Rachel412

Honestly if I were you, I'd go back for a teeny unfill.

Hi, welcome to the forum! The answers to all of your questions are already posted on this board Check out here first: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/forum/2493-lap-band-general-information/ and then start looking in the more posted in forums for people's personal experiences. I wish you good luck!

You're not sounding dense No, the problem right now is your body is tricked into thinking you need to eat MORE than you do. Our stomachs hold what, 6 cups of food at once? That is a MASSIVE amount of food and it's easy for us to get used to that quantity and think we NEED it. We don't. So while the band helps your brain to think you're "full", in reality you'll be eating much closer to the amount of food your body needs instead of just eating to fill up that stomach.

I don't think it's typical for a 350 pound bandster to eat 1,200 calories and exercise and hour a day, no Remember you're burning calories all the time, even when you're asleep, so you really don't need to try to figure out the math of how much you need to work out to burn off 1,200 a day. Maybe Reverie will chime in, she's really smart with all this exercise and calorie burning stuff, but I plugged your weight into a calorie calculator and added in some fake numbers (age and height). To maintain a weight of 350 you'd need to eat 2,578 calories a day with no exercise. If you go to 2,000 calories a day you will lose about one pound a week. Here's the calculator: have fun! http://nutrition.about.com/library/bl_nutrition_guide.htm My point here is not at all that you don't need to exercise, because of course you do. I'm just saying that if you're eating 1,200 calories at your current weight, you can exercise 30 minutes a day and lose well. You don't need to stress over it!

You'll be naked under your gown, but they're not going to get anywhere near the danger zone. I didn't bother trimming... maybe I should have... but I think you're safe!

After surgery I was probably taking in 600 calories, then it went up to 800, then 1000 as what I was allowed to eat changed... now I choose to stick to around 1,200 a day, with at LEAST 60g of protein, but in reality I could eat much, much more than 1,200 calories if I let myself People argue back and forth about this, but my band does NOT keep me from over-eating. I could get that satisfied feeling but then continue to eat just as much as before if I didn't control myself. So in my opinion you don't need to worry yourself over whether you'll be malnourished after banding. YOU control what you put in your mouth, therefore you're completely in control of your own diet.

Thanks for all the stories and support, ladies! My class starts Monday. At this point I'm in a pretty good groove of exercising 4 or 5 days a week, and my kids are used to the child watch at the Y so I'm now really looking forward to trying out water aerobics. Now all I need to do is learn the pass code to enter the women's locker room

Have you had bloodwork done? I'm wondering about your vitamin D and iron levels.

I don't have any advice, I just want to offer you some support! You said you can't get another band, have you looked into revision to a different surgery?

I had a hard time sleeping for the first couple of weeks. It wasn't because I was in pain or uncomfortable, I just couldn't sleep. I tried taking Melatonin, and Benadryl, but nothing seemed to really help until it just sort of... stopped.

No, not in the least. Those pills are TINY and if you couldn't swallow them, it'd mean your stoma was almost completely closed. That would be a VERY bad sign.

I use Splenda. I'm also sensitive to the taste of sweeteners but within a day Splenda tasted normal to me. All of the stevia, truvia, sun crystals, etc all tasted like aspartame to me!

No, I've never been stuck, though I've had some "ouch, should have chewed that better" moments. My standard lunch is a wrap made with 1 low carb wrap, 2 slices cheese, 2 slices turkey, and 1/4 c. of almonds.

If you're not taking care of anyone else, or any pets that need a lot of care, that sounds just fine!

Honestly? 10 minutes.

It's really important to know the good AND the bad so that you're aware of what might happen for you. Keep your mind and your eyes open!

Oh Jeannette, I'm so sorry My theory is that after the big loss post-surgery, your body panics and holds on to weight for a while. I just think of it as your body yelling I HAVE NO CLUE WHAT'S HAPPENING and then internally crossing her arms and stomping her feet. It WILL start up again, it sounds like you're doing everything right! Make sure you're getting enough Water in your day, and you might even want to up your fat intake a bit. Hang in there!

Good question! I think even at most fast-food places you'll find salads with grilled chicken on top. I'd always get them with dressing on the side, so you can control it yourself, and eat your chicken first. Unless you can't eat chicken? You can also always get a burger and not eat the bun, and get coleslaw as a side instead of fries. I can find a healthy option pretty much anywhere, except Popeye's Chicken

I am quire firmly in CheckYes's camp on this one. I count myself lucky that I was properly educated before surgery. Seems to me like many surgeons tell patients this is a magic bullet to weight loss- I would be disappointed and bitter and rude and MAD if I was told that and it wasn't true! I agree that everyone should do their research before getting banded, but we're so hard-wired to trust anything a doctor says...

Claudia, do you read any blogs? I read one blog where the bandster is also doing NutriSystem. You should leave her a comment- I bet you two could be a big help to eachother! http://justmedrazil.blogspot.com/2011/06/more-nutrisystem-infoand-little-shoetat.html

Welcome to the other side, and I'm glad you're feeling well!

Popcorn is delicious, no doubt, but I'm not sure it's very filling, and depending on what you're putting ON the popcorn it's not necessarily low cal... also I haven't had it since i was banded because I read a horror story about someone getting a kernel lodged in their stoma or something like that. You really need some lean, dense Protein for dinner! How about starting with 4 oz. of chicken and then eating a cup of popcorn? You can still have it, you just need other food too.

Sounds like you're doing great Jacob, congrats!

That is CRAZY. 5 spoons of yogurt, maybe 1/2 cup of broth and 4 spoons of pudding? And she says if there are any lumps in the soup it's "hard to get down"? I wonder how she's doing now. I really hope she's had an unfill.

I'm sorry I definitely think it's too early to consider this a failure- I'm where you are, about to get fill #3, and I'm not feeling restriction either, so anything I've lost has been due to controlling what i put in my mouth. You just need to hang in there! And I'd ask your doctor if you can get fills closer together- my doctor allows fills every 2 weeks until you get to a good point.