Melissannde

No one can give you a fill (or adjust your band) without you agreeing to it. If they do, it would be considered an assault!! If you're doing well, going 3 to 4 (or more) hours without being hungry.. you're in the green zone and don't need any adjusting.

It is very individual what foods are tolerated. I can eat some bread, but I mainly choose not to because 1) it's usually high glycemic and will spike my blood sugar and make me hungrier sooner when my blood sugar drops again. 2) I'd rather save the room for other foods 3) Unless it's toasted or a very "grainy" type bread, it's likely to get stuck. I can eat just about anything. I choose not to eat white carbs (the aforementioned bread), potatoes, rice, Pasta and corn. Have you tried steak and it doesn't work for you or is this something someone told you? I can eat steak without difficulty. But not dry, tough steak... nice moist tender cuts. Yummy.

I don't think pain is EVER normal with a band (well, once past the immediate post-op period.). If anyone is having pain with eating, and are doing small meals, small bites, chewing well, etc. they need to go in and get evaluated.

This was recently posted over on OH..... By Molly Baker Counting your calories? Cooking healthier meals? Mapping out your next daily run? There are apps for that. Journal Report In fact, of the more than 400,000 software applications out there for smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices, at least 10,000 aim to help with diet and exercise. We tested dozens of the most popular apps under the general heading of health and fitness. If you're trying to get in shape, or stay that way, here are some of the best. Article continues at link: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703961104576148732585957902.html?mod=dist_smartbrief

Livestrong.com is good for recording food intake, but on calorie expenditure it is very inaccurate. I did use it for about a year though, before I got my HRM.. so if it's working for you.. great. But as you get closer to goal, you may need more accurate info.

Please don't be embarrassed, we're discussing a medical problem/condition and should be able to talk about things freely. Once you're cleared for such activity by your doc, the port shouldn't be an issue at all. If he's all that worried, tell him you will take the lead and if anything at all feels uncomfy, you will let him know. There will be a period of time that the area over the port will be more tender.. but that won't be forever. I do situps, lift weights, do yoga & pilates, have sex, do housework.. sometimes I WISH my port kept me from some of these activities.. LOL

I was never required to crush or open pills.. even immediately post-op. My post-op pain meds were pretty big pills. I now take my Vitamins every morning with a cup of coffee. If you don't like coffee, hot tea or hot Water with lemon even will work.

If Aleve is OK with your bariatric surgeon.. that's fine. However, it is a NSAID and many bariatric docs prohibit or severely limit the use of NSAIDs. They are thought to contribute to the possibility of erosion. Just wanted you to be aware of this if you weren't already.

I never counted carbs. I avoided white carbs.. rice, potatoes, bread, pasta and corn (the things higher on the glycemic index), but didn't cut them out completely.. just ate them rarely. I got my carbs from veggies and didn't worry about the numbers. Like VLP, I lost 100lbs in my first 7 months.

I know Oh Yeah Protein Bars are very tasty. I only get the snack size cuz the large ones are too many calories for me.. but it makes sense that their Liquid Protein would be tasty too. One question.. is it whey Isolate? and how much protein in a serving? We're told to try to use Whey Isolate and no more than 20 to 25 grams of protein per serving (our bodies can't process more than that and it stresses the kidneys). Also what is the carb, sugar and other nutritional info? Hmmm maybe I should just go check the website.

tortillas, unless I use them as a pizza base and bake them till crunchy. doughy bread. crisp bread is ok. pork rinds (too dry) any really dry meat... except Jerky. Jerky goes down fine.

That is strange. So are you scheduled for surgery to have the band rebuckled?

I think I'd go for an unfill. I had to get an unfill May 2010 and they only took out .2cc's and it did the trick. In the meantime, try drinking something hot before your meals. I know it's usually no drinking 30 min (or 20 or 60.. whatever) before meals, but when you're too tight, this is an exception to the rule. When I was too tight, I drank hot tea before my meals. Or if I was eating out, I had a cup of Soup before the main entree. The heat tends to loosen the band just a tad. Not unusual for a fill to take a while to make itself known. My last fill took 10 days to say hello. Delayed reaction to fills is one reason my surgeon won't do fills more often than once a month. Hope you feel better soon.

Interesting. I think I've had mine about a year or so and the instructions in mine say to wash weekly in the machine. I wonder what she means by "newer". I've always scrubbed the contact pads with my fingers when I rinsed it off, that's not enough for my strap. Glad the handwashing is working for you.

