, and I continued to loose weight and body fat way beyond my expectations, and it has settled out in a healthy, normal range....that was 2 years ago... I have continued living that lifestyle, and I have not gained, nor lost any weight in at least 2 years...and my new eating habits and exercise routine has not changed either...and I do not expect them to if I can help it...

Lets face it...it's called a "WORK" Out....if it was easy, then what's the point? It's hard for everybody....when I look around at the gym, everyone is sweating... But it can be rewarding, small at first, but rewarding just the same...and that's the addiction.... There are days I wish I did not have to go to work...and the same voice is telling me to call in sick....but then, if I don't work, who's going to pay the mortgage? And if I didn't pay the Mortgage, I would not have a nice home...so there are rewards to everything we do, but it requires some effort.... Or, we can sit on the sofa in front of the TV and hope it all happens magically....maybe someone can do it for us...