rosettag

He has to have seen the scars but hasn't asked. I agree with you all and will keep mum for now. But yes it may come up sooner if he asks about the scars.
Also my portions are small but not tiny. Nothing that raises too many eyebrows. And I do sip during meals

That's the beauty of the band...... It's there to be worked (and it does work) when you're willing and want to work it! Best Wishes!

Did he use the word full or till you're no longer hungry(satiety)? We try to not eat till we're full. That's how the band works. We eat till we're no longer hungry. If you eat till you get that old "Full" feeling, you've eaten too much.
I remember eating till I was full prior to the band and it was a lot of food. The band won't stop you from eating too much food. The band creates a small pouch near the esophagus but the stomach is still below the band and can still hold 32 ozs or more of food. If you eat till you get that full feeling, you may be filling your lower stomach with too much food. It's reverting to our programmed eating habits.
We try to look for soft satiety signals such as hiccups, burps, runny nose. These are signals we've eaten enough. Of course, losing the hunger feeling is also a satiety signal that it's time to put the fork down and stop eating.
You're probably too early in your journey to be feeling these signals but in time they will come. Just be aware that you should seek to eat till you're no longer hungry. If that's 4 ozs or 8 ozs, you're doing great. If it's more than that, the band isn't adjusted properly just yet.
tmf

You have lost an amzing amount of weight in a short time.
Cograts!!!!!

You have lost an amzing amount of weight in a short time.
Cograts!!!!!

You have lost an amzing amount of weight in a short time.
Cograts!!!!!

You are not alone!!!
You can get support from the wonderful people you meet here!
I was banded on May 10th 2011, my band is not too tight ( 3 cc)because I have realized that if the "right " food doesn't go down, I turn to the "wrong" one!
Cakes and chocolate are not stopped by my band.
I am easily satiated with small amounts of food..the fight is not against my stomach, but my mind
Best luck!

You're in bandster hell. This is a difficult time for newly banded patients. I was in BH for nearly 4 months. Don't beat yourself up. Few of us made it through this phase without slipping up a few times.
This is just a diet till you get the fill that gives you restriction.

I know there's been a zillion threads on this, but what's one more right?
I am seeing A LOT of people so hung up on the scale that they're missing the Non scale Victories (yes that's what NSV means).
So, please list your NSVs here! It doesn't matter how big or how small, we want to hear it!
Mine are (in no particular order):

The ability to sit in any chair I want without worrying if I'll fit or break it
The ability to sit in booths at restaurants
Flying without needing a seat belt extender
No longer wearing plus sized clothes
Trying on a size 'large' shirt and finding it's too big- and buying a size 'medium'
Walking by mirrors while shopping and thinking "wow I look cute" instead of "ugh gross"
Being very active in my kids' lives
Going from needing a cane to get around the house to walking 2 miles a day unaided
No longer having high blood pressure or high blood sugar.
No longer having a sleep apnea (or even snoring anymore)
Not being recognized by people who haven't seen me since getting my band (literally)
Being able to wear cute, stylish clothes (I've become a shopping addict!)
Sitting with my legs crossed
Being told I look more like my almost 19yr old daughter's sister rather than her mother

The first time I put on more than 100 lbs I was 30 years old. I didn't get on well with my husband, but I did not have the courage to divorce him.It was more than 30 years ago and here in Italy living as a divorced woman was not so easy.Then I plucked courage and divorced and lost the 100 lbs I had put on.
The second time I became an obese was about 15 years ago. I had just met the man who would become my second husband.I was not love, but he was (and is) an honest and reliable person. The man I needed (???) because I wanted a quiet and serene life.
The problem was that the man I had been passionately in love (love and passion that were reciprocated) kept trying to have me back.He was an unreliable lier,..passion is not enough to make a sound relationship work..And I did not want to cheat on my new partner because he was faithful and honest .
I found the solution to the problem.I put on a lot of weight.I wouldn't have dared to meet him ..I was ashamed of my physical appearance..
He's dead now.
I had my lap band surgery 3 years ago and I have no reason why I should become an obese again

The first time I put on more than 100 lbs I was 30 years old. I didn't get on well with my husband, but I did not have the courage to divorce him.It was more than 30 years ago and here in Italy living as a divorced woman was not so easy.Then I plucked courage and divorced and lost the 100 lbs I had put on.
The second time I became an obese was about 15 years ago. I had just met the man who would become my second husband.I was not love, but he was (and is) an honest and reliable person. The man I needed (???) because I wanted a quiet and serene life.
The problem was that the man I had been passionately in love (love and passion that were reciprocated) kept trying to have me back.He was an unreliable lier,..passion is not enough to make a sound relationship work..And I did not want to cheat on my new partner because he was faithful and honest .
I found the solution to the problem.I put on a lot of weight.I wouldn't have dared to meet him ..I was ashamed of my physical appearance..
He's dead now.
I had my lap band surgery 3 years ago and I have no reason why I should become an obese again

I enjoyed the lack of appetite immediately post-op. For some people the hunger returns immediately but for others it's a nice taste of what it's like later when the band is adjusted properly. As others have said this is a great time to work on band-friendly habits, like taking teeny bites and waiting -- really listening in to your body. For me this was such a different experience of food as I was such a shoveler. Needed to work on that habit quite a bit.....

Still, you're fine. Another week and you'll complain you're eating too much
The swelling hasn't gone down yet most likely and once that happens, you'll be able to eat too much.

