Jachut

I avoid them. They upset my guts anyway.
But I look at it like this. Sugary foods should be a small part of your diet. Sugar is empty calories. But so are artificially sweetened foods by and large, just less empty calories. If you use artificial sweeteners so you can survive on crap like soft drinks, Cookies, cakes, sweets and Desserts then you're better off giving them up.
If you use them for a once in a while treat to save on a few calories then go for it - but neither artificially sweetened nor sugar foods should be on your menu at every meal.

I avoid them. They upset my guts anyway.
But I look at it like this. Sugary foods should be a small part of your diet. Sugar is empty calories. But so are artificially sweetened foods by and large, just less empty calories. If you use artificial sweeteners so you can survive on crap like soft drinks, Cookies, cakes, sweets and Desserts then you're better off giving them up.
If you use them for a once in a while treat to save on a few calories then go for it - but neither artificially sweetened nor sugar foods should be on your menu at every meal.

This is a really odd situation - its actually WAY easier here than in the US to get non necessities performed and covered, our health system is very different and as long as a doctor says he considers something worth doing (other than cosmetic surgery), its going to have a Medicare item number attached and if you have private health insurance, your insurer is not going to make you jump through hoops to get approved, doctor will do it, its approved end of story.
I dont want to stir the pot but there really is a possibility that this is bogus. Because our system just does not work this way! Going to Thailand for major surgery is not really a wise thing to do, and this horror story appears again and again with cosmetic surgeries also - but Australian doctors do not refuse people in need just because they went to Thailand. Anyway you cut it though, tubing and a port sticking out through your skin IS a medical necessity, if not an emergency. This has to be fixed. If the band itself is healthy, its a simply procedure, although patching you up might be more complicated. Its very bizarre to encounter a doctor who would not treat you - you need to find someone else. I cant believe any GP you visited would not be absolutely horrified and refer you on to another bariatric surgeon right away. And our surgeons do not generally engage in the morally questionable practice of refusing to help people because someone else did the original surgery.
This is a medically necessary revision surgery and you should be able to get it done - I would even seek legal advice on this. It is your right and our system operates in such a way that this should be fixed, pronto, no questions asked. You cant go about your life with an open abdomen. If you simply presented to any Emergency dept this would probably be fixed. You might not get to keep the band, but it would be fixed.
Sorry, but you need to just accept it. Your band is not going to function as it should whether you risk your health for it or not.

I dont eat them back in totality but i do use exercise to create the deficit i want rather than just cutting back too far, if that makes sense

Well, to my mind the Protein focus of a bandsters diet does compete with the veggies a little bit - for me personally, especially having had bowel cancer, I am NEVER going to eat all my meat to the exclusion of vegetables. I always mix my Protein and my vegies on my fork.
If i make a smoothie - usually with an Optifast base, I always add frozen spinach. Makes it green or a weird colour if you have red fruits like berries, but its pretty much tasteless and adds a good whack of nutrition - I have a Vitamix, so it gets blended up to no texture at all.
I eat lots and lots and lots of Soup, soup that I make myself with fresh vegetables. Soup would be my lunch four or five days of the week and probably for dinner once or twice too. I often eat things like baked Beans on toast for lunch. I always add things like kidney Beans, chick peas and/or loads of finely grated veggies to a bolognaise sauce, when we eat Pasta, I usually skip the spaghettie and have mine on stirfried zucchini ribbons.
I make so much effort with veggies because I just really dont like fruit much.
Trouble is, my diet is a more carb focussed, higher fibre diet, which I need with my particular health issues. Red meat is linked to bowel cancer and things like ham and salami are off my diet forever. So I probably get less protein than a lot of bandsters. However, I lost 130% of my excess weight fairly easily, have kept it off for years and dont have any problems related to lack of protein.

