addy

Hey, ladies!!! Glad to see some peeps posting!
Hope everyone had a nice weekend & happy Father's Day.
All is well here. Just got the kitchen cleaned up, a box packed, and a couple of Protein Shakes ready for tomorrow. Busy time around here. Closing on July 10, so trying to line up utilities, movers, contractor for some remodeling, etc. can't wait to get settled!!
Hope everyone is going strong!!!

You can do this @@addy

Thank you all for your comments, I too, had my band put in several years ago. I did well at first and then multiple back/leg surgeries kept me off my feet, but nothing was wrong with my elbows, they kept putting "pity" foods in my mouth. I have been slowly gaining back my weight. Well, today I decided to do just as you said "start over" I have a re-start from my dr. and it is like you said - 4 days liquid, 3 days soft, then back on portions - Protein, PROTEIN, PROTEIN. Good luck and I hope to keep up with your journey, and achieve success with you. : ) addy

I'm here and GLAD to see somebody posting here! I miss this thread when we're not on it!
All is well. We have a contract on a house and that's helped with my eating. When I'm nervous, I can't eat and I'm def down a few pounds. I'm getting in my Water and we're doing an hour walk most evenings. I won't say I haven't eaten mexican or sweet treats along the way, but that's life.
Happy Anniversary!! Glad to hear you guys had a great trip!!
Maybe we can get our accountability peeps cranked back up. Come on guys...the good, bad, & ugly, right?!?

Okay, guys, this it is!

No excuses, no whining, let's just make it happen!

We know how to make this band work for us and 2015 will be our year!

Well, since I wasn't doing it as a diet, really, I had no restrictions to my liquids. I did soups-- mostly cream based just because I was stressed and creamy foods are my comfort foods. LOL But, it did give my stomach a rest which probably helped the inflammation at my band go down which put an end to the pain and stomach upset (and ultimately the reflex which was SO at the heart of my issues). I did full liquids for 4 days and mushies for 3 days after that. I'm back into solids, but eaten super carefully. I haven't thrown up since I started the liquid diet, nor have I woke up with burning sinuses (a common occurrence prior to this revelation) from reflex.
You can do it!!!

Hi everyone! My name is Melissa. I was banded by Dr. Zapata in Monterrey, Mexico back in the spring of 2010. This is a bit long, but I gotta get it out... Maybe it'll help people who end up in my situation. Who knows?
Unfortunately, I went into the surgery with a HORRIBLE attitude. I just sat back and expected my band to do ALL of the work for me without me actually making any changes. If I ate too much or too fast, I just threw it up. No big deal, right? Of course... I wouldn't even admit that to myself. I for the LIFE of me couldn't figure out why I was sick EVERY SINGLE TIME I ATE!
In spite of all of that, I DID manage to lose about 60 pounds, but... Because of the vomiting (that again, I just couldn't make sense of) my band was ultimately drained and I was diagnosed with gall stones and had my gall bladder removed to help with the constant sickness. Lo and behold, I had my gall bladder removed last Thanksgiving (2013) and the vomiting didn't even slow down. Stress made it worse. I'm currently in nursing school and I WAY know about stress.
We had finals a couple of weeks ago and I couldn't focus to study because I was literally throwing up everything I put in my mouth. So... To try to take my mind off of my stomach pain and puking, I switched myself to a liquid diet. That lasted from Saturday night until my final Wednesday morning. Amazingly, I felt a lot better. I wasn't throwing up. My constant sinus pain-- apparently the result of reflux while I was sleeping that was burning my sinus cavity-- vanished. I DID NOT DO THE liquid diet FOR WEIGHT LOSS. Remember? I was in denial. My band was just broken. It did nothing. Who the heck knew why I always threw up? Maybe I had stomach cancer... (LOL I swear I'm not usually so melodramatic)
When I started eating solids again, I was reluctant. I felt a lot better and was kinda sad to think I'd be giving it up. So I did was professional students do. I researched. Guess what? People who don't respect their WLS and don't change their habits tend to have the issues I was having. A more. And giving my banded stomach time to heal with no puking allowed my band to actually make its presence known. So, I figured what the heck...
I started back like I had just had surgery. Soft foods eaten slowly. No drinking with meals. Smart food choices. You know.... All the stuff I was meant to do the FIRST TIME around. And holy crap, it's like I've actually had WLS. Even with an unfilled band. I have restriction. I'm content with a cup to a cup and a half of food. I haven't thrown up in weeks. I've lost 20 pounds. Head hunger exists. I don't like it, but I can cope. Because dang it, I paid for this surgery and even if it was 4 years ago I'm gonna get my money's worth!
So, that's where I stand. That's my story. And I'm back. And this time, dang it, I'm gonna do it right!
~ Melissa ~

