mybella

i named my band Bella for small Belly. It also means beautiful in Italian.

I was banded aug 6th and i have only have 1 fill but I have made a rule to not go over 1 cup of food. If I am eating a piece of Protein, I weigh it so if I eat 5oz of protein, I will eat 3oz of protein. If it is a Soup like chilli I measure it in a cup. I know I can eat more, but am still surprised that 1 cup holds me for 4+ hours, so that is when I know the band is working. Since my fill on Sept 17th, I have loss 8 pounds and since my surgery on Aug 6th, I have loss 21 pounds and since May 22nd, I have lost 47lbs. You can lose with 1 cup as long as most of that meal is protein and Fiber. I eat no carbs off of my plate. Carbs make me hungry. Hope this helps.

You are healing, you are only a few days from surgery. You need nausea meds at this point. Please call your doctor.

We all have second thoughts. Once you go through the pre opt and post op you will be glad you did it. I met a woman who had the second thought and I kept encouraging her and now she is 30 pounds down and is so happy she did. She is on her post liquid diet and she is amazed that she is not hungry. I think of this tool as a appetite suppresant which is better than the drugs and over the counter pills. You still have to eat like you are on a diet, but it is healthy foods and high protien. I started on May 22nd and now I am 44lbs down. Just do it and you will be happy to see your dieting will go further than the 40 pounds and will be easier to keep it off.

I was banded Aug 6th, and got my fill Sept 18th. I was eating 1 cup before my fill and was hungry 1.5 weeks before my fill. After my fill, I am still eating 1 cup, and loss 4 pounds and I am not hungry between meals Not sure I am getting another fill on Oct 17th, if I am not hungry and still losing. I do not feel restriction, but it is a tool and it is up to you to not over eat. Not being hungry between meals is the key and it means the band is working. So once you get your first fill, don't think you will feel restriction, but know the key to the band is to not be hungry between meals. I can go 4-5 hours before I feel hungry. Hope this helps, but this is my experience, just make sure your meals have at least 5oz of protein and 3oz of fiber. I do not eat any breads or carbs only carbs in foods I am eating.

So sorry, so much to go through, they did not test for gallbladder before your banding surgery?

I had my first fill and my surgery was August 6th. I got 2cc and I am on liquids for 3 days. I have had 1 shake and onion soup broth and a cup of coffee with sugar free coffeemate and 6 glasses water so far. I feel fine as well.

I had cream of wheat and oatmeal on my meal plan after surgery and my surgeon caught the error and said carb items are not allowed on the liquid diet because it swells in your pouch and will cause disconfort. I would discontinue that and just stick with the shakes because the shakes alone will make you feel stuff so the cream of wheat will only make you feel worse. Worth a try. You don't want to stretch your pouch. You could always do a sugar free popsicles.

Was banded 8/6, i may be able to give you your journey, but everyone's experiences are different. I get my fill today.

I have eaten very lean steak (blade steak), medium cooked and it goes down easily, haven done porkchops. Slow cooker is good for pork chops becaue I have done it before and they are very tender and moist. I have been on this Chilli kick with kidney beans(you can use any Beans you like) ground turkey, stewed and regular tomatoe and a fast way to do this is with McCormick original chile seasoning pack, i double the recipe and it is fast and very good, high in Fiber, high in Protein and I ate it at lunch 1 cup, and dinner most days for a 1 week and loss 4 pounds that week. Just made more chili last night, and will freeze 1/2 of it. I get my fill this morning and I am mad becaue I will have to wait 4 days to eat it. lol

I know the scary feeling of "hitting the diet wall" does not leave you during this journey. I assume when you say slump you mean the scale not moving. I would say go back to the basics. The only way to examine what is going on is to journal your intake each day. I use to use a spreadsheet, but got my information from caloriecount.about.com website which gives you all the food brands and easy to calculate your intake and then I paste the information in the spreadsheet. Last week, I started using myfitnesspal.com and that does the same, but has more foods and restaurant information. It also has a phone app so you can scan or just enter your food intake. Myfitnesspal prints each day, so I will start doing that because it has all the information I need to show my nutritionist. Everyone is doing this, and it is a way to make changes. You will have to weight your food and measure. If it is a Protein, I weigh and if it is not a solid i measure. I loss 6.5 since Aug 31 at my last doctor's visit eating 1 cup per meal not eating between meal, have no saline in my band, will get my first fill on the 19th, relying on high protein, high Fiber, Water, tea and coffee with sugar free coffeemate. Since surgery, on Aug 6th which is about 7 weeks, I've loss 12.9 pounds. Protein has gotten me this far, but in the last week, I have been needing to snack, but I only snack on salad, spicy cabbage,babybel cheese pieces, greek yogurt etc. only high fiber and high protein Snacks. I drink at least 12 glasses of water to keep myself from being hungry mostly crystal light peach tea and I sometimes heat that up for a tea to add more water. Example of what I eat in a day, Breakfast-1 egg, 1 6oz greek yogurt (non fat), with fruit that is about 1cup, that gives me 21 grams of protein. I start my day with high protein even if it means doing a shake and a yogurt. lunch, 1 cup turkey chilli home made, dinner, 5-6oz of steak and 2 oz of spicy cabbage (high fiber) or salad with low fat dressing. It is great you are working out, but if you are doing weight s you will lose inches which is great. I only walk about 30 mins per day. My nutri said the least amount you should exercise is 152 mins per week of exercise which equal about 20 mins per day. I do not eat any carbs unless it is in my daily fruit, dairy, Beans etc. Other carbs make me hungry. I hope this helped and if you want to continue a buddy system write me a private message and we can do a private chat or chat in the chatroom. Hope this helps

I feel the same way when I look at 1 cup of food. If I am having Protein, I weigh the protein andit i eat 6oz then i put 2oz in a cup or weigh 2 oz depending on what it is. A steak of 5 oz even looks big.

Try to pay attention to what you are eating, maybe you get full faster on certain foods. Maybe the swelling has gone done.

I agree, there is not a stuff feeling, i just eat 1 cup with mostly protein and wait my 30 mins and wait and am not hungry for 4+hours, I recently started feeling hungry last week and snack between lunch and dinner which is about 6hour apart. So now i am not having the longevity with the non hunger. my dr. told me when I get my first fill, I will be lucky if I can eat 1/2 cup of food. So everyone is different. I was banded Aug 6th, and i have been able to go a long time between meals. I will be getting my first fill on the 19th.

it would be easier to go to "fitnesspal.com or caloriecount.about.com", and check out the veggies and look at the items you need to stay away from once/if you are banded.