This is a really odd situation - its actually WAY easier here than in the US to get non necessities performed and covered, our health system is very different and as long as a doctor says he considers something worth doing (other than cosmetic surgery), its going to have a Medicare item number attached and if you have private health insurance, your insurer is not going to make you jump through hoops to get approved, doctor will do it, its approved end of story.
I dont want to stir the pot but there really is a possibility that this is bogus. Because our system just does not work this way! Going to Thailand for major surgery is not really a wise thing to do, and this horror story appears again and again with cosmetic surgeries also - but Australian doctors do not refuse people in need just because they went to Thailand. Anyway you cut it though, tubing and a port sticking out through your skin IS a medical necessity, if not an emergency. This has to be fixed. If the band itself is healthy, its a simply procedure, although patching you up might be more complicated. Its very bizarre to encounter a doctor who would not treat you - you need to find someone else. I cant believe any GP you visited would not be absolutely horrified and refer you on to another bariatric surgeon right away. And our surgeons do not generally engage in the morally questionable practice of refusing to help people because someone else did the original surgery.
This is a medically necessary revision surgery and you should be able to get it done - I would even seek legal advice on this. It is your right and our system operates in such a way that this should be fixed, pronto, no questions asked. You cant go about your life with an open abdomen. If you simply presented to any Emergency dept this would probably be fixed. You might not get to keep the band, but it would be fixed.
Sorry, but you need to just accept it. Your band is not going to function as it should whether you risk your health for it or not.

Too much of anything is bad, but coffee has health benefits! Caffeine doesnt dehydrate you in the context of a balanced diet with plenty of other fluids, and in fact when your body is used to caffeine, it isnt even that strong a diuretic, you adapte to it. Cutting it out is not necessary at all.
But the confectionary coffees, with the syrups and cream and stuff like that - well, those arent healthy, but again, if you plan for it, allow for the calories and the rest of yoru diet is fine, that's yoru choice.

Well, I've had outstanding results with mine.
I've never had any troubles, but the newer generation bands ARE supposed to be less likely to slip, erode etc. However, hanging around here for a while indicates pretty strongly that they still DO slip and erode, maybe just statistically not as often as the older bands.
Where the older band appears (to me) to have a huge advantage is that you find restriction quickly and are able to tweak it a lot more effectively. I never had that bandster hell period, I've had restriction from my band right from the get go, began losing weight immediately and never had any problem just adjusting with teeny tiny 0.1cc fills. And back when I got banded in 2005 and first joined this forum, that was very common. There were never the posts about people taking six months or longer to get to restriction and start losing.
The flip side of that of course is that for many people, the adjustments for this band need to be sooooo tiny that you can flip from under to over restricted in as little as 0.1cc and its really impractical to fill even less than that, so many people have to settle for being slightly underfilled - of course, people dont want that and go for slightly overrestricted instead and bingo! there's your slips, erosions etc.
That is all just pure observation on my part, given my long membership here, and what I've seen, its not fact or statistically backed or anything. But my 4cc band and I have had a seven year love affair and still going strong.

Of course its OK!! Maybe a *bit* less than 50lb overweight would be healthier, just overweight rather than obese?
But nobody really needs to be super lean and ripped for health reasons.

Of course its OK!! Maybe a *bit* less than 50lb overweight would be healthier, just overweight rather than obese?
But nobody really needs to be super lean and ripped for health reasons.

For me, it was being able to call myself a runner!

I'm 43, I teach grade six and my kids thought I was twenty-something!

Yogurt is my almost daily breafast, about half a cups worth it some berries or banana. A tablespoon of LSA and some walnuts, and its a very nutritious meal - and definitely gets me through.
Adding crap empty calories like Syrup or splenda though, not so much. I would be hungry quickly if i ate that.
Thick homemade Soup is another staple i make them full of chickn, vegies, brow rice. Theres no way that is an inadequate meal. Again, quality counts. Canned soup is rubbish, again just empty calories.

