Birdie1973

Hello, Out There...My Lap-Band Surgery Date Is Coming Up Soon, JUNE 2, 2014...I Am Starting To Get A Bit Of "COLD FEET" As Thery Say..Kinda Afraid Of Some Of What I Am Reading Here & There..Am I About To Make The Worst Decision Ever In My Whole Life Concerning What Body I Have Left?..I Want SO Much For This To Work For Me, But I Have To Admit I'm Getting A Bit Fearfull Reading The Stories Of The Pains & Problems Associated With ANY Of The Weight Loss Surgeries..I Meet With My Surgeon Again On May 19th, To Start My Pre-Op Diet Before My Surgery Date..Help, I'm Getting Really Frightened..?..I Thought I Knew What To Do & Expect & Did My Homework, Now I Wonder If There Is Things I Will Suffer?..Not Sure, I Need Some Help Here Or I Guess Really Some ENCOURAGEMENT!

Hi Swankybangels ! Nice to meet you . I've been banded for 3 years. Had my surgery at Day zone Health in Chicago. My name is Adriana. Currently I have no saline in my band because I stretched my band a little. Are you on a liquid diet now ?

Wow that's fantastic. I was banded August 2012. I have lost 83 lbs. Congratulations on your success .

I know. You are absolutely right. I guess I just don't want to see it in writing because it feels terrible.. Like today, I went out to dinner with my mom and my boyfriend. We went to my favorite restaurant, with my favorite people in my life. I was surrounded by food. Good food. I ate healthy, but I felt like ate wayyyy too much. I know that I ate wayyyyyy too much ! I thought, why bother writing this stuff down for today ! But you are right. I will have to write down everything. I need to be acoountable for this eating behavior. And see the thing is , my band used to be tighter. But I had to get an un-fill a couple of months ago due to a very slight slip. It fixed it self, Thank God, but I feel that my doctor is now skeptical to fill up my band as tight as it was before. Now, my fills are really spread apart. I'm supposed to go in in April for another one. I can hardly wait ! As of right now, I have to do more work with keeping my sanity and stop overating so much ! Thanks for listening. I really appreciate your reply.

It's because my band feels loose. I asked my doctor for another fill last month and he gave me a very small one. He told me to go on liquids for a few days , if I felt like I had stretched my pouch. I called his office days later and asked his nurse if I could come in and get more Fluid because I wasn't at my green zone and the doc said "NO !!!!". He said I have to wait at least 2 motnhs before another fill. So, I kinda feel that I have to use my "will power" all the time and it's been hard. I got used to the band doing all the work for me. I have this thought about going to another doctor to get the fill that I need, but deep in my heart it feels like the wrong thing to do.

I did a lot better today. But I still need to work on these carb cravings ! I know I need a fill but my doctor told me to wait 2 more months before I get another one. Kinda makes me want to go to a different doctor, but I won't do that because I know my doctor truly cares.

I'm right there with u. Can't get it together to save my life!

It's more important to log when you fall off. I know it's hard but it makes you accountable and maybe next time you'll think twice cause you know you are going to have to put it to ink.
Keep doing what you are doing. You'll get there. The head hunger and cravings are a real B*****.

Hash Browns....Yuuuummmmmm!

Line-dancer,
Those are things that have saved me too. I really don't have any "bad" food in the house and on days when I am really hungry or just need something I reach for fruit, yogurt, Protein, Protein shake etc. A treat for me is a high Fiber whole grain cracker (WASA Light Rye - 30 calories) with some Laughing Cow cheese or extra fruit in my yogurt! A splurge is if I am making cauliflower mash and I add a spoonful of low fat sour cream and/or a little grated Parmesan cheese or a Weight Watchers Fudge Bar. Oh yeah, that's livin' large for me! No more chips and dip, ice cream sundaes, sub sandwiches, etc. At least now I know I'm not doing any major damage. The funny thing is now when I think something sounds really good and I take a taste - it doesn't taste as good as I remember so it's just not worth the calories to me. I keep wondering if they did something to my taste buds when they put me under for surgery!

I find as I get close or near to a weight number that I haven't seen in 30 yrs my brain starts to crave the old me and food thoughts keep coming into my head...it took me awhile to realize that it was my devil part of my brain talking..so I talk out loud to shut up and get a piece of fruit or yogurt and if that puts me over my calorie count for the day its ok cause its not by much. Do you need a fill? think about it empty your house of food you cant eat anymore and make rules that no special trips out of the house for food and put a sign on the door to remind your brain to shut up.

I'm not sure you fell off - maybe just had a little bumpy ride! You sound as if you're back on the smooth part of the road now! Now that I've been banded a short time, I think we're a little too hard on ourselves when we have a moment. For most of us, it's going to happen and probably not once, not twice but more times than we want to think about. Everyone no matter what their situation, whether trying to eat better, lose weight, are diabetic or whatever will eat something that is consider not a part of their diet or good for them. It's the nature of the beast and also why some food are considered treats. The problem becomes when treats turn in to regular habits and result in harm. Thin people eat chips, crackers, candy, fried food. Exercise fanatics take a day off. Diabetics eat sweets. It's all about learning control and developing good habits and behaviors. A piece of cake, a burger, a slice of pizza won't kill you. You can always get in some additional exercise, make your next meal a little lighter, etc. Eating the whole cake, burgers every day, an entire pizza is a different story. I'm remind myself over and over that those foods that are so appealing are okay to sample sometimes or even eat, but I don't have to eat as if I will never have the opportunity to eat them again. They will always be there tomorrow, next week, next month or next year. Except of course for Twinkies, SuzyQ's, Cupcakes - who knew that was going to happen?!

