bambam31

Take care of yourself and your husband Gilta! Our thoughts are with you! Brad

Ceradad, I'll get the 800 number from pattygreen and put in a call - gotcha covered! :scared2: Brad

Not so fast... :scared2: My weight loss has been too fast. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy being a much smaller version of myself. But I pushed the calorie deficits way too hard and I know I lost valuable lean muscle tissue in the process. Patience is not one of my strong points....But I've been working much harder at losing fat and saving muscle. Since I had bingeing and overeating tendencies, the band has been an excellent tool for me. Between it limiting what I can physically, and will power on my part, I've managed to do quite well. Without the band I definitely would not have been as successful. My first fill didn't really do anything. Second had some noticeable restriction for a short time. Third had fairly decent restriction. Fourth put me as tight as I want to be and still be able to get the nutrition I need. Keep up the good fight! Brad

I think a lot of them try to err on the side of caution because tolerance levels vary so much - they don't want to invite phone's ringing off the hook because people are puking on foods they said they should be able to consume... Most, though, seem to be flexible. If you call them up and explain what you want to eat and why, most will likely let you experiment so long as it doesn't completely fly in the face of reason. But if I were one of the people who had a doc with a stricter diet that the manufacturers recommendations, rest assured I would insist they state their case why. They work for us. And I would state my case indicating what many other docs are allowing or what the manufacturer suggests and perhaps the doc will do a bit more research. Brad

I had approval within about 3 weeks of completing all the pre-op requirements, and then I actually could have had surgery within two weeks, but I opted to wait about 4 weeks because we had bought a new house and were in the process of moving. Brad

I couldn't agree more with Jacqui. Pages 3 and 4 of this thread are more of an in depth discussion of the same. http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f9/ice-cream-horror-85172/?highlight=ice+cream+horror Brad

Ahh yes... a well balanced diet of information and entertainment... LOL Come spend the day at my house - it's all the birth control you'll ever need.... Brad

You probably won't get a good review of the band in the gym! I surely wouldn't expect much band guidance there at least... I think the first step for anyone trying to figure out why they aren't losing sufficiently (1-2 pounds a week) is to journal all input and expenditure. I use Fitday, but there are many other excellent programs. I bought the Fitday program so I could keep it on my laptop and go anywhere with it. They also offer a free online version. Gather as many different opinions as you can and then develop a plan of action. I consider myself an information whore... LOL Just make adjustments until you get the desired results. One thing that is hard for us is patience. I suffer badly from wanting results RIGHT DAMN NOW! And by demanding such I've lost too much weight too fast. And I shutter to think how much of it was lean muscle tissue, because I'm at 24% body fat. One thing to consider, which I've only begun to do, is track your body fat percentage and coordinate that number with those given by the almighty scale. Because scale numbers alone don't show the whole picture. Searching for the most practical, yet accurate way to measure body fat? Well... that's a topic for a whole other thread... LOL Good luck and keep up the good fight! Brad

