chicamam1

today at work i was really hungry so i got a peice of trident sugar free to chew. later on i was speaking on the phone and without realizing it. swallowed it!! I feel something stuck in the bottom of my throat and I started doing dry heaves at work so i left. im awaiting the call from my docs office and i still feel something down there... not sure what else i can do. ive been drinking warm liquids. I am so scared my band will be screwed up I love it so much!!!!

biggest food i will miss

Pasta, i might try the whole wheat later on down the road in small portions.

bread,

soda drinks

beer ( will will have an occasional glass of wine down the road)

pizza and hot wings. although i havent explored to see if there is an healthy hot wing option out there yet. I sure hope so lol.

mexican food especially mole. my favorite food.

these are things i used to eat often and havent touched in a month. Im still craving them pretty bad, hopefully that part gets easier :thumbup:

lol the getting the to go box made me giggle. I went to ihop the other night with my family and the lady let me get a sr meal. grilled chicken and veggies. I ate maybe 1/3 of the chicken and couple bites of veggies. it almost looked like i didnt eat anything. Its interesting. the waitress couldnt seem to figure it out. She asked me if the meal was ok. Yep sure was but can only eat a very small amount. You shoulda seen the puzzled look on her face. So funny

Since ive got banded how as it changed my life? I think the biggest thing for me, is how I look at food differently now. Dont get me wrong I have my struggles, such as cravings etc, but knowing what i put in is what i will get out of the band. a couple more things'

1. the 25 pounds I have lost

2. my clothes fitting me better, ( wore a shirt sunday that was tight on me before but was loose)

3. getting more healthy to be around to see my children grow up wait, this is # 1 for sure. my whole encouragement and reasons I did the band

4. My blood pressure is getting pretty low on my medications. was 96/60 last time i checked.

5. the swelling in legs have gone down considerably and you can see the bones in my feet.

6. I feel confident to start up either Water aerobics or lap swimming and buying a swim suit. something I havent done since my teen years. :thumbup:

i do think it could be considered an eating disorder. Not much different than swallowing and throwing up in my own opinion. Now since ive been on solids i have done what someone mentioned above. I took a bite and knew it wouldnt go down good, so i took it out of my mouth. I think this is being aware of your band. However doing it for the simple pleasure of just to taste forbidden foods. I dont know. My personal opinion is thoughts that lead up to this behavior arent self controlled, what will then come between the person starting to ingest these foods, and then feel bad and throw up? one action leads to another action. ITs just not good eating habits. I Think for me knowing later, I can still have some of my favorites if tolerated, in very small portions and limited, gives me more will power now to eat healthy foods and make good choices. I do hope if this is something someone is considering ( chew and spitting) to ask their doctor about it to see how they feel about it

yes i avoid liquids at meals until 60 minutes after eating. I have pretty good restriction right now even though ive moved to solids. only able to eat probably 3-4 oz at a sitting, if i eat more, i get too full. I am still seeing weight loss even moving to solids but im only taking in about 600-800 calories a day still and ensuring im eating high protien foods first. we went to eat at ihop and i got a sr meal of grilled chicken and veggies, could only eat 1/3 of the chicken, and couple tiny bites of veggies. however, i noticed out of habit, i kept reaching for my drink, thank goodness i caught myself. old habits die hard dont they? From the research and posts ive read if you drink with your meals, it washes the food out of the pouch allowing you to not feel full faster, and eat more, which causes more caloric intake. I know its tough, but try to avoid if all possible.

I'm only about two months (and one small fill) out but I've been trying to weigh/measure things since I can't really rely on my head or stomach to know when enough is enough (huh, like maybe that's how we got into this position in the first place? ).

It's not a perfect science by any stretch, and I think there's a fairly long learning curve, but by Portion Control I can keep a good handle on things. As I learn more what a cup vs. half a cup vs. two cups feels like in my stomach, I figure I can (some day!) move away from this obsessive measuring/weighing and get better at eyeballing food.

Of course, YMMV. :thumbup:

my doc as well requires we measure food precisely at every meal and to ensure how much protien intake there is. 2 0z of protien and 1z of veggies and fruits. three 0z at every meal i plan to go by the guidelines because for me. My full feeling is when I feel it in my stomach and I also dont know if that is exactly the way to know when your full. gosh ive overate for so long its like im not intuned to that feeling.

I called my provider today. they said it sounds like im having a bad reaction to the protien in the drinks. and put me on soft solid food. to mince my meat, and eat cooked veggies, to try and get my protien from meat from now on. I can pretty much say im thrilled to hope my cramping will go away and that i get to chew again!

i have 10cc band with no fill. I go in oct 29th for my first fill.

