Hi, I have my lapband since 6 weeks, and i kind of eat a lot. I had one fill of 1cc 2 weeks ago, but I still eat like 3 cups of pasta without any problems and I'm still hungry. Shoud I slow down to 1/2 cup even though I will still be hungry? I lost all my weight in my pre-op diet and now I stay at the same weight! Is it because I eat too much? I try to stay at 1400-1600 calories per day. I don't know what to do now, I need to loose weight this summer before University... I take vitamins, I do workout 30 mins 6 days a week... need some advices please!

Lowest Recommended Intakes

Just because you have the ability to ingest only 1,000 calories per day doesn't necessarily mean that you should. Medline Plus notes that the lowest per-day caloric intake recommended for women is 1,200 calories. For men, the limit is 1,500 calories. If you drop below these levels, there's a good chance you're not giving your body all the nutrients and calories it needs just to get through the day.

Starvation Mode

When you don't provide your body with the calories it needs, it may go into "starvation" mode. In "Fundamentals of Sport and Exercise Nutrition," author Marie Dunford notes that very-low-calorie diets usually do more harm than good. The weight you lose is most often muscle mass, she notes --- not fat. Your body slows its metabolism to conserve calories, and, Dunford notes, it remains slow long after you end the starvation diet. Plus, these diets are very difficult to maintain; once you stop dieting, it's very likely you'll gain back whatever weight you lost.

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/296783-will-eating-1000-calories-a-day-cause-weight-loss/#ixzz1sGywFn8j

I agree with the calories. I'm just confused why you would go through the surgery ?

How did you quit emotional eating? I think I'm kind of doing that but I don't know how to stop. Mesuring everything? I'm always thinking about food....

Drink Water to curb ur emotion eating and if that doesn't work, drink some water. I am a night eater so I have this chant that I repeat to myself over and over as I'm chugging water, "nothing I do not eat tonight will I regret tomorrow". Say it out loud 10 times before u open that fridge. Think of how proud u will b of urself tomorrow and them drink some water!!!

well for me it will help with long term maintence.. one day i may get a fill.. but it will be done by Dr. Ortiz... yes i will travel back to Mexico rather than going to doctor in the us. He put my band in and knows the amount of fill i will need.. ive seen so many people have messed up fill and seem to be having more problems with their fills then they are results.. another reason im waiting to get fills is because every time you increase the number of cc in your band.. you stretch the top part of your stomach out...which i didnt know until recently. Longterm people who keep going back for fill and in three years have 6 and 7 cc in a ten cc band because they say they are never full....it can make your stomach lining thiner and thinner the more you stretch it with a fill...i really didnt understand that at first because t me it seemed if you had more fill it would mean more constriction which means less you can eat...but that isnt the case..

heres another article that explains

The first bits of food you put in, after a Lap-band has been placed, or adjusted, causes a small stretch in the stomach, and it is difficult to put in more food. As time goes on, against a tight Lap-band, the upper pouch will stretch a bit, but only to a point. Wanting that feeling of resistance again, that hard stop, it takes a bit more food, or a tighter Lap-band. This is when people generally want an adjustment, coming to the office and saying, “I can eat a whole lot more.” It is becomes difficult to dissuade them that this is not the sensation we want them to have, and they become discouraged when we tell them that this may have been the last time they feel that sensation of restriction. There are a group of patients who keep their Lap-band too tight. Wanting to “feel restricted.” The problems that can result from this misguided thought can include a dilated esophagus, a dilated pouch, and a very tight Lap-band.

After continuing to fill the stomach it will stretch to the point where that sensation of resistance requires more and more food. More food is required to feel the sensation your brain interprets as being full. Three things can happen — one is that you will force food out of the upper pouch into the lower pouch. Another is that you will vomit. But what is most dangerous is the stomach below the Lap-band is pulled to the upper pouch to accommodate the excess food. So, that small pouch gradually enlarges — not because it is being stretched, but because the increasing amounts of food placed into the stomach force the Lap-band down (slips) and pulls more stomach above the Lap-band – making the upper pouch larger. Ultimately the packing of food above the Lap-band leads to a band slip. We call it a slip — but the band doesn’t slip — the stomach is being pulled up to accommodate more and more food.

You can always — always, always, always, force more food into your pouch. Imagine a long balloon when you first blow it up. The first few breaths take a lot of effort, but as soon as the balloon starts to stretch it becomes easier and easier to blow air into it. The stomach is a lot like a balloon. The larger and thinner the balloon becomes, in this case, the larger and thinner the stomach becomes — less muscular, less resistance there is less of a sensation of “fullness.” The stomach can stretch, and part of that is good, because in stretching a bit you send the brain a very subtle signal that it is satisfied. But if it keeps stretching, and keeps stretching then you can lose the effect of being satisfied with less, because the stomach will need more to fill that upper pouch up as more stomach is brought to the upper pouch. Like the balloon, you will be able to eat more and more and against a fixed Lap-band you risk dilation of the esophagus as well as a prolapse, or slip, of the stomach above the Lap-band to the point where the band is now around stomach that is thicker and thicker (in essence the food is serving as a pile driver — pulling stomach above the band and forcing the band further down the stomach).

