Noturningback15

I was told microwaving anything changes it. My doctor says to avoid microwaving

I am not sure about the "lower class" but it could be jealously because we have to actually put in more work than they do. They may feel like they took the easier way out. Plus, there are a lot of doctors that try to paint such an ugly picture of the band to convince them not to get it. I know my sister's doctor kept trying to convince her to do the Gastric Bypass but she stuck to her wants. Some of us are still able to eat some of our favorite foods vs. them getting sick (some of us do too). We have the option of going to get adjustments vs. them streching their stomach back out over the years. I know we can strech our pouch too but if we follow the rules and get our adjustments we don't have to worry about that.

Yea, it was not the best informational article but I can agree with one thing that I copy and pasted below.....
In fact, he notes, none of the weight-loss surgeries works without being performed in conjunction with lifestyle changes. "The surgery simply allows patients to get much more benefit out of proper eating and physical activity," he says.

The article states:
"The surgery simply allows patients to get much more benefit out of proper eating and physical activity. But it will not do the job for them."
This is VERY true, and then it goes on to talk about 20% benefiting from surgery. Nowhere does it say the other 80% fail or have complications, it simply says that is how many he approximates benefit. (not even that is based on a case study, mind you, it's his opinion only).
If this doctor approximates only 20% benefit, perhaps that is in his practice. In which case it begs the question- where is he going wrong to inform patients of the facts before making their decision? Again, I stress his 20% number is NOT based on some sort double blind case study. It is simply his opinion based on his own experience.
If you read these forums, you'll see a very high number of people who for lack of better words, are totally clueless about the band inside of them. They think just because they are banded they're going to somehow magically lose weight without changing their eating habits, or they walk around with their band so tight they can't eat and have a slip, or they eat way more than the portions they are supposed to have 'because they can'. The list goes on and on, and every day I am on here answering the exact same questions over and over because someone has been banded without educating themselves first.
Do I agree with this doctor's 20% opinion? Not at all, there are far more than 20% here alone that very much benefit from their bands. However, I do think there is a serious problem with people rushing into this surgery without a clue and failing miserably because of it.

Yea, it was not the best informational article but I can agree with one thing that I copy and pasted below.....
In fact, he notes, none of the weight-loss surgeries works without being performed in conjunction with lifestyle changes. "The surgery simply allows patients to get much more benefit out of proper eating and physical activity," he says.

OMG, what an irresponsible article! They make it sound like the sleeve procedure is safer than the lap band?!?! the sleeve has a 1/200 mortality rate, while the band only has 1/200. And they don't even mention the long-term, hugely painful complications that potentially come with the sleeve, namely stomach leaking...
Regardless, I do wish taogirl well!! It makes me so sad to hear that you've had trouble since the very beginning!! I don't know why it is, but it seems that there are as many different experiences as there are people.
Every surgery has a potential risk, and it's a really good reminder that there are no guarantees... Some people have a really hard time with the surgery, need revisions, removals, or even die...
And of course we all know the potential up side, which is why we're all here in the first place!

Always Trust your Intuition!!
If you know you shouldn't eat it dont!!
If you know its not right then dont do it!!!
If it Feels wrong trust your gut feelings and say no!!
You will be happy later that you did!!
Love all of you!! Have Faith, Strength, and Courage, and Wisdon to battle this weight loss Struggle!!

day two of the liquids only kinda grumpy but following the rules... mind over stomach today...

