male only For Just Us Guys

[Gaffer 1]

Guys, I am really nervous about the band, does it really work, and what about Pasta can you ever eat it again. and also what about a sandwich??

Like the others have said the band will work for you if you work with it. It has worked well for me, and I would not give it up for many things.

I have had some Pasta after my banding, but when I am really tight pasta is a no go. I have had spaghetti, tortilinni, ravioli, fetachini and some giant pasta shells. You may want to look at switching to a whole wheat pasta if you must eat pasta. Really, pasta is not the best food choice, but it is nice as the ocasional treat. You want it to be cooked well, not el denta. Only you will be able to tell after but make sure you are good and healed before you progress to some of the more potentially problematic foods.

As for the sandwiches, they are a no go for me. I was never really big into sanwiches anyway. The bread is another food that does not work well for me. Also I have to be careful with sandwich meats, but something like tuna/ham/egg salad would be fine.

I guess I will put it to you this way, what are you willing to give up to lose the weight and change your life for the better? Trust me, the trade offs are worth it.

Andrew

[gmccon 0]

Like the others have said the band will work for you if you work with it. It has worked well for me, and I would not give it up for many things.

I have had some Pasta after my banding, but when I am really tight Pasta is a no go. I have had spaghetti, tortilinni, ravioli, fetachini and some giant pasta shells. You may want to look at switching to a whole wheat pasta if you must eat pasta. Really, pasta is not the best food choice, but it is nice as the ocasional treat. You want it to be cooked well, not el denta. Only you will be able to tell after but make sure you are good and healed before you progress to some of the more potentially problematic foods.

As for the sandwiches, they are a no go for me. I was never really big into sanwiches anyway. The bread is another food that does not work well for me. Also I have to be careful with sandwich meats, but something like tuna/ham/egg salad would be fine.

I guess I will put it to you this way, what are you willing to give up to lose the weight and change your life for the better? Trust me, the trade offs are worth it.

Andrew

andrew,

a lot of useful information in your post here for a new bander. thanks very much. greg

[Manatee 3]

Well, the weight is just kinda staying at the same point for the last month, but my size is changing.

Today I bought new pants -- 38 inch waist! I started this in April wearing 48s. Wahooooooooo

[IneedMajorHelp 1]

thats where I am this last 2-3 weeks - no real weight loss but inches

[dairydawg 0]

Hi all! i was banded 9/14/07. So far this has been an expernice. I just cant decide if i have done the right thing. My problem is I want to EAT, but I have to be on liquid for 2 more weeks. The only good thing I can say is I have lost 46 pounds from pre-op to now. I do want to be healthy but I love to eat.

[Brewa2000 1]

Dairydawg-Congrats on being banded and your great loss!

You are going through a time when hunger kicks in. I tried to stay real busy to avoid eating and was motivated by the great weight loss I was having doing the liquids. It's important to stay away from solid foods at this point. The band is still "getting seated" and tender.

Good luck!

Bruce

[Chris61 0]

Things are going as well as can be so far since surgery. I went in on Wednesday about 11:00 A.M. and did all the pre-op paper work and blood work. I was taken to the surgery holding area about 12:15 and had more reviews and I kept a real postivie attitude. One of the questions was why are you doing this and I said that Iam doing this to make my life better for myself and the family. At about 1:30 P.M. I was taken into surgery and slide over on the table and they gave me some drugs and the next thing I know I was in recovery. About 2:30 P.M. About an hour later I was taken up to my room and then I was allowed to get up and take care of business. Then I was able to walk around. I know everybody is differant in how they handle pain etc. but I must admitthe only pain that I had an nothing work was the gas pains. That hurt most of the night but I ddi keep up walking etc. On Thursday went for the barrium swallow and got to see the band work and was able to start on liquids by 10 A.M. and was home by 4:00 P.M. on Thursday. I went to see the doctor on Friday because my incision (I have 6) the one by the belly button/now port was very red. He put me on some liquid antibotics. While there he said that it only took him 41 minutes to get the band on me. He said that there was a little fat but not much. The week before my wife had the band done. Since we were not sure if she had a cold or allergies we both did the lquid diet. The biggest mistake for me was going off of it and then restarting back again since Iam allways feeling hungery even though iam eating enough. Just something I will have to get used to over the next few weeks.Thanks again to everyone for all there help and advice.

