isaviolinist

I haven't been banded for quite 2 years (almost a year and a half) but about 5-6 months in (and 80 pounds down) I started slipping into bad habits and eating foods that slid right through (ice cream, primarily). I gained 50 pounds back doing that. In September I decided to get back on board and have lost almost all the 50 that I gained, but today I actually had my first appointment with an eating disorder therapist so I can try to address some of my issues with compulsive overeating. For me, I think overcoming my emotional issues with food will be the only way I'll have long term success.

I love peanut butter and I eat it. I just try to keep it in moderation (and if I don't, I just make sure I don't eat over my calories for the day). Although I didn't eat it plain until a few months post op. If I were to eat an entire spoonful at once or something it would get a little stuck (but would wash down faster than something like bread, for instance). Like the above poster mentioned, I REALLY like PB2. I don't really mix protein shakes anymore (I buy ready-to-drink) but when I was, I always mixed in peanut butter. Then I discovered PB2. Mixed into a protein shake it has the same taste as regular peanut but so low calorie/fat. Great for sauces too.

I just replied to this in another thread. I relied solely on will power for the first 5 months of having my band. I don't remember how many adjustments I had (maybe 4?) before I felt any kind of restriction, but it was 5 months. Eating all the stuff that you're eating puts you at greater risk for complications. I would be really honest with your doctor tomorrow at your follow up about how/what you've been eating and just see what he/she says. What were your postop instructions? For most its: 3-7 days Clear liquids, then 2 weeks full liquids, 2 weeks mushy foods, and then slowly back onto solids (so at 6 weeks you would be fine eating beef and meat and other solid foods). I didn't have my first adjustment until 6-7 weeks out of surgery. My doctor wouldn't do an adjustment until 6 weeks minimum.

Do you have a postop diet? I would be careful with all of that stuff. For most people, at one week out, the diet is still full liquids - no meat or cheese (unless you liquify them I guess)...ice cream is a full liquid but I would be careful with it. And ice cream will slide right through the band regardless of how much restriction you have. When you eat (anything...but especially solids), your stomach churns. Because the band was just attached to your stomach, it hasn't healed and there is a greater risk for it slipping off with all of that churning. I can't imagine eating meat (I don't eat meat anyways...but you know what I mean) at one week post op.

I can't really imagine myself thin but I don't think it means that I won't be successful. I just try to focus on the small victories and the changes I can see today.

I would probably just leave the ticker where it is and then update it when you get to 179 on your scale. I only update my ticker based on my scale, as everyone's scale is calibrated differently. I don't think its a big deal to leave your ticker and then update it when your scale catches up (so when your scale reads 178.8 or lower, update your ticker).

I would like to know definitively how to change this as well. I thought that I had, but it didn't work. (there is nothing in my spam box, either)

I had a 3 week preop diet and lost 20 pounds.

I log everything that I eat (I use fitday.com). Literally anything that enters my mouth, I write down. And I turn in my logs weekly to my practitioner at our fitness center. I always say, when I'm not logging, its because I don't want to think about what I'm eating. Good luck with your logging - I bet youll find it helpful!

Lol I just saw this thread come up and I was like "Hey I have been wondering about that too!!". Then I realized it was my thread I forgot that I had posted it haha. Anyways, thanks for the input. Its frustrating because I often lose 2-3 pounds in the 2-3 days prior to my period. Then I gain some of it back :-( So its like a serious high and then a massive let down. But it does seem like the consensus that people gain weight during their period. I'll see what happens during the next one....

Yay!! Congrats to you!! that is so great Can't wait until I can fit into a size 6 or 8!! (I can't even imagine fitting into a 10). Nice work!

I blog too - my blog link is in my signature Love blogging - along with food logging and LBT. They all REALLY help keep me accountable.