Muscle doesn't burn fat... That's a bunch of hoooey... Fat is nothing more than a calorie bank - it's stored calories. To burn that, you have to create a calorie deficit - so that your making a withdrawal from the bank. Lean muscle tissue is highly metabolically active - fat is not. So it takes a lot more calories a day to sustain that muscle tissue than it does fat. (Say for the sake of example... 50 cals a day for a pound of muscle and 4 cals a day for a pound of fat) So the more lean muscle tissue your body carries, the higher your daily basal metabolic rate. And the more active you are, the more calories that lean muscle tissue will burn throughout the day. Where I think a lot of bandsters go astray is they cinch their bands down to the point that they can barely eat. And many make this even worse by only eating a few meals a day. By doing this they create TOO LARGE of a calorie deficit, which triggers the starvation response. The human body has evolved over thousands of years and still remembers the days of famine. So it has adapted to learning how to survive these periods. By invoking the starvation response, your body begins to slow your metabolism. And since your creating such a large calorie deficit, it has to get it's energy to survive from somewhere. Is it going to burn just fat which only costs 4 calories a day per pound? Or muscle which is costing it 50 calories a day per pound? No doubt is going to burn some of both, but it's going to burn a higher ratio of lean muscle tissue because it's too costly to keep. So bandsters see a huge weight loss initially (remember, muscle weighs more than fat), but once the body catches on, it slows your metabolism and continues to do so until it's adjusted to what your intaking. The result? A much lower basal metabolic rate and no calorie deficit - which equals no weight loss. Things won't get moving again until you eat more to get the metabolism burning hotter. That's why there are so many people who can't figure out why they're only eating 700 or 800 calories but aren't losing any weight. And what about the weight they did lose. How much of it was lean muscle tissue (which we all know weighs more than fat) and how much was actual fat? No way to know for sure, but the ratio definitely swings toward lean muscle tissue during a starvation response. Why on earth would we want to lose muscle tissue? It's totally counterproductive. Who wants to lose most of their fat to see bones and flabby skin? Hell, I want to see muscle! And women worried about being too muscular - DON'T... Except for a few genetic anomolies, you couldn't get huge disproportionate muscles even if you wanted to because you don't have the chemical makeup - especially hormones - to produce them. My approach? I use the band to keep me from bingeing and overeating, but I keep a constant flow of nutritious food throughout the day. (A secretary at work just can't figure it out... she keeps saying, "how on earth do you lose weight? All you do is EAT!" She probably thinks I'm on drugs...lol) I do intense cardio sessions, 45-60 minutes each, 5-7 days a week. I also aim for 2-3 weight training sessions a week, although cardio is my main focus. And I mix it up week to week so my body doesn't permanantly adjust. I'm burning 4000-6000 calories in the gym a week (as tracked on a heart rate monitor). Remember, it takes a calorie deficit to lose fat... IMO, it's better to create a calorie deficit by intense exercise/eating more than starving/slouching. Same thing for calories. I zig zag my calorie intake. I may have a 1500 -2000 calorie deficit on a day of hard training, but a 500 calorie surplus on another day. By doing this I'm creating the needed deficit to lose weight, but my body doesn't think I trying to starve it, and my metabolism isn't just hot - it's on fire. How on fire? I have some 3000+ calorie intake days - and I continue to lose weight. And since I have the band I physically can't binge or insanely overeat and sabotage my progress. Balanced nutrition and copious amounts of Water are important parts of the equation too. Now I would NEVER suggest that this is what everyone should be doing. We're all different and have to find success by trial and error. This is just another option. If someone were to try this with a skewed component (especially the exercise component) the result could be a disastrous weight gain. Bandsters shouldn't be afraid to try different approaches though. If you've had low calorie diets in the past that failed, what makes you think eating low calorie with a band is going to get a different result? Isn't that the definition of insane? You know, doing the same thing but expecting a different result? Food for thought... Brad

Thanks for the tip! DW had the Mirena strings trimmed the other day and WOW... what a difference. Nurse practioner told her to apologize to me for her - she didn't realize she'd left the strings that long. Brad

How many calories are you getting in a day? Do you count them? With the complications you're experiencing I'd be curios if your getting enough. Low calories and little exercise means LOW metabolism which means no fat loss. Brad Brad

You are spot on with your analysis! Stand firm and you'll be rewarded in time. Don't be too jealous of those people eating solid foods right away - because while their doctor may allow it, it flies right into the face of the instructions given by the band manufacturers. Down the road they may have serious complications or lose their band as you're cruising past. Brad

She didn't understand some might find that tone offensive, well bless her heart. (I'm sorry - I couldn't hold that back) No seriously... You have my forgiveness. The more tolerant we are (within reason) the more understanding we become. I love listening to all points of view and then coming to a conclusion for myself. I just don't like being told what I HAVE to believe. I believe you are a very good and caring person. Your parents were very understanding indeed. Unfortunately my mother is one of those hypocrites that thinks her religion is THE WORD... Period... Growing up she'd even make comments dissing other religions like, "well the Baptists are weird, they don't allow people to dance." :huh2: Brad

The most common numbers I've seen floated are 30-50 calories for every pound of fat - but these numbers are in high dispute. Some claim it's really as low as 6 ! Others claim it's as high as 80. Some latest discussion is suggesting it's likely somewhere in the 10-20 range. At any rate, there isn't much argument though that a pound of fat only requires between 2 and 4 calories per pound for maintenance! That alone tells us how important it is to retain as much lean muscle tissue as possible in order to keep our metabolism as high as possible! Brad

Thanks for sharing Kat! That is a win-win situation for all involved and that's fine parenting if you ask me! I can't imagine what my mother would have said if I had got up on Sunday morning and told her I wasn't going to mass because I was now baptist! :glare:... Kinda makes me wish I'd have thought of it then... :huh2: Brad

