My surgery is scheduled for next Thursday 3-28-13...I'm on the shakes and bars with one meal a day diet. A couple times I replaced a shake with chicken or a potato I've never gone over my 1120 calories a day I'm just wondering if that will affect anything..?

In prep just say no to carbs! No more potatoes!!!!!

The reality is that when you "cheat" on following your surgeon's pre op instructions, only you are affected.

It is a cause for concern though. If you are not motivated to follow instructions from your surgeon, how do you realistically anticipate being able to remain diet compliant through the post op instructions?

Try not to be one of the newly banded participants on the forum who posts about eating pizza 3 days post op, and asks if anyone believes that you might have hurt your band. I'm not kidding...we see these posts often.

When it comes to your well being with your band, I encourage you to follow the instructions you were given. If you don't follow them, it is your surgeon/medical team you should ask if you may have harmed yourself or your band.

We are not physicians. Most of the forum participants have had to endure the weeks of pre and post op diets...and they are some of the most difficult days to get through. I was on full liquids for an entire 4 weeks. We understand how difficult this can be...but you owe it to yourself to approach your banded life prepared for success.

Follow your instructions!

Best wishes for a successful journey...

The reality is that when you "cheat" on following your surgeon's pre op instructions, only you are affected.

It is a cause for concern though. If you are not motivated to follow instructions from your surgeon, how do you realistically anticipate being able to remain diet compliant through the post op instructions?

Try not to be one of the newly banded participants on the forum who posts about eating pizza 3 days post op, and asks if anyone believes that you might have hurt your band. I'm not kidding...we see these posts often.

When it comes to your well being with your band, I encourage you to follow the instructions you were given. If you don't follow them, it is your surgeon/medical team you should ask if you may have harmed yourself or your band.

We are not physicians. Most of the forum participants have had to endure the weeks of pre and post op diets...and they are some of the most difficult days to get through. I was on full liquids for an entire 4 weeks. We understand how difficult this can be...but you owe it to yourself to approach your banded life prepared for success.

Follow your instructions!

Best wishes for a successful journey...

I understand your point, but for those of us in our pre-op phase we cheat a little as that is what we have done all our lives, i know that when i can only swallow a few tbsp of food and get sick will the cheating subside, you come across harsh and you dont know this person, i have been beaten up all my life over my weight and we come here for support not bashing. Give them a break, we are all only human.

The reality is that when you "cheat" on following your surgeon's pre op instructions, only you are affected.

It is a cause for concern though. If you are not motivated to follow instructions from your surgeon, how do you realistically anticipate being able to remain diet compliant through the post op instructions?

Try not to be one of the newly banded participants on the forum who posts about eating pizza 3 days post op, and asks if anyone believes that you might have hurt your band. I'm not kidding...we see these posts often.

When it comes to your well being with your band, I encourage you to follow the instructions you were given. If you don't follow them, it is your surgeon/medical team you should ask if you may have harmed yourself or your band.

We are not physicians. Most of the forum participants have had to endure the weeks of pre and post op diets...and they are some of the most difficult days to get through. I was on full liquids for an entire 4 weeks. We understand how difficult this can be...but you owe it to yourself to approach your banded life prepared for success.

Follow your instructions!

Best wishes for a successful journey...

what you said sojo is 100% dead on

i dont feel as if you were bashing.

you are only suggesting the right thing to do..

follow and do what your doctor said to do...

its not easy and it shouldnt be seen as a easy fix to lose weight......i use many times a simple red light for example... if you come to a red light at a busy intersection, are you going to run the light or are you going to stop? you make the decision.....if you want to have this surgery, then follow the instructions as they were given to you in order to be successful.

i cheated all my life on (diets)

and now i realize i was only cheating myself. ..the band gave me a (help) and i told myself if i was able to have this surgery, i would do whatever i had to do to make it work...i developed want power.....want power to where i want it bad enough to do it....

and like some, i have been the brunt of fat jokes, stares etc....but the one who was hardest on me and my weight was myself.....i took responsibility for it..and sojo was trying to advise this poster to do that.

Cheating, if any occurs and your liver doesn't shrink to the surgeon's standards he will gladly postpone your surgery. The liver is in the surgeon's way when the band is being placed. If a diet of rich fats is being used as a "cheat" aid, the liver will tell it all. Why take any chances and stay on the doctor's ordered diet. When in doubt, call the doctor's office and speak to a staff person or dietitian.

Best wishes on upcoming surgery.

I understand your point, but for those of us in our pre-op phase we cheat a little as that is what we have done all our lives, i know that when i can only swallow a few tbsp of food and get sick will the cheating subside, you come across harsh and you dont know this person, i have been beaten up all my life over my weight and we come here for support not bashing. Give them a break, we are all only human.

I am sorry you felt she was harsh. I don't believe she meant it that way and was just speaking truthfully without sugar coating. I am concerned by your perception that when you can only swallow a few tbsp of food the cheating will subside. The band will not keep you from cheating. Some of the most unhealthy foods are the easiest to get down, even with a tight band... chips, Cookies, icecream go down like a charm and are considered "slider" foods. Changing our relationship with food and the idea that cheating is harmless is extremely important. None of us are perfect but we would be remissed to say "it's ok" because the reality is you are potentially hurting yourself. The band will not do all the work. It will help you stay satiated for longer periods but will not prevent you from "cheating".

My reply is not meant as harsh either, just trying to be realistic and also to let other newbies understand the reality as well.

Best wishes to you on your upcoming surgeries.

I understand your point, but for those of us in our pre-op phase we cheat a little as that is what we have done all our lives, i know that when i can only swallow a few tbsp of food and get sick will the cheating subside, you come across harsh and you dont know this person, i have been beaten up all my life over my weight and we come here for support not bashing. Give them a break, we are all only human.

I have been banded for a little over 6 wks and can swallow the same amount of food as before...I have to make the choice each meal not to. I have no "restriction" and have never had a stuck episode. From my understanding getting stuck can be very harmful to the band and is not something you should use as a training tool.

We are not trying to be harsh or unkind. It may come across like that because people need to realize the seriousness of their actions. As stated above you are only cheating yourself and possible even putting yourself in "danger" and at risk of another surgery.

Hopefully you will look past what you consider to be harsh and use it as a tool to gain knowledge. Good luck with your journey

Astott, Like Honk said, stay away from carbs if you can and potatoes are one of the bad carbs. Maybe something with more Fiber and lower on the glycemic scale. You'll be fine but i don't understand the one meal a day comment? Maybe you need to speak to your doc or nutritionist as I don't think you're understanding their instructions?

Lori Jo, you're new here. Many of us do not sugar coat our responses. Hope you stick around after surgery so you can also offer advice from personal experience. It won't do anyone any good to just pat them on the head and say do better next time? This is the last time for most of us so we better get it right.

tmf

I will stay around and i want and need your advice, i do want to ask all of you a simple question, i have read some pretty scary things, dawn...you are telling me you can eat the same amount of food you could before surgery or just that you dont have trouble swallowing, i guess maybe i am in outer space here as i thought that with your lap band you couldnt eat things like pizza and ice cream without getting ill or chances of choking, foods backing up into your esophagus, etc....if i can eat pizza 3 days post surgery then why am i having it all together, i know these are individual results but i really thought this was a game changer, not a daily challenge to eat right, i guess i didnt get the same memo as you all did, i am off to a good start losing but i need some encouragement or maybe the doctor didnt want me to see this site until after i got my surgery, he has some explaining to do....thanks ladies and gents!

what you said sojo is 100% dead on

i dont feel as if you were bashing.

you are only suggesting the right thing to do..

follow and do what your doctor said to do...

its not easy and it shouldnt be seen as a easy fix to lose weight......i use many times a simple red light for example... if you come to a red light at a busy intersection, are you going to run the light or are you going to stop? you make the decision.....if you want to have this surgery, then follow the instructions as they were given to you in order to be successful.

i cheated all my life on (diets)

and now i realize i was only cheating myself. ..the band gave me a (help) and i told myself if i was able to have this surgery, i would do whatever i had to do to make it work...i developed want power.....want power to where i want it bad enough to do it....

and like some, i have been the brunt of fat jokes, stares etc....but the one who was hardest on me and my weight was myself.....i took responsibility for it..and sojo was trying to advise this poster to do that.

no fills?? great...hope i can follow in your footsteps! congrats!

no fills?? great...hope i can follow in your footsteps! congrats!

you will.....and you will follow your own path.....i know you can do it...

now YOU believe you can...i got all the faith in ya.

Lori, looks like you have some of the same misconceptions many of us had before surgery(I know I did). Some of us can eat anything we want. Just not the same volume we once ate or the same way we ate before surgery. And I know of no doctor who would encourage a patient to eat pizza 3 days post op and no one here would either.

Here is a series of videos that Alex(the forum monitor)posted recently. A must watch for anyone considering the band or recently banded. I would recommend you set aside an hour to view each one before you have surgery.

http://www.lapbandtalk.com/topic/166857-the-eight-golden-rules-lap-band-videos-by-dr-paul-obrien/page__hl__alex#entry1962873

I will stay around and i want and need your advice, i do want to ask all of you a simple question, i have read some pretty scary things, dawn...you are telling me you can eat the same amount of food you could before surgery or just that you dont have trouble swallowing, i guess maybe i am in outer space here as i thought that with your lap band you couldnt eat things like pizza and ice cream without getting ill or chances of choking, foods backing up into your esophagus, etc....if i can eat pizza 3 days post surgery then why am i having it all together, i know these are individual results but i really thought this was a game changer, not a daily challenge to eat right, i guess i didnt get the same memo as you all did, i am off to a good start losing but i need some encouragement or maybe the doctor didn't want me to see this site until after i got my surgery, he has some explaining to do....thanks ladies and gents!

If I wanted to I could eat the same amount as before. The bands job is not to keep you from eating, but to keep you feeling fuller longer and make you fill fuller faster. The band is placed around the part of the stomach where the nerves are that tell your brain you are full and are therefore activated more often.

I was one a 10-day pre-op diet and am SOOOO thankful for it. It shrank my stomach and has helped me tremendously since surgery. It thought me what real hunger is and I have no issues distinguishing between real hunger and head hunger.

You will also find that eating slower truly does help. When I realized I wasn't really experiencing any "restricting" or having any stuck episodes I slipped back into the habit of eating faster, not good, and would therefore eat more. Still not even close to what I was prior to surgery, but still more than I should have been. I went to the doctor Tuesday for my first fill and the doctor decided not to give me one because I was loosing weight at a good rate. I was a little upset because I was slowly able to eat more. After I left I took a step back and really started to evaluate what I had been doing. Since then I have gone back to the basics; eating slower, smaller bites, and min between bites. It has helped tremendously!! I am satisfied with less and not over eating anymore. It almost fills as if I got my fill.

Listen to your doctors, you will be so glad you did.

There was an article posted on here somewhere and if I can find it I will post the link. It talked about restriction and how most people misunderstand what "restriction" with lap-band really means. It totally changed my idea about how lanp-band works and I honestly think reading it may have made the difference between me being successful and not being successful. A must read for everyone considering in my opinion!!

Here it is! Must Read!!

http://drsimpson.net/fills/Lap-band-eating/lap-band-not-restriction/lap-band-and-restriction.html