i (used to) love candy

I'm a Lap-Band WLS post-op. Sounds a bit like AA. Obesity is a disease, and fighting it is a life-long fight, that will never go away for me. Not only do I have a Lap-Band, but I’ve done more Lap-Band WLS procedures than anyone in the world. I started doing them in Brisbane, Australia in 1996, and still do them, every week, at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York, where I’ve worked the last 10 years. I perform all of the other bariatric operations and a lot of revision surgery, but I still love doing the Lap-Band, because it’s safe, and it works.
I’ve had my own Lap-Band for 16 years. I’ve lost 120 lbs and kept it off. I was on 12 medications for obesity-related diseases and am now on three-one BP med, aspirin, and a Statin, which is sensible for anyone my age, 59. I weigh less than I did when I was 16 and playing high school rugby.
So, what have I learned from all this? Here are a few insights and tips that I’ve accrued over the years.



13 Things To Know About Living With the Lap-Band


1. Lap-Band and Other WLS Procedures. The Lap-Band can work as well as any bariatric operation, if it’s done right, and managed properly. It is by no means a lesser operation. It does, however, need you and your surgeon to work, and keep working.
2. Follow-up With Your Surgeon. It’s a two-way street. You have had your Lap-Band placed, which is usually a gentle, safe surgery that takes about 30 minutes, as a same day procedure. After surgery, you have to come regularly to have it adjusted, and your surgeon has to listen to you. I encourage my patients to come in for an appointment once a month for about 18 months, and in that time, they will normally get seven to eight adjustments. After that, it’s usually four times a year for a couple of years, then annually, or whenever the patient needs an adjustment. We have an open door policy for adjustments. Your doctor has to listen to you.
3. Lap-Band and Hunger. The aim of the adjustment is to control hunger. If you tell me you’re more hungry, if you’re eating after dinner at night while you watch TV, if you wake up starving in the morning, then your Lap-Band is loose. You don’t need to see a dietician, you don’t need to go to the gym, and you don’t need to change your diet. You need your band tightened a little.
4. What the Lap-Band Does. Having a Lap-Band is not about restricting yourself or not eating. It’s about eating a lot less, feeling satisfied, and not being hungry after you eat. The aim of a Lap-Band adjustment is to reduce hunger, to reduce the urge to eat, and secondarily, to allow you to get full and satisfied quicker. When your Band is doing this, it’s quite tight.
5. First Law of the Lap-Band. Which brings us to the first law of living with a Lap-Band. Like Newton’s first law, it’s absolute, and it’s true...you can’t live with a tight, well-adjusted band as if you don’t have one. It will beat you every time. Every. Single. Time.
6. How to Eat With a Lap-Band. With a Lap-Band, you have to eat slower than you ever thought. It takes about 20 seconds for the esophagus to push a piece of food into the stomach. You have to eat at that rate, or food will get stuck, it will hurt, and you will have an uncontrollable reflex to vomit, to get that stuck piece of food out. I am lucky enough to be married to a great woman, Chris Ren, the Chief of Bariatric Surgery at NYU Langone Medical Center. She’s a size 6 on a bad day. She doesn't eat much. Lucky her. With my Lap-Band, I eat about the same, or a little less than Chris. If I eat quicker than her, food gets stuck. For certain. Every time. So, mostly I don’t. If I’m excited, say watching the Giants beat the Cowboys, and I forget and gulp a couple of bites of my dinner, she rolls her eyes at me. I shrug, say It’s Eli, baby, and go to the bathroom. It’s how it is, and how it always will be.
