Hello, my name is Tina. I was banded on December 9, 2010. I am having trouble eating solid protein such as chicken and pork. I do, however have no trouble at all eating junk food. I have lost 32lbs and am very discouraged. I was just filled two weeks ago. Any advice?

I am the same way. I think it's because all of the junk food is slider foods. I can't eat chips or doritos though, they get stuck. But for some reason Cookies, cakes, and ice cream go down just fine.

I had to go back on liquids for a few days just to get rid of all the carbs and sugar in my blood. I'm on day 3 now and I feel so much better. Sometimes we just have to go back to square one!

Well I have a 10cc band with 8.5cc in it. I can eat chips and doritos. Its just the meat.

I was having the same issues. I could eat unhealthy food, but no matter how well I chewed, lean meats like chicken would not go down. I knew I was too tight, but was really scared if I had an unfill, I would gain weight. I still go to the doctor for monthly post op visits, and at my November appointment, I had only lost two pounds the previous month. After speaking with my surgeon, I realized I really needed some fluid taken out. They took out .25cc's and it helped. I think I will have them take out another .25 at my December appointment because I realized that I eat healthier if I am not so tight. Good luck to you on your journey

Junk food is always going to be easier to eat than healthy food - that is a huge part of the problem. Ice cream and candy dissolve and turn to liquid before they get to the band. Cookies do the same - this is why they are called slider foods. Also lots of junk food is reconstituted and high in fat which also helps it to slide right past the band. the thing is though that they won't keep you from being hungry. The band controls hunger when you eat good quality healthy food especially meats, chicken fish etc. If you can't eat these you are too tight and should get some fluid removed.

I am sorry to say this, but it is posts like yours and the people who replied that give lap band surgery a bad rap. What are you doing even letting any jusnk food past your lips? If the more solid meat is too hard to eat grind it up with a blender or something similar. People wake up if you do what you did you will get waht you have alwasy had. (Which is fat and not loosing weight. The most important thing is to drink a gallaon of non caloric fluid a day at least half of which is pure water. Then it is protein and green leafy vegetables. That is it until you have lost all your weight. Then other things can be added. stop playing games and blambing the bad. Do you realize how many people you discourage by posting your cheats then saying how discouraged you are? The responces that supported the posters bad food choices is so wrong. You have been given this gift of a wonderful tool. If you do not know how to work it get yourself educated. Where was your before and after care instructions? The good thing is it is not too late. Start fresh and do it 100 % right. It is not okay to eat what you are not supposed to eat. Hubby was baned 10-21-11 and has lost 40+ pounds. I am going Dec 9. I have already lost 27. Maybe I am irrated because I have not eaten in 5 days of opti fast. Yes, I am hungry but I like the weight loss. You have to be willing to work or get the band removed.

Donna, the point wasn't about how to cheat. It was about the fact that everyone struggles. Habits are hard to break. I did good for over a year and a half and then slipped. The good thing is that you can go back to square one and start the post-op diet and get back on track.

Don't be so quick to judge. You haven't been there yet.

My sentiments exactly. If you haven't walked the walk, then don't talk the talk. You are so quick to judge but until you have been there you really don't know what we are going thru. That being said. we come here for support not bad talk.

Highly processed foods go down soooo easily, don't they? It's a bandster's trap. Healthful foods don't go down, so we resort to milkshakes and Cookies to get some calories in (plus for some of us, we love them!). We don't want an unfill for fear of gaining weight due to the ability to eat more, so we stick with the slider foods.

As others have suggested, you might consider a slight unfill to allow for the more dense Protein foods. Or try to get more protein with cheese, dark meat chicken, tuna, canned chicken, Beans, and Protein shakes. Upping your protein intake can help hold off the cravings for the junk.

I have walked the walk. I have lost 30 pounds in a month. If you do not want the advise don't ask. Yes we are here to encourage each other and You are not being encouraging to others. I am not judging when you say how easy junk food goes down. Why are you eating junk food in the first placxe. I am sorry you do not want to hear the truth. I will not respond to your posts any longer.

