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When I was a kid my Mum used to tell me there is no such word as can't. Think about it. Why can't you stop drinking during meals? Not because you can't but because you don't want to. Put your mind to it and you will discover it's not that hard really. Have a drink before your meal - wait 5 min or so and then eat but don't drink whilst you are eating and for at least 30min afterwards but preferably longer. Your drinking during a meal is simply an engrained habit and habits can be broken. If you have a drink prior to eating then you are not going to be thirsty.There are conflicting opinions on drinking with meals even without WLS. Some people believe it aids digestion whilst others believe that it hinders it because it dilutes the digestive juices. What is known is that after WLS drinking with meals can affect the level of fullness. Imagine how annoyed with yourself you would feel if after spending so much money the thing stopping you from losing weight was a refusal to give up drinking whilst eating. Watch this , it's quite interesting. With a band a lot of people can eat anything - I certainly can. Restriction is not about limiting the foods that you can eat. It is about eating a smaller portion of food and then being satisfied /not hungry for approx 3 hours afterwards. It is not about feeling full or only being able to eat 3 bites of food or anything like that. Once you start getting fills you should find that achieving this is a lot easier. There are lots of different opinions on carbonated drinks. You may find that in the future you can tolerate them and your Dr allows them but that is the future. Stick to the rules. remember the band is a tool that you have to utilise it is not a magic wand that does it all for you and you will be successful.

I would love to know how having been obese for a while makes your bones heavier? There is a lot of scope within a normal BMI. There is no way that at the top end of that range that a person would look skinny, gaunt or like a starving refugee! You have to aim for a couple of things. A weight that is healthy. A weight that makes you happy. A weight that makes you look good. Having said that though to not aim for a normal BMI after going through the process of being banded is selling yourself short - I think fear is what keeps many people from achieving this goal. I believe that a lot of the people that say they will be too skinny don't really think or feel that - they just don't think that they will be able to achieve it. Mimi , you are the same height as me - I am sure that you can get to your goal. Rest assured that maintaining with a band is really a lot easier than you think. I have been on an extended overseas holiday where I didn't worry too much about what I was eating. I came home weighing the same as when I left. Yes my weight does fluctuate but not much. It seems to go up and down within a 1kg(2.2lb) range.

I assume from this that you have never actually been stuck. Generally the pain from being stuck and the inability to to swallow even your own saliva means that to try and dislodge the offending item is the preferred way to go. What generally causes a band to slip is excessive overeating, having the band too tight, getting it filled too quickly and excessive vomiting. When food is stuck and you bring it up it is regurgitation rather than vomiting. Doing this occasionally although you should try to avoid it is not a major problem.If you do it a lot then it is a problem. Vomiting such as the kind you get when you have stomach flu is the type of vomiting that is more likely to make your band slip. In that instance the food is coming from the stomach below the band, usually with force and it is usually repetetive and uncontrollable. If you do get any kind of illness that causes you to vomit like this you should get an anti emetic from your Dr urgently. As for the carbonation - that is something that has been argued time and time again. Lets say that the jury is still out on that one. There are as many Dr's that say carbonation is fine as there are ones that are against it.

You are eating smaller portions, not snacking and you are not hungry. What do you think that means? It means the band is doing what it is supposed to do. That is what "restriction" is supposed to feel like. What restriction isn't :- Not being able to eat certain foods Feeling full after only 2 or 3 bites Feeling full on 1/2 cup of food and then not feeling hungry again till your next mealtime A physical feeling that stops you from eating too much Something that stops you eating high cal foods If that is what you are aiming for you are likely to end up too tight, miserable, you may get reflux, you will probably gain weight and your band may even slip. Your band is doing exactly what it should be doing at the moment. Do not rush to get filled as quickly as possible and do not go chasing an elusive "sweet spot" - that often leads to problems.

I also felt nauseous. I think a lot of it was to do with the anaesthetic , but I think the other problem was that everything I was eating or drinking was sweet. As soon as I started eating homemade soups it seemed to make a huge difference. I think I was in desperate need of something savoury.