Good day to you all!
I wanted to share some good news. I woke up Sunday and weighed myself and realized I hit just a tad over my half way goal! I've lost 62 lbs! I started my pre-op diet in Feb 28th of this year. The Dr had put me on a 4 week shake diet. @ weeks of all shakes except a sensible dinner then 2 weeks full liquid. I lost 25 lbs in doing just that alone. I had my surgery March 28th and have lost 37 since. It's been an up and down journey that's for sure. Good days and bad days. Days with good restriction and days where I wanted to eat EVERYTHING in sight. Meeting with my dietitian really helped. When I saw her a few weeks ago she told me she has seen hundreds of patients and that I'm the most successful in such a short period of time that's she can remember seeing. That made my day and really helped get me back to being motivated! I saw her again earlier this week and she said she couldn't believe how different I looked in just a month since she last saw me.
I was so nervous to start this journey and kept looking for excuses to not go through with it, but like many have said, in this wonderful forum, that the only regret was not getting it done sooner. I couldn't be more thrilled with the results. It has happened so fast and I cant' believe the little things I'm noticing. Several nsv's. A few of them may be silly. For instance. One I've noticed is when I was at my heaviest using a regular sized public bathroom was so difficult. I was so uncomfortable and could barely open the door to get out sometimes. I always had to use the handicapped stall. Now I'm noticing I can fit in regular stalls with ease now! :-) I was able to paint my toenails the other night with them propped in the same chair seat that I was sitting in without being out of breath and stretching to reach because my big belly was in the way. These are a few of many I notice. They may sound silly but when you couldn't do them for so long it's amazing feeling to do what "regular" people can do that they take for granted.
I'm far from goal and I'm a bit nervous because this is the weight I usually have given up with in the past. I felt I could never get any smaller than this, but I'm determined this time. I do most of the work, but this little band has really been a great tool for me. I never understood what people meant in the beginning that it was only a tool if used properly. I totally get that now. I went from barely being able to get off the couch to actually wanting to get up early to go start my 3 mile walk.
Sorry for the long ramble, I just wanted to share my story and also give myself some accountability so I won't give up and hopefully maybe to encourage others who may be struggling right now. I've had a lot of encouragement from my surgical team, dietitian, friends, and family and I'm so grateful God's been holding my hand and giving me strength through it all when I really thought I had none of my own left. Well, I hope you all are having a blessed Thursday!
The first picture is about an hour before surgery. I look extra gross because of the wet shower hair on no makeup and the fact I was talking when my husband snapped the picture. I almost didn't post it because seeing it makes me cringe, sick to my stomach and want to cry my eyes out, but I ended up posting it because I want to remind myself I never want to go there again. The second one was taken this past Sunday after church. It's crazy how sometimes my mind doesn't see a difference in the mirror at all, I have to take old pics out sometimes to keep my mind in check. Anyone else go through that?

Omg!!! I am preop but have been dieting my ass off Im finally in the 2's!!!! 299.0 to be exact and I couldnt be prouder of myself!!! I started this journey at 336 and to know I will be having my surgery starting in the twos is THRILLING!!! I never thought I could do this......LOVING LIFE!!! Surgery JULY 18!

I Don't Want to Be Too Religious Today!! Must Must Share a Thought and Be Mindful of My Lap Band Group!!!
THANK YOU LORD FOR ALL YOU HAVE DONE!!! I WILL CONTINUE TO WORSHIP YOU!!!! My weight is coming off and I feel and look more fabulous then I ever could have thought!!! Please Please Please Continue the negative inspiration!! I might be on the Sports Illustrated Magazine soon!! I will post a picture when it Does!!! My God is Good all the time!!! Oh LOVE ALL OF YOU FROM THE BOTTOM of MY SKINNY HEART!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so full of Love Today!!! Go Lap Bandsters!!!!!! When all else fails God Never Will!!!

I am starting over again too. I got married 6 months ago and have gained 4 pounds a month since then........I was a slow loser too like you said, but at least I was losing. I joined Curves yesterday. I plan on going to Curves 3 times a week and to my other gym 3 times a week. I didn't know how to adjust shopping for two people, going out to eat (honeymoon phase), and cooking for two people. Before I got married I only cooked for myself and I ate the same foods over and over again. My husband told me he was going to eat chicken breast and sweet potatoes everyday! LOL! Sorry to read about your mother. My mom passed in 2007 and I gained 25 pounds right after she passed in a few months. Some people stop eating when they get sad but I eat more....I wish you well on this journey.

Aha! I knew that title would get your attention! Are you thinking that Jean, a very vocal, longtime band fan, has finally lost her mind (on which she never did have a very firm grip)?


