Frederic

I was skeptical too but a little over 2 weeks post op and if I eat when I first realize I'm hungry I can't even finish 1/3rd of a cup before I start to feel full as long as I'm eating slowly.

I started soft foods three days ago (easy to chew only now). I had been losing 2.5 lbs on avg. each day and that seems to have stopped I actually gained a pound yesterday but lost it again this morning so I'm not worried. It's going to take awhile to get used to how little food makes me feel full. I actually feel full after eating about 1/6th of a cup of food the hardest part for me is the feeling I'm wasting food. It's strange having leftovers from what I would have considered a snack before. Tonight I've decided to test my resolve and I'm sitting at a fundraising dinner sipping tea. As I expected I'm more bored than anything else which is why I'm occupying myself with my smart phone.

While everyone is correct that this is probably fluid fluctuation to clarify the band doesn't trigger satiation directly it just allows the food in the pouch to trigger the satiation response before the whole stomach is full. So with the fill you should trigger your metabolic response sooner but the effect of that will take several days to influence your body.

My wife and I have both list weight since getting married so we wear our rings on our middle fingers. I'll probably get it resized when I have to start wearing it on my thumb.

I also have a huge portion of my personal identity tied up in being the big guy (my father overheard a nurse in the maternity ward ask "who gave birth to the cow" while pointing at me). I've decided to help myself adjust to the changes I photograph myself in approximately the same outfit and body position each week (in the same location of my house) and then watch the images in a slideshow on my computer. I'm hoping it will allow me to see and reinforce my progress while also clearly providing my sub-conscious with an affirmation that despite how the image changes it's still the same person.

That doesn't really disprove the scientific research. First of all it's not about what people around us eat it's about how they look approx 85% of the data humans normally use to interpret their environment is visual. When we're around thinner people we "feel" we should be thinner. There are several studies that show what people consider to be a healthy weight is influenced more by the average weight in their surrounding population than by even personal experience. In other words if you ate around overweight people who all have health concerns you start to believe it's normal for the average person to have those health concerns. Second of all your niece is athletic so if her behavior is what you're watching you're just as likely to want to exercise like her as eat like her. Thirdly unless you predominantly hang out with 16 yr old athletes your choosing a single relationship the study reflects aggregate relationships or the total of your peer group not the specific individuals in the group. It's not saying you should only be friends with people smaller than you just that if the majority of your friends are smaller it will be easier to stay smaller personally.

While your on Clear Liquids I'd encourage you to super hydrate. Literally everytime you feel hungry drink 32 oz of Water. Feeling water logged much easier to deal with than hunger for most people. If you still feel hungry after drinking all that water then you'll know it's head hunger and you need to occupy your mind with something creative or at least interactive.

I think this is also a good time to point out the easiest way to lose weight is hang out with skinnier people. Repeatedly studies show that one of the most consistent ways to facilitate weight loss is to simply surround yourself with skinnier people. Subconsciously our perception of normal shifts more based on the people we consider friends than any amount of hard data being presented to a person. If you're around people who don't value health or nutrition in general it will be harder for you to continue to value your own health and eating habits.

The bacteria in your digestive tract have been affected by the surgery and your modified diet so the chemical by products they produce aren't what you're used to. I'd suggest making sure you're getting enough Water and try using your mouthwash a little longer (to reduce the bacteria in and near your mouth not to cover the smell). As your stomach heals and your diet changes it should improve.

That depends on the source of the cravings. Some cravings are a bodies attempt to guide you to a specific chemical compound those cravings usually don't occur if you have a well balanced nutritional profile with a large variety of foods in your diet. Other cravings are psychological triggered by habit or emotion. Those cravings only go away if you take the time to address them mentally through self examination or in more extreme cases counseling or therapy. The band does nothing by itself to address cravings (fast food or otherwise).

I had this problem with my wife right after surgery she kept eating out when normally I would have cooked until I told her she wasn't helping me avoid temptation she was just highlighting the fact a change had occurred rather than letting me adapt to our normal routine. I still get the pleasure of being creative with dinner and making my own meals currently takes less time than eating them since I just started soft food yesterday. As for my friends I'm already planning on inviting them out to eat somewhere where I know I'll be able to order something to establish even though I'm eating differently I still eat. After that if they feel self conscious about what they eat it will be their issue but I've been more health conscious about what I eat for years so I doubt it will bother them at all.

I started soft foods last night with some twice baked mashed potatoes. It was good. I was pleasantly surprised how full I felt after taking 20 minutes to eat a half cup. Today I brought 3.5 oz of egg salad to work which I'll have if I get hungry. The biggest problem I'm having is now that so many more options are available I find myself wanting to try everything to see how my stomach responds. I'm not even hungry just curious. Luckily I gained a lb this morning (I'm sure it's from digesting the food differently) but it was enough of a solid reminder that I need to adjust to the changes slowly. More specifically can eat still doesn't mean should eat.