Actually I lied - it was June 2009!

I was banded July 09. I have lost a total of 24kg (53lb) and am now maintaining at between 50 and 51kg. My band is not overly tight. I can eat most things so long as I am careful but sometimes I do have episodes where I eat too fast etc and something gets stuck. I am not a model bandit as I don't exercise. I am happy with where my weight is at. Yes I would be even happier with a flat washboard stomach like all those 20something airbrushed models in the mags but that is not likely to happen. I fit into an Aus size 8 pants(us 4) and 10(6)top. My only issue is it is so hard to buy jeans that fit well as I am between a size 6- 8. If they fit my legs they don't fit the waist and vice versa. See it can be hard buying clothes even when you're not overweight. I saw one of my neighbours today that i haven't seen for 3 years and at first she didn't recognise me and then she told me how fabulous I looked. She asked what my secret was but I didn't think announcing to someone I don't know well in the middle of our local post office was a particularly good idea so i just told her i eat a lot less! My only regret is that i didnt do this sooner.

Typically people that have the realise band need higher amounts of fill than people with a lapband before they feel anydifference. It has something to do with it being a low pressure system. I have even heard of people that have had more fill in their bands than the supposed capacity.SO I wouldn' be giving up just yet.

Rice and doughy foods are a problem for a lot of bandsters. It is because they can form a plug in your band so it has nothing to do with how much you chew. Generally wholemeal or seeded bread is easier to eat than white and toasting often helps too. When you are eating rice don't eat it on its own, mix it with other foods. E.g eat meat and rice together as this way it is less likely to form that annoying plug. If you try this and you still have problems then you might be one of those people that can't tolerate these foods.

If you follow the rules and don't have your band too tight the chances of slippage are actually quite low. What if you went for a sleeve and had a leak, or a bypass and died from malnutrition ? or even worse did nothing and died young from obesity related illness? It's all relative, everything in life has a risk, you have to weigh it up and see if the risks out weigh the benefits or viceversa. We should try not to base all our decisions on fear. One of the most dangerous things people do every day is either cross the road or get in a car but they carry on doing these things. If you do get banded and at some stage in the future you have complications such as a slip then generally you may need the band to be unfilled for a while, you may need further surgery to correct the slip, you may need the band replaced or you may decide to revise to another surgery. Generally these situations are not particularly dangerous or life threatening. The only thing is you will need money to pay for whatever correction is deemed necessary. It is normal to be scared before surgery, you would be the exception if you weren't. But soon you will be on the other side and wondering why you were scared and wishing that you had done this sooner. All the best.

Found the link. I think this gives a really good visual. For some people maybe drinking with meals doesn't affect how soon they get hungry afterwards , either that or they have the will power to only eat what they are supposed to and then not eat again till the next meal. But for those of you who are struggling you may want to watch this and then start following this rule. Lack of success may be due to some as simple as not following what for many is a basic rule.

I watched a really good you tube clip the other day that demonstrated why really well. Will try to find and post it.

Are you female and are you over 40. Some of those symptoms could be perimenopause or menopause symptoms. Maybe you need to go and see your gynae.

One of the things I find strange about sleeves is that a lot of people convert to a sleeve due to bad reflux with the band, yet if I read the sleeve support board it seems that all sleevers routinely take antireflux meds. That just doesn't make sense to me. I believe that it is also possible to learn how to eat around a sleeve. basically the same way as you do with your band - sliders, drinking with meals, constant grazing etc. I think the greatest benefit of the sleeve is that you do not have to wait for months getting fills to reach restriction like you do with a band. But it also seems that there is a honeymoon period where you lose most of the weight and after that if you don't stick with the rules you start gaining again. Does that sound familiar? You should probably go onto the sleeve board and read some of the posts. Most of them seem very happy with their sleeves but most of them have been sleeved for under 2 years. I think to get an idea of long term success would be quite difficult.