[gmccon 0]

that's a great report chris. glad everything is going well. down 18 plus pounds already must feel very good. like me, you may have some surgical swelling still, but at your new weight you probably already brought your belt in a notch, eh?

i've only lost 13 lbs, but one more moves me down to 'obese' from 'morbid'. its hard to believe i'm feeling good about that. my surgery was 17 days ago.

what's odd is how varying this procedure is from doctor to doctor. mine has done 3,500 WLS, including 600 bands, and does not require a pre-op diet. also, i think i only have 5 surgical scars. and he didn't do the barrium swallow.

there are still those days when i feel like i've had surgery, recently (tired and dragging), but at 60, its probably to be expected. my near term goal is to feel stronger in the gym. earlier this year, i was benching sets of 200 lbs. today, 8 reps of 150 lbs was a struggle. another lesson in patience.

regarding hunger, day 17 is my worst. i was so starved, i ate soft food today but chewed real well, and didn't have a problem. but i was absolutely miserable.

Continued good health and success.

God Bless us All,

greg

[Brewa2000 1]

Chris- Gas was my only problem too. It was complicated by Constipation. After a couple days, things were pretty good. It's good to follow your doc's orders on eating at your stage...

Greg-I hear ya on the moving from "Morbid" to "Obese". Just the word "Morbid" scares the heck out of me. I never felt like I was "Morbidly Obese" but at a BMI of 43, I definitely was. I'm now at 30 BMI, and that puts me between "Obese" and "Overweight". My goal (like yours) is to be in the "Normal" range.

Has your doc OK'd the weightlifting? Mine said a month before lifting anything heavy. I did fudge a bit as I needed to get ready for lifting at work as busy season approached. It took patience, but I didn't want to mess it up. You will get stronger as time pass.

Bruce

[Lochnagar 0]

Well, I am now within 4lbs of a 100lb loss! I can't seem to be able to update my ticker, so ignore that. I reached 219lbs this weekend.

On Saturday, I got up at 2am, drove up to Dallas (I live in a northern suburb of Houston) and ran in the "Tour Des Fleurs" 20k race. My time was slow - 2hrs, 50 mins, but I did not stop or walk once - I ran/jogged the whole way (about 12.8 mile).

I then jumped back in the truck and made it back home for my son's football game at 2:30.

I took Sunday off, but ran about 8 miles this morning.

I have a 10k this weekend and then the Huntsville 1/2 marathon October 13th.

I was planning on running the San Antonio marathon November 11th, but my son has a Cub Scout camping trip that day, which I cannot miss.

Cheers!

[nkcaump 0]

On Saturday, I got up at 2am, drove up to Dallas (I live in a northern suburb of Houston) and ran in the "Tour Des Fleurs" 20k race. My time was slow - 2hrs, 50 mins, but I did not stop or walk once - I ran/jogged the whole way (about 12.8 mile).

Cheers!

Lochnagar,

Wow. Great job. It sounds like you have about the same goal weight as me. So, you were up over 300 lb's then right? How did you introduce the jogging into your life? I would like to make running/jogging a <something>K as a token of this achievement, but, obvously, any jogging at 330+ right now is short lived and extremely stressful on the old heart.

But... I'm getting banded FRIDAY and might want to make this a goal of mine. Were you a runner before you put on weight (I was NEVER) - did you have any problems with your knees or back when you were heavy (I do and will need to get that improved to try something like this...)

Thanks for the info and GREAT JOB!!

--Chris

[paulk 0]

Hi chiris I live north of you near St joe Good luck friday .I was banded in shawnee mission in may . I am down about 45 right now but I've been having some head issues, I am back on track now. Good Luck keep us informed how you did has soon has you feel like it. Paul

[Lochnagar 0]

Lochnagar,

Wow. Great job. It sounds like you have about the same goal weight as me. So, you were up over 300 lb's then right? How did you introduce the jogging into your life? I would like to make running/jogging a <something>K as a token of this achievement, but, obvously, any jogging at 330+ right now is short lived and extremely stressful on the old heart.

But... I'm getting banded FRIDAY and might want to make this a goal of mine. Were you a runner before you put on weight (I was NEVER) - did you have any problems with your knees or back when you were heavy (I do and will need to get that improved to try something like this...)

Thanks for the info and GREAT JOB!!

--Chris

Chris,

At my heaviest I was 315lbs. I played rugby at a fairly high level when I was younger (up to my early 20s), but I never was a long distance runner.

I tried to follow the "couch potato to 5k" program, but found my progress to fast for the plan. I started this around 255lbs. No problems with knees, joints, etc - just bruising and losing my toenails.

I was running a 5k race every other weekend, but I am now scouring the area for 10k+ races.

Good luck with the banding - let us know how it goes.

[lsvadala 0]

I see that people talk about slime or sliming what the hell is that?

[lsvadala 0]

Hey guys I have another stupid question. What about sex, do you have to wait a while to let the band heal? is there pain at the port area? etc..... HAs your sex lifes improved?