BetsyB

My doctor's a three-meals-a-day guy. And he has pretty stringent recommendations for those meals. I supplement those meals with snacks---ones I carefully choose for their benefit to my body. I'm losing at a rate faster than most of his patients, and he is fine with it.

Donna Jo, I think low-carb is important for glycemic control, too--at least for some of us. When I want to make a big batch of cheese "crackers," I do it on a parchment-lined cookie sheet in the oven. I really like these made with good quality shredded Parmesan. Bariatric Eating sells packets of cheese crisps for an astronomical price--much easier to just make some! (They also recommend doing the same thing with pepperoni slices--they get crispy like chips, too. I haven't tried it yet, but would do it with turkey or soy pepperoni, just to reduce some of the fat...)

For me, the band does not make the "full" signal stronger; it makes it completely different. "Full" is very uncomfortable---it's the one bite too many that pushes me from comfortable to feeling as though I need to vomit. So, I've had to learn to listen to my body. To eat slowly and pause in between bites to be sure that the next bite won't push me over the edge. While there are plenty of "full" sensors in the upper, banded, portion of the sensor, if you don't know how to listen to your body, you won't hear what they're saying any more than you "heard" before banding. I can easily waltz right past full--and feel miserable. I have concentrated on feeling satisfied. I stop before "full." For me, full takes it too far. If you are the type who continues to eat past one pizza all the way to the third pizza, it's NOT because you're not full. It's because you've learned that "stuffed" is an appropriate feeling. The band WILL teach you---FAST----that it is NOT an appropriate feeling.

It's true that the right level of adjustment will make a world of difference. But it's also true that no matter how well-adjusted your band, Haagen-Daz is going to go down just fine. That means you really MUST start doing the things that support weight loss instead of sabotaging yourself. Look, you're not where you want to be, fill-wise, yet. And many will tell you that you won't lose until you are. But it's not true. You CAN choose to make appropriate food decisions and lose weight as you work toward restriction. It's hard, but it can be done. It's not a decision you have to make, but you're unhappy with your progress now. What would happen if you were to really commit to eating the way you'll need to eat when you do have restriction? What do you have to lose? Seeing success as you work toward restriction really might be the boost you need. If nothing else, knock off the self-sabotage with stuff like ice cream. It's great that you stopped with a scoop instead of a pint--but even that is getting in the way of what you want to achieve. Just because you CAN eat doesn't mean you MUST eat. You can do it!

My lists are very simple, but come from a few different places. From Bariatric Eating Inspire Protein powder PURE unflavored protein Cancun chili seasoning mix From the grocery store: spinach lettuce garlic whatever other fresh veggies look good berries, or whatever fresh fruit looks good broccoli slaw mix--I eat a LOT of this Ken's Lite Asian sesame salad dressing cheeses--cheddar, cottage, Parmesan Greek yogurt (sometimes--it is a little slidey, so I don't have it as often as I did preop) almond milk ground chicken (for chili) turkey Italian sausage beans--fat-free refried, black Beans, kidney beans, cannelini beans, etc. from Market Day (ordered monthly from my son's school): shrimp tilapia-tortilla-crusted and plain scallops salmon cod rack of pork boneless pork chops chicken breasts portions--plain and teriyaki ground beef

I would skip the Water fast, and just concentrate on making conscious decisions, as Jacqui suggests. I love sweets--really, I would eat them all day long if I could. But the space in my stomach is limited, and it's important to me to get what I need, nutritionally. Sugary foods just don't provide that. That doesn't mean I don't ever eat anything sweet; I do. But on a day-to-day basis, I really concentrate on making choices that meet my nutritional needs. When I do that, the craving for sugar really subsides. (Now most things taste far too sweet to me--which sort of reinforces my resolve to avoid them.)

I'd add a good-quality protein supplement. My favorite is the PURE unflavored whey protein isolate from Bariatric Eating. I stir in into all kinds of things to bump up the protein.

Let the doctor figure out the amount of the fill--that's his role, not yours. Your role is to eat appropriately---even if you don't have adequate restriction. Just because you can eat doesn't mean you should. Make wise food choices that are consistent with weight loss, and you will lose weight. Thankfully, you'll see the doctor soon. That will help. But in the meantime, you can make wise choices. (I am not sure that the ability to drink Fluid easily and quickly is a great gauge of restriction. Only when I've been quite swollen after a fill have I been unable to drink pretty freely. I have good restriction now, and though I have to pause momentarily after every 4-5 ounces, it's just momentary; the fluid moves through freely.)

Yes, Vitamins often make people feel gross. I make sure to take mine with food. And I do better when I split my dose. (One dose is 2 capsules, so I take one in the morning, and one at night.) Lots of people do better if they take their vitamins at bedtime--that way, they sleep through any ickiness.

