Betsyjane

I get bored with food too sometimes! I am so surprised....and I'd like to cultivate that habit a bit more! Sometimes it seems like food is hardly worth the effort. But then sometimes that stupid old head gets involved and says....I didn't eat much...I'm sure I must still be hungry...er, ...for ice cream! When I get short term discouraged, I remember that the weight is still coming off, I no longer need diabetic meds, my osteoporosis has reversed, I can see my feet, and I can cross my legs!

Ain't THAT the truth......

Aw, it would be too easy to ream you out. Let's start from today. Think about this fill being your first day of banding. Who knows...they may find a leak and need to fill your band with Omnipak ands that may take care of it. Or they may find apouch dilation and correct it with some days of liquids or even-paradoxically-a slight unfill. Whatever they find....That's your first day. Throw out everything you've experienced before. You really were just in bandster hell for a horribly long period of time waiting for restriction, so you're now starting from scratch. Start now preparing to hit the ground running. Poof! You're a newbie. You have the advantage of being a wise newbie because of your past. Just give yourself a fresh start now. Go study your bandster rules for eating and exercise and start fresh

I saw him first on 10/25 and had the surgery 11/13....My choice of dates. I did outpatient at the Surgicenter and loved it. You have to have someone with you to drive you away. I got there early in the morning and probably left ...I forget...maybe 5 hours later? You WON"T feel like driving yourself anywhere, let alone to Louisiana. You'll be too groggy from anaesthetic. Do you have someone in La to do your fills or will you travel back to Spivak? If not Spivak, then get somebody lined up who says they are willing to do fills after another Dr. did the surgery. If you do it at the hospital, they'll keep you overnight. Are you going to do this alone or is someone coming with you?

Yes, many were experimentals and some were overseas people. 2000 bariatrics divided by 3 groups = approx. 666 early assorted Bandsters...maybe sleeve and adjustable? Even if we were to divide them based on their ages, instructions given, support aftercare, BMI, associated medical problems, motivation or whatever, it's a small number. That would be great if you could find the study so we could look at the statistical procedures too.

Hey Cheri....I was a fast eater too. I found that at first I had to make eating a ritual, kind of honoring the food and my body. I had to eat without the TV on, use small dessert plates, tiny utensils, and then before taking the first bite, take a very deep breathe and let it out to calm myself. Then I could do it, eating mindfully, kind of like a meditation. Shoot...I've eaten in a trance in front of the TV my whole life, so going into a trance in order to actually focus ON food turned out not to be as big a leap as I thought. I don't have to do all of that stuff now, but at the very least, I do take that big breathe and center myself before I eat. Kind of puts everything right.

I'd like to see someone replicate that study. It flies in the face of all the other studies I've seen of long term bandsters. The other interesting thing is that I went ot a support group once of bandsters who were at least 7 years out, and all were at goal weight.....

Oh, and the plateaus with the band teach me patience. The PBs teach me about my mistakes in eating. Waiting for fills also teaches patience. Whew! Who has time for diet pills!

I took diet pills a bunch of times. Always lost weight on the prescription ones and then gained back more. Never lost weight on the OTC ones. I figure getting the band frees me from following every new ad on TV promising weight loss. The band gives me portion control and I give me healthy food.

Oh, I'll tell you what I also liked.... When I met him the first time, I was asking about the pre op diet and saying that I have no confidence in my ability to stick with ANY diet. He said that he figured if we could stick with it we might not need to be banded....and that the only pre op diet he would ask of me is to not act like it's the Last Supper and try to eat everything in the world as if I never will be able to again. He said a weight GAIN before surgery would not be a good sign. That was all. Now I'm sure if he thought I had a fatty enough liver that it would get in the way of surgery, he would have asked me to do things...or if an insurance company had required it....but I liked it that he understood.

Here's how it went for me last November as a self pay. I went to the free seminar and saw a presentation by Spivak, met some banded people, asked a bunch of questions, and then I paid $100 to have a private appointment with Spivak that same night. I brought a current set of blood tests with me...His staff had asked me to since I have Lupus. We scheduled the surgery and he gave me a packet of information to take with me about pre op, op, and post op stuff. I came back to the Surgicenter the morning of surgery, and he had arranged for a banded woman who has Lupus to be there and hold my hand and answer questions...nice touch! They prepped me for outpatient surgery, and then Spivak came in, all calm and supportive,answered any last minute questions and then said "Ready to go?" I said yes and they knocked me out. When I woke up I was banded. I've always had my fills done at the Surgicenter by Joy rather than Dr. Spivak, but I know I could request him at any time. And there are weekly support meetings in his office if you want them. Couldn't have been smoother or sweeter....