Just wondering if anyone has figured out there reason for being obese?
As for me is was alot of abuse when I was very young. I had always felt that if I was large no one could ever hurt me again because I felt invisible.
What are some of your reasons for the weight?

I used food as a reward and a comfort. So...if I was happy, I ate. If I was sad or angry or depressed, I ate. Plus...I felt entitled for some reason so I ate to excess. Add all those things together and you get someone morbidly obese.
I've learned a big lesson over this last 15 months. You can still enjoy food. I love love love good food. I just remind myself that eating more of it than I should, does me no favors. I gain weight, I feel bad for losing control, and like my dad said...not realizing how profound it was....'Why overeat? It's just more of the same'.
EXACTLY!! That is how a thin person thinks. I love this observation. Yes...the food is wonderful, but why eat more of it than you need? That is my mindset these days and I don't mourn what I don't eat, I just enjoy what I do eat.
I hope that makes sense. It does to me.

The first time I put on more than 100 lbs I was 30 years old. I didn't get on well with my husband, but I did not have the courage to divorce him.It was more than 30 years ago and here in Italy living as a divorced woman was not so easy.Then I plucked courage and divorced and lost the 100 lbs I had put on.
The second time I became an obese was about 15 years ago. I had just met the man who would become my second husband.I was not love, but he was (and is) an honest and reliable person. The man I needed (???) because I wanted a quiet and serene life.
The problem was that the man I had been passionately in love (love and passion that were reciprocated) kept trying to have me back.He was an unreliable lier,..passion is not enough to make a sound relationship work..And I did not want to cheat on my new partner because he was faithful and honest .
I found the solution to the problem.I put on a lot of weight.I wouldn't have dared to meet him ..I was ashamed of my physical appearance..
He's dead now.
I had my lap band surgery 3 years ago and I have no reason why I should become an obese again

I used food to shield me from all kinds of emotions and obstacles. In my generation it didnt seem like anyone was talking about nutrition cleaning your plate. I didn't really know much about why i was obese until it was too late. I am also convinced that genetics loaded then gun too. My daughter studied nutrition and said that and the other half of the problem is environment. My son was starting down the path as an adolescent and took control of it and looks great. It was his transformation that prompted him to take me to a consultation (really an intervention because i was stuck and scared) and he brought his sister . So i gave birth to him and he helped save my life. I hope that more young people get this under control early. However it is worth many discussions and reflections....

I think I used food to reward myself and to deal with emotional overloads. It was a great comforter and numbing device, and kind of a bizarro hobby and thing to look forward to doing for me. Also certainly anything worth celebrating was worth celebrating with lots of bad-for-me food, right?! Being the one who thought they had to make everything work in my family also meant feeling entitled to a reward for doing it all, being perpetually nice, competent, self-less, able, etc. That's exhausting at some level, and so food was also a way to gen myself back up, give myself a little break from life, and give myself some pleasure. Sadly my body now is so big it's not much pleasure!
But i'm dealing well now and continuing to work through stuff like the above. I'm also excited about my own life now; surgery next week, walking daily, losing weight and feeling so much better.

I have to say the band is a lifesaver when it comes to backsliding. I always gained back whatever I was able to lose... sometimes it took a bit of time, but the fat won in the end. I notice that the band is good for controlling hunger and portions. It would be almost impossible to eat what I was able to eat before.

Had my band at 66 and have lost over 90 pounds in less than a year. Have never lost more than 45 pounds before it came back. I have been told for a bandster I am ahead of the game. Have been told those of us on the older side of life are more likely to follow the instructions and not try to get around doing what needs to be done to make the band work for us as we work for the band.

I wish the band had been this perfected when I was 20-30, too, but it wasn't so in a way we are lucky that we didn't attempt this then.
I have to say I must be an outlier because I see no difference in the rhythm of my weight loss now (I just turned 55) and when I used to do traditional dieting (all my life). In fact, my weight came off faster and more consistently with the band that with traditional dieting. But that's because with non-surgical dieting, once I fell off the diet...I'd binge for the week "until next Monday" or "until my next Weight Watchers weigh in" and of course gain.
With the band, it's always in there, so there's no on or off. What a blessing.

Thanks for what you have written. I needed someone to remind me of what I am and shoul do!

Thanks for what you have written. I needed someone to remind me of what I am and shoul do!

Spent the weekend with my girlfriend on Long Island and did a little suburban shopping on Saturday. Well I had one heck of a NSV. I tried on some dresses and I looked pretty good in a couple of them and decided to buy them. Got home earlier this evening, put one of the dresses back on and have been staring in the mirror and looking at myself because it's been just so long since I've worn a dress. Oh boy are my co-workers are going to be so surprised when they see me tomorrow...

All the other commenters are right, pizza is not a good choice. But! I will say this. I ate pizza within a month of being banded too. I limited my portion size to one small slice and I enjoyed every bite of it!
However, I don't make a habit out of eating pizza or anything else that is unhealthy. I'm not one of those super strict dieters who only eat Protein and veggies. I just make smart choices, limit my carb intake, and limit my portion sizes. I also developed a lot of self control. It takes a lot of hard work on my part and it's something I had to work on, it didn't happen overnight.
You asked what you should be eating in the first month. My surgeon's instructions had me back on regular food on the 4th week after surgery. But that doesn't mean go crazy and eat whatever you want. You still want to take it slow and keep it healthy. You should be eating mostly Protein. Remember, you're trying to build good habits that will last the rest of your life.
You're going to make mistakes. Everyone does. But you have to get back on track and think about why you're doing this. Keep your eye on the prize! It's a tough journey, but it's worth it