Hi Tricia Welcome to LBT. This forum is a great collection of peoples' experience with the band, both good and bad. So read up on here and you'll get a decent variety of different experiences from all different kinds of people. Here are answers to some of your questions. For the cravings, lapband did and didn't help with this. There are many carbs that I don't have cravings for anymore (bread specifically). I haven't eaten a sandwich on bread almost since I was banded (I think I had a sandwich on flat bread once before I had any restriction but thats the last time I can remember). I do have a bite of crust (if its really hard) when we go out to dinner now and again but I can take it or leave it (and usually I leave it). Before banding, I loved to eat hoagies and things like that, but I don't care about it anymore. I also don't have big cravings for Pasta (with the exception of mac and cheese) or rice (I used to eat sushi and maki a lot but I dont anymore and am fine with it). HOWEVER, I STILL have serious cravings for sweets and Desserts. I also have eating issues at night (always have) where I just crave anything. I'm thinking of going to therapy for this however - to try and sort out some of my head issues. The band will not help you out with your head issues surrounding food. The recovery, for me, was really easy. The port pain took the longest to go away. I was up and walking around the day of surgery. I walked a few blocks the next day. Getting up and down took some effort the first week but it wasn't horrible. And actually I didn't have the bad gas pains most people talk about. I did think it would help me before I was banded and I still feel that way. I lost 80 pounds really fast and then regained a lot of the weight shortly thereafter. I've lost most of the weight I regained but even the process of gaining and relosing was a learning experience for me. I have a much deeper understanding of my relationship with food. And I also know that I NEVER want to go back to that place of regaining weight that I lost. For me, even with all the ups and downs, unpredictability, extensive follow-up care, I really feel that the band has saved my life. But its a personal decision that everyone really must make for themselves.

Hi Jillian! Congrats on your surgery date How exciting! As far as the piercings, my surgeon's office had you remove all piercings before surgery (including ears). I think it was actually "remove all jewelry" specifically...but that includes any piercings. For the preop diet, I think that's also a question for your surgeon. Do you know for sure that he doesn't have a preop diet? If not, I would call and ask. If it turns out that he does have a preop diet, he'll tell you what it is (and then follow that). If not, you should check out other peoples' preop diets that have been posted here to get an idea of what others did (if you want to do one). For me, it was all liquids: 3 slimfast shakes a day, clear broth, sugar free fat free pudding, etc. I kept it under 800 calories a day. I didn't have any solid food...I know some people do shakes during the day and then a high Protein, low carb, low fat sensible dinner at night (like a piece of grilled chicken or something).

Little bummed that I didn't lose anything over Thanksgiving. I was definitely eating a lot, but I burned minimum 1000 calories at the gym every single day (including the day before Thanksgiving, the day of Thanksgiving, Friday, Saturday and Sunday). At least I maintained. Determined to make next week count. Really want to reach my Christmas goal (Ill be in Hawaii actually ON Xmas, so if I can't weigh there, I'll weigh when I get back on Dec 30).

I don't know if crabcakes are really a mushy food but the recipe for breadcrumbless-crabcakes on BariatricEating are fantastic. We eat them usually once a week. Here it is: http://www.bariatriceating.com/BEhealthnutrition/recipes/crabcakes.php I use light mayo, egg substitute, add red pepper, and if I use the butter, I use light butter and put 1/8 tablespoon on each before I bake them (just divide your butter into 8 equal portions and then dot each portion on top of each crabcake).

Hm - for post op diet, I think I did measure things that were liquid. I also counted the calories I was taking in everyday. That's probably a good question for your doctor though. I don't measure protein shakes now - I just drink the whole shake. For soups, I do measure, but its so I know how many calories I'm eating. Otherwise, I will just keep eating and eating the pot of soup until its gone.

I love walking so much!! Definitely a great way to start exercising. To me, walking doesn't feel like exercising - it just feels relaxing. And it gives me the opportunity to clear my mind. I'm so glad that I started walking. Its getting freezing cold out - so I'm either going to have to bundle up really tightly or start walking in the mall, but I love walking. Give it a try!

this recipe looks delicious - I'm going to try it out tomorrow. Thanks for posting!!

I just installed a Safari ad blocker and there are no ads anymore and the site is SO much faster. I'm also liking the layout of the website much better now sans advertising. Much easier to navigate. It was pretty crazy to see what the heck was going on with all the ads.

I just installed an ad blocker for Safari (and I may install one for firefox too...I use both browsers) and there are NO ads anymore. Not on the sides or the top or within text boxes - nothing. And the site loads WAY faster. Try it.

Thanks for pointing out the My Settings thing. I'm also sad that I don't get emails. Hopefully that will change now. Does anyone know what an inline notification is? That was one of the options in My Settings, and I'm just wondering if I should uncheck all of the boxes for it. I don't want to get multiple notifications for things (which is whats happening now).

Congrats!! I love fitting into clothes that I couldn't wear previously. Even clothes that I bought that became too tight - I love getting back into them. Congrats!!! Keep up the great work

If you're meticulously watching your calories, and working out then you're not doing anything wrong! One thing to consider: if you've just started working out and you hadn't really been doing too much exercise beforehand, you may be gaining some muscle. Even if you're just working out a little bit, you're using muscles that you probably haven't used in awhile, and as you gain muscle, it may seem like you're not losing (or you're even gaining). But muscle is what you want; and muscle burns more calories than fat.