cheryl2586

I also think your topic is a conflict. There is always a chance of complications with any surgery. Not just weight loss surgery. The band has about a 1% complication rate. You can have a toe operated on and end up with blood clots or pneumonia or God forbid death. There are many successful people who have had the lapband up to 10 years on this forum.

I don't believe that any foods are off limits except the high fat, high carb, full of sugar foods. I have eaten prime rib with no issues. I can eat most foods but some days they just don't work for me. It's really a trial and error thing for all of us. I can eat rice I just choose not too. I have eaten Pasta but don't make a habit of it. I find that good cuts of meat are better but mostly they don't work for me so I eat other things like tofu, Beans, cottage cheese, greek yogurt and other high Protein things. It's really what you can tolerate not so much what is a no no. Just be cautious when trying new things.

Getting a fill will not compromise your milk supply. The more you breast feed the more milk you will make. The amount of times you feed your baby believe it or not your breast know how much your baby needs.

I went a whole year with no fills and lost 70lbs. If you are consistently losing then I say wait it out. Some people cant deal with hunger but I welcome it because I never allowed my self to feel hungry. Some people never get help with hunger from the band and some do. I am only at 3cc's in my band and I am fine. It's really more about the portions and choices that help with the weight loss. I can eat ice cream all day long with my band and at proper restriction but then I would not be healthy.

If you want the gas to go, get some fruit punch and apple juice mix together and put in the microwave and heat it then drop a tea bag in it and let it sit for a minute it will help very much with the gas.

Get rid of the junk food in your house. You are treating your child with food for a good deed he has done. Just like us you shouldn't be rewarding him with food. Reward him with hugs. This is just the start of him developing bad eating habits and not helping you get healthy either. There are other rewards he can get besides candy or junk food. Start him with good food habits now so he wont regret later that he was not taught better.

I agree with cutting back on the calories. If you are eating less your body has no choice but to burn the fat. Try to not eat carbs for about a week and stick to Protein you should start losing again.

If you are vomiting everyday your band could be slipped. You need to call your surgeon because this could be a complication. I wouldn't wait any longer especially if you are breast feeding.

Four pounds in 30 days is 1 pound a week. That is the normal with the band. Sometimes you may lose more or less but yes what you have lost is normal.

If you are discouraged with your weight loss then yes you are comparing yourself to what others have lost because you think you should have lost more. It will come just be patient. Right now focus on just what you are doing and stay off the scale. There are many reasons why you may not be losing. Are you retaining Water, are you moving your bowels daily, are you sleeping at least 8 hours every night, are you stressing over not losing what you think you should, are you drinking 64 ounces of water every single day, because all these things will hold on to your weight. I am not being rude or smart but telling you the truth. The band works, give it time you are only a month post op. It's not a race to see who will lose it the fastest. This journey there will be many stalls of no weight loss and I can assure you that for the most part many of us have been in slow weight loss for months before it would go faster. Hang in there you will get there.

This is the time you have to be strong. It will work I can assure you it does. 4lbs in a month is great. You do not want to lose weight at a high rate of speed because when you get to goal weight guess what will happen? You will start gaining it back. The slower the loss the longer you will keep it off. My first 70lbs came off in six months and then I was at no weight loss for a year. I never gave up. I would have then been happy with 4lbs at all. You all knew this coming in and you are comparing your weight loss to what others have. Its not reality to lose weight fast with the band. You main focus should be Protein you said your eating four ounces but of what. Your meals at this point should be just protein and maybe a few carbs but veggies not anything else. If you think that anything is okay to eat because you are watching portions I can assure you that during weight loss your main meals should be protein. When your breath smells you are in ketosis and burning fat. What are you all eating anyway. You say your eating four ounces but it is what that could be making you not lose weight.

That is the best part of the lap band because you can always get back on track. We all go through crap and it is easy to gain when you are depressed. After all we for the most part as women are emotional eaters. You will get back where you want to be one day at a time.