I have noticed over the last 3 days, I have had horrible stomach cramping after eating. I drank some Water this morning, took my bp med and my stomach was already hurting :tongue2: its a concern because yesterday i had for Breakfast half of a protien drink and chicken broth and when i went to work, I almost went in my pants :wink2: Not to be too graphic sorry but its concerning. after every meal, im feeling sick to my stomach. I have also felt very shakey especially in the mornings. My weight loss as stopped as well. I have eating anything or drank anything thicker than yogurt, and havent introduced any new things that i havent ate before. Any ideas??

I hear some patients get a stuffed bear in the recovery room after the surgery from a nurse. Is that True?

If so that's very sweet. :tongue2:

I got a koala bear in the recovery room from dr Tersigni, To cough and stuff. However I found a pillow worked much better lol. I like the koala however as a reminder that im on this great journey and the great staff that helped me get here :wink2:

it is so true that we will do all the work and the band is just a tool. For me personally knowing I was going to get the band, changed my thinking entirely. I lost 13 pounds on liquid diet all by myself without the band the week before surgery. and have lost a total of 22 pounds. At this point, its all my decisions on what im eating that is affecting my weight and that will continue to be a factor even when i get my first fill. It is all us :crying: Amazing to think but for me its like I have this sheer determination now knowing if i do this right, I can lose the weight, and keep it off!!!

congrats on your banding! My name is Tia, I was banded on the 15th of sept. IM on liquids for 4 weeks then my first fill is 10/29. I hope all is going well for you! congrats on your weight loss. Ive lost a total of 22 pounds including, one week preop liquid diet. Lets at stick around and be buddies and support for one another.

My name is Erica, 20 and I live near chicago

I am about a week away from my sugeray and I stumbled apon this site. I am really looking forward to having this done. I have alreay lost about 25 lbs...I have been on the liquid diet for 3 weeks. I am realy excited about the lifestyle chanage.:crying:

welcome! How exciting your surgery is next week

and congrats on your pre surgery weight loss. thats awesome!! I had surgery on 09/15 My name is Tia and looking forward to seeing more posts I lost 13 pounds pre op on one week of liquids, and then gained 7 pounds after surgery and after surg, lost a total of 16 pounds since surgery. welcome to the boards )

i was the same way with eating only 1 oz and feeling stuffed for the first days after surgery. You arent doing anything wrong your just healing :crying: has time progresses you will get more hungry trust me I have two more weeks of liquids to go and I know I will make it but geez, its so hard. lol. Im starving at work all the time, According to my coordinator I can eat anything like yogurt or thinner at this time. There is no mushie stage, goes straight to liquids to solids. GNC has a great whey protien vanilla mix i bought. Im drinking some right now and tastes much better than a protien shake. it has 20 grams of protien per scoop. Dont worry, your fine right now eating 1 oz at a time no worries

Hi! My name is Kim. I was banded on 9/17 and am doing fairly well although I must admit that I am still hungry at times. I have lost 9 lbs so far and am thrilled. My big problem is that I have 2 small boys, ages 5 and 2, that I have to cook for and who beg foe McDonald's on a daily basis. I am finding hard to stick to my "full liquid Diet" while trying to cook a "regular" dinner for my husband and children. Any suggestions?:confused:

hi Kim! :smile: I as well am very hungry and am craving so many things, but haven't given in. One, the money i spent on the surgery is not going to waste and two, I know the only way to make this really work is follow the outlined plan. Somethings I have done to help with the hunger, is to blend foods such as chili, refried beans( in small amounts ) and not often. I do my protien drink a day, then drink throughout. doing 3 0z of protien an hour. i am starving let me tell you, but I know if i jump ahead of doctors orders, it could be detrimental to my progress and lapband. My suggestions would be not to go to mcdonalds if you feel like you will give in. I had people offering me donuts at work today and im like heck no!! but i do understand its a difficult road and i dont get filled until 10/29!!! my surgery was on 09/15, i hate feeling hungry all the time too. a blender is my best friend. yogurt really does the trick too

ive lost a auto tire!! woohooo wow that is actually quite a bit huh? i was thinking about the thought of carrying one, not so light

i have aplan for dinner what do you all think? im going to do some ground turkey in some sloppy joe mix. then blend it for me to eat? lots of protien in one serving 26 grams, for the family ill put the blended mix on french bread and some low fat cheese for yummy cheese pizza :wub: do you think blending meats at this time is ok? im starting to actually get really hungry now 10 day post op and protien shakes are doing the trick anymore. ive been drinking the 50 grand slam with 50 oz protien. I dont want to upset my band but man im sooo hungry and for some reason ( maybe its in my head) real foods that are low carb low fat in the blender work well to satisfy me. I made a huge mistake yesterday. I took a yogurt to work thinking it was 3 4 oz but it was six. and boy i felt it. I was sick for the rest of the night. couldnt even eat dinner :confused:(( i need to check my portions every single time!!!

im so in awe of the band! and our determination to use it as the wonderful tool it is :wink_smile: Great job ladies, we all deserve so much for our accomplishments I am so excited. I cannot wait to see what progress i will make at the end of the year. im sure my weightloss will slow down eventually but hey, (throwing salt over my shoulder) no reason to jinx it lol. i dont want my boobs to go :smile: neither does my husband but all i can pray is that they dont turn into raisins. We are awesome!!