I used Spivak. I give him top marks for his staff, his demeanor, his helpfulness and accessibility and his expertise. I am so glad I chose him. As you'll see on this forum, he gets top marks period!

Are you eating or drinking in the evening?

My weight loss was slow until I felt restriction, and then fast, and then slow while I worked on some bad old habits. So depending when I averaged, I either lost an average of 3 pounds a week, 2 pounds 1.5 pound sor nothing! Don't compare yourself to others on this journey because you and others will go through lots of changes. Get ready to learn patience at times and be utterly thrilled at times. Your weeks will vary. BUT listen to this! 1. On my worst weeks when I really screwed up, I didn't lose but I didn't gain. I have never been able to say THAT before! 2. I am now meds free for my diabetes, and in fact I just don't have elevated blood sugar period. 3. My osteoporosis reversed itself and I don't have that diagnosis anymore! 4. I don't shop in the big girl department anymore. 5. I can see my feet, cross my legs, and and there's no belly shelf for me to rest my arms on now...oh, and my arms hang straight down. There are lots of things to Celebrate in this journey, even on your slow weeks.

You know, reading that link, I wonder if for you, Barbara, it's about getting a teeny fill, not even .1 up or down..... 'course we won't know UNTIL YOU GET THAT TEST, GIRL!!!!!!!

Hey, you sound jsut like me! First fill...nothing. Second fill...part of the first one was gone...normal. Got that second fill...nothing. I kept wanting a lot of fill and they wouldn't do it. Third fill....and OMG I was living the life of a bandster! I loved it! But it was a bit too much and I stretched my pouch. Now all is well and I'm a happy camper, but I figure with as much as I had to learn once I had a REAL fill, I would have screwed it up royally if they had filled me full the first time! Now I figure I was just supposed to keep studying and learn patience until we got to the sweet spot. But I feel for ya...bandster hell feels like it lasts forever!

Old habits are emerging for me too and for a bunch of the November bandsters.... I'm pretty sure for me it's not a fill issue. It's just a matter of having to tackle them one at a time. It's funny. I remember in my old psych days that I used to give people a graph of how new habits are formed, and even with great progress, there are almost always HUGE drops as old habits try one more time to assert themselves. The falling off the wagon stuff makes change a real challenge. But if we persist, we eventually get those new habits to stick. Now where DID I leave my persistence........

My Mom is 90 and has more energy than I do. She lives with us....part of why I'm tired, I guess. I want to read that book! Somebody said on TV recently that the difference between 60 year olds of today and in the 50s is hair color. Ha! Sometimes my fantasy is to rent a single room, but it's always walking distance from a big college campus...plenty of places to walk and interesting lectures. I do think people age at different rates. I feel pretty old, and I'd love to live unencumbered for the next part of life.

Go back to that thread and read the entry by Wendell.

Hey Barbara....Did you read about bandsters who are sensitive to .05 fills? Thought about you... http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f84/overcome-food-no-band-restriction-39924/#post544886

Better than Boullion Soup base tastes really hearty after surgery while you are on Clear liquids. I like both the ham and turkey flavors. Welcome to the journey.

Well, that's a key for me. When I get busy I'm OK. It's when I stop in front of the TV that I get in trouble in all kinds of ways. Cravings=Get Busy!

I must say that starting at 6 months post surgery, it has been a lot harder for me to lose. My old habits crop up and I have to knock them back down one by one. But I can do it, and I couldn't without the band. AND while I struggle with something, I simply stop losing weight. Without the band, I would ahve gained it all back and more. The band just holds me at weight until I get my act together again and start losing. I can't ask for more.

I drink a lot before a meal.... If I'm at a restaurant, I order a drink, usually water, and drink a bunch until the meal comes. Then I have a ritual of pushing the drink out of reach, as the meal arrives. The ritual is my reminder that I'm starting a bandster meal, and to be mindful. It's harder for me to not drink after, but it's just a matter of practice like so many other changes.

PEople post on this site when they need support, so it aslways looks like problems are rampant. Remember that people who are doing well are out living their lives and don't post as much. In reality, the lap band has very small incidence of complications. For me, it's been a life saver, so it's been worth PBing while learning how NOT to! It was worth the money because nothing else worked, and my life was going to be downright miserable without it.