My binge food starts with choc chip Cookies so I don't even buy them lol. It's ok if you have a slip up just brush it off and get back up and start all over again. I was just wondering how in the world you were able to eat all that bread. I would still be hanging my head in the toilet. I can not do bread or any potatoes. Good luck you can do this.

I blame my kids for my weight gain in the 90's and early 2K. They loved tater tots and of course I always heated up too many. I still love em but haven't had one since my surgery. On the other hand, I had pizza tonight, very very good pizza. My wife's Bday was today so we allowed ourselves this one treat. No regrets.

ok, you fell off....shall i banish you from my kingdom now or later??
so get back on and carry on......

Birdie, we all have triggers that cause us to binge. What I did was I kept a food journal. I would log everything I ate, time of day, how I was feeling, what happen during that day and anything else I wanted. This helped me find patterns to my head hunger, once I knew what to look for I could take measures to divert it.
Be proud that you recognized your downfall and you got right back on track. This journey has lots of bumps along the way, you will get through them all.
Good luck to you. You can do this.

Hełlo Everyone. Thank God for this site. I was doing so good 2 days ago RESPECTING the band and last night I just plain abused it. It started with a simple "slider-food item". An innocent "low carb" cracker. And it just went down hill after that. I ate the entire bag. And then... I ate some Pizza Crust. No toppings. Just wanted a piece of the crust. Weird. Then, . It got bad enough that I made a special trip to Subway, and got 3 macadamia Cookies. The thing is, through out the entire binge, I knew I was doing wrong. Yet, I continued. I sabotaged all my previous efforts. This morning, I have started on the right foot. Square one. I just hate when I give in to behavior so destructive like last night. A struggle. Shouldn't be. I just wanted to vent and make my confession. . I wish everyone today a wonderful day. Good wishes to all Respect the band. That's my new motto.

Hełlo Everyone. Thank God for this site. I was doing so good 2 days ago RESPECTING the band and last night I just plain abused it. It started with a simple "slider-food item". An innocent "low carb" cracker. And it just went down hill after that. I ate the entire bag. And then... I ate some Pizza Crust. No toppings. Just wanted a piece of the crust. Weird. Then, . It got bad enough that I made a special trip to Subway, and got 3 macadamia Cookies. The thing is, through out the entire binge, I knew I was doing wrong. Yet, I continued. I sabotaged all my previous efforts. This morning, I have started on the right foot. Square one. I just hate when I give in to behavior so destructive like last night. A struggle. Shouldn't be. I just wanted to vent and make my confession. . I wish everyone today a wonderful day. Good wishes to all Respect the band. That's my new motto.

Well, only you can decide if you're too tight. However, if you are, any weight loss isn't worth the dangers of a band too tight. The main cause of slips is because the patient walked around with their bands way too tight.
If you're taking bites the size of a fingernail, chewing it until mush, eating slowly and stick to band portions but still PBing then yes you're likely too tight.
You also should consider the fact being at the proper Fluid level in the band should mean minimal hunger without PBing and constant stuck episodes. I'm not sure why anyone would choose a band that's too tight over a band in the Green Zone. Just my opinion.
Best wishes.

I'm currently taking in about 500 calories a day. Is that too little?

All of the previous comments are right on but it looks like(your profile) you're probably in a maintenance mode at this time? You probably need about 1600-1800 calories a day to maintain your current weight. How many cups will depend a lot on what's in the cup? As long as you continue to make healthy food choices you should maintain your current weight.
Just continue to eat till you're satisfied? If that's 2 cups of lasagna, yes, you may need a fill. If it's 2 cups of salad and lean chicken you should be fine.
tmf

It will vary from surgeon to surgeon, some say a 1/2 cup and others say 1 cup, but one thing that is pretty universal is no more than 1 cup per meal.
Just because you can physically eat more doesn't mean you should nor does it mean you need a fill. The band isn't supposed to physically stop you from eating anything, in fact that's a big reason why it's important to stick to band sized portions so we don't accidentally over eat.
If you want a really clear but great explanation, have a look at the link in my signature.
Best wishes.

My meals prob measure around one cup. I measure my meats and cheese in weight and all others in measuring cups. I could always eat more than that, but I don't. If you can go around 4 hours after eating 3 ounces Protein and veggie/starch then you more than likely don't need a fill.

During my recent fluoro, they have me stand up in front of a C arm fluro. He was able to see right away that I was too tight because the Barium took far too long to exit the upper pouch. I think it's superior in detecting problems but heard that since food doesn't go down like Barium does, it'll still rely more on honest patient-doctor communication to reach one's sweet spot. For example, letting your doctor know that you can eat more than 4 cups of food and get hungry within 2 hrs... etc. (need a fill) or keep getting stuck (need a slight unfill).