7. Eat Slower. I just don’t understand the whole I can’t eat this or that, especially about vegetables and salad. It is always, always, about eating slowly. If you work out the slow eating thing, and you keep your band adjusted, you will not regain weight.
8. Be in the Moment When Eating. The next law of living with the Lap-Band is to be in the moment. If you’re in a nice restaurant with friends, or on a date, have a cocktail and relax. Order food you know you can eat easily - Oysters, Soup, risotto, steak or tuna tartare, flaky fish, salmon, veal, stews. Order Sashimi, not rolls. Try tomatoes, lentils, beets or arugula. Have thin Pasta, not rigatoni or lasagna. Have the pasta a little overcooked, not al dente. Get an 8 oz filet rare, and eat half of it. Don’t eat the bread!! Push food around the plate. Focus on eating slowly. Stop when you’ve had enough. Don’t mind leaving food on the plate (or take the rest home for another meal). Tell your dinner companions, if they ask, that you’re watching what you’re eating. Don’t rush. Have a glass of wine. It will relax you, and your esophagus. Have two if everyone else is. Above all else, enjoy yourself. Make it not about the food, but the experience.
9. The Lap-Band is About Moderation. Don’t obsess about what you choose to eat. Everything in moderation, like our grandmas told us. Skinny girls eat what they want. They just don’t eat a lot of it. I eat less than my wife, but I eat what I feel like eating. Have a scoop of ice cream every now and then. Have a slice of pizza. When did a slice ever hurt anyone? It's when you eat a pint of ice cream or a whole pizza pie that it’s a problem. Let the Lap-Band help you. All it asks of you is that you eat slowly. If it’s adjusted correctly, you’ll only want a slice, not a pie.
10. How to Take a Break. There’s no harm in having a break for a week or two. If you’re going on a trip to Paris, or Tuscany, and you’ve been waiting your whole life to try all the restaurants you’ve read about, and are nervous, loosen it before you go. Relax, enjoy the moment, then come back and get retightened. But make sure you get retightened, or you will regain weight.
11. Keep Your Adjustment. Everyone who empties their Lap-Band so they can eat “healthier” regains weight. A lot of weight. As sure as the sun rises in the morning. You can eat as healthy as you want if you eat slowly.
12. Eat According to Your Band and Time of Day. The power of the Lap-Band varies by time of day. It’s because the esophagus’s ability to push food is weaker in the morning. Have a cup of coffee, a little yogurt, a soft boiled egg, slowly. It’s looser at night because the esophagus is pumping strongly. Adjust your Lap-Band to deal with the evenings, so you're not hungry after dinner, then adapt to having less in the morning. Emotions affect your Band. It’s the stress hormones affecting your esophagus. If you’re overtired, angry, sad about something or just plain frazzled, stop for a bit before you eat. Sit down, calm down, then eat your meal slowly. Put your knife and fork down between bites. Put the sandwich down between bites. Go slow. Wait until you’ve calmed down.
13. Stay Connected to Your Surgeon. The final thing I’ve learned is to stay in touch with your doctor. If you start getting hungry again, get a fill. Don’t be embarrassed that you haven’t been for a year or two. If you’re getting hungry, if you’re gaining weight, go back.
The Lap-Band works. You can’t live with a Lap-Band WLS as if you don’t have it!

