Hello Bandsters -

Four rules of healthy eating:

1. Avoid white flour and white sugar products.

2. Avoid any processed food.

3. Avoid any food advertised on TV

4. Avoid Fast Food chains.

Respectfully submitted,

Dr Kelly M. Fitzpatrick

If we could follow these "rules" we wouldn't have needed the band in the first place!

If we could follow these "rules" we wouldn't have needed the band in the first place!

LOL!

If we could follow these "rules" we wouldn't have needed the band in the first place!

We can make a concerted effort to adopt these rules over time though. A lot of bandsters aren't just relying on the band. They're doing things that they haven't done in years. You can still eat like crap with the band. It doesn't force you to exercise. You can gain weight with the band. Bandsters who go from morbid obesity to 130 pounds have drastically changed the way that they operate. People find that they actually can do things they formerly believed they just "couldn't." We're not automatons; we can change. Your quote marks seem to imply scepticism. The rules are just good common sense and they're probably what most people follow 80% of the time if they are successfully maintaining their weight-loss.

Avoid any food advertised on TV? I think that one's a little harsh... I eat greek yogurt, cheeses, beef, pork, chicken... they're all advertised on tv.

Avoid any food advertised on TV? I think that one's a little harsh... I eat greek yogurt, cheeses, beef, pork, chicken... they're all advertised on tv.

I seriously doubt that this rule was intended as an absolute. Most food advertised on tv is fast-food or packaged. In fact, I think all of these rules are general guidelines to healthy eating. Again, it's just common-sense. I'm sure that this doctor wouldn't advise against eating cucumbers because they're sometimes advertised on TV. We don't have to be pedantic about this. It's about observing the "spirit of the law."

I always liked how Jack Lalanne said it. He ate "whole" foods, and lived to be a gazillion years old. He said when you go in the grocery store, shop the perimeter only and don't go up and down the center aisles. That way you'll get the vegetables and fruit, dairy, meats, and such (in most stores.) The center aisles are all the processed food and empty calories.

His other very wise saying was "If man made it, don't eat it." I can't argue with that.

Dave

I think 'healthy eating' will vary depending on the person. For some, it may just mean avoiding sugar and processed foods. For me, it means avoiding grains, starches and fruits...all things that send my blood sugar skyrocketing.

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I seriously doubt that this rule was intended as an absolute. Most food advertised on tv is fast-food or packaged. In fact, I think all of these rules are general guidelines to healthy eating. Again, it's just common-sense. I'm sure that this doctor wouldn't advise against eating cucumbers because they're sometimes advertised on TV. We don't have to be pedantic about this. It's about observing the "spirit of the law."

Most aren't wanting to be so rigid. No one can tell anyone else what works for them. By the time people get the band they've had a lifetime of others telling them what is best. Many lose just fine without another person's rules. I always thought there were 5 rules anyway. LOL

Most aren't wanting to be so rigid. No one can tell anyone else what works for them. By the time people get the band they've had a lifetime of others telling them what is best. Many lose just fine without another person's rules. I always thought there were 5 rules anyway. LOL

You quoted me, so I'm guessing that this was in reply to what I said. What I can't figure out is if you're disagreeing with something particular in my post and, if so, what that may be.

As for myself, I'm not rigid with my own eating regime. I hardly have a regime. I pretty much just try to stay under 1100-1200 calories, avoid junk food with the exception to a few treats, and I eat more Protein and less refined carbs. If I want rice or bread, I'll have a few bites. If I want chocolate, I'll have something small and work it into the day's calories. Every week or so, I have a cheat day in which I loosen up on the "diet" even further. This works for me and I hardly feel deprived. I can probably eat in this same way for life without feeling as if I'm on a life-long diet (although when I'm on maintenance, I'll probably be eating somewhat more). Some people have to go cold turkey and that may work for them. Some people cut out major carbs completely and they lose weight fast. What I've been saying is that these rules are generally what most people do anyhow when they lose weight, give or take a rule.

I'm not rigid with my diet, and yet I don't feel the need to proclaim my free will whenever a layman or doctor dares to post dietary advice, unless the advice was targeted at me specifically and it was unsolicited. Just ignore whichever rules or all rules that they suggest if they don't work for you. We understand that you're an adult and that no one can tell you what to do. As far as the poster who countered that this suggestion was wrong because healthy food was sometimes advertised on tv, again, we can make use of our highly evolved brains and understand that the rule wasn't intended to restrict those foods. Surely, we can understand nuance. As most foods advertised on tv are highly processed and unhealthy, either packaged junk or fast-food, this is a good guideline. I follow it generally and I suspect that most dieters do to an even greater degree. If someone were to advise that people intending to lose weight should avoid fast-food, I wouldn't have to say: "This rule's crap! I know there's a fast-food restaurant that has a low-calorie salad!" I understand the basic underlying idea, which is a good one, and I can adapt it to include this low-cal salad.

