How is weight loss for people over 50? Can we still expect to lose 1 to 2 pounds per week with the band?

Hello Everyone -

Yep - I am going to the fill doc this week as a matter of fact. My week in the mountains with the family went great, but I am binge eating at night. I am not able to dump the extra calories through activity and there is some cravings I am experiencing. I think any time I get into the head hunger I need to be on the computer talking not sneaking food, which is such old behavior. It makes me sick. What is great is that we can talk about it here, and no one starts lecturing about the "should nots". Thank you for being here.

The question is why do we sneak?? We can't sneak to ourselves... We act like if no one sees us eating it doesn't count.. Most of my friends say "You don't eat that much" it's cuz i like to eat in the priviacy of my own homes... I am not a public eater too much. You would never find me walking down the mall with an ice cream or cookie - or you wouldn't find my buying See's candy. But come over at night while i am in front of the t.v. and you will find me eating...

Confession of a food addict - Janet

Sally Jo,

I am 64 and I am getting banded on Aug.1st. Please tell me what you have done to be so successful. I need lots of encouragement. Thanks

Reading your posts makes me so thankful that I got the band. I feel like a failure sometimes because I haven't lost in the past couple of months, but I know that I would be binging and gaining weight if I didn't have the band! In a funny sort of way, you're inspiring me with your true confessions. I've done some confessing of my own, early on, but I'd forgotten how I felt back then. Thanks for sharing, ya'll!

P.S. Please don't give up on the pre-surgery diet. It is really important that you get your liver down in size. You'll do it! I know you will. If you're that hungry, I'll bet you could have something solid in the way of protein - no carbs - that would make you feel more full. I am like you, I don't like all the sweet stuff they say you can have. I finally did a little better with plain yogurt and believe it or not, cottage cheese. Hang in there... it is so worth it!

Thanks BJean

I had salmon & salad for dinner - so I think i was ok... but i did have a piece of string cheese about 1 a.m. - So over all I am not doing bad, its just hard and i don't like hard - I guess that's why i am FAT...

The reason I love this place is that you can do true confessions and have the others reading them UNDERSTAND... Not everyone (skinny people) understand our issues... A week from today as of right now I will be in the operating room or most likely recovery - I think I am scheduled for 6:15 a.m.

Thanks again for everyones advice and support - without you all - I don't know where I would be. Love to you all !!!!

I AM STARVING...... so I am having small salad like last night and a piece of baked salmon. I am suppose to be defatting my liver on this diet plan of the doctors and it's just too hard.. I have to have Clear liquids only on thrusday for colon test on friday and then Sunday & Monday clear liquids for surgery Tue 7/17, I don't know how i am going to do this..

If i could eat like this on my own - I wouldn't need the bad... Everyone talks like a 6-8 oz Protein shake is suppose to fill you up - B.S. and i don't like sweets all the time and all these shakes - crystal lights - Protein Bars are sweet - I like savory food.... I have had two cigs tonite cuz i am so hungry..

How have you (everyone) dealt with this.... I can't say on the computer all night just to distract me from eating - I have to sleep and i am like a baby (need a full tummy) to sleep. :help:

I didn't have a pre-op diet but did one for 3 days. I made my own chicken broth and had as much of it as I wanted. Then I cut diced the chicken and separated it into 4 oz portions and put it in the freeze and made chicken salad out of it later on when I could eat solid food again.

my recipe is as follows:

1 whole chicken

leeks carrots

onions parsley

celery garlic

Ms Dash salt

Water

I cooked mine in a pressure cooker for 20 min or you can simmer it untill chicken falls off the bone. Let it cool and skim off the fat, strained the veggies.

I made enough of it so that post op I had it ready. Put it in 2 cup containers. Some of it I left the veggies in. It's so much better than store bought. Now I use it to season my veggies or when I just want something hot and light. I freeze everything. It's handy when you want it.

Jennifer

Thanks for the reciept I will make it tonite. I talked to the doctors office today and told them that I was just way to hunger and if I could have fish. They said yes !!!! and if I wanted I could have soup (creamy low fat etc ) - I have to watch my portions and carbs/fat - So that GREAT.. I can do this if I have a piece of fish/chicken and a little salad.