I have been struggling the past two weeks with listening to my body and succumbing to head hunger. Just came back from Disney and was sooo... Excited that I did not have any episodes of getting stuck or making really poor choices. I was not perfect and had a few bites of Desserts but overall came back and had not gained. The problem has been since I have been home. Craving salty, crunchy foods, not being able to sleep because I feel hungry ( which results in a snack) and eating too fast or too much ( and that is never good) resulting in vomiting.

i was banded 12/11/12 and have been doing ok. I spent last month playing with the same two pounds...ugh. Had my 3rd fill this past Monday. Spent the day shopping today with my daughter. She convinced me to try a black eyelet lace dress on so I grabbed a large and off I went. I started taking it off the hanger and noticed it was a medium but decided to give it a try. Much to my surprise it fit!!!!!!!! My daughter then said to me, "can I get that surgery?" (she is almost 19 and is obese as well). Not sure where to go from here......

Thanks to everyone for your comments etc. I, truly want what is best for her. I will help her in any way I can. I will assist her in any path she takes. I feel responsible in many ways for her weight. I tried to instill a positive relationship with food for both of my kids but they each have issues with food. My son is within a healthy weight range.... I have been obese for as long as I can remember. I know that the desire to get healthy has to be her decision.

Thanks to everyone for your comments etc. I, truly want what is best for her. I will help her in any way I can. I will assist her in any path she takes. I feel responsible in many ways for her weight. I tried to instill a positive relationship with food for both of my kids but they each have issues with food. My son is within a healthy weight range.... I have been obese for as long as I can remember. I know that the desire to get healthy has to be her decision.

i was banded 12/11/12 and have been doing ok. I spent last month playing with the same two pounds...ugh. Had my 3rd fill this past Monday. Spent the day shopping today with my daughter. She convinced me to try a black eyelet lace dress on so I grabbed a large and off I went. I started taking it off the hanger and noticed it was a medium but decided to give it a try. Much to my surprise it fit!!!!!!!! My daughter then said to me, "can I get that surgery?" (she is almost 19 and is obese as well). Not sure where to go from here......

Thanks to everyone for your comments etc. I, truly want what is best for her. I will help her in any way I can. I will assist her in any path she takes. I feel responsible in many ways for her weight. I tried to instill a positive relationship with food for both of my kids but they each have issues with food. My son is within a healthy weight range.... I have been obese for as long as I can remember. I know that the desire to get healthy has to be her decision.

i was banded 12/11/12 and have been doing ok. I spent last month playing with the same two pounds...ugh. Had my 3rd fill this past Monday. Spent the day shopping today with my daughter. She convinced me to try a black eyelet lace dress on so I grabbed a large and off I went. I started taking it off the hanger and noticed it was a medium but decided to give it a try. Much to my surprise it fit!!!!!!!! My daughter then said to me, "can I get that surgery?" (she is almost 19 and is obese as well). Not sure where to go from here......

i was banded 12/11/12 and have been doing ok. I spent last month playing with the same two pounds...ugh. Had my 3rd fill this past Monday. Spent the day shopping today with my daughter. She convinced me to try a black eyelet lace dress on so I grabbed a large and off I went. I started taking it off the hanger and noticed it was a medium but decided to give it a try. Much to my surprise it fit!!!!!!!! My daughter then said to me, "can I get that surgery?" (she is almost 19 and is obese as well). Not sure where to go from here......

i was banded 12/11/12 and have been doing ok. I spent last month playing with the same two pounds...ugh. Had my 3rd fill this past Monday. Spent the day shopping today with my daughter. She convinced me to try a black eyelet lace dress on so I grabbed a large and off I went. I started taking it off the hanger and noticed it was a medium but decided to give it a try. Much to my surprise it fit!!!!!!!! My daughter then said to me, "can I get that surgery?" (she is almost 19 and is obese as well). Not sure where to go from here......

i was banded 12/11/12 and have been doing ok. I spent last month playing with the same two pounds...ugh. Had my 3rd fill this past Monday. Spent the day shopping today with my daughter. She convinced me to try a black eyelet lace dress on so I grabbed a large and off I went. I started taking it off the hanger and noticed it was a medium but decided to give it a try. Much to my surprise it fit!!!!!!!! My daughter then said to me, "can I get that surgery?" (she is almost 19 and is obese as well). Not sure where to go from here......

i was banded 12/11/12 and have been doing ok. I spent last month playing with the same two pounds...ugh. Had my 3rd fill this past Monday. Spent the day shopping today with my daughter. She convinced me to try a black eyelet lace dress on so I grabbed a large and off I went. I started taking it off the hanger and noticed it was a medium but decided to give it a try. Much to my surprise it fit!!!!!!!! My daughter then said to me, "can I get that surgery?" (she is almost 19 and is obese as well). Not sure where to go from here......

i was banded 12/11/12 and have been doing ok. I spent last month playing with the same two pounds...ugh. Had my 3rd fill this past Monday. Spent the day shopping today with my daughter. She convinced me to try a black eyelet lace dress on so I grabbed a large and off I went. I started taking it off the hanger and noticed it was a medium but decided to give it a try. Much to my surprise it fit!!!!!!!! My daughter then said to me, "can I get that surgery?" (she is almost 19 and is obese as well). Not sure where to go from here......

