Cindysmom (Ilene)

Welcome to the lapband world. You r doing fantastic. And day by day, week by week, you will see changes. The lapband will never be successful. It is you that will be sucessful with the tool.
If you are throwing up or bringing some up, you are eating too fast and you might not be chewing as well as you think.
Enough is enough when after eating you fell satisfied not filled to the brim.
The pouch that we have is very small. It is suggested that you measure you food before eating. I know this because I did the same. And I have my lapband almost 5 years. I mess up too. Slow down. The changes are in your future. Best wishes. Ilene

It is perfect that you have changed your pcp. I would contact your insurance company and get all the Bariatric info you can get. I say that because when I had a different job I didn't know that they didn't have Bariatric benefits and I was waiting time getting apts and tests. I paid $10,0000 cash over 4 years ago and lost 96 lbs. Be smarter than your drs staff. It's your life and body. Best wishes.

Congrats, it is too bad that people say that WLS is the easy way out. That sucks. Rise above it and focus on what your goal is. This is your life.
For those reasons, I stay away from people like that. My friends are MAINLY one who have had wls and who are supportive at all times. I hope you can change these peoples comments when they see how well you have done. And YOU WILL. Hugs

I was a month away from having the band and got pregnant. :/ so now that im mot anymore Im back to it (: I just have to do the dietician visits for 3 months and wait for my insurance to approve! Im so excited to have this!!! I have been overweight my whole life and I cant express how happy I am to be doing this. I feel I will finally be fully happy. My body gets me down quite a bit when I get dressed and see my back fat and all my fat hanging over. Its so embarrassing. I've worked out and ate right and nothing has worked. !!!!!! So this was my last choice of course. However I am keeping it to myself. My husband knows and that's it. I have mentioned it to family and got told I was just lazy and trying to take the easy way out.. Well I dont see this being the easy way out at all. I see it being a helper to my weight loss. (:

Best wishes. My fills were about 4 weeks apart. It takes more 4 most of the time. Take it slow- and steady, they win the race.

Hi, gas from the upstairs and the basement is very common with Wls.
I wonder what your dr says about your weight loss thus far. Is it possible for you to purchase for about $10.00 or less a Leslie Sansone walking tape. .?
I also have a little area but I go forward and back.
When I had my lapband on 2/2/10 I walked at first. I know that your temp is very different than mine. But I also do Leslie Sansone. When it rains.
I will be 66 years old next month. My very first 89 lbs came off with walking only, it was after that they I joined a gym and did Water aerobics. I tightened up my arms with the weight there ::in the water::
I still get some growling in my stomach. I think water helps me keep full. Also I maintain a high Protein and low carbs program, I do not drink soda, or eat bread or ANY white flour products. My worst problem is my love for mayonaise. I drink Protein Shakes and eat Greek yogurt , I don't eat red meat.
At this time. After all these years, I still watch what I eat. And now I have no hunger at all. I am sure that the fills you will receive will help you also, I do recommend they you weigh and measure your food. I am not perfect, but at this age, I need to save my self from heart attacks and diabetes that has killed my 2 older brothers. Best wishes to you.

Hi, gas from the upstairs and the basement is very common with Wls.
I wonder what your dr says about your weight loss thus far. Is it possible for you to purchase for about $10.00 or less a Leslie Sansone walking tape. .?
I also have a little area but I go forward and back.
When I had my lapband on 2/2/10 I walked at first. I know that your temp is very different than mine. But I also do Leslie Sansone. When it rains.
I will be 66 years old next month. My very first 89 lbs came off with walking only, it was after that they I joined a gym and did Water aerobics. I tightened up my arms with the weight there ::in the water::
I still get some growling in my stomach. I think water helps me keep full. Also I maintain a high Protein and low carbs program, I do not drink soda, or eat bread or ANY white flour products. My worst problem is my love for mayonaise. I drink Protein Shakes and eat Greek yogurt , I don't eat red meat.
At this time. After all these years, I still watch what I eat. And now I have no hunger at all. I am sure that the fills you will receive will help you also, I do recommend they you weigh and measure your food. I am not perfect, but at this age, I need to save my self from heart attacks and diabetes that has killed my 2 older brothers. Best wishes to you.