That is advice from an article from a lapband surgeon

so basically i dont want to get a fill right now... im not going to get one unless i feel for some reason i need one... when i get to my goal i may have one for maintence.. i havent decided.. also without a fill i dont have to worry about a slip as easliy.. and i have tourette syndrome and for some reson it is acting up pretty bad and most of my tics are body tics that are constent movment of stomach muscles. soo thats reason number two.. but the main reason is i want o go back to mexico when i have it done and i want it to be done properly to where it last and not be having to go back and get it filled all the time to where my stomach the prob;lems described in that article

Not sure I agree with that but whatever works for you I guess. I'm very confident in my doctor, his record and his information and instruction so I'll be following his direction. good luck to you.

and that is perfectly okay.. we dont have to agree...thats why we all get to make our own choices and desicions regarding our lapband.. you just asked me my reason and so i was telling you.. was in no way trying to sway you in my direction.. Good luck to you as well

Sadness--

I was banded 3/7. I had some Fluid taken out 2 weeks afterward due to being sick, and I have had one fill since. Definitely not in the "green zone" because right now I have less in my band than I did at surgery time. Also remember to take small bites, 60 seconds apart and chew until mush. One meal should take you 20-30 min to eat You asked what I eat:

Breakfast is usually eggs, maybe a little fruit. When I work, I have premade these little things I call "egg muffins". It's beaten eggs poured into a muffin tin over sausage and vegetables. They freeze well, and I can eat them slowly on the way to work. I dont have time at work to eat over 20 min, so I do it on the way.

lunch is 3-4 oz of chicken, pork, steak, or fish. And 4 oz of veggies. Like asparagus, sautéed peppers, green Beans, Brussel sprouts, etc. dinner is the same.

Snack is string cheese, or lunch meat, or strawberries and yogurt. Try to keep the snack less than 100 cal.

Avoid sugary drinks and anything that will go quickly through the band (aka sliders). Maybe you need a talk with the surgeons office to review eating habits with the band.

Get a food scale and weigh your food. You will be surprised at how your brain thinks you need more than you actually do!

I tried to control more myself today and I'm pretty happy. I ate a lot more proteins even though I still have only ate 40g. Also I ate less than the past days. I still have work to do... I ate ice cream with my friends today but I try not to feel guilty about that cause I still want to live a normal life...Today I ate 1271 calories and I felt less hungry probably because of my proteins. I'll continue on this way and I took an appointment with my doctor in 2 weeks, but I feel like it's gonna be getting better with your advice. Hopes are back and I think with a little time and practice I'll get it!

I'm so happy I read this thread I'm having the hardest time with adjusting my food intake but now I feel like I have extra tools under my belt

I spoke to my nutritionnist today and she told me 4oz is really hypothetic, some person can go up to 12 oz, but we should not go over 12oz.

12 oz. do these nutritionists have a freaking clue what they are talking about?!?!?! Ud think they'd train them about the band and eating with the band before they put then in charge of teaching us how to eat!

now dont take this as you can never have anythingb you enjoy to eat.. thats not what im saying.. i am saying moderation is key.. and for me as of now while trying to change my mindset i dont allow myself the option of junk food or sweet drinks.. but thats a personal desicion to cut those out.. i want to be as healthy as possible.. will i ever eat junk food again.. sure maybe after i get to goal one day in moderation... but as of right now.. junk food is non filling empty calories that i dont need.. same for sweet drinks. so i just avoid them.. When i fix my plate it consist of 4-5 ounces of meat the size of the palm of my hand of a green non-starchy vegitable and one starch.. such as corn' date=' potatoes, rice and so on... when i eat my plate i eat my meat first (all of it) then move to my grean vegi and then if im still hungry physically.. i will eat my starch.. most of the time i eat half of my starch and all of the meat and veggies.. i have one meal like that a day.. normally in the evenings i get a subway (i dont have a fill so bread goes down fine) i get it on whole wheat bread or 9 grain. and then i have one to 2 Snacks a day..if i have two snack one is fruit and i keep it under a hundred calories.. such as a portion of strawberries, pinapple, peaches in their own juice or a bananna (those are the only fruits i really like lol) and then my other snack is either a protien bar that is about 200 calories or a nature valley granola bar that is about 200 calories as well...so thats kind of an example of my eating in a day.. i dont eat breakfast..DONT FOLLOW THTAT EXAMPLE! I dont know why but ive never been a breakfast person.. on occasion ill eat a banana o start my metabolism because it is very impritant to eat when you wake up..but anyway...its all about control, physically and mentally[/quote']

How are you losing weight without the 'fill'? Isn't it the same as not having a band?

Original poster, for Breakfast I have a serving of Greek Yogurt (Chobani fruited) with the following add ins: 1/2 scoop vanilla whey isolate Protein powder, flavorless benefiber, Splendra, some walnuts, 1/3 cup high protein Kashi Go Lean.

about 300-350 cal. but about 30 g of protein.

As mentioned by previous posters you need to up your protein and lower the carb intake.