I found that using just Water to moisten the contacts on the chest strap isn't enough. I now use a water based lubricant to saturate the contact pads.. and I'm getting much more reliable HR's. Before, using just water, sometimes it would quit picking up during the middle of exercise!! Disconcerting to be pedaling away or doing mountain climbers and look down and see 00 as your HR!! LOL

oh.. I have a lb of chicken breast in the fridge that I was wondering what to do with.. .but darn.. I only have the choc. PB2.. phooey.

I don't buy the fruited greek yogurts.. have you looked at the amount of sugars in those?? Wow.. undoing all the good by eating those. I get the plain greek yogurt. Chobani & Fage aren't available here.. I get the Dannon and sometimes the Yoplait (yeah I know some don't like, but I really can't tell the difference). I add fresh or frozen fruit to my plain yogurt and some splenda/equal/truvia (depends on what I have on hand). I also use the plain as a substitute for sour cream. I made chicken florentine last night and used the plain greek yogurt in it too. Was wonderful.

While I understand hating to give up the 200.00 in free fills.. if you're not getting them or have to argue to get what you need.. what's the point?? If you want to give this guy one more try, I'd take in a weeks worth of my food diary to show him. Maybe that would help. On the other hand, it might give him more ammunition to say "you're not doing this right". I dunno. I don't have an adversarial or parental relationship with my surgeon, so I can't imagine. I never see my surgeon unless it's to pass him in the hallway.. nurses do all my fills/followup. And I've only had to press for my first fill.. and the nurse wasn't gung-ho on doing it cause I was loosing well.. but I insisted that I was too hungry and she gave in and gave me 1cc. I'm not sure if either of these two docs are in your part of Houston, (or even if either of them are the idiot you're currently dealing with) but I recently met two at the TABS conference in Dallas.. and they were personable and good to talk to in a non patient-doctor relationship. Dr. Davis (he's involved with the Big Medicine TV show.. which I've never seen) and Dr. Duc Vuong (calls himself "the support surgeon"). I took an art therapy session with Dr. Vuong.. he's a character. I do know he won't do fills on patients who don't attend support group... or at least he states that on one of his sites. I think I'd be looking for a new doc too. Best of luck to you.

I agree you really need to stick with your surgeon's plan. However, if you're having difficulty, call the doc's office and ask to speak with one of the nurses or the dietician or nutritionist and see if they can approve a modification. Try very hard not to modify on your own (as you're doing). Don't panic, very few (if any) of us are perfect on the post-op stages.. just call and get permission. Best of luck to you.

Last year I could not run on the treadmill.. I was afraid of falling off. Now I can, not for very long, but I can. I was starting the c25k for the treadmill.. when I fell off a step during bootcamp on 3/4, and strained/sprained my ankle. I had already registered for 2 races, one on 3/19 and another on 3/26. I'll just run what I can of them and walk the rest. Probably wear an acewrap on that ankle too. (I know it's not broken..had an xray & it doesn't hurt THAT bad). btw: I'm 53, been obese for many years and my cholesterol is wonderful. My doc's say my levels are to be envied.

My usual answer to that is "how many people KEEP it off with just diet & exercise"? Too few. The redirection idea works very well. I've started using that when people start getting too close to my discomfort zones. There's one lady at my gym who tells me ever so often that I should quit losing. She's not being catty.. I've known her for a long time and she's just not that way. I just smile and change the subject.

This is why the band is sometimes called a "fickle b*tch". When it will let you.. eat your measured portions. When it won't.. don't. I gauge needing a fill when for more than a week, my measured portions aren't keeping me full for 3 to 5 hours. AND when I have no issues eating dense Protein. AND when weight loss has stalled or slowed quite a bit. At least 2 of these have to be occurring for me to want a fill. Right now.. I can get hungry sooner than 5 hours, but yesterday eating an apple was a teeny bit uncomfy..so I turned down a fill because of that. YMMV As to the current "restriction" (really don't like that word).. ride it till the wheels fall off!! (quote from Jessie Ahroni)

I had no pre-op diet to speak of, other than a day of Clear Liquids. Post op was only 2 weeks before I was back on soft/solid foods. The time will pass quickly.

One thing that might help if you think they might hesitate to adjust your band due to good loss is to take in your food log. Either write it out by hand or if you log it online, you may be able to print it from the site. I take in about a weeks worth of my food diary every time. This way the nurses and I can go over what I eat and when; good choices vs bad choices; etc. I recently turned down a fill because I even though I can still eat lots & lots at night (yes, I know.. just because I can doesn't mean I should...), lunch time is a bit difficult to eat solid dense protein. It's a balancing act. My next appt is in June.. not sure I can make it that long till my next fill, but maybe?

She may not have been required to drink Protein Shakes. My surgeon didn't require them at all, neither pre nor post op.