So I tried on some of my capris to wear to my kids soccer game on Saturday, and I turned around and noticed the butt part was completely sagging lol. I asked my husband did they always look like this? He said nope lol. So then this morning, I am getting dressed for work and I have one pair of slacks I could get on but were tight in the waist, and kinda rode up and the bottoms didnt droop past my ankle as they should. I said what the heck lets try them on and they fit me so good now, the waist is perfect, the pant leg falls and is so comfy!! Yay I was so excited That I lost a pant size lol. Just a small victory for me this and thought I would share :girl_hug: Funny thing is I cannot see any difference with any weight loss! My husband can, he said my legs are more thin, and my spare tire is not as inflated rofl.. I am kinda sad I dont see it but maybe I never will really see the weight loss? As anyone else dealt with that? :rolleyes2:

lol this depressed me as i want to keep my breasts wahhhh but its probably a known fact they will shrink lol. Thank you for the tip because usually I do go to Lane Bryant and pay a fortune for good bras. Next time Im in the valley I will do exactly what you have done. Thanks for sharing :rolleyes2:

Yes I do think it happens for sure in our society. I dont feel I have ever specifically fell victim to it unless it happened without me knowing. I have such a strong personality anyways lol. Of course to be perfectly honest right now it feels like i live in my own little world, go to work, go home, I dont have many friends ( not for the lack of trying). Someone said something on here saying how they couldnt wait for their husband not to have to be everything to them. ( sorry if i misquoted) but boy that really made me look at my relationship with him. right now he is. I am now realizing im not as outgoing as i think i am, and that can of course make people react differently to me. One thing that irritates me deeply is this. I know alot of thin people who think if obese people would just watch what they eat, they would become skinny. Let me tell you, I have observed alot of peoples eating habits, skinny or not, and alot of it is just crapola we are putting into our bodies, fastfood, fried foods, pop. How lucky so many people who are thin are to be able to eat like crap, and not gain weight. wonder if it has anything to do with genetic disposition? Yet they dont try to put the shoe on the other foot and see this.. Like my father in law who always is commenting on my weight in negative ways and looking at me like omg look at her she is so huge lol. I brush it off, however he is not a skinny man and eats like crap too blah lol.

I know that low-carb diets sometimes cause controversy. I am pretty sure that is the kind of diet I will be taking on after surgery. High Protein (lean meats, Beans and skim dairy) and low carb. I know there is an entire thread on here for low carb bandsters, so I thought I'd post and get both opinions.

Can anyone tell me the pros and cons, why they would or wouldn't take on this diet? Thanks for your kind responses, I am just trying to get an organized and as informed as I possible can before surgery!

My doc told me the post op diet needs to be protien, veggies, then fruit. I dont plan on eating anything white flour as much as possible such as bread, Pasta, rice, sugary carbs, however i do have like cream of wheat for Breakfast which has some carbs, but not bad carbs. That is my goal, not to cut them out entirely but ensuring im eating food that has good protien and nurtrients. The protien shakes I have do have lowcarb and low sugar content, I want to stray away from that as much as possible. splenda is my friend lol. Im not saying I wont ever have bread Pasta or rice again, but sparingly, as before that is probably most of what i ate.

I'm reading up on supplements. My doc highly recommends Bariatric Advantage supplements. They have one specifically designed for lap band patients.

Just curious - is it worth paying out the wazoo for these Vitamins? I read in another thread that lots of people used Centrum and flintstones Vitamins.< /p>

I got the bulding blocks vitamins specifically for bariatrics from my surgeons office. ALthough i do need some advice too. im scared to take them in fear they will get stuck lol defeats the purpose haha :rolleyes2:

My offices reasoning to specifically take this sort of specialized Vitamin is that research was done and the mix of vitamins offered, help the most with hairloss due to rapid weight loss and lack of absorption. of course lapband doesnt have the absorption issue but we can lack nutrients and still have hair loss. That is why i bought them however, I took the offices word on it.

I've read some very clever tips and tricks throughout the forums.

What are some of your clever tips and tricks you've picked up along your lap band journey?

I think the biggest tip that has helped me is the different things people put into a blender to keep things creative. Im still on liquid diet for three more weeks, and it helps to see different things I can make. I really liked the Peanut Butter smoothie recipe:wub: