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I am being banded on September 12th (Cant Wait!!!) So excited!!!

What are your top bandster rules to have success??

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Logging my food into "My Fitness Pal"

Have the right foods available!

Don't drink with meals

Walk

Drink Water

Don't give in what you head tells you you want. Listen to when you are physically hungry

Protein!!

Good luck to you, you will do great. I am still learning

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Great list and Protein is UBER important. Get those Protein Shakes in for Breakfast and lunch and a well balanced meal at dinnertime. Exercise is very important, the weight is not coming off without effort. Good luck on your band and here's to a speedy recovery. I'm 13 days post-op and I feel I'm just about back to normal!

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eat lean Protein first

try not to eat over a cup of food at a time

drink alot of Water (crystal light for me)

exercise

a positive attitude is a must

(dont weigh every day)

and realize that you will eat to live and not live to eat

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Awesome list! (I love the "don't weigh every day" rule...I'm putting that on MY list!)

My list is basically everything here already mentioned here:

Listen to your doc AND your body

Read the forum

Eat properly and exercise when cleared to do so

I have notes on my mirrors (I look at them and tell myself daily that I AM BEAUTIFUL, I CAN DO THIS, I WILL WEAR THAT < BY (DATE), I LOVE MYSELF AND THE WAY I LOOK, I WANT TO BE HEALTHY, etc.)

Clothes hanging on my closet door so I see them morning and night (smaller sizes than I can wear)

I use MFP to log my intake and exercise

Also remember that immediately after surgery is YOUR time to rest and let your body do what it needs to do naturally. You should do just fine. Remember you are doing this for YOU and nobody else!

Congrats on your journey and good luck!

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Also chew, chew, chew your food a lot. I was told put a piece of food the size of a pencil eraser in your mouth and chew it 25 - 30 times before swallowing. Very hard. Your food will go down a lot easier. And also put your fork down in between bites. No more shoveling food down your mouth. I am 2 years out and I am still struggling with it. Good luck.

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Band rules

1.no more than 1 cup of food

2. Protein FIRST then veggie then carb if there is room.

3.no drinking with meals.

4. Small bites chew chew chew

5. 30 min or less to eat.what ever is left after 30 min.stays on the plate

Good luck !

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Jean Mcmillan's fantastic book,"Bandwagon", lists 15 band eating skills. After she lists them, Jean goes into details for each one .

It is a great book, my go-to book for 2 AM band terror questions.... hehehe!

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Just got Jean's book three days ago and am thrilled to have such a well written book about the band realities! Wish I had it pre-surgery. I am over two years post surgery and still learned a lot from it!

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im 9 months banded, lost 55 lbs so far with about 30 to go. I followed my drs rules 95% of the time (which my dr said was fine as nobodys perfect, and he's very happy with my weight loss so far). Protein 1st, choose foods wisely, small bites and chew well.no drinking at meals. have healthy foods ready to go and prepared so you have some thing healthy around when you do get hungry. find some healthy substitutes for snack attacks and cravings. If you are eating too much or not loseing, come in for a fill !!! dont be shy !!!. find and exercise you like and can stick with !(for me, swimming and walking ) most importantly, listen to your band !!!! good luck !!

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Thank you everyone for your imput...Very helpful information...

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In addition to what everyone else has said...be sure to still have fun and enjoy your life...don't the band rule everything you do.

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It was also stressed to me to try to east most of my Protein, not drink it.

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      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
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      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

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        I still cook for family feasts, I love cooking. I still do holidays but I have changed from the All inclusive drinking and eating everything everyday kind to Self catering accommodation. This gives me the choice of cooking or eating out as I choose. I rarely drink anymore as I usually travel alone now and I feel I need to keep aware of my surroundings.

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        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

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      Officially here for a long time, not just a good time💪
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