When I started losing weight 2 years ago my goal was to get to my fighting weight of 325. Less than 4 lbs to go. Since I lost most of that before the band I set a few other goals I want to stop snoring (which would mean no C-PAP). If I can get to 225 I'd weight what I did in Jr. High but I'm guessing my adult frame will hold that weight much better. My maintenance goal is either 185 which would give me a "normal" BMI or a 38" waist. Accomplishing either (or both) of those goals would mean I've cut the likelihood of death by cardiac arrest by over a third (and probably eliminated my hypertension and Diabetes in the process). My emotional goals include being hit upon by exotic strangers (who aren't influenced by my rapier wit and modesty) and being able to buy a full set of clothes in a store rather than having to order everything on the Internet.

I think the best part of the pre-op diet is it gets your head in the right place for the 8 weeks of post-op diet. Take this time to learn the difference between your head hunger and your stomach hunger. You really need to find a hobby. You want something that engages your mind and requires focus so you don't think about eating.

The biggest dangers of alcohol are the empty calories and the likelihood excessive drinking can lead to other things like over eating and vomiting. Once your all healed up if you were able to stop yourself at 1 drink when drinking socially before the surgery talk to your surgeon but you should be able to do the same. Wine is a good suggestion but so is scotch. No one thinks anything of a person sipping a glass of Scotch for hours on end. Most expensive hard liquors have complex flavor notes that allow you to enjoy them slowly (except vodka since the better it is the more it tastes like water). The carbonation in beer means extra complications and the additional calories in cocktails (as well as the fact their designed to hide how drunk your getting) make them a poor choice generally.

I'm hoping to avoid the loose skin with lots of exercise but since I have so much still to loose I studied up on the loose skin problem. Your skin is an organ it will adjust with time but it may not adjust at the rate you'd like. You can look into plastic surgery; some insurance will even provide coverage with weightloss but you should wait until your weight is stable unless you start developing skin ulcers or other skin problems. In the meantime try to build up the muscle underneath with weight training. Also keep in mind if you were heavy a long time you probably had a lot of your self image connected to that weight; you may not have an objective view of yourself in the mirror. Our brains affect what we see more than we think.

So I was banded on 2/28 and I'm starting to have a hard time identifying if I'm hungry or if I'm just feeling discomfort. I can easily identify head hunger because I can dismiss it by engaging in something mental but when I feel a tightness in my gut I can't tell if It's hunger or not. Sometimes if I drink something or take in some calories it goes away other times it gets worse and I need to use the restroom shortly afterwards. It's easier to usually just ignore it. It's getting so hard to tell I've been testing my blood sugar to see if it's low (sometimes it is other times it isn't) Anyone else experience this? What does your physical hunger feel like?

I've been losing 2lbs a day on average since my surgery on 2/28 personally I find it barely noticeable and anytime someone does compliment me no matter what they actually say all I hear in my head is "you were sooooooooo fat"

So assuming I may have misunderstood your point I just looked up the medical papers you cited and read the abstracts in full. I also read the associated articles. My assessment is that you have misinterpreted the data. I interpret the data to be saying that the surgery is equally successful to other WLS in long term application but due to the possible complications it should only be used in patients with a decreased likelihood of long term complications and should not be used for patients where the cited complications would likely be life threatening. I do think the more complete paper is a bit misleading though since it lumps all complications occurring between 30 days post op and 12 years in an aggregate sample. Whereas in the paper MIssy cites they break down the occurrence of complications showing a decreased occurrence the longer the time frame from the initial surgery before a complication occurs. They also aggregate surgeries with no complications post revision (which hade a much lower incidence of further complication) with complications which were no treated with revision. The data is actually relatively consistent (in statistical terms) with the data from the Australian study. The difference is the Austrailian paper is highlighting information for people who are prime candidates for WLS (the relatively young morbidly obese who suffer from co-morbidities but are otherwise healthy) while the American study you cited highlights the risk to people who may not be good WLS candidates (people who are simply overweight or have additional non-weight related health risks).

It's fine to be a devils advocate to prompt discussion and encourage closer examination but it rides a fine line with "trolling" when using a forum format. If you mean to highlight possible shortcomings of lapband versus other WLS that's fine but you should present your arguments with context and ideally present reputable alternatives. it's unfortunate you're having second thoughts but your experience like mine is anecdotal standing alone neither of our experiences should be the deciding factor for someone considering WLS. It is a life changing decision and requires a lot of consideration regardless of the specific procedure selected.

I'm day 10 post op I struggle to get in 300 calories most days and have been losing 2 lbs a day on average. I think the hunger and rate of weight loss are heavily influenced by how overweight you are. In my case my body seems to clearly think it's easier to break down the calories in storage than get the stuff coming in through my gob. I would actually appreciate a little more hunger so it would be easier to get my protein in.

I used the Gas-x strips and they worked like magic within minutes of dissolving a strip the shoulder pain just vanished. Once I stopped taking my pain meds it was easier to simply pass gas and I didn't really need the strips anymore.