March Bandsters!

[Sunshyne068 97]

Judy I just emailed you!

[judych 225]

Judy I just emailed you!

thanks... i got it. appreciate the effort you went to. will read through the recipes later on and write them out.... thanks...

[Sunshyne068 97]

Oki doke, if you're looking for other specifics just let me know. I have tons of cookbooks and even one dedicated to nothing but slow cooker recipes

[waitingpatiently 250]

your dr is more strict than mine was... but as it happens , i needed a full week of liquids. next time i will be doing just that. by the way... did you go on your cruise yet? how did you manage it all? im taking our youngest grand daughter on a cruise for 11 nights on the 6th nov. i will hopefully be in the green zone well and truly... i am interested to know how those of you who have been cruising got on?? did you get an unfill before hand?

The cruise was great!!! I did gain about 4 pounds but it was more about the choices that were available than quantity..like real pork bacon, where I would usually have turkey....or real scammbled eggs instead of just egg whites. Or since we were off the ship the whole day for excursions, we were at the mercy of what ever they had arranged for lunch....which was usually high fat/high carb.----so those things over the course of the week added up. When we ate in the restruarant at night it was much easier. I had more control to pick better foods and the portion sizes were perfect. I did endulge in a couple of Desserts (hadn't had that in months). But most nights I was full and had no problem passing.By my calculations, I was still under 1400 calories a day. (but I do start to gain at around 1200 calories)--but I thought with all the extra walking I would have been good.I would have actually thought I would have maintained weight while gone....so I was surprised to see a gain when I got back.But I kicked it up a knotch for the week after and was able to be back to pre-cruise weight in 10 days.

If I did it again. I think I would replace Breakfast with a Protein shake instead......I think that was where the couple of extra pounds came from.

[yvonne74 73]

test.. haven't been able to post so just seeing if its working yet..

[judych 225]

The cruise was great!!! I did gain about 4 pounds but it was more about the choices that were available than quantity..like real pork bacon, where I would usually have turkey....or real scammbled eggs instead of just egg whites. Or since we were off the ship the whole day for excursions, we were at the mercy of what ever they had arranged for lunch....which was usually high fat/high carb.----so those things over the course of the week added up. When we ate in the restruarant at night it was much easier. I had more control to pick better foods and the portion sizes were perfect. I did endulge in a couple of Desserts (hadn't had that in months). But most nights I was full and had no problem passing.By my calculations, I was still under 1400 calories a day. (but I do start to gain at around 1200 calories)--but I thought with all the extra walking I would have been good.I would have actually thought I would have maintained weight while gone....so I was surprised to see a gain when I got back.But I kicked it up a knotch for the week after and was able to be back to pre-cruise weight in 10 days.

If I did it again. I think I would replace Breakfast with a Protein Shake instead......I think that was where the couple of extra pounds came from.

you did well to maintain your weight as well as you did. did i say that im taking my youngest grand daughter out on an 11 day cruise into the south pacific?? sorry, if ive shared already, ignore this post. lol.

Im thinking now what will i do before we go. we fly out to join the ship on the 6th nov.

Did you do any swimming? i intend to. hopefully by early now i will be looking a lot better in my swimsuit. lol. ive had one fill. ive got another coming up june 20th.. i will have that, and keep goign with the fills if necessary. ive read here that some people have a little taken out of their band before they go on cruises. i will wait and see how i am before i make a decision. i will talk with the dr about it all.

Again.. you did so well while on board and all that wonderful food around. i hope i do as well as you did.

[Karla0306 16]

Feeling very frustrated on my weight loss so far! I was banded on 3/20 and have lost about 8 pounds since surgery (no pre-surgery diet required). I have had 2 fills so far totaling 3.2 cc. I don't really have restriction at this point. The fills have helped to curb by appetite. I don't get a "starving" feeling anymore, but I can still eat as much as I did before surgery.

the key to success is not to eat what you were before, you need to get away from the fried foods, the bread, rice and pastas and since you didn't have a pre op diet it will be harder for you but you can do it. Did you have to do dietary consults prior to lap band, if not you may want to check into a few. They really are beneficial.

[Karla0306 16]

Ok I know everyone is different as well as our docs but I was banded 3/5/12 and only have 3cc's in my band. I am hungry about every 2-3 hours and my doc says only 0.5cc from here on.....seems like every one else is at 5-6cc's that was banded around the same time. Weight is starting to stand still and I am hungry all the time which causes me to make bad food choics.....HELP.....

I have 5.5 cc in my band and seems like the scale is standing still. I have only lost 3-4 lbs in the past month and that is with starting to work out 3 days a week after my surgeon gave me the ok to start working out. This has been the worst month ever. I was banded on 03/06/12

[Karla0306 16]

My doctor is VERY CONSERVATIVE!!! Has been this whole process!! I'm 2.5 months out and only have 2cc.

He didn't want to give me anything because I was going on a cruise...I finally talked him into 1 cc and when I did the drink test, of course everything went down as normal and then I talked him into 1cc more...so I got 2cc out of him...but it was hard fought. I go back this thursday (31st)for another one....not sure what I need though....I seemed to be doing ok in the weight loss department its slow, but steady. Everything is just so perfect right now...I don't want to mess with anything.

oh btw----How strict is my doctor? he actually wants a FULL week of liquids after a fill, followed by a Full week of mushies before returning to regular food.