Long time no see Puddin, glad you are well!
My band has "changed" too. Like you, I'm at a good weight - I got very thin when I was sick a while back and have regained that weight, but I didnt want to quite regain it ALL, and I'd like to lose about 8lb but I just cant get that help from my band anymore. If i fill more I get too tight. My band is working very well to maintain weight but its not a lot of help for me to lose.
I think that's in the perception though - when you're heavier, you lose weight so easily. When you're already a healthy weight, you really do need to cut down to miniscule portions to lose 20lb and the band was never meant to help you literally starve yourself.
I think I eat quite large portions and I always get the munchies between meals, its a constant battle and a constant rebounding on and off the wagon for me to keep away from the carby snacky foods. But when I really LISTEN I am satisfied physically on a cup or so of food and not hungry till nearly the next meal time. That doesnt stop me wanting to eat! I think the problem is with the band, although my body has adjusted to be a stable 145lb or so and I no longer lose, in truth, the 1400 calories or so a day I eat is not enough to sustain a 145lb 5ft 10 woman who works on her feet all day and runs most days. So my body is always saying feeeeeeeed me, even though I dont feel the physical hunger I might without the band. Does that make sense?
I actually do better when I allow myself to eat more substantial, Protein filled meals. I have developed this obsessive horror of a meal over 300 calories and if I add the fat and Protein to bump my lunch up to say 500, I do get through till dinner very easily. And it doesnt add up to eating more than 3 300 calorie meals and a whole lot of nibbling, picking and "not quite" Snacks. But for some reason I really struggle to allow myself to do this.
Obesity is not a disease you really recover from, you can only manage it. You dont reach a finish line with the band, its a life long task and I find it helps me to recognise that and realise I will always be adjusting and readjusting my behaviour. And part of that is just accepting that the band "feels" different some years out. I only have to look at what everyone else eats to remind myself it is doing something.

I've had mine since 2005, and its still going strong.
I had to unfill it for cancer surgery and struggled to get the same restriction back. Upon investigation, I have a very slighty stretched pouch. Doc says that's probably normal after so long and it was symptompless so just a good reminder to be aware of keeping portions small, eating slowly etc.
Then I developed heartburn - no reflux just burning pain in my stomach constantly. That was earlier this year. I've fretted and worrried and such, and eventually had a gastroscopy - guess what. No band problem whatsoever but the Iron supplements I had to take after chemo had caused an ulcer/erosion of my stomach, from sitting in the pouch. Fixed after two months on nexium, heartburn gone. Another good reminder to take the advice about NSAIDS seriously. I am supposed to take aspirin as its such a good bowel cancer preventative but I simply cant. No matter, exercise is an even more powerful preventatative!
So all up, almost seven years and no problems. Lost 120lb, have a BMI of 21, weight has been gone for several years and I even managed not to gain whilst unfilled for six months (I couldnt keep that up forever though, gain would be inevitable without my band)
I am perfectly aware that the likelihood for revision is high. I'm only 44, I have years to go with this. I accept that. I mean people get fake boobs all the time and never worry that they wont last a lifetime. This is so much more important for my health. And it sure beats remaining fat.

Any diet that avoids fruit but encourages bacon just isnt healthy! Carbs are not the only thing that defines a healthy food and a healthy diet is about balance even if you like to low carb. Did you know that the association between processed meats like bacon and ham and bowel cancer is so strong that current recommendations recently declared are to not eat those foods at all?
Wheteher you eat carbs or not, fresh and unprocessed is the way to go.

Funny, but also true! I just wouldnt waste my money on a nutritionist - they're not medically qualified the way that a dietician is - and are prone to giving you advice based on THEIR personal beliefs and current fads and fashion. Ditto your doctor - he's a surgeon, not a dietician and what he tells you will be based on what's given clients good results, and what will get the best results for his clinic - so worth listening to, but definitely not gospel.
I even went to a dietician recently - I was made to by my colorectal surgeon, who was worried that my weight was too low - and what did I get? A photocopied sheet. No personal consideration, no real discussion about what was and wasnt working with my digestive system since my surgeries, just a photocopied sheet of a low residue diet. I didnt even bother to point out I already had that sheet and had done the diet for six weeks following surgery, and that it wasnt proving effective for solving my issues. Why bother?
You dont need a nutritionist to do well with a lapband. We are not idiots, we are perfectly capable of researching various styles of eating/diet and working out what works well for us. There's no magic to it, eat less than you burn and you will lose weight, but for many people, low carb works, and for others its not necessary.
Personal trainers are much the same - get a good one that thinks along the same lines you do and they're a great support. But sifting through all the bad ones is quite a job.
I wonder what your nutritionist would say about me - I eat bread, rice, Pasta, nuts, chocolate, wine. I eat 3 meals a day, not five. A personal trainer would freak that I do heaps of cardio and not a lot of strenght training. I'm open to trying stuff, but I have and a basic diet that is simply reduced in quantity and a lot of running are what work for me and give me the body I want (which is not a muscular one thank you all the same).

