How is weight loss for people over 50?

[DynamoMini 1]

Denise - about the Fiber - I have had to use the Benefiber chewables, but I am eating some lettuce, strawberries, cantaloupe, applesauce, etc. Just not very much. It seems once I slow eat my Protein chewing...chewing...chewing there isn't much room for fiber. I also eat black, refried and canelli (white) Beans for fiber.

Shar - I know the first couple of days suck, but it is wonderful getting the food monkey off your back. This is a great tool to use for permanent healthy weight loss and later stability.

Best wishes all you mothers out there. Happy Mother's Day weekend be kind to yourself and know that you deserve a healthy life and we can do this!

Michelle

[Cblancha9 0]

Hi, Called the DR office today to see if they heard anything about my approval. Getting a little anxious. The nurse said that I have been approved and could probably have the surgery on June 6, 2007. She is going to call me on Monday and set up a difinite time and date and my pre-op diet instructions. I'm so excited. I will finally be able to join in and be ready for any advice you have to give me. I will difinitely need all of your support. Also glad there is a site for People over 50..

Everyone has been such an inspiration. I know it wont be easy but I will try to make it work. I'm thinking positive. I needed to hear this news as I was getting a little depressed yesterday. I started a diet last week and have lost 11 lbs in one week. 2 Protein Shakes and 1 good meal. I know I won't lose as much this week but am still trying. I don't want that all liquid diet to be too much of a shock to my system. Anyone else had a hard time with it??

[momlambert 77]

Hi, Called the DR office today to see if they heard anything about my approval. Getting a little anxious. The nurse said that I have been approved and could probably have the surgery on June 6, 2007.

CONGRATS, Cblancha! That's very exciting. And good job losing weight before the surgery--sounds like you are really committed and will be very successful. Keep up the good work! Karen

[DynamoMini 1]

CBlancha - Good job! Any weight you lose now just supports your surgery and future weight loss.

I think that a positive attitude is wonderful.

My doc seems to be the most open to postOp real food - his plan was days 1 - 3 clear, 4 -7 mushie, after that it was any soft food, then regular. By one week I was eating chicken, steak and salad. But I know lots of docs want people to be on liquids for a long time. Their weight loss is faster than mine, but I am not dying of starvation and am getting good nutrition.

That said, it is best to follow your doc's advice about the liquids, but know that there will be an element of common sense that you will use.

Best wishes,

Michelle

[crabcake 0]

The nurse said that I have been approved and could probably have the surgery on June 6, 2007.

Fantastic! Congratulations!!! You're smart to start your diet ahead of time. That's 11 pounds less you'll have to lose later on.

Keep us posted.

[Shar 0]

Day 4.....I'm feeling more like I'm among the living with each day. I have been questioning if I made the right decision to have this done. I feel full of anxiety and worry when I read the posts of people who have had complications. I have decided not to dwell on the negative and excentuate the postive.....I need to be healthier and I need all your help to do this. I am so thankful for all of you.Shar

[crabcake 0]

Day 4.....I'm feeling more like I'm among the living with each day. I have been questioning if I made the right decision to have this done. I feel full of anxiety and worry when I read the posts of people who have had complications. I have decided not to dwell on the negative and excentuate the postive.....I need to be healthier and I need all your help to do this. I am so thankful for all of you.Shar

Well, we've done it now, and short of having it undone, which for myself isn't an option, there's not much we can do about it. My suggestion - to both you and myself - is just decide to live w/ it for a month (or 2, or 4 or whatever) and see how you feel then. If you're still having concerns, you can always change your mind at that point. That way, you get the monkey off your back at least temporarily. That's what I did when I was trying to decide whether to get the band or not. I told myself to just go through the motions and when it came time for the surgery if I wanted to back out, then I could. Hope that helps.

p.s., stress won't help your healing (nag, nag...):biggrin1:

[Ms Jen 1]

Day 4.....I'm feeling more like I'm among the living with each day. I have been questioning if I made the right decision to have this done. I feel full of anxiety and worry when I read the posts of people who have had complications. I have decided not to dwell on the negative and excentuate the postive.....I need to be healthier and I need all your help to do this. I am so thankful for all of you.Shar

Perhaps you need to quit reading those post. There is always a chance of complications with any surgery. Look at how many people that haven't had any complications.

A very good friend of mine was going to have by-pass and when the Dr. started the precedure he found that she had a serious liver problem that could cause her death! He call in a specialist right then, then closed her up. She blamed everything on the by-pass but the truth is if she had never had the surgery (eventhough the dr couldn't complete it) she never would have know and would have died.

Wasn't anyone's fault and it save her life but you can't convience her otherwise.

We had same Dr. so I questioned him. Out of the thousands by-pass and bands he has done as well as in his medical practice he had never seen the disease she has and it was rare.

I think we all at one point have questioned if we have done the right thing. Go over to the "Shrinking Violets" thread. You'll ge so much support there you won't be able to keep up with the post.!!!!

[Oregondaisy 2,020]

I am glad I have my band. Even if I am not losing as fast as I would like, it helps me keep my portions small. Plus there are cetain foods that I just can't eat anymore so that's good too. Having food get stuck a few times helps me not want to eat unfriendly band foods. Us bansters can still eat ice cream and junk food, but I have pretty much eliminated anything like that from my diet.

I couldn't eat those on any diet and expect to lose weight. I am not going to get a tight fill either. I have read that most of the complications come from having the band too tight. I can control my portions with this fill and if I lose a bunch more weight, the band will get looser. I'll get another fill when that happens, but not now.

