Rainydayz

Hi. I have been asking the same question lately. So far I have tried Muscle Milk chocolate and EAS 100% whey Protein chocolate. Of these 2 the Muscle Milk is better but it has a little more carbs. They are both drinkable to me when mixed with skim milk and crushed ice. Someone suggested to freeze some milk in cubes to make them icy without watering them down. Others suggest adding sugar free pudding powder to make them taste better. I haven't tried that yet but I am going to.
I like the Muscle Milk but some others here say it gags them. So you really just need to sample some and find what you can live with. Good luck!

Seriously? A spelling lesson for someone who is incredibly upset and seeking answers to very REAL problem? That's what I call rude.

Maybe you missed it in my first post. I said that modeling was my method of choice now that I'm beginning a healthier lifestyle. I also mentioned that I use different techniques as the situation demands. Sorry I couldn't come up with a satisfactory answer for you but that's all I've got.

settle down

When they say water, they mean water. If u r going to cut corners, u may as well give up, 'cause u r not ready to take losing weight seriously.

I think Cleo's Mom is just being honest about her struggle with the lap band and trying to help others. Sometimes people put blinders on and see the band as their magic golden ticket or something and it doesn't always work that way no matter how they work the band. She just shows that even though she followed all the "rules" that she still didn't get the results promised to her by Lap Band! Also that there are some greedy doctors out there that will do almost anything for $$.
I think that it can be very difficult to tell who the band will help and who it will not help, that is my honest opinion because I came to this site a long time ago when I got my band installed searching for answers as to why it wasn't working for me. I thought that maybe I'd get some answers here that would be the clue into what my problem with the band was and could turn it around from gaining on the band to losing like I bought it for! But after a few months here I still got no answers and did come across many of the smug people that said things like "it's only a tool" and when your band is not working and you hear that it's very frustrating to say the least! I then learned that it works for some and not for all and that's that and I wasted my time and body on the band and should have had a different WLS to begin with. I also went to see my surgeon or his PA for all my fills and checkups on a regular schedule and after a year of trying the band and it not working we decided it was time to discuss it's removal.
I was very depressed after this "failure" of mine that I didn't even think of revising to another WLS after my surgeon removed my band. Physically I was having terrible GERD And was put in the ER for chest pains and because of that and my weight gain and not loss my insurance company covered it's removal. After the band was removed my normal size stomach once again appeared and I gained ever more weight so that I weighed more than I had prior to banding just like another failed diet, which is kind of my impression of the lap band although not everyones!
It took a few months of soul searching and how I wanted to deal with this and also discussion with my surgeon that we would go ahead and revise to RNY. At that time I joined a support group which also helped me with my decision. I also have a daughter who had been successful with her RNY and two nieces now who have had it. So I went for it and even though RNY is not a magic golden ticket either I at least felt like I had some success and am at the point now where the weightloss stopped and so did the malabsorption of calories and I'm basically on my own now. I've put on about ten pounds since the fall and am honest to say it happens not with everyone but with many. I know that you go through stages with RNY and I'm just in that one now and am dealing with it.
Anyway before we start knocking down CM with honest story of her experience with the lap band I think as others have said just because it works for you doesn't mean it will work for everyone and trying to figure that out before you have surgery is probably the most difficult task a person has! I wish everyone well with whatever WLS they choose because it can be a very difficult road, Nanook!

Yuck.
Try counting calories. Try exercising. You can't eat cabbage for the rest of your life.
.... well you could, but could you really? Try changing your lifestyle. That usually works.

Seriously? A spelling lesson for someone who is incredibly upset and seeking answers to very REAL problem? That's what I call rude.

Seriously? A spelling lesson for someone who is incredibly upset and seeking answers to very REAL problem? That's what I call rude.