Hi, gas from the upstairs and the basement is very common with Wls.
I wonder what your dr says about your weight loss thus far. Is it possible for you to purchase for about $10.00 or less a Leslie Sansone walking tape. .?
I also have a little area but I go forward and back.
When I had my lapband on 2/2/10 I walked at first. I know that your temp is very different than mine. But I also do Leslie Sansone. When it rains.
I will be 66 years old next month. My very first 89 lbs came off with walking only, it was after that they I joined a gym and did Water aerobics. I tightened up my arms with the weight there ::in the water::
I still get some growling in my stomach. I think water helps me keep full. Also I maintain a high Protein and low carbs program, I do not drink soda, or eat bread or ANY white flour products. My worst problem is my love for mayonaise. I drink Protein Shakes and eat Greek yogurt , I don't eat red meat.
At this time. After all these years, I still watch what I eat. And now I have no hunger at all. I am sure that the fills you will receive will help you also, I do recommend they you weigh and measure your food. I am not perfect, but at this age, I need to save my self from heart attacks and diabetes that has killed my 2 older brothers. Best wishes to you.

Hi, gas from the upstairs and the basement is very common with Wls.
I wonder what your dr says about your weight loss thus far. Is it possible for you to purchase for about $10.00 or less a Leslie Sansone walking tape. .?
I also have a little area but I go forward and back.
When I had my lapband on 2/2/10 I walked at first. I know that your temp is very different than mine. But I also do Leslie Sansone. When it rains.
I will be 66 years old next month. My very first 89 lbs came off with walking only, it was after that they I joined a gym and did Water aerobics. I tightened up my arms with the weight there ::in the water::
I still get some growling in my stomach. I think water helps me keep full. Also I maintain a high Protein and low carbs program, I do not drink soda, or eat bread or ANY white flour products. My worst problem is my love for mayonaise. I drink Protein Shakes and eat Greek yogurt , I don't eat red meat.
At this time. After all these years, I still watch what I eat. And now I have no hunger at all. I am sure that the fills you will receive will help you also, I do recommend they you weigh and measure your food. I am not perfect, but at this age, I need to save my self from heart attacks and diabetes that has killed my 2 older brothers. Best wishes to you.

Those hidden calories can be so sneaky!

Those hidden calories can be so sneaky!

Those hidden calories can be so sneaky!

Those hidden calories can be so sneaky!

You know that you will never hit your goal weight if you intentionally try to cheat on your diet by sneaking bites or deciding not to log certain foods. But what if you think you are doing everything right and are still not losing the weight you expect? Hidden calories may be to blame. Figure out the sources of hidden calories in your diet, and you just may have a weight loss breakthrough!


Overeating is Possible after WLS

You got WLS so that you could lose weight, but it is important to remember that WLS is only a tool. To lose weight, you need to use that tool properly. If you fall into the trap of thinking that WLS automatically leads to weight loss, you might never hit goal weight. As a reminder, these are how the lap-band, vertical sleeve gastrectomy (VSG), and gastric bypass can help you lose weight.
Lap-band: The lap-band creates a small pouch, or stoma, to help you fill up faster so that you eat less.
Vertical sleeve gastrectomy (VSG): The surgery removes most of your stomach and creates a small sleeve out of the remaining portion. The gastric sleeve restricts the volume of food you can eat and it reduces hunger by reducing the amount of ghrelin, which is a hunger hormone.
Roux-en-Y gastric bypass: The surgery restricts food intake by creating a small pouch, and reduces nutrient absorption by having food from your stomach bypass much of your small intestine.

Your weight loss surgery will not work for you if you cheat in these ways.
You eat more frequently – and take in more calories – than your surgeon suggests without feeling the restrictive effects of the adjustable gastric band.
You eat sugary, fatty high-calorie foods. The lap-band, especially, is unlikely to cause you to develop dumping syndrome. That is good because you will not get the unpleasant symptoms, but it is bad because it does not prevent you from eating sugar, starch or fat. Even with a stoma size of just 4 ounces, or a meager 1/2 cup, you could fit in 400 calories’ worth of M&M’s in with room to spare.
You drink fluids when you are eating solids so that you are able to consume more at a single meal or snack. Drinking fluids while eating solid foods can also cause your stomach, sleeve or pouch to empty faster so that you get hungrier sooner.
You sip on beverages that provide calories but do not fill you up.

How Hidden Calories Might Be Throwing You Off

What if you think you are following your weight loss surgery diet diligently? You measure your food whenever you can, you use your dietitian’s food list when you go grocery shopping, and you order chicken and vegetables when you go out to eat. You get Protein at every meal, and you drink plenty of Water each day.