Me too! I am going to a fill center today since I can't work with my surgeon. I am excited about a new start! My goal is to eat only when hungrey, stop as soon as I am full. Beth

Occassionally, I run across a few posts from people like me who have failed their bands. But these posts are usually just a venting opportunity. I have failed my band - I acknowledge it - and it would be great if we could have a group of other "failures" who want to work together to become success stories.
MY STORY
I was banded in March of 2007. At the time I was 299 lbs. I am a 6ft tall lady. Today, I weigh 255, and basically just as big as I was when I got my band. I have got numerous fills and I usually eat through my fiils. I can eat whatever I want. I overeat and I am confident that I have caused my stomach to expand. I snack on candy, I eat the wrong foods - I eat until I am STUFFED. Sometimes when I overeat, I feel sick and gag to relieve the pressure.
I moved to Houston 4 months ago, and last week, I went in for a port-readjustment with Dr Alanis. It went well and I now have a new resolve to make it work. My doctor mentioned to me that about 40% of all bandsters fail. I do not want to be a failure. I have paid too much money to go through this.
MY GOAL FOR DECEMBER

To write everything I eat down, including calories
To stay within 1500 Calories.
What's your story? What's your goal? How can I support you? How can we support each other?
Misery loves company, and company can help us move from failure to success. Please join me by telling me your story, and your GOAL for December. Let's vent - but more importantly, let's talk about strategies to make this work - let's share and support each other - Let's turn this from failure to success.
I REFUSE TO BE A FAILURE

I've been out of the house all day and I just stopped at Wendy's with my friend. I haven't ever had their chili before. It's delicious and band friendly! Woo hoo!

Knowing what you are doing wrong is half the problem! I think you should go online and find a bunch of lap band friendly recipes that sound good to you, make sure they are easy! Every week I make myself a menu that I have no choice but to stick to. An example of what I do is: Breakfast: Egg casserole (so easy! Just scramble some eggs, with a little milk, cheese, Protein, veggies, and some spices and bake @ 350 until golden brown) Lunch: Mexican chicken (Chicken breast, taco seasoning, red and yellow peppers, onions- all in the crock pot for a couple of hours- YUM!) Dinner: Turkey burger with cheese and a veggie. I make sure to portion everything out and always know how many calories/ Protein I am getting.
It can be simple as long as you prepare yourself. Every day I carry lap band friendly Snacks with me as well as a little Protein powder just in case I get put in a position where I need to eat and there is nothing good for me. Water is super important to me too and I make sure to get at least 64 oz but I aim for about 100 oz.
Perhaps to get back on track you should set yourself a goal and plan something special if you meet the goal. It can be really motivating to Celebrate your victories! You can do this! Just remember that you are doing this for you and a better life! Good luck!

Hello Bandsters,
I'm looking for some non-judgemental help here. I have, honestly, had my band for a year. I initially lost weight, mainly from the liquid diet, but since then I've been gaining it back. This is definitely my fault - not the band's. I've been eating poorly, as I've tried to find the 'sweet spot' with the band. I went through so much throwing up when i was too tight, and then total hunger when I've been too loose. Now my doctor feels that we are 'very close' to finding the right amount of restriction.
I asked my doctor what diet I should do (I really need to follow a strict regime -- I don't do well when I don't have something to follow). He said I SHOULD NOT do Weight Watchers -- 'it's not compatible with the band. He told me to "think Atkins", but hasn't been more specific. I'm meeting with him Monday and will try to get more.
In the meantime, I would be so appreciative to learn what your successful diet has been. What do you eat for Breakfast, lunch and dinner, and Snacks? I don't really cook, but I'm in New York City so I can pretty much get anything.
Thank you so much in advance for your advice. I'm desperate to start losing weight.

