Dave_NW

It may be different with women than for men, but I found as I lost weight and my smaller clothes fit me again, I didn't care for the style, or the item felt "old" to me. It was easier (and more fun) to go out and get new stuff that actually fit. Of course, as I continued to lose weight, even those replaced items soon were too big, so I had to go shopping again. And again. And again. I've replaced everything in my closet three times now, and I'm looking ahead to Round Four. Expensive? Yes. But totally worth it, because I feel good wearing nice, new clothes that fit right. People compliment me on my appearance now, and I can wear styles or colors I'd never have dared to wear before. And I figure the money I'm NOT spending on food can go into the clothes budget. I'm spending a WHOLE LOT less on clothes than I used to spend on food. And I love having that "spendorphin" rush. (Don't you love rationalization? ) Dave

Thanks! Glad to help. I eat out in restaurants a lot, (even though I love to eat, I'm not much of a cook), so I'm always looking for something that works for me and my band. I can usually find a great option in most restaurants. The printed restaurant menu is not the last word in how the meal has to be served to you, and it never hurts to ask to substitute one item for something that works better. Knowing I don't have to eat everything on the plate, and asking to substitute steamed vegetables for a potato or rice side dish helps a lot. I can usually put together a band-friendly meal that lets me share the social time with my family or friends, and still stay reasonably close to my eating plan. I'm following a modified South Beach Diet kind of eating plan, (higher protein, lower glycemic carbs, avoiding excess surgar and fats), but I realize and accepted early on that I live in the real world, and I eat real world food. (Diet food is only useful as long as it's available - but what happens when it's meal time and diet food is NOT there?) I refuse to be a slave to a super-strict diet that forces me to live on rabbit food while life goes on around me. I spent too many years as an obese spectator in my life, and I don't intend to do that anymore. Meal quantity may be smaller now, but nothing says it has to be boring food. I think eating boring food leads to cheating, grazing, binge eating, and diet failure. Eating a variety of tasty food keeps me interested in mealtimes, and prevents me from having cravings for something I shouldn't be eating. If I eat over my plan one time, I can usually compensate and get back on track later on. And if the whole day goes to hell, eating-wise, I know tomorrow I can re-focus and start over again. It's about getting back on the horse, not beating myself up over one meal. Given how little I eat as a bandster, I will not feel bad if one meal doesn't fit the larger plan I'm following. It was MUCH worse before I was banded. Instead of a few hundred extra calories now, it would have been a few thousand extra calories back then. These days it's much easier to stay on track, or get back to it if things go astray now and then. In the larger picture, it's a non-event, and not worth causing myself any emotional anxiety. As to the nutritional content in food, I spend time browsing the websites of fast food places and sit-down restaurants in my area. Most of them have a Nutritional page that lists the content of their menus. By checking things ahead of time for the foods I enjoy eating, I have an idea of what works for me, and what sort of things to avoid. And even if the restaurant doesn't have a formal nutritional menu page, I find if I Google the restaurant name and the word "nutrition" there is often a page that lists the popular items. Livestrong has a lot of that sort of thing. It's not always dead-on, but it's close enough to get an idea of what's up. And sometimes it's just a matter of common sense. I know cream sauces, breading, and sweet foods tend to have crazy calories attached. Steamed, grilled, or baked items are usually easier to work with. Eating a protein source that's closer to what it started out as is a good choice. (A grilled steak or chicken breast is probably going to have fewer calories than meatloaf or a chicken salad made with mayo.) In Mexican restaurants I like to order a taco salad made with chicken, with the sour cream and guacamole on the side. Add a splash of salsa, and it's an awesome meal. Usually more than I can eat, so that to-go box comes home with me, and I have lunch the next day. I keep saying we need to work the band so it works for us, and the same goes for eating. With a bit of imagination, it's easy to come up with choices that work well. And at the end of the day, our weight loss is a journey, and the band is very forgiving. It's a great tool. Dave