Hidden calories are the ones that creep into your diet. You might not know you are eating them, or you might think that you eat so few “extra” calories that they don’t matter in your diet. But, they do impact your weight loss. An extra 20, 50, or 100 calories here or there really affects your weight loss. Remember that a pound of body fat equals 3,500 calories. That’s an average of 500 calories per day to lose a pound a week. If you are getting hundreds of hidden calories a day, that could easily be a pound a week that you’re not losing.

Where Are the Hidden Calories?

Good question! They can be almost anywhere.
Starches are not necessarily unhealthy, but they should only be part of your meal after you eat your protein and vegetable or fruit.< /span>
Protein is the first thing you should eat at each meal and snack, but it is also a source of calories. Fatty meats and poultry with the skin can have 100 or more extra calories per 3-ounce portion compared to lean meats and chicken or turkey breast.
Healthy foods can be high-calorie. A handful of nuts or dried fruit or a big spoonful of Peanut Butter can have 200 to 300 calories.
Condiments can wreck your diet. A tablespoon of Mayonnaise has 100 calories, a tablespoon of jam has 50 calories, and a tablespoon of Salad Dressing has 80 calories. ketchup, teriyaki sauce, and marinades can have 15 to 20 calories per tablespoon.
Restaurant foods can be tricky. Vegetables that you think are steamed can have butter in them, and chicken, fish and other Proteins that you think are good choices can come in sauces with 100 or 200 calories per serving. Portion sizes can be several times what you need: a 12-ounce steak is 4 to 6 WLS-sized portions, and a 3-cup plate of Pasta is 6 to 8 WLS-sized portions.

o Examples of each of the below. Carbs: toast, crackers. Eat celery. Smaller pasta, more protein meatballs.
o Protein. It’s a nutrient, but it’s also a source of calories. Esp. if with sugar/carbs in supplements, or hi-fat protein foods. Bacon
o Healthy hi-cal foods: nuts, pb, dried fruit (fresh). Portion sizes. Avocado.
o Condiments. Fatty dressings (choose low-fat), use less (use herbs), sugary
o Portion sizes. MEASURE. Nibbling without measuring, eyeballing. You get 60 extra calories every time you take a piece of cheese that is the size of your thumb (1.5 ounces) instead of weighing it to make sure that it is only 1 ounce.
o beverages
o Restaurants: salads, fat added to “grilled” foods or steamed vegetables, beverages, “healthy” bagel instead of low-cal doughnut
o Eating too frequently. Tips for if you’re starving (protein, no Fluid with meal); tips to make meal smaller (if you’re eating so many meals, don’t need to be big)

The Good News
The good news is that small changes add up to big calorie savings.
Have an ounce of low-fat cheese instead of full-fat, and save 50 calories.
Have a quart of regular or sparkling water instead of a quart of a sports drink, and save 200 calories.
Skip the bite of cookie dough after you finish baking for your children, and save 100 calories.
Have 3 ounces of 95% lean ground beef instead of 85% lean ground beef, and save 70 calories.
Rinse the spoon instead of licking it after you serve yourself peanut butter, and save 30 calories.
Spread peanut butter or tuna on 3 large celery stalks instead of 6 triscuit crackers, and save 90 calories.
Have one-third of a cup of pasta with your meatballs instead of a full cup, and save 120 calories.

This works for exercise, too. Every little bit helps. When you walk for just an extra half-mile, or about 10 minutes, you burn 50 extra calories.
Start to think about where extra calories may be coming into your diet, and see what you can do to limit them. You’ll be happier with your weight loss results!

As tmf suggested, you may be able to eat a lot because you're zipping right past your new satiety (stop eating) signals. It's important to slow down and pay careful attention to how you feel as you eat, not just to avoid stuck episodes because that's the way you're going to have to eat for the rest of your life in order to lose weight, maintain that loss, and live happily ever after with your band.
Satiety signals can change over time, and even over the course of one day. They include what I call soft stops (gentle reminders) and hard stops (running into a brick wall).
Some soft stops are: mild queasiness, fullness or pressure in the back of the throat or the chest, difficulty swallowing, burping (or the urge to burp), the urge to take a deep breath, the urge to cough or clear the throat, a sigh, a sneeze, hiccups, watering eyes, runny nose, left shoulder pain, excess saliva, or a sudden distaste for the food you were jut enjoying.
Some hard stops are: chest pain, esophageal pain (from esophageal spasms, which can also cause chest pain) - for me, that's like feeling I have a rock in the back of my throat - a stuck episode, PB's (productive burp or regurgitation), and sliming (so much excess saliva and mucus that's so profuse, you have to spit it out.
It's best to stop eating as soon as you notice a stop signal. When the signal is past, you may feel perfectly normal, but the cause of the signal may also be causing inflammation in your upper GI tract, and if you go back to eating then, you're likely to increase and prolong the inflammation.

