snowbird

No, I think that's a typo. He showed up as 41 on another board.

Still trying to figure things out. When you say you eat the wrong foods, what do you mean? Like imb said, I CAN'T overeat on solid Proteins and vegetables, which is why my doctor instructs us to eat those first. They sit in the pouch and overeating makes me feel terrible, plus it just comes back up if I try to eat too much. Do you mean you eat too often? Ice cream? Give us a clue here. I'm sorry if I am responding intellectually if you posted just as an emotional outlet. I'm not a touchy feely hugs and there there type of person. But I would guess you would want to know how to turn yourself around. Beating yourself up emotionally isn't going to do that. Trying to take charge of the situation intellectually works for me. Journaling your food does help. I lie to myself and say, "I haven't eaten THAT much today, I deserve this." If I have a diary of what I have actually eaten, I can't deceive myself that way. At first, you probably would have to measure quantities, because I lie to myself when I estimate too. Milk and oj are high calorie foods, even skim milk, and they won't stay in your pouch and fill you up. You probably already know that, but there I go again.

The only way I can do this is to not have anything I would really enjoy eating in the house. Otherwise I would snack all the time, and I actually do quite a bit. But there is NOTHING here that is tasty or high calorie. If I wanted a snack now, the best I could do is a rice cake, a Fiber bar, or a low fat yogurt. Otherwise, nothing. I've thrown away things I have bought in a moment of weakness, like Cookies and Peanut Butter. Sometimes the only way I can throw them away is when my mouth is full of the temptation food. Then I pick it up, cover it with gooey garbage so I don't retrieve it again, and stuff it into the garbage can, WAAY down low. So I do understand compulsive eating, because I still do it every day. I had to sit down with myself and figure out ways to thwart my instincts. The drinking with meals stuff, I guess, is just something you have to stop yourself from doing. Since it doesn't actually involve turning down food, I don't have a lot of trouble with it. Don't brink a glass to the table? When you say you are too tight, what do you mean? Are you pbing a lot? What symptoms, other than your doctor's statement, make you think you may be too tight? Are you getting in a lot of calories on liquids? Are you avoiding solid foods because they are too hard to get down? Just trying to brainstorm for you here and see where the problem lies. I was originally over 100 lb overweight, but lost some weight through dieting before the band. This is hard. Use your brain to figure out where you weaknesses are, and then figure out what to do to stop yourself. That's the only way I had any success. I certainly don't have all the answers, and may not have any that help you. But I did want you to know that we all have demons we have to face and defeat to make this work. It can be done.

They've all run away . . .

I had no problems. I had so little pain after surgery that I didn't take the pain meds I was given. I was a little sore and couldn't sleep on my left side for a week or two, and had trouble getting up out of a chair--anything that used my abdominal muscles--for a week or so. I lost 19 lb pre op to make the surgery easier. I stayed strictly on my post op diet of clear liquids for a week then full liquids for two weeks after that. I have lost weight pretty steadily since then, except for a plateau of about 8 weeks a couple of months ago, which I overcame by being more careful about the amount and type of food I ate and upping my exercise. I'm 6 lb from goal now, 9 months after surgery. I cannot stress enough the importance of avoiding solid food for 3 weeks or more post surgery. Don't mess this up long term just because you feel fine; the band has to have time to heal in place around your stomach for it to work properly. You risk slippage by eating before it has healed. The long term successes don't post here that much, I think, because they get so tired of arguing with the ones who say, "I feel fine so I don't have to follow my doctor's orders." Following a diet is hard for us all, but it isn't forever and it may save you a world of hurt down the road. You can do it. The second error I see a lot of people falling into is getting too much of a fill so they are too restricted. This can also lead to long term damage from reflux and frequent pbing, or regurgitating food because it cannot pass through the band stoma. Not every instance of slippage and difficulties are due to patient noncompliance, but I feel those occurrences are greatly reduced by following accepted guidelines for post op diet and getting proper fills. This does take some work and it isn't a slam dunk, but the band has helped me lose the extra weight I have struggled with for nearly 50 years. My BMI was listed at 35 (my doctor actually mismeasured my height and gave me an extra inch) and my insurance approved me due to elevated blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar, as well as chronic acid reflux and joint problems. I had the surgery in Mexico and my insurance reimbursed me 90%.

