Jack

I was in the same boat regarding Protein drinks. I tried a lot of them, hated nearly all of them. Ended with the 'unflavored' powder and developed quite an intimate relationship with my spice rack. Amazing what a little nutmeg, cinnamon, etc can do to make a cheery day. smoothies can have an astonishing variety of ingredients. And our tastes change as well over time. One I came to tolerate well, was the unflavored protein powder, a tiny spoon of Adams crunchy PB, 1/4 banana or berries (I garden and have fresh as well as frozen), a splash of skim milk, varying amounts of NF yogurt-plain of course- and at times a squirt of Stevia along with a wide range of spices sprinkled on top of a blenderized treat. That got me thru a LOT of weeks. You can find a basic simple recipe that you like, or can tolerate at least. The HUGE range of differences between a few blueberries vs a few raspberries in what is otherwise the same recipe, is astounding. So too is a tiny bit of those spices we've all ignored for so long.....I've got about 2 dozen different spices that all work well depending on the taste I'm after. Experiment....delight is just around the corner of Frustration and Can't Stand It Avenue......

Sorry I don't twit....I'm an electronic Luddite and intend to remain such.

We have to establish one fact: either our Brain is now in charge postOp, or old habits and the demands of the Belly Beasts remain in control. You have done well in identifying the problem. Now take the next step: action. Even for slouches such as myself, pain and anxiety managed to help me move to changing my life-long compulsion to gulp as rapidly as my eating shovel would allow. That has to change. Period. You are in charge of making that change. I'll tell you a secret: Yes you can!

I was on insulin injections twice daily and had become 'insulin resistant'. I also had ballooned up to 373 #. Through madness and desperation I eased down almost 20#. Went to the Band clinic, consulted, went on pre op diet, lost another 20 #. 8 months after Band surgery, I was completely off insulin. Started Metformin. A1c dropped to below 7 for the first time in years. Other blood values normalized. Metformin doesn't do anything to decrease weight for me....but it does moderate my blood sugar without insulin injections...which after all is a hormone that produces weight gain among other things. By the way, after 10 years on CPAP, I tossed that out 7 months postOp as well. I continue to live the Happy Bandster lifestyle....and I'm still "35# from goal". cheers on your journey

IMHO, it is more a matter of 'how much' you can eat vs 'what' you can eat. There are a few things which episodically are more troublesome to me, but almost always these result from some error of eating....such as too much, too fast. Not chewing ~an old habit from preOp 'gulping food down' days, at times is an issue. In reality for me, that "only 3 bites" most often really means, "you are NOT hungry, why are you eating?" If I get 'too hungry' I tend to eat too fast which produces what you describe. If this pattern changes daily for you, I'm not sure you are 'too tight'. A great feature of the Band, is we can back up, go to a different food intake for a few days, and regroup. This takes a certain agility to determine what IS the problem and what to do about it. If you are not too tight at night with no regurgitation or bile taste in your throat, that's one indicator 'too tight' may not be the issue. I'm in early year 7 postOp and still learning. Cheers in your journey. I used to have "first bite syndrome" in which it seemed I was about to 'be stuck' and have too much fill. I learned that by taking a small nibble really, and putting down my food for a few minutes, that sensation would pass soon. I believe I had an involuntary or unconscious tightening up of my entire esophagus, or at least the pouch end. Part of this I traced to my old habit of gulping and washing every bite down with Fluid. As I learned how to phase that habit out of my behavior, I got less and less of such incidents. Try the 'very small nibble' and wait a few minutes....until your pouch tells you it's ready for another nibble. And don't be alarmed if you really find you AREN'T hungry as much as you though. 2 or 3 bites can be quite satisfying during a particular phase of adapting to a new kind of eating behavior.

In my Morbidly Obese era, I was never cold. Post Band, I have been cold enough to develop a wardrobe including a variety of warm under togs, and have discovered the true value of another item; "vest".... Gloves are far more useful than they used to be as well.

I've never seen it be a problem. As a retired DC I have been exposed to a wide variety of therapy both as provider and as patient. I have never read on LBT of any forum member reporting a Band issue resulting from such.