Wendy's is a personal favorite of mine. Two of my favorite items on their menu is their chili (small cup is 210 calories, 21g of carbs, and 17g protein) and their new berry Almond chicken salad. (The half-size portion is 270 calories, 23g carbs, and 21g Protein.) Applebees has an Asiago Peppercorn Steak that's excellent. Order it with steamed vegetables instead of the potatoes. 380 calories, 25g carbs, and 44g protein. I split it into two meals. Olive Garden has a Steak Toscano. Order it with steamed vegetables instead of the potatoes. It's a 12 ounce steak that has 400 calories, 15g carbs and 20g protein. I split that one into three meals. Dave

Hi Paul. Welcome aboard. Your fears and questions are mostly normal for someone who is just starting to look into banding as a possible option. The very best thing you can do is read everything you can find about it, filter out the obvious things that don't apply to you, and then get down to the basics of what banding will and won't do for you. Then you can decide for yourself if this is something you want to do. The band is not a magic bullet. If you're lazy, want to do nothing to assist in your weight loss, and expect it to carry you along, you WILL be disappointed. Like any good tool, you need to learn how to manage it. The more knowledge and experience you have, the better prepared you will be to get the most from it, and the best possible results. So expect to have to get out of your chair and exercise a bit, plan that you'll have to learn how to eat proper, nutritious food, and know that your weight loss is your responsibility. You'll get out of it what you put into it. As for your other fears, consider that there are THOUSANDS of people who have band surgery every year. Of those, a relative handful have problems, and that group is the people who post on forums like this one. The vast majority of bandsters have no issues, and are out living their lives without complaint. Take the complaints you read of with a huge grain of salt, because some people just like to complain, or they freak out because they haven't done any research, and they think since they had surgery three days ago they should have lost fifty pounds by now. (I'm being facetious, but you get the point - keep it in perspective.) The liquid Protein diet is no big deal. As part of my daily diet I drink Protein shakes that taste like chocolate milk. But I eat regular food in moderate amounts the rest of the time. Yes, during my surgery they inserted a catheter. They took it out within an hour or so after I was out of recovery. I was unconscious when they put it in, it didn't hurt being in, it stung when they pulled it out, but the pain immediately went away. After I could pee normally they let me go home from the hospital. Some guys have issues with that because of the anaesthetic used in surgery turns off the bladder muscles for awhile. But within a day or two I was back to normal. It was collectively no big deal. There are adjustments required for every new bandster, as they get used to having the band placed, as they heal from surgery, and they learn how to live with the band. It takes work to stay focused on the steps required, but let me tell you - the results are SO completely worth it! If I ever have to give up my band it's going to have to be cut out of my cold, dead body. I'm never going back to what I used to be. I started this journey at 320 pounds. Now, just under eight months later, I weigh 212. That's 108 pounds gone for good! I started this wearing size 3X and 4X shirts. Now, XL shirts are getting to be a bit big. I started this wearing 44-46 inch waist pants. I'm currently wearing 34 inch waist pants. When was the last time you wore an XL shirt or 34 waist pants? I'll bet it's been awhile, right? So relax, stop worrying about things that are non-issues, and study up on whether banding is the right choice for you. If you decide to move forward, there are plenty of people here who have already walked down the road ahead of you, who are willing to lend you a helping hand. Good luck! Dave

I drink a ready-to-drink Premier Nutrition chocolate shake in the car on my way to work every morning. 11 ounces, 160 calories, 5g carbs, 1g sugar, and 30g of Protein. Great way to start things off. I get them at costco, but you can buy them elsewhere, including the Premier Nutrition website: www.premiernutrition.com. They also come in vanilla and strawberry flavor. I like their Protein Bars, too. Dave