[debi717 0]

Hello to all. I haven't visited here for awhile. Busy at work and at home.

I've had my band for 3 months now. I'm losing slowly too. I've also given up candy, cake, ice cream - all the junk. It took me about 2 months to get over the daily craving for them. It's easier now.

I'm not sure how I feel about the band right now. I have a VG band and was given 4 cc's at the time of surgery. When I went for my first fill the doctor gave me 2 cc's. When I went for my second fill I was given another 2 cc's. I'm up to 8 cc's already, and here's the bad part: I was able to eat a whole tuna fish sandwich on rye toast for lunch last week. After I ate it, it thought to myself that I shouldn't have been able to do that. I started to worry about the possibility that this band may not work for me --- 8 cc's and I can eat ANYTHING without a problem?!

I'm not sure if I'm reading my signals form the band correctly. If I swallow too much at once or I eat too fast (not waiting a little bit to take a second bite I swallow my first bite), I do fell the restriction -- a tightness/discomfort in my chest and throat. HOWEVER, if I eat slowly and chew well, I can eat anything and quite a bit. I can't eat as much as I did before, but too much to lose weight. Seems 1500 calories a day is maintenance for me, so I should probably be eating 1,000 to 1,200 calories a day. I can definitely eat more than that (and without eating sweets).

So, back to I'm not sure I'm understanding how this band works. I read that people CAN'T eat more than 1/2 a sandwich. In fact, I read that people can't eat bread. I thought the band would restrict me from overeating if I ate normal food, not just soft food.

Have any of you been confused about this? Is this normal? I don't want to be overfilled, but I'm not sure if I have enough of a fill (8'cc's already ???) or if I'm not understanding how to use the band.

Any help or words of encouragement would be so much appreciated.

Thanks... Debbie

[DynamoMini 1]

debi717 - Hi, we are close to the same age and having the same difficulty. I was banded only a month ago, but haven't lost weight since I went back to real food. I am eating around 900 - 1200 cal, getting enough Protein and using some Benefiber to keep things moving. I am seeing the nutritionist to ask about this. Probably some of the problem is weighing every day. I will put the scale up. i do have an official weigh in day on Monday on an official scale, because in the past I have held on to the wall, tilted right or left, just not been real with it. So I will let you know what she says, and if there is any way I can rev up my weight loss that would be great.

[crabcake 0]

debi717 - Hi, we are close to the same age and having the same difficulty. I was banded only a month ago, but haven't lost weight since I went back to real food. I am eating around 900 - 1200 cal, getting enough Protein and using some Benefiber to keep things moving. I am seeing the nutritionist to ask about this. Probably some of the problem is weighing every day. I will put the scale up. i do have an official weigh in day on Monday on an official scale, because in the past I have held on to the wall, tilted right or left, just not been real with it. So I will let you know what she says, and if there is any way I can rev up my weight loss that would be great.

I see you have a fill coming up soon. Do you feel restricted at all now? If it's any consolation, my doc told me that once you hit your 'sweet spot' - which could take 3-4 adjustments - is when you really lose the weight. I mean that as encouragement, hope it doesn't make you feel discouraged!

[debi717 0]

Thanks, Dynamo & Crabcake for responding. Do either or both of you have the VG band? I've read that the VG band is more tolerant of different types of food than the 4cc band, but I'm hoping it offers the same amount of restriction. I'm happy I can eat so many different foods, but I can eat too much of them. I have a friend with a 4 cc band and she isn't able to eat more than the minimum requirement of food.

I tried something different for dinner tonight. My husband took me out to dinner for Mother's Day. We went out for Italian food (my favorite). I usually order the eggplant parmigian because it's easy to eat and I can usually eat all of it (I skip the pasta). Tonight I ordered the chicken marsala and and a side of broccoli. It took longer to eat and I felt full faster. I brought half of it home for tomorrow's lunch. Maybe I have to try to eat foods that take more work to eat.

I do feel some restriction (discomfort in my chest) if I don't chew my food well or if I eat too quickly, so I guess foods like eggplant go down alot easier even if you don't chew them as well. I also get hiccups when I've had enough.

I don't want to get too tight, but I'm trying to figure this band out. I'm thinking I have to exercise a lot more SELF control, but the band is suppose to make that easier by helping me fill up faster. I just have to figure out what foods work best with the band, or like you said Crabcake, get a little more of a fill. I just don't want to get too crazy with the fills. It seems that's when people start having problems.

Thanks for the understanding and encouragement.

Debbie

[crabcake 0]

Thanks, Dynamo & Crabcake for responding. Do either or both of you have the VG band? I've read that the VG band is more tolerant of different types of food than the 4cc band, but I'm hoping it offers the same amount of restriction.

Honestly, I don't know what kind of band I have or what size. I go to have my stitches taken out this Wednesday and hopefully, I'll remember to ask then.

I just don't want to get too crazy with the fills. It seems that's when people start having problems.

You're right, I've heard of some people actually getting over filled. Like you said, you need to get to know your band and how best to work with it. But don't get discouraged either (you'll probably be telling me this soon!) if you don't see a speedy weight loss.

[battleweary 0]

Hi Everyone,

I haven't been here for a while. I was banded in January by Dr Kuri and have only lost 14 lbs. I am 55 years old and will be going for my third fill next week. The doctor I found in Sioux Falls to do my aftercare and fills

believes in only very small fills once per month until the sweet spot is found. I was very discouraged for a while, but now I am happy that I have stopped the upward spiral of weight gain and even if it takes several years at least the scale is going in the right direction. I was banded at 216 lbs and am now at 202. I want to get into the 100's so badly!!!