There may be one or two rules that don't apply to a particular individual; there may be a difference in the degree an individual abides by these rules, but in general the process of losing weight requires a similar kind of behaviour. There are different diets, but the basic underlying idea is usually the same. Unless taken as absolutes, there's nothing controversial or extreme about these rules. As I said, they serve as good guides. The doctor didn't even say "never do this;" they said "avoid." They're along the lines of what most nutritionists would prescribe and what many people do to lose weight or to eat healthily. There may be multiple specific methods of losing weight, but it's not entirely a subjective matter. And some methods are objectively bad ways to go about achieving a healthy diet.

Amen to that Birinak, Amen to that

If you keep eating McDonalds, slushies, ice cream, lattes, chips and processed crap--all of which are don't's on these 4 rules--you probably won't lose much weight.

If we could follow these "rules" we wouldn't have needed the band in the first place!

Suzanne Sommers once said something like this: "If I can't pick it, pluck it, milk it or catch it I don't eat it" In other words, whole foods!!!

I always liked how Jack Lalanne said it. He ate "whole" foods, and lived to be a gazillion years old. He said when you go in the grocery store, shop the perimeter only and don't go up and down the center aisles. That way you'll get the vegetables and fruit, dairy, meats, and such (in most stores.) The center aisles are all the processed food and empty calories.

His other very wise saying was "If man made it, don't eat it." I can't argue with that.

Dave

Hello Bandsters -

Four rules of healthy eating:

1. Avoid white flour and white sugar products.

2. Avoid any processed food.

3. Avoid any food advertised on TV

4. Avoid Fast Food chains.

Respectfully submitted,

Dr Kelly M. Fitzpatrick

1. What's so wrong with white flour and white sugar? lol. The only different between a whole grain/wheat flour is the Fiber content in most cases. If anything the macronutrient profile differs very slightly.

2. Mm processed food.

3. But I like Chick fil A.

4. See #3.

In the end, I think these "rules" are helpful to people who aren't the most aware of what they're eating. We all got the band for portion purposes (or so I think most people did) and in my case/lifestyle/diet, I can eat white flour, sugar, processed food, and fast food..in moderation. I think that rule goes for anyone; fat, obese, skinny, underweight, or the average sized person. Moderation moderation moderation.

There's no one size fits all diet, thank god. I wish I'd have known that when I was first banded. While cutting out carbs helped me lose most of my weight, I now know that carbs didn't make me fat; I made me fat, my lifestyle made me fat. If I knew I could lose weight and eat ice cream, Cookies, fast food, etc. etc then I think my journey would have been even easier. Oh well.

Good "rules" but I don't think they need to be long term rules at all.

If you keep eating McDonalds, slushies, ice cream, lattes, chips and processed crap--all of which are don't's on these 4 rules--you probably won't lose much weight.

I eat ice cream daily..and Chick fil A and plenty of other "taboo" foods; there's NOTHING wrong with them, unless you of course can't keep it to a moderate portion, which is the problem with most people (myself included) today. It's called fit it into your calories and move on. While most of the food I eat is Protein, veggies, and fruit, nothing says I cannot eat ice cream at the end of the day.

Suzanne Sommers once said something like this: "If I can't pick it, pluck it, milk it or catch it I don't eat it" In other words, whole foods!!!

The queen of infomercials - infomercials selling exercise products and diet fads that fail most and milk the consumers (no pun intended).

It is common knowledge that staying away from foods up and down the isles of the grocery store is how to only buy fresh foods (produce/meats, etc.). But, even at that, you can still end up where we are or have been, if the self control lacks. And, I truly believe that self control is at the core - whether we have chemicals in our brains interfering with that, or we are procrastinators with our health, or we are addicted to foods. You can get overweight on eating too much steak, you can take your chicken home and fry it, you can eat too much butter, take the whole cream and make shakes with the fruit, and the list goes on.

The band tells me that I am full, and if I keep eating I throw up or I feel this terrible pressure that makes is so I feel like I can't breathe. It is awful, and I am new to this - ready learned the hard way, throwing up tuna (gross). I hope when I get to stage 4 that I will have a greater allowance or ability to re-introduce things that I used to enjoy, but this time in moderation.

To what the doctor said in terms of not eating what is advertised on TV - I personally think all surgeons should tell their patients not to watch TV for the first two weeks after the surgery. My gosh, all the Burger King, McDonalds, Tace Bell, and food commercials almost made me grieve and it made me want what I couldn't have. Thank goodness I could not drive a car for days after having it done.

I think doing what the surgeon and their team says is so important, and buying in to what they put in front of us. If it doesn't seam right, then get another Surgery Weight Loss Center involved for a second opinion, but I think it is a life long package we "buy" when we get the lap band. I am impressed with all the success I have read about so far on the boards, and I feel bad for those who is in a place where it does not seem to be working. How can we all help them in terms of suggestions?

Also, can someone tell me how to get this ticker thing working?