Agreed. And to the poster that wanted to try roasted root veggies my advice is do it ASAP. They are yummy. I often cook potato, carrot, parsnip, pumpkin etc all together in the oven . You don't need much fat just a light spray with a cooking oil spray is fine. They are great with any kind of roast and gravy. Just don't be tempted to put honey, sugar etc on them. I know some people do that but personally I can't stand sweet veggies and it just makes them high calorie for no good reason.

Although fish would seem like an easy option it often gives me problems. I do much better with Pasta, risotto and those type of foods. Also slow cooked meats e.g lamb shanks (obviously I don't eat a whole one). I would concentrate on choosing something that will go down easily without giving you problems and not worry as much about the calories. Afterall it is what you do 90% of the time that is most important and to eat a little of what you fancy on a special occasion is good for you.

Doing the measurements thing doesn't work for me. If I measure my "waist" , generally it tells me I need a much bigger size than if I measure my hips- I'm still an apple , albeit a much smaller apple. So I go by what the hip size tells me and normally the stuff fits. The only thing I have a real problem buying is jeans - it is so hard to find ones that fit decently. If they fit my waist they are way too baggy on the legs and butt and if they fit the legs and butt I struggle to do up the waist. So my size is somewhere between an Aus 6 -8 (US 2 - 4).Somehow that doesn't seem like too bad a problem to have, I think I can live with it!

Why do I get the feeling that this story may not be what it at first seems?

I am sure she is. I can't stand the programme. The whole concept is awful. the brides go out of their way to be mean and bitchy about each others weddings and score them as low as they possible can. Add that to the fact that most of the stuff on here is not really weddingy but more a production to see who can outdo the rest. As for that Lord of the Rings thing last week - that was just wrong. That is so not a wedding! And yes I am sure lots of people will jump on here and tell me how wrong I am because a wedding is whatever makes it special to the couple which is true. But there are limits!

They are not good foods and bad foods think of them as always and sometimes foods instead. So eat mainly always foods(protein , veg , etc)and have a little bit of the others sometimes!

I think something still needs to be cleared up. Yes food starts passing through your band within a minute or too but it certainly doesn't all go through that fast. I know that a lot of people now believe this based on a link to an article by Dr Simpson but he is not the God of the lapband world. It also doesn't sit in the pouch for as long as was initially believed. The truth is somewhere between the 2. I very rarely feel full as I did prior band. That feeling would be felt in the stomach. Theoretically if the food did all pass through your band in a minute or too it would still be possible to get this feeling post band but for most of us it didn't happen. Full is usually felt much higher up, often in the throat and it is not a pleasant feeling it is really uncomfortable. Yes sometimes the feeeling of having eaten too much can occur a while after having eaten, it is not always immediate. That is one of the reasons that eating slowly is important. Glad that your band is now starting to work for you. It is exciting when you start feeling the effects and reaping the benefits.

It is possible to get a band over bypass. Whether or not it/you will be successful is something else entirely and not something I am qualified to comment on.

I think when Mimi said this it was very "tongue in cheek". I don't think she was being rude. But seriously if the OP is not prepared to even try eating healthier then she probably is a hopeless case. I far prefer chocolate to veggies as well but I am realistic enough to know that if I want to be healthy I have to eat stuff that is good for me.

Having big bones is a fallacy. There is very little difference in size between most people's bones.It depends more on your height etc. A normal BMI should be everyones goal. Why would you go through this to settle for still being overweight. There is still a lot of scope within a normal BMI for various " body types". At the top end of normal you won't be skinny. I don't understand why someone would go through all this not to at least try and get to a normal BMI.

I think you will find it very difficult to find concrete evidence of anyone being allergic to the band. I would say it is more likely that the surgeon did something wrong - possibly positioned the band incorrectly or put fluid in at the time of surgery which often causes problems.Whatever I hope it gets sorted out soon and that your husband is soon o the road to recovery.