Hey, Banders!The weather’s warm, zucchini and watermelons are abundant and the Summer Games are providing inspirational moments for all of us. We hope life is good for you and you’ve been achieving your own goals this summer. To help you stay focused, here’s another newsletter from LapBandTalk.com. This is what we’ve got for you:

Burning question: What are the Best Sources of Protein?
Member Spotlight: Meet kll724!
Bander Challenge: Record Your Diet!
Life with the Lap-Band: What’s Your Emergency Plan?
We hope you enjoy reading the newsletter and you get inspiration and a few great ideas from it. Of course, when you’re done reading, come on over to the LapBandTalk.com board and talk about the newsletter or anything else that’s on your mind. Also remember to drop me a line any time if you have comments or suggestions for the boards. Thanks!
Sincerely,
Alex Brecher
Founder
LapBandTalk.com
Burning Question: What are the Best Sources of Protein?
Last week we talked about why you need protein when you’re losing weight after surgery. But where should you get your protein from? There are a bunch of good sources. When you’re on a liquid diet after weight loss surgery, Protein shakes and Protein powder can help you meet your needs. Fat-free milk is another good source, and it also has Calcium and Vitamin D for strong bones.
In the pureed foods stage, you can add in things like canned flake chicken, extra-lean ground beef and light tuna. Tuna has an extra benefit because of its heart-healthy omega-three fatty acids. Fat-free yogurt is another great option. You always want to look for lean meats and fat-free or low-fat dairy products instead of full-fat ones. That’ll help you limit your calories and reduce saturated fat, which is unhealthy for your heart because it raises your cholesterol levels.
By the time you get to the soft (semi-solid) foods and solid foods stages, you have a lot more options. Fish, crab, white-meat, skinless chicken and turkey, and egg whites are almost pure protein – plus some essential nutrients. Be very careful to avoid any bones or gristle in your fish or meat. Some vegetarian options are tofu, Beans and low-fat cheese. Melted cheddar cheese makes a delicious topping for almost anything. Always eat slowly, savor the flavors and chew your food well before swallowing.
Choosing Proteins that are lowest in calories and saturated fat will help you lose weight and stay healthy.
Did you miss the previous Burning Question? You can always see the earlier Burning Questions in our Newsletter Archives. You don’t have to miss any important information!
Member Spotlight – Meet kll724!
This week we have the honor of featuring kll724 – or Karen – from Lakeland, Florida. This 64-year-old woman had gained weight over the years, ending up at a size 24 from her young adult size 7. She decided to get banded when she saw the success that her friend’s daughter had with the surgery in Mexico. Her surgeon in Florida had her follow a six-month pre-surgery diet, along with taking phentermine, so she could “learn to eat like a skinny person.”
Not everything was smooth sailing. She had to get a complete unfill and revision due to slippage. She got dehydrated because she waited until Monday to call her surgeon before finding out that she could have called on Sunday! Karen is now down 100 pounds from her high weight of 244 pounds. Her arthritic knee is no longer troublesome, and she walks every day “without breaking a sweat.” Her husband calls this beautiful lady his trophy wife! Success with the lap-band seems to run in the family – both of her children have also been banded.
Karen truly appreciates the warmth of LapBandTalk.com, where, as she says, “no one cares if you are 20 or 70.” Having maintained her goal weight for a while now, she offers wise advice for other banders. First, follow your surgeon’s advice. Second, be patient with yourself and don’t compare your weight loss to others. And finally, “remember that the band is a tool, and you do need to work at the weight loss.” We know that her advice works – if you need proof, just head on over to kll724’s profile and take a look at her photo gallery. She’s looking awesome! Thanks, Karen, for being such a supportive member of the community and for being in our spotlight!
Each newsletter features a different LapBandTalk.com member in the Member Spotlight section. Let us know in the member spotlight forum if there’s someone you want to learn more about or if you want to be our spotlighted member! We’re all eager to hear more about you, so let us know who you are! If you’re shy and don’t want to post publicly, just PM Alex with the message that you want to be in the spotlight. This is our favorite part of the newsletter! Thanks for making it happen!
Bander Challenge – Let out your inner Olympian!
The Bander Challenge is the section of the newsletter when we suggest a challenge for you to try. The goal is to motivate you to push yourself to the next level – and that’s definitely the focus of this newsletter’s challenge! The Olympics are in full swing, and the whole world is watching these phenomenal athletes chasing and achieving their dreams. You may not have the grace, power and strength of the world’s best athletes, but you do have goals, hopes and dreams – just like Olympic athletes – and the chance to make them happen. So this newsletter’s challenge? Go for the gold and act like an Olympian! Olympic athletes put 100 percent of their effort toward achieving their dreams, and you can put 100 percent of your effort toward losing (or maintaining) weight and living a healthy lifestyle. Your challenge is to figure out what specific actions you might take to ensure your success. These are some ideas.