Donna, it is really easy at the beginning of your journey when you are excited and highly motivated to swear that you will never let junk food pass your lips again. It is not quite so easy 2 or 3 or more years out. The problem with food is it is all around us, temptations are everywhere. It is not like illicit drugs that you can avoid completely - you have to face it everyday.

In reality there is no such thing as "junk food". All food has some benefit. If you were faced with the choice of starving or eating a pie, or a piece of cake or some icecream I think the choice would be not to starve.

For me and I am sure for many others the point of getting the band was to be able to have a healthy relationship with food and to eat like a normal skinny person does. I want to be able to eat without obsessing over every mouthful. I don't want to be on a "diet" for the rest of my life.That includes eating "junk" food occasionally.

Donna, you dont have a band yet. You've done amazingly, but you havent done this for two or three years at a stretch and you have no idea yet what eating with real restriction feels like. And you WILL need real restriction one day becuase like everyone here, unless you are the one in a million statistic, you will regain weight eventually because that's just how it is.

Getting the right restriction is really hard because people want the band to do it all - hey, we're only human. We dont want to be ABLE to eat the wrong foods, we dont want to feel hungry EVER and we'd all really just like to be able to abdicate the responsibility for our health and rely on the band to do it. But if you cant eat meat or healthy foods, you're too tight. You need Fluid out, but that will allow more food in, or maybe some foods that yu now cant eat and dont want to be able to. Many people find that they get too tight and start to live on slider foods and the weight loss stops or slows or gains even occur.

I'm agreement that we shouldnt eat the junk in the first place, of course, but we're all human.

Donna ,

I find your comments very discouraging and upsetting. I didn't get banded (11/16/2011) so that I wouldn't eat junk food anymore. I want to be able to enjoy life and live a more healthfull way. Everything in moderation .... You can't live on chips and Cookies nor can you live your life on chicken and pork... I think she posted this comment for advise not scorn and bitterness...It is CLEAR that she is trying the solid Proteins and having a problem so she is seeking anwsers as to why. In the mean time what is she supposed to do me misreable and eat nothing? Get a grip lady I gaurentee you will come across a bump at some point I hope that there are supportive people to help you and not someone bitter telling you what a failure you are because you have a question. Maybe your pencils don't have erasers cause you apparently never make mistakes

Well, girls, I have been banded for 3 years and the excitement of losing 90 pounds is not as strong as in the beginning. This is a life change and I am so thankful for the band since I am not on any meds and am down to a 8-10. I did however gain 5-7 pds from last christmas that I have struggled to get back off. It comes and goes but I feel like a million dollars. I have never had a fill, which is highly unusual and do have restriction. Sometimes I cannot even get down my chicken salad at lunch if I get too stressed at work. I love POPCORN and have been having too much which usually has a lot of sodium and I again go up and down on the scale. I never tell myself I cannot have a piece of pie or cookie because I will become obsessed with it and never get it out of my system. This is my new life and I go in spurts of good eating and not so good eating. This is me and as long as I keep the weight off, that is all that matters. Life is good to me with this accomplishment and I am forever grateful but I do have a weak spot for "goodies" every now and then and I DO indulge. Good luck on your journey and remember this is life not another DIET!!!

Nearly 4 years banded, I feel exactly as Sparkplug does! Congrats on the 90 pounds!

I don't mind people giving all types of opinions including the "I know this isn't what you want to hear, but..." ones. All opinions have value. I will just say that I disagree with Donna's post in only one respect - that the original poster's post will discourage other would-be bandsters. Even before I was banded and reading all the posts obsessively to gather all possible knowledge before the surgery - I could easily tell in 99% of the posts where people were complaining that they were not losing weight while banded that the person was not losing weight because they were eating the wrong foods and/or just plain too many calories. In other words, those posts were not discouraging - but more of a warning of what not to do when I got banded. The posts that truly scared me were the ones from people through no fault of their own had major medical issues after being banded - either the band or doctor was defective or some other unrelated health issue caused banding problems. BEST OF LUCK TO ALL OF US ON OUR JOURNEYS!!!!