I always thought of my band as the house and I needed to be the interior decorator. Filling my body full of nutritious foods. There are things that my band has taught me about life and one would not think that but it has. So what has my band taught me? To have patience and plenty of it because no matter what you think if you don't have patience with your weight loss then you will give up and fail. To love myself. Yes and I say that TO LOVE OURSELVES. I would have to think that most of us if not all of us did not love ourselves because we loved food more. I love myself enough to know now that I was poisoning my body for years with disgusting fatty, sugary foods that made my life hell. To be a better person because I had an opportunity to get what I needed that some will never get and to understand that this issue with food is more then just my issue and to never put anyone down because of it but to help them learn the right way of living. To know that I don't need a million pounds of food to live but that my body runs efficiently off of what I give it and I don't need more. Sometimes it could be less lol but there is always those ice cream moments. That failure is only an option if I decide to fail. No one is to blame if I don't make this work but me. That being thinner does not make my husband or family or friends love me more. If they can't except you fat they really can't except you thin. Love is unconditional as it always should be. That I did not do this for anyone except my self. I did not lose weight because my husband thought I was too fat and he never thought I was too fat I did. Nor did I lose weight because people said I should. I did it because I wanted to and no one influenced my decision to have surgery or to not have it. That I have way more will power then I thought I ever could and that is the truth because there is always temptation for all of us food lovers and mine is sugar. These are just the tip of the ice burg but they are some good lessons I have learned. I never thought this was easy from the beginning and its not four years later because maintaining is harder then losing it was. But now I control where my future rest and its up to me to see that I get there come hell or high water. What has your band taught you?

These are some really good life lessons. I am sure there is a ton more but the point was on target. So many of us had not life, ate like crap and sometimes I do on occasion but it doesn't have to be an every day occurrence now.

Unless you are getting married to him he doesn't have to know until that time. You don't have to explain why you are not drinking coffee or not eating. It s a first date and you don't know if it will get serious. You need him to like you for you right now if you want it to be serious at some point. I would not tell him until farther down the road and you know it is going to be something serious.

Why don't you buy some already made protein drinks like EAS. If you can drink ice coffee I am sure you can like them. You have to find some way to get protein shakes in. Try them because if you don't get enough protein you will not lose weight.

Thank you all it is perseverance and doing what is right to get to your goal.

I don't think 10 bites of food are equivalent to the amount you are supposed to eat. Why are you measuring by bites and not by a cup.

Now is the time you should be measuring your food and keep measuring it until you can safely measure out a cup of food without anything. That is the only way to ensure you do not over eat. If you are eating more then you should then that is why you should measure your food. As far as losing weight some people do and some don't but if you are eating solid foods and mainly proteins you should still be losing. When going for a fill, it is best to go on an empty stomach but I would call the doctor and ask what they want you to do. You most certainly can walk even if your lifting is restricted. That will also help with weight loss.

The pouch was made to hold two to four ounces of food and 4 ounces is a half cup. Some eat a cup but unless you are eating super slow for the food to move then 8 ounces would be too much if your band is tight. You may stretch your pouch. My surgeon told me after a year you should be able to eat a small frozen meal such as the Michelina's which is about 6 ounces of food. Not that I would eat that but that is the portion size he said we could eat. I often think and this is only my opinion that when people go over a cup of food or even have a cup of food especially when they have restriction that it will cause pouch stretching. Every doctor is different and as far as the Breakfast question my surgeon also told me if your not hungry then don't eat. This is just my opinion and from what I have taught. What your surgeon says may not be the same as mine.

http://shop.fit-fresh.com/Fit-Healthy-Body-Measure-Pedometer/dp/B00F3J9GA8?utm_source=Media&utm_medium=SparkPeople&utm_term=106KIT2&c1=Media&source=SparkPeople&kw=106KIT2Overlay This may help you with portion control during your first months of being banded.

You have to force yourself to do things you don't want to do. Just do it you will be glad that you did.

At this point you want to try to stay away from carbs of Pasta, rice or bread. This will help get rid of any carb cravings. Make sure whatever you eat is Protein based first. Then add veggies. It takes a while but you will get used to it. Do not use fat free mayo because one it is sickening and your body does need some good fats to function. I use helmans made with olive oil. I would stay away from the mac and cheese and also canned Soups are loaded with sodium which will make you retain Water. Make your own soup so you can control the amount of sodium that is in it. Beans are okay but they are also a lot of carbs. At this point in your journey your main focus should be on getting the protein in. It will make your fat melt quickly. Make a chopped steak and eat it. Red meat is the winner for fast weight loss and eat it now while you are not so tight. Seriously though right now you are learning and starchy carbs should be last on your list. Hope this helps.