Ahhh . . . lilMiss, you are kidding, but I wasn't this time. I really did eat all those things this weekend. We live in a resort park in the summer, and they had all sorts of barbecues and potlucks, plus my family had their own on Friday and another on Saturday to try to clean up the leftovers. Unfortunately, I did my part in that. Good news is I'm back on track today and did my bike riding, so I'm not feeling too bad about it.

Hey, Big! Glad to see you found your way over here. I see you lost 30 years since you were banded--just kidding, you're showing up as age 11 here on your profile. Hope you are still doing well and recuperating well from the surgery. I was sore for a few days and had a bit of trouble getting up out of a chair, but it faded quickly.

As you lose weight around your abdomen, your band loosens. I am near goal and don't think I will need an unfill; I can eat small portions of most foods now. However, some people do go in for a slight unfill when they get to goal. I can eat most foods if I eat slowly and eat small portions, although I got through a whole hamburger, bun and all, on Saturday. I had to eat it really slowly, and was still eating long after everyone else was done. The next day I couldn't get through half a hot dog, though. If I weren't trying to get off the last 6 lb I would be able to eat enough to satisfy me without too much effort, and would not be gaining as long as I make good food choices. I will have to really count my calories and watch what I eat to get rid of these last few pounds, though. When I think about it, this is how my normal thin friends eat--watching out for nutritional value and portion size, but not obsessing over a small treat now and then. Maybe I'm almost normal now!

Ohhhhh.... I ate sour cream lemon pie, cheesecake, strawberry shortcake, ice cream and oatmeal raisin Cookies, and some yummy strawberry rhubarb squares my niece made. Not to mention barbecued ribs, a hot dog, and an entire hamburger. I was still chewing on the hamburger a half hour after everyone else had finished eating, but I actually ate the whole thing. I can't believe I ate it all. But the holiday is over and back to being a good little bandster. I just took all the barbecue leftovers and threw them into the crock pot this morning--leftover hamburger patties, grilled onions, tomatoes, baked Beans, and some barbecue sauce. I don't know what to call it, but it is smelling really good right now. New England chili? MMMMMMM good, believe it or not.

You might try Prilosec OTC, but if you have decent insurance it may be cheaper to get a prescription acid blocker.

Okay, that makes more sense! I'm assuming you have a larger band. How much does it hold? It sounds like you do need another fill. My husband was banded in October and has had four fills, and is just barely getting proper restriction after the fourth one. He has lost 60 lb total, but only 30 since surgery, and gets discouraged. I had the 4 cc band and had restriction after the second fill, although I am losing it now. When you have good restriction, you can eat only a fraction of what you ate before. It isn't exactly a "full" feeling like before, but eventually your brain does start to interpret it that way. If you truly are hungry and it's not just a desire to eat because something will taste good or out of habit, then you may find your next fill helps a lot. Good luck with it, and don't give up.

You were banded less than 6 weeks ago and are headed for your third fill??? If you were banded 5/26 and have lost 15 lb since then, you are on track to lose 130 lb in a year. Was your surgery date a typo, or are you including the time you started your pre op diet?

I didn't lose anything from the time I started on solids three weeks after banding until I got my first fill. Don't sweat it; the weight loss will come.

I think it depends on the doctor, not the band. My doctor has commented that he never puts anything in at surgery, and prefers to let the patient heal before any fill.

Yes, it's a couple blocks west of the statue area. See you in August!

This thread has gone from the ridiculous to the sublime. Now that's an expression, so please don't try to decide who I'm talking about on either end! We ranted, we raved, we got excited, we got hurt, we worked through it, and cooler heads have prevailed. It is an example of why I don't like to see moderators shut down discussion no matter how heated it gets. We are adults. We don't always act like it, but if a voice comes down from above and tells us to behave, we don't really learn anything; we just go to bed mad. I don't have anyone on ignore. As far as I know, and I don't even care to know if there is a way to check, no one has me on ignore. (Don't burst my little bubble if that isn't true.) I like to know what is going on, and I can then choose to ignore or not. We show only parts of our personalities on a forum like this, and while I may think I know some people here quite well, I am also sure that what I know is a very thin slice of what those people really are. So why should I ignore anyone? They may have wisdom to share on some topic that I can't even dream of.