I think the broth will get me through the clear liquid days...

Thanks - Janet

Ms Jen,

I'm back on solid food now but your recipe for chicken broth sounds yummy - I think I will make some. I like the idea of flavoring veggies with it. Thanks for sharing!

Good luck to you IndioGirl. This process has never been "easy" for me but well worth everything we go through to get to the end result.

Thanks LadyHR..

you have done great 17 lbs in 2 weeks:clap2:

This is my favorite thread - I am on the Lucky#7 Thread too as I will be banded this month, There are alot of younger people there and I feel better with people of my age bracked and who have already experienced

and what i can expect - Our mature bodies are alot diff than those in 20s 30's Thanks Ladies...

I was supposed to go on a modified pre-op diet and give up smoking for 2 weeks before my op. :help: Well, instead I went on the Blonde Ambition Food Court Tour - I figured that I would never be able to eat again and I was in mourning - and I smoked up until the day before. :paranoid In fact I washed my hair the morning of the op so that it wouldn't stink of tell-tale smoke. I was very, very bad. This is my true confession, sez Green.

Anyhow, it is 10 months later and I am pretty much down to target weight but my face looks older. It is official. My husband told me. My cute little fat cheeks are gone. Ho hum. :straight

I admit, I had 2 really reckless weeks 3 weeks ago. Anything that was bad for me,,I ate. chocolate, pizza, fried green tomatoes,,lol,,and portions that were too big. Still havent found that 'sweet spot' yet, altho I've had 2 fills. Back on track for over a week now and feeling so much better, physically and mentally. Went back on my antidepression meds that I was taking prior to surgery and that has helped. Going to Water aerobics 3 times a week. Trying to not sit in front of the tv or on the ciomputer as they all lead me to snack. Regardless of what I read here and everywhere else,,no matter what I was told, I honestly thought the band would cure my obesity and I would never have to worry about overeating again. I'm an intelligent woman, but it's funny how my mind wanted the easy way out of a life-long problem. I still have the head hunger, problems with portion size and food choices. SOme days, I wish I had done the gastric bypass instead of the banding. Those are the bad days,,and theyre few and far between. I'm also going to counseling once a month(thats all i can afford) to work on some of my issues. Went to a presupport group counseling session that the psychologist offers at no charge (if you have no insurance)and then to the support meeting. There were about 25 people there and I was the only one with teh band. One gal was there as part of her presurgical thing and she was having teh band. Got alot of encouragement from the group, altho, I wish more band people had shown up. Not nearly as many bandsters in my area. Thats why I'm glad I have this site to visit. Thanks ya'll!!!!!

banded 1/29/07

Dr Ken Cleveland-CMMC-Jackson, MS

1.6cc/4cc

Indio: Great! You called your doc and learned that you don't have to starve to death to get ready for the surgery! If you aren't eating a bunch of simple carbs, you'll be fine. You're doing great, by the way!!!

Deb: I think I almost could have written your post. I didn't think it would be this hard either. Even though I knew everyone said that it is a "tool" and that it isn't like gastric bypass, I had watched Sharon Osborn and figured it had to be pretty easy.

From what I'm learning, I think many of us hit a period of time where we go through what you and I are experiencing. Evidently we'll get past it and get on with the good healthy life we want and deserve! I'm banking on it~!~~!

Green: you're a bad girl, indeed. That's why I like you!!!! A rebel, with a cause. I've always been way too conservative and self-conscious to know my own mind. What a friggin' waste of time! You actually weren't all that huge when you started, so your liver wasn't probably blown up as big as some of ours were. I think the reason you are having some tale tell signs of your weight loss lately is because those last 20 (or more?) lbs. came off so fast. Ya think?

Thanks, BJean, for your always kind, thoughtful, and intelligent words. It could well be that that sudden rapid weight loss towards the end played havoc with my skin.

My skin had always been one of my best points, that and my thick bushy hair. I am fairly distressed, to tell you the truth, to see my skin in this stringy, tissue-y condition. My skin has always been plush and had even retained a trace of dewiness. The irony is that I have always avoided the sun thanks to my red-head skin type and I have always eaten well (lots of fresh vegetables and high quality protein, no soda ever, and loads of water) only far, far too much of everything! Portion control and a passion for carbs, high quality carbs but carbs all the same, was what brought me down. This is why the band works so well for me.