No, I haven’t lost my mind. I still think the band is grand and I still wish I still had mine, but because I want everybody to succeed at weight loss, I feel duty-bound to tell you some reasons not to have adjustable gastric band surgery.
So here goes, in no particular order.
Don’t have band surgery if…
You’re phobic about needles. Right now, a needle is the only way to get fluid into the band. The fill needle is not a big, scary one, and you don’t have to look at it at all if you prefer, but it’s still a needle.
You believe that band surgery cures obesity. Obesity is an incurable, chronic disease with the very real potential for recurrence. Weight regain can happen to anyone.
You think that once you get to your goal weight, your weight loss journey stops. Nope. It’s only just begun. Next you’ll have to maintain that weight loss for the rest of your life, and that takes vigilance and hard work.
You’re a self-pay planning on having surgery in Mexico or elsewhere out of country. What are you going to do if you have a problem or complication or just need another fill or unfill? Travel back to the Mexican clinic? Try to get help locally? Finding a US-based bariatric clinic that will accept patients who had surgery overseas is not easy, and once you do find one, you’re probably going to have to pay a non-refundable program fee, from $200 to $2000.
You can’t afford the time and expense for frequent follow up visits for fills, unfills, and other medical care. Even if your insurance covers those visits, you’ll have to take time off work, arrange for child care or pet care, fill your car’s gas tank, and shell out a co-pay.
You're a self-pay and don't have money or plans for dealing with fills, unfills, and possible complications. See above.
You hope to lose weight without getting any fills. Sorry, but it probably won’t work that way. See above.
You expect to lose a pound+ a day. Average weight loss with the band is 1-2 pounds/week. That average includes people who lost weight faster as well as people who lost no weight at all. Rapid initial weight loss is usually related to fluid retention, not fat loss.
You believe that slow weight loss with the band will prevent sagging skin. According to several plastic surgeons I’ve asked about this, your age and genetics have the most influence on how your skin will respond to massive weight loss. The rate of weight loss has little or anything to do with it.
You expect to experience restriction and lose weight steadily from the moment you wake up after surgery. Most band patients need several fills to achieve optimal restriction, plus more fills and unfills (or adjustments) to maintain that restriction, and virtually no one loses weight at a steady rate. My weight loss was extremely uneven – down 1#, down .5#, up .75#, down 1.75#, down 0/up 0, down .25#, and so on.
You believe in the sweet spot or perfect restriction. Restriction is constantly changing, just like our bodies, because of dozens of quite ordinary factors (food choices, eating and drinking habits, weight loss, time of day or month, illness, medications, stress, etc.). If you think you’ll lose weight only at the mythical sweet spot, you’re going to spend energy on frustration that could be better applied to changing your eating behavior.
You’re not willing to follow pre- and post-op liquid and puree diets. No, liquid and puree diets are not fun, but they’re short-term. When I was banded, I had 36 years ahead of me, assuming that I live as long as my mother did. That’s 12,672 days. My pre- and post-op liquid diets used up a whopping 17 days. Do the math. Even if you add in post-fill liquids and purees, those liquid and puree days represent a teeny, tiny fraction of my life.
You believe you’ll never be hungry again. Maybe, maybe not. The fact that you feel hungry 5 hours after a meal doesn’t mean your band isn’t working. It just means that your body needs fuel. And part of your ongoing work as a bandster is going to be figuring out whether you’re feeling physical hunger or “head” hunger.
You think the band is going to do all the work for you. The band has no magic ingredient that triggers weight loss once it’s wrapped around your stomach. All it does is affect your hunger and appetite. The band is not going to make good food choices, practice portion control or banish the demons who make you eat when you’re stressed or bored. Nor is it going to exercise for you. Success with the band is the result of a joint effort between you, your band, your surgeon and dietitian.
Have a don't-have-band-surgery reason to add to this list? Post it in the comment section!

We I have officially been banded one year!!!!!:-) and what a year it has been. I guess I consider myself a lap band success story. I have lost a proximately 40 pounds since last year. my clothing size has gone from 20 to a size 12. my shoe size has gone from a 9 and a half to a size 8. is journey has not been easy but well worth it. I am proud that I made my goal in 1 year. my next and final goal is a size 10. which I hope to accomplish by august. as soon as I get my laptop back I will load my before and after pictures I think god for this website because it's really help me go through my journey. thanks lbt fam

I'm 3.5 years post-op with 90# down, 90# to go. I just had a baby 3 weeks ago. I kept my band fill at 2.5cc but just had 1cc removed because I've been losing weight too fast (4# a week) mainly because I'm struggling to find room for food and drink the fluids I need to keep up my milk supply. I'm also worried that losing weight too quickly will reduce the milk supply as well.
Anyway... I've got PCOS, which makes losing weight very challenging, even when I'm eating right and exercising. I also had an emotional eating / boredom eating problem that I've developed the tools to address, and a foodie's craving problem that I've also developed tools to address. I'll share them below:
I'm not a perfect eater, but I've developed some coping mechanisms and strategies to help me stay on track. I've learned how to handle cravings, for example. I know when to re-direct and when to relent. I know when to stop indulging (most of the time) and I know when to get rid of something tasty because I can't resist the temptation to keep indulging.
Redirect: This strategy starts with a question: Am I really hungry, or am I bored/nervous/upset? If the answer is yes, I really am hungry, then I try to redirect focus from the death-by-chocolate cake I am craving to a Protein or granola bar or a piece of fresh fruit--ie, to something healthier that tastes good, too. If the answer is no, I'm not hungry, I'm bored/anxious/whatever, then I redirect to an activity that gets my mind and/or body off the comfort-food focus. Depending on the craving and the reason, I may meditate to calm myself, or take a 5-minute yoga break, or go for a walk, do some weeding/chores, take a bath, masturbate, or take a time-out to touch base with what is really going on inside me (ie administer some emotional first aid).
Relent: Relent, for me, comes after multiple attempts to redirect. If I've eaten my healthy mandarin and I've done my chores and I've finished writing an email or whatever other tasks I've put to myself to in order to get my mind off the craving and I still want that cake (especially if I've craved it for a few days), I'll go buy a single-serving cupcake or something, both as acceptance of the craving, and as reward for the work I've done to earn it. If I absolutely have to have a slice of that $20 death-by-chocolate cake and they don't sell it by the slice, I'll buy it at the bakery, ask them to slice me a piece, and then give the rest away to the people working there, or as samples for their customers. (Yes, it raises eyebrows, but no one has refused me yet.) Then I relish my $20 piece of cake, eating it slowly, savoring every bite. I don't bring home more than one serving of a craved food anymore. It's too easy to say to myself, "Oh, I'll bring this whole cake home and share it with my family" and then end up eating more than one serving because I don't want it to go to waste or because it is just that good.
I suppose I should have the self-discipline to be able to eat just one serving of something I crave and leave the rest alone for others or for another time, but I don't. And I am self-aware enough to accept that. I'm also self-loving enough to get over the whole self-sabotage / self-punishing thing for my supposed lack of will-power, no longer hating myself even as I am rewarding myself with a tasty treat. Today, I allow myself to eat that thing I really want, but just one small serving. And I give away or toss away the rest. I may feel a little foolish for eating what amounts to a $20 slice of cake -but- I figure that it's $18 worth of extra calories I'm not adding to my waistline, and given the work I have to do to take off just one pound, it's f-ing worth it.
So--this is how I've learned to deal with food cravings over the years, and how I managed not to gain weight during my pregnancy. I practice self-awareness and self-acceptance, a bit of self-discipline, and a lot of self-love. I'm as flawed, outrageous, and complex as the next person, and what works for me may not work for others. Still, it's worth sharing if even just one person benefits from it.