Eat for success. Olympians choose nutritious foods over junk food because they’ll perform better. A meal with vegetables, fruit and lean meat will go a lot further than a hamburger and fries. The same is true for you – you’ll feel better, think more clearly and have more energy when you eat nutritious foods.
Plan your meals and exercise. Success is no accident. Olympians plan every aspect of their training programs from training and recovery to diet and sleep. You should plan your own diet and exercise so that you always know what to do.
Keep a log. An Olympic athlete keeps a training log to record each day’s workout and be able to look back and see what worked and what didn’t. Keeping your own diet and exercise log keeps you on track and lets you look back to see what patterns led to success and where you could have improved your choices.
Visualize success. Most successful athletes take time each day to visualize their victory. They think about running that last lap in record time and accepting their medal on the victory podium. You can think about the bikini that you’re planning to wear next summer and the proud look on your spouse’s face when you two go out to dinner in the future.
How will you let out your inner Olympian? Let us all know in the member Challenge Forum! Tell us what you did and whether you think it worked for you! The challenge is completely non-competitive, but we’d love for you to share your experiences. You’ll help inspire others to chase their own dreams. Miss a challenge? No problem! Just go back to the old newsletters to see what the challenges were. It’s never to late to try something new and tell us about it on the forums.
Life with the Lap-Band: What’s Your Emergency Plan?
It’s Sunday morning and you haven’t been able to eat or drink all night because of nausea and vomiting. Your surgeon’s office hours are from Monday through Friday. You wait miserably until first thing Monday morning, when you call your surgeon. The receptionist is horrified to hear about your ordeal and says, “Why didn’t you call yesterday? We have someone here 24/7 for emergencies!”
This scenario comes up all the time on the boards, and it’s truly heartbreaking because in most cases, the suffering you feel is entirely unnecessary. You should know what number to call when you have trouble. If your surgeon didn’t give you an after-hours number, ask for one. You should never have to wait a whole day just because your emergency happens on a weekend.
And with that advice, we’re done with this newsletter. You can always read it again and look through old newsletters in the Newsletter Forum. We’re always happy to hear from you and to see increased participation on the boards, so log in and get talking! Thanks for your support. Take care of yourself and each other,
Alex

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Peace with food means that food, weight, or your diet is not the first thing you think about when you wake up or before you go to bed. Find out how to make peace with food now!


The yearning to find peace with food is usually a palpable one. When women speak about their motivation to stop struggling with food, find a weight that works for them, stop bingeing, and feel healthy and fit, the energy is usually intense. When you struggle with food, the wish to find peace—permanent peace—usually runs pretty deep.
No more diets. Pants that always fit. Feeling confident that your weight is going to be about the same as it was last week or last month or even last year. Peace with food means that food, weight, or your diet is not the first thing you think about when you wake up or before you go to bed. Peace with food means that sometimes the chips go stale and the leftover candy gets forgotten in the back of the cupboard.
Because the food is no longer that important.
Peace with food  is definitely possible. But in order to get there, you have to go beyond the food. And in order to do that, many women need to come face to face with something much bigger.
In order to make peace with food, you must make peace with your life.
Many women say they want peace with food and an end to yo-yo dieting. They say they’d do just about anything to achieve it. But the truth is, many women are trying to stop overeating without changing anything else.
It doesn’t work.
“I am lonely and I can’t do anything about it—so I eat.”
“I don’t have time to eat lunch and then I come home and binge.”
“I’m dealing with people who are angry and unreasonable. How do I make that okay?”
“I need someone to hold me accountable.”
“I’m busy from the time I wake up until I go to bed. There is no time for me. Food is my comfort. How am I supposed to stop eating?”
Peace with food isn’t really about food. Oh, on one level it is. It’s about feeling in control and effective and able to make choices that are in your best interest. It means (usually) not choosing foods or portions that leave you feeling uncomfortable or sick afterwards. It’s about you (not what’s on the plate) having the power and the control. But I hope you can see that I’m talking about so much more than food here.
Food only loses its power when we own our own power and stop using food as a band aid. Too often, food is the quick fix for things that we are not willing (or are too fearful) to address directly.
No food plan in the world is going to help the women above with their loneliness, their unwillingness to take time for themselves, their struggles with assertiveness, and their ability to ask for help. These are really gnarly difficult parts of life to wrestle with. Honestly, fighting with the chocolate chip Cookies (and even feeling guilty when you lose), can feel a lot less daunting. It’s easier (in the short run) to stay on the diet roller coaster than it is to make peace with food.
Peace with food requires making peace with your life. And sometimes that means creating a life that you can feel peaceful with. Learning to say no. Addressing the difficult relationships. Finding ways to take good care of yourself and sometimes putting yourself first. It means addressing the places that may feel scary: loneliness, fear, worry—even boredom. Taking risks that you might have been putting off taking for years. It’s hard stuff to swallow, but the payoffs can be huge. Creating peace with food really does have the potential to transform your life.
And before you get too overwhelmed, please remember that there are real tools (that work much better than diets) to help you do all these things. All of these challenges get more manageable and less terrifying when you find someone to help you through them—and when you take them on in small, palatable bites.
So imagine again that your pants always fit and your weight stays where you want it to. That you don’t diet and you don’t binge and you generally make good choices. And this time understand that it happens because you’ve looked the loneliness in the eye and gotten the help that you need to change it. You’ve learned to stand tall and speak up on your own behalf. You aren’t ending the day feeling exhausted and used up and like you don’t have the energy to do more than open the ice cream.
You’ve rebalanced your life. You’ve done the hard work. You’ve unleashed your inner champion. That’s what it takes to make peace with food.