Just above here is a prime example of why a lot of people are turned off to religion too... And you've all been talking about it all day but I don't think it's sinking in... Let me have a stab at it... Steve and Carrie make statements such as, "I believe prostitution should not be legal because......" Which I think is great because they are sharing their belief. Contrary to that delivery, Patty says, "well prostitution should not be legal because it's a sin and and it's against God's will - just read the bible." That's not sharing your belief it's stating an absolute! It shows no respect for anyone else's beliefs. It's imposing your belief on someone else and is passing a judgment upon them at the same time! This would be no different than someone else saying, "well anyone that believes God specifically sent them a lapband commercial is a raving lunatic with serious insecurities." Both are equally offending in my book. Brad

And I respect your beliefs :huh2: Brad

Ok... so God gets credit for anything good - but anything bad is either the fault of man or nobody's fault at all... Hmm... Well I don't think I can believe that myself, but if it works for you - great! There are two protections I believe that should always be guaranteed... 1) Everybody is entitled to their beliefs no matter how irrational they may seem to anyone else. And nobody should be attacking a person's belief, even though you believe otherwise. Freedom OF religion. 2) Nobody should pass judgment on another person by applying their beliefs to other people, who don't believe the same thing. (Freedom FROM religion) Unfortunately a lot of religious people violate number 2 and do it so frequently that they don't even realize they're doing it. Brad

And to that I can say Amen! Brad

Sorry wasa... you posted quicker than me... lol

Wait a minute - you said once it was stretched out it would stay there... now you're saying that once it was stretched out it would always re-stretch back out easier... That's not the same thing! Brad

Well I'm certain these people exist in all denominations and I'm not intending to Catholic-bash (hell I was even married in a Catholic Church) but I even attended a Catholic school 1st through 8th grade so it's the only religion I been exhaustingly exposed to - but I have seen so much hypocrisy in the parisioners that it turns my stomach. From the priest right on down. The priest at this church is no more a holy man that I am... In fact if I were him I'd be embarrassed to claim that I was a man of God. They act so self-righteous and superior. And it's not just a few... And don't even get me started on the "who you know and who you are" game... This priest had no problem marrying me and my wife there. I had not regularly attended church in more than 5 years and my wife was not even Catholic - but I have friends who he wouldn't even give the time of day to... I have relatives in the church with "clout" so he wasn't about to turn me away... And the money... oh.. boy... don't even get me started on Churches and money.... BTW... I do believe in God - or at least a higher power - I'm just thinking these man made religions are probably not nearly as on course as they think...

:huh2: I shouldn't do this.... :glare: I repeat... :glare: I shouldn't do this... :glare: BUT.... WTH... I'm always intrigued by a statement like this. What makes you think that you didn't find the lapband on your own? Short of an image appearing saying "I have the answer my child - seek out the lapband." What makes you think God had anything to do with it? If your answer is something like "well because God has a devine plan and therefore if I found the lapband that means he planned that for me so I give him the credit" well... then I'm glad that makes sense to you because it's as foggy as pea soup to me... How can you give a higher power credit for everything good that happens, without conversly holding that power responsible for everything that goes bad? Brad

There is normally a period after being banded - and the surgery swelling goes down - that is very tough! The hunger comes back and physically you're able to eat just as you were pre-band BUT your stomach pouch is still healing/adjusting and it's important you don't do so. It's called "Bandster Hell" and it's tough. Unfortunately a lot of people end up gaining weight for a short amount of time until you get enough fills to get satisfactory restriction. You just have to be patient and work very hard to stick to the rules. Once you achieve good restriction it get MUCH easier. Brad

I have read on LBT that some doctors won't let patients eat nuts or dairy products. I'm gathering it's because of their calorie denseness. Personally, I think that's nuts... (sorry) I eat peanuts, brazil nuts, cashews, pecans, almonds, walnuts, soy nuts, and lots of dairy products. Fortunately my doc has no restrictions on this stuff. I eat oatmeal almost daily and use it in other recipes' too. It is one of the most nutritious foods we can eat. To about 36 grams of oats I add 5 oz of milk, 1 scoop of whipped vanilla Protein powder (I use BSN Lean Dessert which also sweetens it), cinnamon, and 20g of freshly ground flax seeds. YUMMY! and very nutritious. I really like the Peanut Butter idea - sounds like tomorrow's breakfast for me! Brad