I am trying to figgure out why anyone would go and have the lapband put in and want to "eat around the band", "& cheat" . Was it so easy to pay for the surgery? Was it so easy to go under with anesthesia?
Was it easy to walk and get those darn gas bubbles out? Was it easy to do a 2-3 week liquid only diet?
Was it easy having the pain pills cause Constipation? Is life better living in obesity city? For me I am going to say NO to all these questions. And then I ask this: Why do you want to sabatauge your weight loss for some crappy food that got you obese in the first place? Thank you.

I live in Ft Lauderdale, I had more fills than you did. Don't beat yourself up or compare yourself to others. Why not talk to your new doc about how you feel.?

Hello,
I had my lap band surgery 3 years ago. My surgeon was Dr. Bruce in Dayton, Ohio.
I've only had 2 fills and loosing very slow. I now live in Florida and I'm going to a new doctor Monday to get my 3rd. fill. When I read how quickly some people loose I'm thinking I should have had more fills. Please give me some input. Thanks so much. Hildebrant

How about if we all put our heads together and creat a plan of action. . There is always someone who says something to inspire some one else.

You gals ate great supporters. While I am a supporter, I still have a big mouth with a direct approach
I am 65 years old and have the lapband for 4 years very soon.
I so much understand the want for food, however gals it is the carbs in those foods that are turning in the sugar that you speak of.
I truly suggest that you all get a carb book and see how many carb are in bread. Rice, , pizza crust,hamburger rolls., Pasta. The white flours are the culprit . And in your body they turn to sugar. Then sugar turns into fat.
Even chips are very high in carbs. If you want a carb book, you can contact Atkiins.com, they will be happy to send you some books, coupons and low carb bars. Or your doc has them for diabetes pts they get them FREE FROM DRUG REPS.. CARBS ACTUALLY MAKE US WANT MORE CArbs . WE EVEN WILL LOOK FOR food FOOD AND MORE FOOD. BUT NOT FOR COTTAGE cheese carrots, brocolii apples , Green Beans? Brusell sprouts. RIGHT. just more carbs. It is like a drug fix. Try to pay attention to what you eat and what u don't run to eat. ..
Most sucessful Lapbanders are following a low carb and high Protein diet. With drinking a lot of Water and 1/2 the amount of their weight in Protein.< /p>
In our team on sparkepeople.com we suggest : up the protein and lower the carbs. We need to limit our carbs for each meal. Do your research ask your supsport group .
Why did my dr say no bread. That bread is gooey and gets stuck in the lapband I have not had bread for 4 years now. While pizza with protein
cheese is great. The crust is Not. Filled with carbs. Pasta? Look at the box, omg csrbs up to the moon. By this time, you gals hate me. It's ok . pills just want you all to see how terrific having a lapband is. Lapbands work for u if you give up the foods that got you fat in the first place. .

Great deal. We r all going to win this...I am just now eating my Protein pudding. I order it online, I do it at night. For a snack, if you want to send me your email address, I will send it to them. I will get. $20.00 referral amd you will get $20.00 also for the first order. Pleas send you email address and your forts and last name. It is very good taste wise and low carbs, good protein content and not high in calories.

You are doing fantastic, just a few lbs and you will be in onederland. What a great thing to look forward to. And you will see it very soon.
Try to read up on what foods are night in carbs and try to avoid or eat much less of them.
You might even want to purchase a book that lists carbs in foods and Protein in food. And most likely your family Dr has one right in his office. He gets them from the drug reps for his Diabetes patients. They really have to watch their carbs. Carbs turn into sugar, carbs make us look for. Ore carbs. Like a drug.
I know you will do fine'. Happy holidays.

Best wishes on your lapband surgery, I never did a blog, but if you go on to lapband gal, you can see hers and she has several others that you can choose from. If you email her she will be happy to direct you.

I don't drink alcohol, empty calories.

Hello Mona. Compliments for you for maintaining your weight loss. That's fantastic. I am sure there are many newbies who will be contacting you. You are so nice to offer yourself. I wondered what part of the worked you come from? Hope to become friends with you. Hugs Ilene.