You may be contributing to your weight by not eating enough. "Undereating" is sometimes worse than overeating, because you're causing your metabolism to slow down by not eating right. You may want to try getting some nutritional counseling before going the surgery route, just to be sure surgery is the right path for you. You also can't compare how a man eats to how a woman eats, and expect things to be the same. They aren't. Women store fat and process foods differently than men do. Again, go for some nutritional counseling, and see if you can't turn thigns around. Surgery should be a last resort. As for fill doctors in Seattle, why not open the phone book and start making some calls? Any practice that does surgery also does fills. And with the transient population in the Seattle area, there are bound to be lots of folks who were banded elsewhere moving to town, and needing fills. So call around and ask. If you have to self-pay, rather than going out of the country, you may also consider the financing plans that exist for people in your position. There are programs that will finance the operation, and you make monthly payments for it. That would be something the surgical centers should be able to direct you to. Good luck! Dave

The kind of questions to ask yourself is how long do you want to be fat? How much of your future are you willing to throw away due to obesity? When will you have had enough of clothes that don't fit, airplane seats too small, and tiredness when standing or walking or climbing stairs? How often will you be able to ignore the rolled-eyes expressions of people judging you for your weight, or tolerate being the invisible fat person in the crowd? And how many times will you be comfortable telling your twins, "Sorry, honey, you run along and play. Mommy needs to sit here and watch." Are you prepared to let your children grow up missing out on a life of activity and bonding with you? The questions go on and on, and only you can say when you've had enough. Once you're banded, and it's adjusted properly, your appetite will be virtually eliminated. You won't GET hungry, so there won't be any "starving." A small amount of food will fill you up and make you feel full, just like a large amount of food did previously. So you won't have that crutch to lean on anymore. (I tried that for years - I hated feeling hungry, so justified being fat. Nowadays it's a non-issue. I eat 1000 calories a day or so, and it's PLENTY of food. Oh yeah, and I've lost over a hundred pounds without ever feeling like I was missing out on eating "big.". It's a no-brainer.) For me, the decision to get banded came when I finally admitted I was unable to properly do my work. (I'm in IT tech support for a busy hospital.) As a fairly rugged guy, imagine my embarassment when the female employees at work said things like, "Did you want me to crawl under that desk and connect that cable for you?" To my shame, I admit that I let them do it any number of times. And I thanked them for it. Nowadays they don't even ask - it's quite a different experience. The reason is that I"m no longer that red-faced, sweaty, obese guy huffing and puffing as I try to tuck in my tent-sized shirt into the waistband of my incredibly huge pants, while trying to keep my pants from falling down off my fat ass. I get compliments from everyone I meet, telling me how amazing I look, and how great my (much smaller) clothes fit. I can keep up with everyone, and most times I'm the one in front of the crowd. It's like I was reborn into a whole new body. And it's only been eight months! Have the surgery. You have everything to gain, and nothing to look forward to as you are except more of the unhappiness you're living with right now. Good luck! Dave P.S. My surgery was at Swedish Hospital in Seattle. That's where I get my fills, too. They're great to work with. Give them a call.

Tom, I appreciate your insights, but have to say, I think your lack of weight loss has much more to do with what and how much you're eating, and very little to do with the liquids. Water has zero calories, but all foods do. Eating larger than a bandster should is probably resulting in you taking in more calories than you're expending. And since weight loss is about calorie deficits, I'm betting the larger problem is related to food volumes taken in being greater than your caloric expenditure out. Every time my weight loss has slowed or stalled, I've examined my diet and exercise amounts. Once I make sure the calories I burn are greater than the calories I'm eating, the weight loss resumes. It's all about the math. Good luck sorting things out. Dave

I drink with all my meals. Not a lot, but sips as needed to keep things moving. My surgeon and NUT both know it, and they're fine with it. Why? Because my weight loss has been textbook in its regularity, and I've had zero problems. As of this morning, I've lost 108 pounds in seven and a half months. Results like that have to count for something. I don't understand the logic behind not drinking with a meal. Some say it flushes food through the band too quickly, so you get hungry sooner. But food only stays in the pouch for a minute or two anyway before moving through the band, so how much effect are "they" expecting to occur? If my meal is a fixed amount of food, and I eat only that amount, what difference does it make if I also drink with that meal, if I know that after the food is gone, I'm done eating till the next meal? I don't graze, snack, or eat between meals. So how does it make a difference in my eating if I also drink with the meal? As I say, it makes no sense. If you are someone who DOES snack, graze, or eat between meals, then maybe drinking with your meal isn't a good idea. But for me, and my weight loss, it works. Dave