I wonder, since it's been so long, whether you're dealing with bread still being stuck, or with swelling from a stuck incident that's resolved. I'd suspect the latter---bread can clog things up, but it breaks down pretty quickly. When I have swelling, babying my band does the trick--I stick with liquids for a day or two, then advance to soft foods. liquid Benadryl seems to help reduce the swelling, too.

Well, it's not useless advice for many, really. My doctor recommends against those foods because, with limited stomach "real estate" and the need to meet the requirements for other nutrients, they are unnecessary. Lots of doctors (mine included) recommend against them even before restriction is achieved--in order to foster weight loss. Why didn't he give you a fill? (Mine doesn't at the first visit, either, but that's at one week. First fill is at 4 weeks--but I still had that "wasted visit" when he assessed my postoperative status.)

It's really common to experience sadness after any surgery. The upheaval from anesthesia and the trauma of the surgery itself really knock us out of whack. As you lose weight, you might experience emotional lability due hormone fluctuations. Body fat is mildly estrogenic, and as it's lost, the serum concentration of estrogen can fluctuate. Then, too, is the mourning many of us experience for our old "relationship" with food. This tapers off as you build a new, healthier one.

It was either 4 or 4.5 cc in an 11 cc band--I don't remember. Over the first 2 fills I got 8.5. Now I think I'm somewhere around 9 cc, though I haven't asked the last couple of times. My doctor uses fluoro with every fill.

If our doctors are well-informed about nutrition (and the tricky part is figuring out if yours is), then their recommendations are based on a solid foundation. The fact that each sees scores of bariatric patients, and can form a well-educated conclusion about what works well for most, should offer reassurance. You're right, though, that no single plan is right for everyone. And as the "owner" of your body, you have the right to make autonomous decisions about that body. That said, I follow a low-carb regimen, as recommended by my doctor, and exercise a lot. And I have NOT upped my carbs. When my body no longer has fat stores to draw upon, I will. But as long as I have the "reserve," I will demand that my body use it for fuel. When our doctors tell us we don't need to adjust our diets--it's not because they are rigid and dispensing cookie-cutter advice; it's because ALL of our bodies have fat stores we want to deplete. And following their regimen fosters this depletion. I have not suffered any ill effects from low-carbing with a very active lifestyle. However, if you want to add more carbohydrate, I'd recommend doing it in small increments. Journal your intake, so you can make note of when/if your loss is affected by your changing intake. It will take a little time to figure out your threshold--and that's easier to do if you keep track.

I ditto the caution. My doctor recommends against tomatoes for a while postop due to their acidity. Cooked very well, they might be a mushy, though I'd avoid the skin entirely, like Elcee suggests.

What a great post! You've lost ...well, just about exactly the amount I saw on the scale when I stepped on it this morning. You've lost ME--an overweight adult woman with a BMI of 29.1. AWESOME!

I've never vomited anything that appears to have moved from my pouch to the stomach below; everything is undigested and mucus-y, without any bile or digestive juices. Most of the time when I throw up, it's because of "user error." Either I've taken one bite too many (and that bite comes up), or something is stuck. For the former, it's very gentle, and the latter can be more forceful. According to my doctor, vomiting of this nature really doesn't pose much of a risk for slippage. Frequent, enduring, or very forceful vomiting can be a concern. So, a violent case of gastroenteritis would spur him to prescribe meds to reduce the nausea/vomiting. But he's not at all concerned by the now-and-then stuff bandsters tend to experience.

My doctor is a fluoro-every-time guy, too. But I think he's in the minority.

Oh, how discouraging I hope you have a fast recovery.

Sounds like maybe you're feeling the tugging sensation the port can create as it becomes embedded in muscle tissue.

A bariatric multivitamin, a cal-mag supplement, biotin, zinc, vitamin D, and Co Q-10.

I have BCBS. There's a 3-month supervision period. My wait from first visit to surgery was 6 months--the paperwork was submitted before the holidays, and surgery was scheduled for after (teachers were already scheduled for Christmas break).

Holy moly! You poor thing. I can guarantee that the postop gas pains are nothing like the pain you've already experienced. You'll have pain relieving medication if you need it, and it really does resolve quickly. If you can handle what you've already handled, I think that banding will seem pleasantly simple.

Nope, not for a second.

One thing to keep in mind is that people tend to post when things aren't going well for them. We just don't see a lot of posts from people saying, "This was the best decision I ever made. It's made it possible for me to say 'no' to foods that don't benefit me. I've changed my relationship with food, and it's been tremendously freeing. I've consistently lost weight, and know that, with this tool, maintaining the loss will be possible. And I feel healthy, happy, and --most of all--never deprived." People tend to post when they need help or feedback or ideas. But lots of us really do have excellent experiences and feel just like I've written above.