Hi,

I am struggling a bit with the high Protein, low carb diet primarily because my crazy work life makes it difficult sometimes. My primary job has me running all day to meetings and between our 32 locations. Plus I have two other jobs and two days a week I leave the house at 5 am and get home at 10pm.

When I did Weight Watchers, I could always make something work. Now...it is more challenging to eat on the run. The other day, I ended up in a mexican place, and got a carnitas quesadilla and ate just the meat, veggies and cheese in the middle---no tortilla/sour cream etc.

I am just wondering if any of you follow weight watchers with the lap band.

Hi,

I am struggling a bit with the high Protein, low carb diet primarily because my crazy work life makes it difficult sometimes. My primary job has me running all day to meetings and between our 32 locations. Plus I have two other jobs and two days a week I leave the house at 5 am and get home at 10pm.

When I did Weight Watchers, I could always make something work. Now...it is more challenging to eat on the run. The other day, I ended up in a mexican place, and got a carnitas quesadilla and ate just the meat, veggies and cheese in the middle---no tortilla/sour cream etc.

I am just wondering if any of you follow weight watchers with the lap band.

I used to follow WW religiously. I just got banded and do not think that it is a good idea, personally. WW's philosophy is that you can have anything as long as you account for "points," or calories. It gives low points to low calorie volume foods to encourage you to eat more of those. With the band, I think you have to focus on eating the protein because your band won't accomodate very much volume. And you don't want to lose muscle mass.

On the go, you have to make the lifestyle work for you, A container of greek yogurt won't go bad if you keep it in a lunchbag cooler in your car. Ditto for deli meats, tuna salad, chicken salad, anything is ok for 4 hours if there is a cool pack in it. I think going to a restaurant and ordering a scoop of tuna or chicken salad anywhere should not be a problem. Don't feel confined to menus. As they used to say in WW, no one plans to fail, they just fail to plan Good luck.

I have been wondering about this myself. I found weight watchers to be helpful for accountability especially. Interested to see if anyone has done it.

I have been banded for 2 years and I just started WW.....reason being accountability ......I modify the program a little bit to fit my band needs. They focus a lot on fiber etc....I modify my points lower....and focus more on protein etc. But I would recommend it !

I don't see the point in doing weight watchers with the band as it only adds the food tracking accountability element. Why not use some other method of food tracking that is free and doesn't confuse the tool with the diet ... such as SparkPeople. SparkPeople

Maybe you could always keep some high Protein drinks such as Isopure with you for the days you are deficient. It sounds like you really need to plan your days better as a previous poster had said to make sure you have what you need.

I don't have as hectic a schedule as you do but because I don't like a lot of different foods I am going to have to plan well to get my food in I feel.

I think it's possible to use WW, but like the others said, the focus has to be on your doctor's recommended eating plan-- protein first, veggies and starch after, small quantities, chew well, or whatever. If you're given a points range on WW, you may or may not be able to get to it, based on y our restriction. If you've got little/no restriction, counting the points might give you a "stopping place" that your band isn't giving you yet. And even with WW- to succeed, you have to plan and bring food with you. I'm a part time student and I work part-time and my schedule is different every single day. I have to plan to take food, in a small cooler lunch box, to be available when I need it. It's a pain, but it's worth it. I keep fruit, pre-measured almonds or walnuts, tuna fish or whatever, some protein bars or shakes(if I'm working out), or whatever good leftovers I have. I use the crockpot a lot, which makes dinner and leftovers easy. I'd suggest looking at your weekly schedule and schedule out a time for meal planning, meal shopping and meal prep and get together a whole week's worth of healthy eating together at once- maybe on the weekend. I used to do WW before the band-- and it worked for a long while, and then not so much anymore (I just wasn't working the plan). I always try to remember-- "If you always do what you always did, you'll always get what you always got." So if it works for you, go for it. If not, don't be afraid to try something else.

Thanks everyone! I appreciate all of your responses. I am still new to life with a band--and I am still working on challenges. I like the idea of a cooler for when I am on the run---thankfully now in Maine it is freezing cold out so I don't have to worry about spoilage!

I am going to find an online program that I can use to calculate nutritional value. I struggle with those foods that aren't easy to figure out---for example, I made a veggie lasagna for my family. I had about a one inch square of it. Now---it had cheese and spinach so I know there was good Protein, but I didn't know how to begin to figure out how much.

I just got a new slow cooker and will be working on recipes in that......I know that my band is forever, and I really want to use this tool to its maximum.

Thanks again.

Jackie

My doctor never talked or emphasized a low carb lifestyle..but I read on here that alot of doctors do. I am almost 4months out from surgery and dont have good restriction yet. I find that following weight watchers helps me...it helps me continue to make better food choices while I am in bandster hell and it helps me track what I am eating. I hope once I get good restriction I wont have to do that anymore but until than it helps me out. It makes me feel like I am more in control....

My doc said it's fine as long as you track points AND protein. Make sure your getting your protein in even if you have to have a shake or 2 a day. Most shakes are only 2 points each anyway if you make them with water.