If the point of having the band is to dim the appetite, maybe this last fill got you to that point. I have 9cc in a 14cc band, and I rarely experience actual hunger pangs. I usually eat on a schedule because I can't rely on my system to tell me it's time to eat. And even if I do feel a bit of hunger pangs, I can easily ignore them, if eating isn't convenient. Not a good way to work my eating plan, I know, so I tend to eat by the clock. So maybe there isn't anything wrong at all, but you just finally reached your sweet spot. ? Dave

Sounds like you're bored. Change up your diet. Slow down your eating. Focus back on how you ate at the beginning. Use a smaller plate. Don't eat standing up or in front of the TV. Move more. You're probably eating the same things too often, and/or eating too fast. Turn things around, and see if it makes a difference. Force yourself to change the same old routine. Sometimes all you need to do is rearrange how you eat in a day, to get back on track. Good luck! Dave

They combined my band placement surgery with a hiatal hernia repair and a ventral hernia repair. (I figured as long as they were going to be under the hood, they may as well do a full tune up. ) So I stayed two nights in the hospital. Since it was December and things at work were slow, I opted to stay home for long enough to feel like I was ready to face my workday - which meant being back on solid food. So I stayed home three weeks, using a one-time sick leave bank I had available that wouldn't have been used otherwise. By the time I went back to work I was done with my surgeon's post-op liquid diet, and I was getting back onto solids. I was glad for the extra time off, not so much for the band surgery, but for recovering from the ventral hernia repair. That was a hard one. Dave

I have Tricare Prime, and I've never paid for a fill. They're billed as "S2083 - Adjustment gastric band". Dave

It must be Liquid Protein grams I'm thinking of. The way it was explained was that if it's too much, the excess is passed out before being absorbed. That makes more sense than dense Proteins being eliminated. Or is it maybe with bypass people? They have malabsorption issues. Dave

I've been advised that one-tenth the number of daily calories should be Protein grams. That is to say, if you're eating 1000 calories a day of food, you should have 100 grams of protein. (100 is one-tenth of 1000.) If you eat 1200 calories per day, then shoot for 120g of protein. I don't know if there is a maximum, but I've been told protein needs time to be absorbed into the system, and excess is eliminated through body waste. So if you plan to eat 100g of protein per day, break it up into several meals - don't have it all at once. I try to have 20-30g of protein per meal, several times a day. Dave

You're very welcome. Just hang in there, and give yourself time to adjust to life with the band. Once you start getting fills, you'll feel differently inside, and the band will truly start to work for you. It took me several fills before my appetite was sufficiently dimmed, and now eating is a matter of following what my band is telling me. It's all pretty routine for me now. But I've learned that patience is one of the hardest band skills to learn. Good luck! Dave

Hi and Welcome! You'll do fine with the band. I was much the same as you - tired of the diet rollercoaster, and ready to get the ball rolling. Surgery went easily, and recovery was by-the-book. Now, nearly eight months later, I can't believe how far I've come. All things considered, it's been a breeze. Good luck, and here's hoping you'll be able to report nothing but good news! Dave

Holey cow! That is quite a story! I'm SO sorry you had to go through all that. But it's great to read you're finally on track, and that things are working well for you. Hang in there, do what you can, and good luck with it all! Dave

The band does not STOP you from eating any amount of food you want. Whether you SHOULD eat more than prudent is up to you. That's where your common sense and self control comes in. In this case, eating a cup of food at a time is perfectly fine. And if you're losing regularly, then you're doing great. I wouldn't worry, as long as you feel good. I post this link all the time, but it bears repeating, because it explains a lot of things many bandsters don't understand, or are never told about how their band works: Dr. Terry Simpson's page "It's Not About Restriction." http://drsimpson.net/fills/Lap-band-eating/lap-band-not-restriction/lap-band-and-restriction.html Good luck! Dave