It's on the corner of W. Main Street and Extension (which is between Country Club and Alma School Rd). It is north of the 60. From Rte 60 take either the It's in an old church, a brick building on the south side of Main Street. A fun place for a good meal. If you take Rte 60 and take the Country Club exit, go north and turn left on W Main to the light at Extension. Restaurant will be on the left at the light. Or take the Alma School Rd exit north from 60 and turn right at W Main. The Landmark is on the right. The parking lot is accessible from Extension, not from Main. It's near the old downtown part of Mesa. Can you tell I've been there way too much? Looking forward to meeting you!

Sure, I know where AZ Mills is. I could meet at either the Landmark or at AZ Mills. Superstition Springs is a lot further east than the Landmark, so it would be out of the way for me. I checked my flight reservations, and I'll be in Arizona 7/12-7/19 and again 8/20-8/27. I've been taking friends and family to the Landmark since before I ever moved to Arizona. Great place for lunch or dinner.

You have failed at the point you give up and say you are never getting a fill, never going to try again, never going to make any attempt to make the band work for you. Until you truly reach that point, you are just taking a break from being a good bandster. Why don't you just call your doctor tomorrow morning and schedule a fill? Don't drive yourself nuts and try in your head to lose the entire 250 lb at once. Take one step on the road to making your band work: scheduling a fill appointment. Then you can work on taking the second step: getting the fill and following your doctor's post fill instructions, whatever they are. It's the old "one day at a time" message, certainly not anything new, but it's true. I can't eat right and exercise daily for the rest of my life. But I can do it tomorrow, and when the day is over I can feel good about myself, that I did what I should have and accomplished my goal for the day. And my success for the day's work fuels my desire to do it again the next day. Many people gain weight back before they get fills. Your band is not really working until you get proper fills. Stop beating yourself up and look to the future rather than to the past. You can't change yesterday, but you can decide what to do tomorrow. I'd bet none of us ever did everything we were supposed to, every single day, and never ate what we shouldn't, and never skipped a day of exercise. We all have our failures. Don't give up on yourself.

I have a heavy neighbor who asked me how I lost so much weight. When I told her I was banded, she said "Oh . . ." with this little sneer of disgust. It was like I told her I had caught a sexually transmitted disease that made me lose weight. It was almost funny. I had another fat friend say she didn't want to get the band because she wanted to lose weight slowly so her skin didn't sag. I kind of lost it and told her that at her age (60) there wasn't any weight loss solution that was going to stop her skin from sagging. Considering this was from a woman I have known for 32 years and who was always heavier than I was, I thought it was pretty ridiculous to suppose she was ever going to lose weight successfully without something to assist her, as she had never done it in the past 30 plus years. We just have to realize that what the uninformed think about what we have done pales in comparison to the benefits we have due to our weight loss. As someone else said, if this isn't work, why aren't all of these critical people rushing out to do it?

I eat pretty much what I want, but not much of it. Since being banded, I have had ice cream, cake, doughnuts (BIG mistake), pie, brownies, those chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwiches, pizza, chicken pot pie . . . However, I do count my calories daily and try to stay under 1200. Obviously, you can't be healthy and eat 1200 calories of ice cream every day, so most of the time it's healthy Protein and vegies. But the beauty of the band is that I don't have to feel like a total failure just because I sample a bit of double chocolate fudge cake. Eat slowly, eat carefully, eat mindfully, and enjoy your life.

We used to live in Gold Canyon, and believe it or not, I still drive to Superstition Springs Mall to get my hair done. So lunch would definitely not be a problem. Have you ever been to the Landmark Restaurant in downtown Mesa? It has always been one of my favorites. The Landmark Restaurant

You mean I crashed the party?? Oh, Chickie of exalted moderator status, I apologize. But I ain't leavin'. Y'all are stuck with me now.

Uhhhh, no, you're not the only one. I had dinner tonight, then a sugar free pudding, then two Curves bars, then a rice cake . . . I am now stuffed to the gills and wondering why in the world I wanted to eat all that stuff. I wasn't hungry after the chili.

One of my favorite full liquid foods is the boxed Carribbean black bean bisque Soup. What you made isn't that different from bean soup, so I think it was fine, and sounds kind of yummy! Of course my doctor's instructions were Clear liquids for one week, then full liquids for two more, your recipe would have been perfectly acceptable under his diet. I'm such a ditz tonight that I was wondering why you would put an outlet plug into your blender with the Beans . . .