I about busted a gut laughing at this comment...

Today is a New Day and a Fresh Start to do maybe what you failed at yesterday!! If you wanted to make changes in your life today is the day to do it!! If you ate too much, if you ate the wrong things, if you didn't get a chance to workout, even if you forgot to Thank God for all he has done for you with this new life!! Well Today is a New Day a Fresh Start!! Lets do this for after 12pm tonight you wont get to do today anymore!! The bible says don't worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will take care of itself!!Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Matthew 6:34

Once the band honeymoon is over, usually about 6 months to 1 year after surgery, it becomes will power more than band power to lose weight. The hype on the boards of this forum from band honeymooners probably misinformed me more than any of the ads from Allergan.

I think you can do it! I have a goal to lose 40 to 48 pounds before the year is over so I'm with you! I lost 5 last week from replacing one meal with a shake and I stopped eating honey nut cherrios (I thought it was healthy) I guess not! We can do this!

Makin sure im not drinkin pointless calories stickin to water n crystal light ... I got a protein mix called just right smoothies its vanilla you mix it with 8 oz of milk or juice n i drink two a day as meal replacements and them i have what i want for dinner just make sure its one serving! And im walkin daily

I had severe acid reflux for 12 years prior to being banded. OTC meds had quit working for me, so I was on a very expensive prescription medication for it. That medication was one of the first I was able to eliminate after being banded. I haven't had any reflux at all between the pre-surgery diet and my last fill. I'm a little bit too tight now and I've had a couple of nights where I've had to take OTC meds for heartburn/reflux. From everything I've read, if you're having reflux with the band, you're probably just too tight.

I have lost over 110 pounds in less than 6 months, so yes, I would do it again in a heartbeat. It's the best decision I've ever made for myself.
You hit on a major point- it's not a magic bullet. Too many people go into this seriously uneducated to the facts and expect the band to "fix" them. It doesn't work that way. It's a tool, not a sprinkle of magic fairy dust. You have to change your eating habits for a lifetime no matter what type of WLS surgery you decide to have.

Totally agree with your doctor, no one here will ever get near starvation mode
i was on a pre-op diet of 600 calories for 10 weeks lost nearly 40 lbs and never got anywhere near starvation mode .. your doctor is absolutely right !!

I actually spoke to my nutritionist about this a couple months back after a ton of debates about this on here. What we call "starvation mode" in terms of dieting isn't starvation at all. When you eat far less calories than your body needs to sustain itself, you create a sort of self-induced metabolic syndrome. When you dip below a certain point (everyone is different, btw, there is no magic number) your metabolism will slow considerably. This very often results in a plateau that wouldn't have happened if you were eating more. However, self induced metabolic syndrome or not, it is inevitable you will start losing again eventually just by basic math. Burning more calories than you are consuming and the pounds come off.
Some people truly do need more calories to successfully lose weight. I hit a plateau a couple months ago eating 1000 calories a day, increased my calories by only 100-200, and the weight started falling off again. Currently, I am only eating 800-900 calories a day not because I'm restricting myself to that amount but because I have really good restriction and I'm simply never hungry enough to eat more.
So "Starvation Mode" is a bad name for it because you're not starving. But, everyone's body is different and needs a different amount to successfully and consistently lose weight.

Delete:)