...thanks for the Victory Movie ---[dancing a little Gypsy Dance here]..... CONGRATULATIONS!!!

re: "then went on holiday + oesophigits and had an unfill which resulted in my gaining 11kgs back so now I'm just 20-21 kgs down from my pre-band weight which is soooooo depressing." this illustrates why we have to be constantly vigilant and understand the crucial difference between 'hungry-NOT hungry' and 'eating-OVER=eating'. I've been at the same plateau for over 3 years. STILL "35#" from goal!!!

nomebug: Good idea to go see your physician for an in-person exam. It would clear up a lot of unknown concerns. The LBT forum has no way to answer with the limited information you have posted.

a 'bad day' is but one little tiny bump on the endless rocky shores of the other events we must find ways to overcome...the Belly Beast of 'hunger' will attempt to raise its ugly head from time to time. Remain on your path and all will go well. Most of my own fears about "hunger" really were more inflated by 'the FEAR of becoming MORE hungry'....for myself coming to understand hunger/not hunger, satiety, fullne/not full pleasantly took the place of those little demons. You will do fine as long as you behave as you know you should. Don't let fears consume you. The Old Habit of 'overeating' has to be conquered by a rational mind.

I seem to have found my own "sweet spot" in that I manage to continue to eat carefully while not being on an identifiable "diet". Now 6+ years postOp, I remain frustratingly "30#" from goal. On a positive note, I also remain OFF insulin injections after 15 years twice daily and OFF CPAP after 10 years. LBT gives me ample evidence rejoicing in my blessings while striving to continue my journey requires more focus and discipline. Re: "diet" preOp I had been on every version both rational and nonsensical ever devised. Somehow they always ended with realization I had actually gained back whatever I lost AND then some. I don't have an answer other than to continue those behaviors that have proved effective in producing the results I wanted, long enough to do such. cheers for all of us in the ongoing struggle

Jachut: You are an inspiration to all of us. I appreciate your advice and attitude. I had wondered where your posts had gone, missed them. Cheers and strength to you. If there is any kind of support from US I can offer do not hesitate to PM me.

welcome to LBT re: "at last i discovered that i want to be strong from inside before start any step to lose the wight" I agree. We all have to learn how to be strong whether we have outside support or not. cheers on your journey

great comments here. RE "my fear is without restriction " my fear is to over eat in spite of restriction'' re: "food addictions" while I believe those DO exist, I also believe there is another even more compelling addiction...I'll call that one "over eating addiction" as no specific food is involved....the mechanics of gulping/swallowing mightily and washing it all down with some high calorie liquid regardless of 'hunger' is a "Behavioral Addiction". Proper restriction requires slowing down the eating cycle and requires actual chewing. Many Bandsters report they never actually learned to chew their food. I certainly developed ways to avoid such dreary and boring process. We all deal with various segments of the same problem. "Morbidly Obese" seems to have as many reflective surfaces as the mirrored ball on the dance prom floor. Reading the ongoing efforts of others helps me control the periodic increasing furvor of my own Belly Beasts.

re: "I can eat whatever I want and however much I want. It's disgusting actually" I recognize this Beast as it has attempted to visit me on occasion. The operational reality I've found, is that each day requires my attention to the real basic truth that I can not conveniently ignore. It works well enough to walk past these freaky events you outline. My method is to continue to recognize the goal of eating to be 'not hungry'. All else falls into line for me, when I activate that little mental program, that unless 'hunger' physically exists, I won't eat. Perhaps my situation is different from yours.....I spent many decades without being aware of the fact there is supposed to be a mechanism that tells us when to eat and when to stop. I had developed behavioral anomalies that 'eating' was controlled by outside factor, such as 'Is it gone?'; " can I tamp any more down with my eating shovel?" and "no one will notice"....etc. You've got the intellectual awareness to identify your behavior. Normos eat when they are hungry. Then they stop. We of the Tribe of the Morbidly Obese eat in spite of being hungry, and we don't stop. The next step is ACTION to change that behavior....which of course became a habit long ago. There's a point where our Rational Mind must subdue our Irrational Belly. You can do it. cheers on your journey

yes, it's almost 'odd' to be merely "obese" rather than "morbidly obese"....a welcome demotion I happily embraced.....moving down into the 'overweight' category remains somewhat elusive yet I continue with my daily action plan. cheers to all of us

" Celebrate in the acheivement thus far... don't beat yourself up on what could have been... and keep pushing to your goal." absolute TRUTH!!!

