HmDiiva

Okay, I am also a college student and until this year lived in a sorority house for two years where no one knew I had the lap-band for the last year of living there. I had to deal with their meal plans much the same as you are dealing with..it's so much easier than you think Start off with salad for sure, for supper and for lunch..light dressing or do the dip your fork in the dressing trick. Also, most of these items are not completely BAD for you. Eat the hamburger (no bun) for protein; eat the hot dog (no bun) for protein; pizza is not bad for you as well..but only eat 1 piece with your salad. Omelets and wraps are good for you as well. Think about portion size. It is not necessarily the food that is going to make you gain weight, it will be how you handle your food choices. It's fun to mix and match with the food choices you have. Try to stay away from the asian food, unless it is vegetable based and light sauced. Let yourself have a dessert every once in awhile as well. Be sure to stay away from drinking anything other than Water and skim milk(natural protein), if you truly want maximum weight loss. Juices are loaded with sugar and calories, and diet soda makes you feel hungrier than you are. Honestly, you she be more active now that you live on a campus and walk to your classes. Take the extra effort to do a little more exercise than normal every day and that will help you tremendously. You can do it! This is real life..you have to adjust with your band into real-world situations. You won't always be somewhere where you can choose your preferred healthier options..its about learning to choose from the options you have. The items on your list are NOT unhealthy..you just have to know how to eat the right items in the right proportions. Good luck, you can do it!

Okay, reality check- YOUR DOCTOR SUCKS!. Oh my goodness, I can only believe how you feel. I have a whole family of lap banders...my mom received the procedure first in 2008, I received it last year along with my aunt and my uncle, and then another uncle received it 6 months ago..and let me tell you..we follow NO diet. The whole point of the surgery is to be able to lose weight on your own schedule and time but by doing it slowly and healthily. You have to learn to eat healthier and know how to make healthier decisions about your food. Stop the Atkins diet now! Once you start living with your band and getting your restriction..you are going to need all the calories you can get so your body isn't in starvation mode. Eat what you want and notice how much smaller the portions are that you can handle. You will start to notice that most of the things you used to love to eat, won't even go down anymore. My mom is very stubborn and HATES to diet, she never did even at her heaviest, and that is why she got this surgery so she wouldn't have to diet. My mom lost 140lbs in 2 years just from the band doing what it does best. She never followed a diet and she definitely never exercised (which i do NOT recommend) and she lost her weight basically learning on her own how to live with the band and how it adjusts your lifestyle. Do not be miserable with this, be HAPPY! You are doing something positive for your life and I promise you will never have to live again like you have lived being your heaviest. Stop the dieting, thats why you got the surgery, eat healthier and be conscious about your food choices. If you'd like a better Dr. move to IL my Dr. and all of the nurses that I see for my appointments are great and never discourage me by that horrible word..diet.

I have actually had extreme problems with band swelling over the year that I have been banded. When you are swollen, anything cold will not go down, even if it is liquid. It may slowly go down, but will tend to irritate the swelling and can actually make it worse. Sometimes I even have problems with Water because it tends to be too thick once it mixes with your spit (personal opinion). When I have had the really bad swelling I stick to hot tea and move up to cold tea and no matter how bad my swelling has been, I always have luck with broccoli cheddar Soup if it is really warm. Basically the band can be very tricky and different for everyone. Don't push the limits. Let it do what it wants to do and you follow it's rules. I have been very sick from trying to test what I could and couldn't eat when I knew I was swollen..mainly because I was starving and sick of not being able to eat. Just because you can't eat what you would like to eat, you have to adjust and take in what you can.

I never really followed this rule because I really didn't think there was too much of a point to the 30-meal-30 rule. I am going to drink when I'm thirsty, right? I have had my band for about a year now and I am pretty tight, and have been with a fill I have had for about 4 months now. Honestly my advice is that you can never get too many liquids so drink as much as you can. I have days when it is impossible for me to hardly swallow my own spit, so I drink whenever I can, whether its 30 minutes before or after I attempt to eat. While I am eating and I feel like something is stuck, I can't drink of course until it goes down so sometimes that can take more or less than 30 minutes. I also will gauge whether or not something is stuck by taking a sip of Water (or whatever I am drinking) and feeling it go down. I don't think this is a major rule to worry about too much...The only way drinking has ever effected my weight loss is because I don't drink enough most of the time.

I have always loved home work out videos and I am an avid user/believer of Jillian Michaels DVD's. I really do see results with them and I get more of a work out with her 20-40 min. workouts than I do when I actually go to the gym and work out on the elliptical and weight machines for a good 2 hours. I really recommend her yoga DVD, No More Trouble Zones, and her Ripped in 30. All you need is 3lb or 5lb weights and a positive attitude

I have done the Wii Zumba..I mean I actually own it! I LOVE IT!! It is so incredible. I get out of breath and sweat my butt off, but I don't even feel like it because the dance moves are fun and it makes you feel so sexy about yourself. I definitely advise you all to get it, haha. I actually do like to go to Zumba aerobic classes as well, but I tend tot have much more fun with the Zumba for Wii.

I have officially had my band for a year and 1 month now, and I had NO idea about this website..how is this possible? I don't think you even know how much help all of you could have been to me through some really tough times with the band!! I am a college Senior..and lovvving life! I have felt like, for the longest time, that I am like the only person to have this surgery that is younger than my mom, who also had it done (no offense, I love my mom, and I love anyone who has had this surgery, but I feel like I am the only one under 40 sometimes..) I have lost around 60lbs in the year since I have gotten the surgery, which compared to some of these other stories I read is chump weight haha. BUT..I am very very pleased with my slow weight loss, and am thinner than I ever was in high school. I do have a problem though, I have come to a stand still in weight loss and I really want to know some simple tricks that any of you had tried that have helped you to see a slight drop in the scale. I stay pretty active, walking to class, going out and dancing, and continuing to be an avid follower of Jilian Micheal's workout DVDs. Sometimes I don't always eat as well as I should, due to good and bad days with the band. By this I mean some days I can eat as normal as I should, and other days it takes all my might to swallow my own spit, . I can't wait to get to know the site and those of you who have taken advantage of this amazing social tool! But..let me in on some of your tricks..it's story time .

Believe me, I know exactly how you feel about that liquid diet. I was miserable, especially because I was still home for the summer, and I got to watch the rest of my family eat food cooked on the grill and from the garden, while I ate my cheese stick and Protein shake, haha. BUT..it is so worth it, so just continue to keep in mind that you are truly doing something worth it. I chewed a lot of gum during that time, because it kept my mind off of how I wasn't eating like anything. ( I suggest double bubble pink lemonade )

Hey guys! I was banded last year, when I was 19, and a college sophomore. I have had my band for a year now, and just now joined this site..weird, right? I feel like I am the ONLY college student out there that has gotten this, but clearly I am not, and I am very excited to talk to some other college students . So...let's talk, haha.