Actually, I don't think you know where I'm coming from. Did you not read my posts #62, #65? What don't you understand? You don't strike me as someone who can't figure things out.
The OP had the band removed and a gastric bypass revision. What possible contribution did that self-congratulatory post make? I asked that anyone show how a post like that provides anything to the OP. It doesn't. It was insulting. And when I see a struggling poster insulted, I come to the defense.
If you have followed my posts you will see that I don't insult struggling posters. I do offer support and some suggestions even though the band has never worked for me as promoted. And I don't feel the need to defend the band. But I can still offer some advice about things I have tried or things that might work.
You don't want to know my story. Well, my story has been out there so I guess you missed it. Everything in my life has been a struggle. I battled breast cancer at the same time my husband was losing his battle to cancer. I became a widow at 54. I got this band so that I wouldn't have to struggle with this battle with hunger that I've had all my adult life. But the band has failed me in that regard. Any success I have had has been mine. Not the band's. And so I continue to struggle with hunger.
And I couldnt' care less if you don't like me. I am not on here to win some popularity contest. Those who have been on here long enough to know my posts know that I am not a rude person but I will condemn a post that I think is inappropriate, harsh, insulting or blaming to a struggling poster. It's one thing if the OP asks for it (a kick in the pants). This OP did not.
And as I've said before - there are plenty of forums on here for success, rah, rah, rah, I love the band stories. They don't need to be put "in your face" with strugglers.

I hate it when something works for someone and they think that means it has to work for everyone. Before the lapband, people would say to me "WeightWatchers works, and if it is not working for you the problem is you and not Weight Watchers." They would say that because it had worked for them. But no matter how hard I tried, it didn't work for me. So now to read people say "the band ALWAYS works for EVERYONE and if it doesn't work for you it is YOUR fault." I totally disagree.
The band worked for me--and I am very grateful to God for that. But I don't believe it works for everyone, any more than I believe Weight Watchers or ANY program works for EVERYONE.
My surgeon told me one of the ways the band works is that by having the food at the top of your stomach, it activates the nerves that send the full message to the brain. I think some people may have a flaw in these nerves and even with the band they don't send the message. I think some people have more sensitive nerves and others have less sensitive ones--that's why some people can hit their sweet spot with little to no fill and it takes others way more fill, and still others have nerves that are so de-sensitized that they never hit their sweet spot and thus the band doesn't work for them.
If you did everything you know that you were supposed to and the band did not help your hunger, then the band failed you--plain and simple. It's unfortunate but true. Just like some people can take a medical treatment and it cures their disease and another person can take the same treatment and it doesn't help them--that's how the band works. And just because you are one of the lucky ones it works for, don't try to make the others feel bad. Just be grateful that it worked for you!

And the point of your post is??? That if your band worked for you it should work for everyone? We're all just turning cartwheels that yours was a textbook case of success but for you to assume that for those us for whom the band doesn't work didn't follow the rules is just not true. Have you not taken the time to read these posts?
Seriously, those of us who have problems with the band DESPITE FOLLOWING THE RULES don't need posts like this that just come across as smug. Post them on lapband success stories where they belong. They offer nothing to the dialogue here.

A few things jumped out at me from this thread...
It is not *all about* will power and self control. If it was, none of us would have needed the band. The band seems to work most effectively (usual caveat that there are exceptions) and successfully for people who have been successful dieters in the past, but put the weight back on due to hunger. At the sweet spot they get a feeling of satiety after a meal...something they didn't get no matter how much they ate in the past.
Unfortunately, there are quite a few people making the band control how much they eat and are getting their bands so tight they delay with daily episodes of getting stuck, sliming and throwing up the slime and stuck object. I'm with Cleo in that I think in years to come we're going to see far more medical issues related to the abuse of the esophagus that happens with these episodes.
The reason those of us who have problems come here and relay our problems is because potential banders...and other banders having problems...can see that it's not all rosey. There are potential problems/complications. When I first came to this forum, few people talked about the problems they were having and when they did, there was an immediate barrage of "The band does not fail...the person fails the band." As a result, anyone having difficulties was afraid to say anything...and gave me (and I'm sure others) a very skewed view of life after being banded.
To the OP...I hope the bypass works for you, but the reality is, the bypass and sleeve both have a honeymoon period where there is a greater loss initially than you get with the band. Ultimately, though, if you don't use self-control to choose the right foods and choose to put the fork down, you'll be one of the many who also fail at the bypass and not only put all their weight back on, but gain even more...but now you've made such drastic changes to your insides that you may have added a significant number of medical issues that will effect your quality of life. I hope that's not the case for you.
I wish you well.