Better discuss this with your surgeon. About 4-5 years ago there were a few Bandsters with similar complaints but I haven't seen anything recently. Some discussion on the regional neurophysiology didn't help clarify the issue. Hope you find resolution soon. Please let us all know!

From the various responses on the OP subject, it is obvious there is a constellation of possibilities in our choices on our weight loss journey. Opportunity to discuss such helps most of us continue to find our way. Similar confrontations in the past helped me align my own efforts from the always-difficult battle of "will power', to something I was more in control of...my "WON'T power"....as in.....I WON'T continue the old habits that lead me to Morbid Obesity....and all the moronic behavior to which I subjugated myself under the delusion eating more would somehow solve my problems. Personally I have had to learn to redirect my attention FROM "hunger" and "fullness" TO more effective behaviors, such as the reality of 'satiety' ...which leads to the discovery that over eating and appetite avoidance were largely habits imposed over the decades. It takes some changes in how we perceive 'hunger' and 'non hunger'. And it takes changes in our behavior along with continued exploration of our focus on over eating in the absence of any concept of what 'satiety' really is. Some of the best advise I ever gleaned was from unsympathetic observers unwilling to offer soothing tones supporting my old errant over eating behavior.

I second the suggestion to seek another opinion from a specialist at once!!!! I have not heard this kind of symptom complex before after so lengthy a successful postOp experience. PLEASE let us all know what you find.

re; "I need to get into the right pattern again and need some inspiration. " Go out and disconnect one of the spark plug wires to your bike and ride it 50 miles.....then come tell us whether you discovered motivation to reconnect it......

it's still in the same place

re: "it's scary fast, and a ton of fun." understand that for sure.....way back when the earth's crust was still hot and the Kawasaki 500 3 cylinder 2 stroke had just hit the market, it was the absolute hottest thing available. I took my GF out for a demo ride and shifting into 4th around 100 mph on the freeway, felt the steering get a little light...glanced down to see the front tire floating well off the pavement!!!! Proved to be way too much bike for what I was after at the time. About 20 years ago I had a V65 Magna, Honda's big sport bike at the time. More of an upright cruiser, it had something like 125hp claimed. Impressive acceleration in any case. Went on a nice 3000 mile jaunt with buddies on various road rockets of the era. Great way to see the country.

You've entered another entertaining phase of Life postOp and "Now What"? For myself, the pleasure and success of the band has left ME also "35#" from my goal. Now in my sixth year, there are important changes in my habits and brain-notion of eating and overeating. It has worked well for me to abandon the failed concept that 'full' and 'not hungry' are the same. Indeed, that irrational pairing helped lead me to 373# at one point. We do not need to repeat the mistakes of the past. And my own method may not translate into how you respond to the basic hunger drive. I've tried to train myself to 'eat when hungry' and "STOP" when not hungry. Sometimes a few bites is all it takes. I find hard Proteins serve me better eaten first. A grilled 4 oz buffalo patty does wonders. So does a complex bowl of fresh produce with a bit of shrimp or some shredded cheese. It is too easy to fall back on the old "Trail of the Morbidly Obese" and begin snacking on those empty nutrition bombs from the past. The essential GOOD thing, is I simply can not stuff much pasta/bread/etc into myself anymore. Nor do I even care for it. Once a staple, spaghetti or pizza now is a rare and not very satisfying meal. About once a year I can and do indulge in a cream puff.....but it no longer occupies my desires of forbidden food. I do enjoy eating....only now I actually do eat to live rather than the previous live-to-eat mania. A BIG surprise, is I've come to actually enjoy the process of "Becoming Hungry". I used to live in the anxious anticipation of doing such, and eat to avoid becoming hungry. I was actually raised with the advise of "Don't eat on an empty stomach" and "Don't go to bed without something in your stomach". I've had far more success in learning what "satiety" is and how to attain that. I enjoy my meals far more when eating to that magic point of 'satiety' than the delusion of 'full'.....which by experience I know can never be reached for very long. "Satiety" lasts for hours and continues to lead me toward my goal. Cheers and good luck on your journey. Be sure to let us know what you learn.