But you are probably right. The illness which caused my sudden rapid final weight loss was likely what ruined my skin for up until that point I was slowly and steadily losing weight and suffering no grief over my skin tone. It really is a good thing that I am going in for the plastic overhaul this September, I guess. Well, it goes to show that life is always interesting and quite the adventure.

IRegardless of what I read here and everywhere else,,no matter what I was told, I honestly thought the band would cure my obesity and I would never have to worry about overeating again. I'm an intelligent woman, but it's funny how my mind wanted the easy way out of a life-long problem. I still have the head hunger, problems with portion size and food choices. SOme days, I wish I had done the gastric bypass instead of the banding. Those are the bad days,,and theyre few and far between.

banded 1/29/07

Dr Ken Cleveland-CMMC-Jackson, MS

1.6cc/4cc

Hi Deb

You got banded on my B-day.... This right here is what i am concerned with... I am doing this cuz i am sick of being fat and i just can't quit eating... I Know this is a tool... But am told it will help the being hungry (but read that it doesn't always and what am i going to do about the head hunger). I see here on this site that there are some of us who do real well and others who don't - This is what i am scared of - not the surgery part but this part - knowing that it's not the cure all to my being fat -but in the back of my mind hoping it is.. Heck I can't even do the pre-op diet - i gotta modify it... and tomorrow clear liquids only for 24 hrs & colon cleanse OMG... I don't know how i am going to do it.. (this is for colonoscopy) and then 7/15 & 7/16 clear fluids again - and on the 16th colon cleanse AGAIN.... heck if i am going to do the colon cleanse why can't i eat... I really think they need to put me in a semi coma like they do a drug addicts so they don't have to go through withdrawls...

Why cant they have mercy on us fat chick - )

I am still smoking at night only - I have 2 in the a.m. and then don't smoke all day and have 4 or 5 at night... I did quit for the 10 days but heck this not eating, not smoking. i just can't do both...

Green, I have a few little sags & bags, but not to bad - I am afraid of what I am going to look like after i loose the weight. I guess i will have to start saving for the face lift.

I notice that my face looks saggy too, especially around my neck. I really haven't even lost all that much weight. I have lost 40 lbs and I would like to lose 25 more but at the rate I am going, it's going to take another year. I lost

22 on the liquid stage the first 4 weeks, and it has taken me 5 months to lose

20 more.

Well Green I am quite envious that you are getting a little nip and tuck. Like I said, I wish I could see a before and after. I'm looking to you for inspiration. You inspire me in so many other ways, why not that one?

Indio: You're being too hard on yourself. We all have had similar difficulties. Remember we're all overweight people too. You're probably not very different from the rest of us in why and how you have learned to love eating.

I am not sure that very many bandsters go completely without hard times now and again. I've been reading and watching and it seems like almost everyone posts about hitting plateaus and low spots. But that doesn't mean that we aren't successful overall. Is health an issue for you?

Most of us have been able to reduce the number of meds we've been taking. Some of us have been able to avoid becoming diabetic or have been able to take fewer diabetic meds. That has to be enhancing the quality of our lives and probably the longevity. Those are darned important factors to consider. They are inspiration for us to continue to use the band and work toward our goals.

When I started out, I got so disheartened when I read that someone had a slipped or corroded band that it almost scared me out of proceeding with the surgery. Then I realized that those people were actually very few in numbers compared to the number of people who are so happy with the band that they wish they had done it sooner. I am one of those, by the way. So you may want to back away from the scary stories and stick with reading posts of the people who are just now on the road to getting surgery and they'll be much easier for you to relate to.

You'll do fine. Believe me I have had a number of "cleansing" procedures and what I've learned is that when I actually get clean and then fast for a while, I'm no longer starving and craving food. It sounds weird, but it is true for me and others who I have talked to. You may be able to get through the rest of the pre-surgery journey much easier than right now. And if you are still smoking, you might want to share that with your doctor. They need to know exactly what they're dealing with in the OR.

Best wishes for a perfect, successful, wonderful journey to bandland!