OK...

Here's a thread that everyone should jump in and help with.

BACKGROUND - Twice in the last two days I've talked in person with people who said they read this forum but never post! They'd both read my posts here. Today it was a newbie who had surgery about a month ago, and she said how helpful she has found LBT to be since her banding.

So I encouraged her to post something - and I reminded her that if nobody ever posted, and we all read - there'd be nothing to read. We all have things to share.

So why don't we start a simple post that lists the lesson we've learned about LapBanding that are NOT in the brochure, or that aren't mentioned at any seminar.

We can do it this way - post whatever QUICK TIPS or Realizations you've had, that you wish others would have mentioned. List them with a little bullet point, so they are easy to read.

I'll start off... in a fresh message. Please join me.

Come on in, the water's nice and warm....LOL :biggrin1:

• I always tell newbies - I wish I hadn't 'rationed' out the fills/adjustments to myself when I started banding. No, we shouldn't lean on fills to get us over, but this is a tool and it needs to be properly used to work well. I used to make the mistake of saying "I'll lose 5 more pounds on my own, then I'll get a fill." BIG MISTAKE! I ended up getting frustrated and postponing a much-needed appointment where I could discuss my progress (or my plateau) with my doctor.
  
• I listen to my body now: And when I'm eating a bit more than I had been, when I'm getting hungrier sooner, or when I'm able to eat way more carb-filled junk even after my protein, then it's FILL TIME. There are no Merit Badges for leaving your band underfilled when you know you don't have enough restriction. Use your band wisely and you will find that steady slow loss really happens, but only when you're well restricted. I finally know that now. :confused:

Share what I've learned....

Having the band around your stomach doesn't automaticlly change the way your brain thinks about food.

The band is a tool and not the cure.

Losing weight is NOT a race.... everyone is different.

Slow IS good

42 years of habits won't go away over night.

The band is a wonderful tool.

The band makes me feel human again and that I can go out and enjoy dinner w/out cleaning off the table :confused: :confused: :confused:

(1) Research the band, but don't spend 3 years researching it like I did. I'd be at goal now if I had just gone on and pulled the trigger.

(2) The WL journey is very rewarding. Even if you have 200+ lbs to lose, it's not very long until you start having NSVs and start feeling a whole lot better about yourself. I thought, at 358, that I'd have to get to 199 before I felt better. That's just not true. Every step of the journey teaches me something.

• A big sign that I'm not well restricted:

... is when I can drink after eating, without noticing. OOPS! :phanvan

Big warning sign - normally I drink before my meal and although I occasionally have a sip or two after eating, I just can't 'chug-a-lug' or gulp a drink after a good protein-based meal. If I can regularly drink more than a few sips, right after a meal, it's FILL TIME!

Ok; maybe a stupid question...but how does the band 'un fill' on it's own?

Ok; maybe a stupid question...but how does the band 'un fill' on it's own?

Sherilynn,

It doesn't unfill on its own unless there's a problem, i.e. a leak. (For accuracy I should tell you that it can lose a very little bit on its own without being a problem because the membrane is semi-permeable, but it really doesn't lose much on its own without there being at least a slow leak).

That said, periodic fills are still required because as you lose weight, the circumference of your stomach often shrinks (organs hold fat). So, to stay at the same level of restriction, you often need a fill from time to time as you shed weight. Also, the longer you're banded, the better you become at knowing what a bandster can and cannot tolerate. Some people need to be tighter later in the journey to get to goal because they get very efficient with their eating. That's the beauty of the lap-band. It's adjustible to our needs.

I've been making Soups from the Bariatric Cookbook and freezing them for when I go back to work and come home too tired to think about preparing meals.

I've learned that advance preparation helps enormously.

I've also learned that TV food commercials are not good for me.

I love this thread.......keep it coming. Im learning so much!

I've only been at this a few months, but I have learned...

Head hunger is much worse than stomach hunger.

I know now where my real supports are. (True friends are a blessing.)

You have to exercise to feel good physically-- even if that exercise level is small to start out with.

Most Desserts don't taste as good as they look, and certainly don't feel as good once they are past your band!