Wow, while my doctor required the 2 week pre op diet and all, she is not that strict. I have to be on liquids the day I have a fill and then can slowly increase to solids depending on how I feel

[Karla0306 16]

My Dr is not strict about what I eat after fills. I am instructed to do liquids for 24 hrs and mushies for 24 hrs. If your dr says liquids a week and mushies a week that will certainly speed up the weight loss. I wish my dr would"scare me straight " like that. As my fills get tighter, it won 't be as easy to return to normal eating. Slow but steady weight loss is OK with me. I have a goal to no longer be obese by christmas. That's about 25 lbs more. I hope that is realistic. I encourage you all to set a time/target interim goal that is realistic for you. keep you eye on the prize. Melvan

I have a goal to at least have lost 60lbs by the time August gets here and nursing school starts again. I have 13 more lbs to reach that goal.

[lewilli 0]

the key to success is not to eat what you were before, you need to get away from the fried foods, the bread, rice and pastas and since you didn't have a pre op diet it will be harder for you but you can do it. Did you have to do dietary consults prior to lap band, if not you may want to check into a few. They really are beneficial.

I did not have a dietary consult prior to surgery. I went to a mandatory meeting about a week after surgery where a Bariatric RN discussed food choices. She mentioned very few Protein options that did not involve meat/fish. I have always been primarily a carb eater so switching to protein as my main source of food for a meal continues to be a challenge.

[lewilli 0]

What do "typical" meals look like for everyone? I'm really struggling with what to eat. My doctor does not want me to consume any liquid calories (excluding soup), so this means no Protein shakes! I have always been a big carb eater...how have you other carb eaters changed your eating habits?

[MelVan 10]

Lewilli, I live in FL it's hot and I live alone, I almost never cook. I have cottage cheese with chopped veggies,Greek yogurt with fresh or frozen fruit, low fat cheese, ricotta cheese, tuna salad, chicken salad, blended veggie, fruit, nut, drinks. I sometimes put soy, milk, or yogurt or Protein Powder in the blender drinks. I recently have been eating spinach salads with finely chopped veggies with feta cheese. When I do cook (rarely) I use a crock pot with chicken and veggies or pork roast with veggies. I put this outside on our screened in covered porch so I don't heat up the house. This crock pot feast will last me for many days and I just reheat in microwave in small bowl servings. I sometimes poach a couple eggs in microwave with spinach, cheese or other veggies. I made a huge meatloaf with much filler including blended onion, bell pepper, garlic, herbs, and oatmeal mixed with diet lean burger. This lasted many meals and I reheated in microwave. I made chili with lots of Beans, onions tomatoes and bell pepper. I made ff refried bean dip with ff sour cream chopped tomatoes guacamole and low fat cheese. I don't like eating mostly Protein so I mix veggies and fruit with about everything. I try to avoid cooking anything except about one big pot of food once a week. I hope this helped. There are lots of good band recipes online. MelVan

[Sunshyne068 97]

lewilli dont fret. I was banded 3/9/12. I lost 3 lbs on the pre-op diet, and Ive lost almost 10 lbs since surgery .... so its moving very SLOW for me.

I drink low calorie Protein Shakes (less than 1150-160 calories per seving) and they are very low sugar - Atkins, Oh Yeah, Premium Nutrition, etc

I try to skip breakfast, or have less than 250 cals for breakfast. Im also trying to eat a salad at least once a day with low calorie dressing (light ceasar, french, etc) and just lettuce and carrots

I eat tuna, chicken, pork, SOMETIMES ground beef for my Protein outside of my shakes, but I LOVE Turkey. Turkey sausage, turkey kielbasa, turkey bacon, turkey burgers .... its great and lower cal than pork or beef

I do Skinny Cow desserts and whatnot. sugar free Jello/Pudding, etc

And I workout at least 3x a week.

I just got back from vacation and I gained 4 lbs .... I kept eating oatmeal cream pies LOL but Im trying to get back on track. I noticed that If I do a day of just liquids the scale moves down.

[Alerker 10]

I hear alot of people here saying that they are skipping breaksfast my Dr tells me never to do that and that you should eat withing a 1/2 hr of waking if your weight lose is slow and you're not eating breakfast maybe try and add a Protein in the morning and aee how you do

This is an article I found

Some people skip breakfast in an effort to lose weight, but the practice is more likely to cause weight gain than weight loss. Skipping breakfast is strongly linked to the development of obesity. Studies show that overweight and obese children, adolescents, and adults are less likely to break the fast each morning than their thinner counterparts.

According to research, skipping meals, especially breakfast, can actually make weight control more difficult. Breakfast skippers tend to eat more food than usual at the next meal or nibble on high-calorie Snacks to stave off hunger. Several studies suggest that people tend to accumulate more body fat when they eat fewer, larger meals than when they eat the same number of calories in smaller, more frequent meals. To teens, especially teenage girls, skipping breakfast may seem like a perfectly logical way to cut down on calories and lose weight. It's important for moms to educate their kids about the importance of the morning meal and the role it plays in maintaining good health and preventing obesity.