I eat about 1800 calories a day. This varies with my level of exercise. Some days I eat 1200, other days 2000. My appetite seems to vary a lot day by day, so I listen to my body. I have maintained this weight for close to a year.

I agree with the body fat goal too - I think that's great, because everyone has a different body type. Now, I only know becuase of my scale, and we all know that what scales tell you about body fat and hydration can be wildly inaccurate, but going from 150lb to 135, my body fat has dropped from 22% down to 18%. My goals now are not weight related at all, but I would like to see my body fat at about 20% and my weight rise to whatever is necessary to put a bit of muscle back on my body (I've definitely dropped lean muscle in that weight loss).
Body types, hey? I look at Kim Kardashian for example and wonder how it is possible to be so wondrously curvy without being flabby. The answer is probably how much muscle her body type carries. I put any weight back on and it goes on as fat, I have two choices with my body, which is lightly boned, lightly muscled but pear shaped - I can be a healthier weight with flabby bits or I can be extremely skinny.
I also think PS has a valuable role to play becuase you can get to a healthy weight with a bit more fat coverage for your face and chest, so that you look healthy and young, but you can nip and tuck the bits below that bother you. I would look fabulous at 70kg with a fair bit of Lipo around the hips and thighs, but its just not on the cards for me, with my family needing a bigger house, and private school fees for three kids, sigh. And I've had enough brutal surgery lately, I just dont think I can face something voluntary like a Tummy Tuck.
I think your goal has to take into account your body type, but i never knew what mine was till I lost weight, I would always have called myself "big boned".

For me, it was being able to call myself a runner!

The hard fact to swallow - pardon the pun - is that "too tight" doesnt always mean lots of restriction. Too tight for YOU could still be loose enough to let you eat bread and steak and might still be loose enough so that weight loss is a tough ask. Sometimes your body just handle the restriction you think you want and there's unfortunately no way to make excuses or beat around the bush with this, acid reflux will damage your band AND your body over time.
I've been as guilty of this as anyone, putting up with the burning pain for five whole months before I really just told myself, I had to face the unfill. But it turns out it was a different issue altogether.
Like my doc said to me though, its lovely to be maintaining a weight of 140lb at my 5ft 10, but if I had acid reflux to do it, then I just had to face the fact that I might have to be 10lb heavier. I didnt much like hearing that but its true. You cant beat this one, if you have reflux that you cant control with medication you are going to have to try unfilling.

For me, it was being able to call myself a runner!

For me, it was being able to call myself a runner!

I have had a deep and unrequited yearning for a really good toasted cheese sandwich for the entire seven years I've been banded. I dream about them. I've made many, taken a bite and its just failed to live up to expectation, I think its that toasted bread, any bread, although i can eat it, really makes me feel nauseous - I think its the yeasty taste.
Today I tried making toasted cheese (good vintage cheddar), spinach, Tomato and ham on rice cakes! And it was DIVINE! I just put it into the sandwich press like a sandwich. The outer was crispy and warm but didnt take over the flavour of the filling. They're small, so your sandwich is small, and they've got hardly any calories. Even on maintenance, I balk at the calories of a sandwich for a meal - it nearly always comes out at 400 or more, which I just wouldnt eat in one sitting for lunch.< /p>

I have had a deep and unrequited yearning for a really good toasted cheese sandwich for the entire seven years I've been banded. I dream about them. I've made many, taken a bite and its just failed to live up to expectation, I think its that toasted bread, any bread, although i can eat it, really makes me feel nauseous - I think its the yeasty taste.
Today I tried making toasted cheese (good vintage cheddar), spinach, Tomato and ham on rice cakes! And it was DIVINE! I just put it into the sandwich press like a sandwich. The outer was crispy and warm but didnt take over the flavour of the filling. They're small, so your sandwich is small, and they've got hardly any calories. Even on maintenance, I balk at the calories of a sandwich for a meal - it nearly always comes out at 400 or more, which I just wouldnt eat in one sitting for lunch.< /p>