i was banded 12/11/12 and have been doing ok. I spent last month playing with the same two pounds...ugh. Had my 3rd fill this past Monday. Spent the day shopping today with my daughter. She convinced me to try a black eyelet lace dress on so I grabbed a large and off I went. I started taking it off the hanger and noticed it was a medium but decided to give it a try. Much to my surprise it fit!!!!!!!! My daughter then said to me, "can I get that surgery?" (she is almost 19 and is obese as well). Not sure where to go from here......

I am satisfied with my decision so far to wait on the fill. Since I have started actually trying to stop eating when no longer hungry- instead of FULL, I am noticing that I am no longer hungry after a couple of bites. It is so much about how I think mentally than what I feel physically. I have never listened to my body. I have always eaten until really full, almost stuffed. That's why I've been overweight all of my life. food has always been my comfort. Physically hungry or not. It's emotional hunger that the band cannot stop. If you eat even though you are not hungry or keep eating too much when you are no longer hungry, that isn't the band's fault. That's a behavior that I have to work harder to change. I finally decided that if I start to stretch, straighten, and move around because of some discomfort in my chest, THAT'S MY CLUE TO STOP. Duh. I've looked at it as maybe not being at the green zone or not chewing good enough. Either way, it's uncomfortable because my pouch is full. Even if that feeling passes after a few minutes, I need to stop when it first happens. If I can continue doing that, I will be much more successful because that happens within a few bites usually.
The 5 day pouch test is two days of liquids and three days of Proteins. There are lots of websites about it if you google it. It is helpful not only to shrink down the pouch but to get out of the cycle of cravings and eating junk. It can be very helpful, although I haven't made it all 5 days. LOL Slider foods are those foods that you really don't need to chew and they slide right through the band, allowing you to eat more. For example mashed potatoes, ice cream, pudding, etc. So, the good thing is that we can start over with the band. If we screwed up yesterday, do better today. This forum is packed full of success stories. And I have not seen any that were without stuggle or issues along the way. We had to have surgery because we have issues with food. It was nice to hope that the band would make all of that disappear and we would be different people because of it. But in reality, we still have to do a lot of work with our thoughts and behaviors. The band is a tool to help us with that, it won't do it alone.

I have been able to feel mine since day one and at first it freaked me out as it was two days post op and feeling rather poorly, really wondering if I had made the right decision. I am happy with my decision however there are some days when I feel totally in control and others when I do not .

Body fortress also makes a chocolate Peanut Butter, available at Walmart. Now that I am on a regular diet, I haven't been drinking the shakes...should I be?

I can't believe that it has been 2 months for me and there are times when I forget it is there! For me the third day post op was the worst...very uncomfortable, very aware of my port...it actually freaked me out a little, having a difficult time sipping liquids...but each day got better and better. Still trying to wrap my head around the life changes, especially as my family asks , "you mean you will have to do that forever?"but no regrets other than I wish I had pursued this earlier. (I had been denied 10 years ago). Oh well, can't look back, only forward. Hang in there!

Thanks for the reply. I am still very new at this:). It is my head that is getting me in trouble.

If you can do some snow removal it will burn calories.

stay warm and healthy!

I also am surrounded by 30". I am south of Boston. Great laundry day.
Stay warm.

I am in the house also and I act like its not there cleaning everything allowing myself to be active by moving and not eat. The Snow in my neighborhood is awful and I am surrounded by food!! I a, here to give support if you need it!!! Summer is Soon Coming!!!

Help! I am snowed in and surrounded by food! It will be a challenge not to blow it. I think I'll make some Decaf tea

Welcome. I am a newbie to this site as well. Post op was not an intimidating as it seemed. I didn't tell anyone at work as I feared the response you got...in all honesty I am learning that this isn't about "them" it is about each of us and our journey. Best of luck.