Meduseld

Totally get it. If anything, I gain weight, and it takes about a week for it to come back off. It's mainly water weight, and the best thing you can do to get rid of it is keep your diet and drink, drink, drink. My problem is during my period, I get massive cravings and it's almost like the "full receptors" in my stomach turn off. I can eat and eat and eat and never feel satisfied. It's real hard to maintain during that.

I have actually told pretty much everybody that cares about me. I'm not running, screaming it down the streets, but a lot of people know. I figured that they were gonna ask, and I wasn't gonna lie. And truthfully, if they can't handle it and think I'm a "cheater", then they definitely don't know me. Most everybody knows I struggled with my weight my whole life, and they all love hearing about how I'm doing on Facebook and such. Everybody that I know is incredibly supportive and a lot of people have even asked about it themselves. This lap band is now a big part of who I am, or at least my lifestyle, and people need to learn to accept it. If they think badly of me for it, it's their loss!

It is pretty crazy. Some doctors are more conservative on the fills, while mine is more aggressive. My doctor suggests, for after a fill, eating liquids for the rest of the day (of the appointment) and then the day after. Then, slowly move back up to solids. He's basically told me to move as tolerated while other doctors are REALLY strict on the regime.

UPDATE: I had an appointment with my surgeon yesterday, and I know why I'm eating a cup of food. They hooked me up to a machine, made me drink some contrast, and used an x-ray thing to literally watch what I drank go through the band. Turns out, I didn't have enough restriction. I was losing the feeling of "fullness" and now I know why. The doctor literally watched the contrast practically go right through the bad without being stopped even a little. Turns out, when I was eating, all my food was going just right through the band with almost nothing holding it up, so it was pretty much like nothing was there. I just stopped myself at one cup through will, not because I was satisfied. So, with the help of the x-ray, my surgeon filled me up a little more and now I'm doing great! Still eating more than half a cup, but not nearly as much as I was. Just thought I'd let everyone know.

It's not that you shouldn't try it because you can't mash it with a fork. I actually haven't heard that. My soft food diet consists of ground meats and all kinds of other stuff you can't necessarily crush with a fork. I wouldn't try it because it's very "bready" and you might have trouble not getting it caught. I would avoid breads at all costs for a while, just to be safe. Good luck!

Hi guys! I normally don't post much, but I follow the posts all the time! Today I have a question, though. I had the lap band on April 25th, and since my second fill, I have actually been losing about a pound a day. Yeah! Really! I normally would not weigh myself every morning, but since this has been happening, I have been so excited to weigh myself and it makes me practically cry every morning when I look down and I weigh less than the day before. However, I'm noticing that my band seems a bit different than a lot of others. I'm able to eat more than half a cup of food. I can eat about a cup. I'm pretty sure that I'm not stretching my band and I stop when I'm satisfied, but is this normal? I mean, I'm losing weight rapidly, but everywhere I go I hear stories of "half a cup", and that's just not the case with me. I am a younger lap band patient. I'm only 18. Could that have something to do with it? I have absolutely no idea. Thank you all! Elizabeth

I always try to control how much. That was my demon beforehand, and it's becoming my demon again now. The relief I felt when I could only eat 4 bites and feel like I ate a whole meal was so great I can't even describe it. I try to only eat three meals today. Like right now, it was Mother's Day and I loaded my plate (not intentionally. It's a lot of ribs they give you.) with Protein filled things and only ended up eating the ribs. I was still kinda hungry, but stopped myself and took the rest home to munch on tomorrow. The rest was Beans (not the sweet kind) and cole slaw as opposed to macaroni and potato salad that I normally would have gotten. So I consider tonight a small victory. size10again- Yes. I have started walking my dog early in the morning before school. My dogs losing weight with it too. Ha!

Hey, I totally feel you. I had a triple patty Wendy's burger with a large fries and a milkshake as a last meal. I never had the triple...ever, until that day. You will be able to eat pizza again, I'm sure. Just with small bites and chewing well. It totally sucks and I completely understand, but know it's for a good reason and keep that goal in mind. The point of the surgery is to be able to eat normal food, not protein shakes (which I am SICK of) and cottage cheese for the rest of my life.

Thank you so much for the advice! I was getting so frustrated and just about to burst into tears every time I ate. This makes me feel so much better!

Thank you so much. You got your surgery in DFW? I'm from there and had it two days before you. Where did you get it done?

<br /><br /><br /> Thank you SO much. It's good to be reassured that I'm normal and not a freak for tolerating all this stuff.

Hi everyone! My name's Elizabeth and I was banded on April 25. I am a little bit different from most though, because I am barely 18 years old and did it as soon as I could. My mom got a sleeve a few years ago and lost 190 pounds and I watched how wonderful she felt and wanted it for myself. However, my progression has been atypical. For the first three days, it sucked. I was down and couldn't eat anything except liquids in small amounts. Then, though, after about five days, everything changed. I was perfectly fine and started dabbling with thicker foods and handled them perfectly. I couldn't wait for the soft solid stage! I was so tired of Cream of chicken Soup. My mom called the nurse practitioner at my doctor's office and asked if I could move on because I am handling it so well and she told me to "move as tolerated." Well, it's been about two weeks and I can eat and handle anything fine, and that's a problem. When I first started, I could BARELY hold half a cup in my band if I was lucky! Now the swelling has gone down, and I can handle SO MUCH more and I am legitimately hungry all the time. I have learned to recognize when I am legitimately hungry and when I am not. My food choices are still good, though. I'm not eating as MUCH as I would have had I not had the surgery, so don't worry. It's way less than that, but way more than I should be able to handle. I healed really really fast, and now I'm frustrated. I ate my dinner last night and broke into tears in front of my mom and tearing up now. I lost about 17 pounds since the start of this whole thing about three weeks ago and gained a little back. I REALLY don't think it's because of my eating habits. The doctor said that weight loss is ridiculous and I may spring back a little because it was so fast. But I don't want to gain it back! I worked SO HARD and was SO diligent with my dieting and everything! It's just that I healed way faster than expected. My first fill date is May 26. It's two weeks out and I feel as if nothing has been done at all. I can eat a decent sized meal. Is this normal? Does this change when the band is filled? Is this just because the band is not filled, is just sitting there, and the swelling has gone down? Please help me. It's stressing me out and I don't want to have to struggle like this for the rest of my life with this band! It seems like it's not working!