I agree - you probably do. My point with the link was the part about eating more food to feel full again, which can make you feel like things are stretched. I ahve days when i feel like I can eat anything, then other days I feel like every bite is on the verge of getting stuck. If your doctor won't give you a fill, maybe refocus on your daily intake and activity, and make sure you're managing the badn as closely as possible, to give you the best chance of losing again. And if it still doesn't work, maybe ask your doctor why no fill? Good luck! Dave

When you see obvious spam posts, click the Report button on the bottom left corner of the post window. Just put Spammer in the text window, and send it on. Alex will want to know about it so he can delete the post. Because this site of free, anyone can post anything they want to, including spammers. Dave

You may want to read Dr. Simpsons' page about the band. It's pretty informative, and explains how and why people eat more over time. http://drsimpson.net/fills/Lap-band-eating/lap-band-not-restriction/lap-band-and-restriction.html Good luck! Dave

I drink with all my meals, and have from the time I got back on solids. If I don't, I have trouble swallowing. But I limit my meal to a fixed portion of food, and regardless of whether I drink during the meal, when the food is gone, I'm done eating till the next meal. I don't graze, I don't snack, and I don't eat junk food, unless I factor it into my daily eating plan. The drinking with the meal is a non-issue, because it makes no difference in the volume of food I'm eating each meal. I have been stuck to the point of sliming three times, and I was responsible each time it happened. I ate too fast, or swallowed too large a bite without chewing properly. If I slow down, chew better, and give the food I've swallowed time enough to move through my band (it goes through within a minute or so), I have no trouble. I have never vomited since getting banded, and certainly not like you have described. I attribute my success to managing my band daily. I control the kind and quantity of food I eat, I focus on Protein first, I don't allow myself to be an emotional eater, and I exercise daily, even if it's just a walk around the block. I track not only what I eat, but I keep a general idea of the calories. I try to get ten percent of daily calories as protein grams. (Meaning if I eat 1000 calories a day, I want 100g of it to be protein.) I try to eat fewer carbs than protein, and rduce fat wherever possible. It takes a bit of planning to make it all come together, but if you manage it right, weight loss WILL happen. Good luck! Dave

I disagree that there is nothing but struggle for those who don't have to do a pre-op liquid diet. I did not have to do one, and I've done very well since my surgery. The point of a pre-op diet is to reduce the size of your liver, to make surgery easier to perform. If your surgeon decides that's not necessary, then you don't need to go through that. Post-op, they'll ask you to follow their dietary recommendations, and work your way back onto solid food on their schedule. The disconnect people here seem to have is they expect they'll have immediate restriction after surgery, and immediate, nonstop weight loss. When that doesn't happen, they freak out and get all stressed, they develop all sorts of negative attitudes, and they blame everything for not working as advertised. In truth, the first six weeks after surgery are primarily about healing, so your system can get used to the band being there, and so the placement stitches can heal up. After that, when fills start, is when you should be concerned about restricting your diet down a normal bandster level so weight loss can start Failure with the band is normally caused by people who don't know what to expect, and who make improper choices, and not usually because of a physical problem, or because they didn't have to suffer through a pre-op liquid diet. The key to bandster success is following your doctor's orders, doing what you're told, eating right, exercising properly, and listening to your body's response to having the band in there. The key to bandster failure is second-guessing your doctor, not following orders, eating poorly, not exercising, and expecting the band to do all the work. Everyone has the best intentions with this, but the people who seem to have the most trouble are those who are least informed about what to do, and how to live with the band. It takes work, and it takes education. After that, the rest is in living daily with the band. Good luck with your journey. I wish you great success! Dave

About the only thing you may want to be aware of could be your appetite returning once all the post-op swelling has gone away. You may end up in what's known as "bandster hell," where you haven't yet had your first fill, and your appetite is back with a vengeance. it's hard to maintain a low calorie diet when you have no fill. Hang in there, keep working your plan, and you'll do fine. Good luck! Dave