Have you ever said, “I'm sick and tired of being overweight and overeating but I don’t know where to start.” Check out these easy do-able steps that can make all the difference.


“I'm sick and tired of being overweight and overeating but I don’t know where to start.”
That’s what a new client said. Her head was so full of diet advice, nutrition tips, weight loss ads, and beliefs about what she “should” be doing, that she was overwhelmed and feeling stuck before she even started.
Should she cut back on carbs? Start working out? Keep a food diary? Rejoin Weight Watchers? She knows she’s a stress eater, so maybe she should start meditating and eating mindfully.
She also really needs to catch up on her sleep, but her desk is a mess and she wants to spend more time with her husband….
Overload is like that and so is emotional overeating. Both can feel like tangled messes with no obvious starting point. When you are stuck in a cycle you don’t know how to stop, taking action can start to feel like it’s going to start an avalanche. Add to that the panic many of us feel when we are exhausted and overloaded that paradoxically causes us to bite off too much, and see our options as “all” or “nothing,” and many stressed-out overeaters see themselves facing a challenge that feels insurmountable.
“If I’m going to go to the gym, I really need to go six days a week and stay for an hour,” said a client who hadn’t felt she could fit in a workout for weeks.
“I need to start keeping track of everything I eat, I need to drink more Water, and I need to start eating more vegetables and stop eating after dinner.”
“I’m going to eat healthy, journal, meditate, and work out every day.”
“I’m so stressed. Nothing can change until I get a new job.”
All of these women started to feel overwhelmed before the words were even out of their mouths.
Guess what? The road to lasting change is hardly ever a major life overhaul. Creating peace with food and peace with your life almost always happens in small do-able steps. Contrary to what your stressed-out brain may be telling you, powerful change can be created from simple consistent shifts.
How do you start taking charge of overeating, stress, or that feeling of having too much on your plate?
You start by creating success and effectiveness and allowing that to snowball. The success and feelings of accomplishment are what help you create momentum—and that, in turn, creates more ease and motivation. Pick one small simple step that you can commit to for the next week. If it makes you tired or feels intimidating to say it out loud, cut the size of the step in half.
Now do it. Check it off every day, and Celebrate yourself profusely. After four to seven days, choose another step.
Your goal here is to choose a step that increases your progress and momentum one inch—not a mile. When you are getting started from a place of stress and overwhelm, your goal is to get into action, but NOT to add more stress and overwhelm to your life.
The first step should feel almost (but not quite) effortless.
Eating Breakfast in the morning
Checking in with yourself midafternoon and and asking yourself what you need
Making a list of five things you can do when you feel stressed (that are not food)

Start small. Create effectiveness, and the momentum and your progress will build. Really.

I asked the same question until about a month ago after my last fill:( I pretty much felt like there was something that got stuck in the pit of my chest and it made it hard for me to talk at times. I could not eat or drink anything and when I tried some Water, shortly there after it reminded me of the movie Hooch and Turner, when the dog slimed all over the floor.lol But then I felt fine after the slime went away.
I also found out this past weekend that when it gets really hot outside, my band might be swelling up more than usual as well. I couldn't eat even a couple bites of stuff that normally wouldn't bother me. After it cooled down this week, I was back to normal. Just remember, everone reacts in different ways, I had to listen to my body and how it reacted to certain foods and weather obviously:)