Slow and steady wins the race.

It takes awhile but the band did change my thinking ultimately. Once you start to succeed food seems to become less and less important. However once banded any little problem I have I think it's band related, and am scared that something will happen that will make me lose the band.

One thing I wish I knew....why there are some days when I have restriction and other days I have none.

One thing I would change, in the beginning I over ate and I stretched my pouch a bit...

• As you lose, do buy one or two items of clothing to fit your newer smaller size.

No, I'm not saying to spend major $$$$ on clothing you won't be able to wear long (been there, done that, bought the T-shirt. And now the T-shirt is too big! ) but do grab a few nicely-fitting clothing items on sale, or on the bargain racks.

When you wear your newer smaller sizes, you get a huge psychological boost. And you get many more compliments when people can see your weight loss :car: .(Even a few pounds makes a difference in how you look in your clothes, honestly! ) Plus on a day when I'm wearing a new smaller size, I feel better, and I just don't want to 'ruin' it by eating crap. But if I put on some old baggy sweats, it just doesn't have the same effect. When I still wore my older baggier clothes, I didn't "feel" like I'd lost weight, even though I know I had.

So when you lose some weight, buy an item or two in a smaller size.

• Eating sugar causes a craving for more sugar. I've learned it is easier to stay away from it than to fight hunger a short time later.
  
• All the diets I've been on in my life have given me a bit more wisdom about how to eat and how to best help my band take this weight off.
  
• The best thing I've learned is that it is working. That time between scheduling my banding and having it done was a time of second-guessing my decision. What would make me think this would work after everything else hadn't? Maybe I should give dieting one last try. Now, I realize that this band IS changing my life in a way that I have dreamed of my entire life. I had given up truly believing that I would ever win this battle.
  
• Enjoy the ride rather than living each day dreaming of when you hit your goal.

Its an individual journey. For instance I would say the band doesnt have to be tight to work and that tight is not good. But I'm aware that that's just my personal experience. My band has worked perfectly well while being loose enough for me to eat bread etc. Ditto what you eat is a personal thing - there is no rule that is right for everyone. Protein first is great if its the way you like to eat but the band works just as well when you dont eat that way.

Its a fine line between enjoying nice new smaller clothes and getting TOO confident. Hehehe, I feel so fantastic at 84kg but I do have that muffin top happening still and I tend to forget that.

Your body will be marked by having been overweight. How much excess skin you have is individual but nearly all of us will have it to some degree or another.

Exercise is the key. I reckon its more important than what you eat. But the amount of exercise it really takes to shift substantial fat is HUGE and its more intense than people think. Build up to running an hour a day or similar AND getting plenty of nice long walks AND being much more active just in general and you'll get fantastic results.

Diets dont work. I'm not ever going on one ever again. I just eat what I feel like when I feel like it and I dont overeat. This is sane, sensible and sustainable.

I learned that Im able not to eat all thats on a plate (and not because Im full but because I order myself or I just dont like the food)...used to eat everything almost licked the plate (even if it wasnt very tasty, terrible I know):-))

head hunger is so difficult to manage, but Im learning to overcome it step by step...cravings are terrible as well and sometimes Im just not able to resist it

as someone said the dessert or any other yummy food doest taste as good as my kilos down:-))

* I've learnt that to survive modern eating lifestyles I have to (i) prepare, prepare, prepare; (ii) overcome shyness and ask the cafe (or whatever) to prepare me something 'off menu'; (iii) invent a socially acceptable excuse or allergy for not eating with people; (iv) persuade my friends to eat at different places.

* I've learn't that my brain is my own worst enemy. For the past month I've been trying to eat healthily but with my old eating attitudes. Sausage, bacon and egg might be good sources of Protein but they are high calorie foods.

* I've learn't it is easy to slip 'off program' without even realising it. Sucess requires constant viligance -- which I'm hoping will eventually create new unconcious behaviours. For me this means daily monitoring my calories and exercise levels.

* I've learn't the band means business. I can either live in pain by eating inappropriately, or I can work with the band and let it teach me a whole new way of living slim.