So I know I am going to hear all types of bad things about this post, however I thought I would start this so people understood what it is to cheat on your band. I haven't posted here much as i haven't had many problem with my band. Plus it is taking a lot of adjustments to get me to the right level. I have lost 40 lbs since March so that is good in my books.. However i am one of the "lucky" / "Unlucky" ones that can pretty much each anything or even drink anything with my band but not have a problem. THere is two problems, 1. Soft breads and 2. Dry meats, but that is it.

However during my journey I have found I have been cheating and didn't really think i was , until i look back and say yup i was. You can take this post either two ways, 1 you can take it on HOW to cheat or 2, take it and look at it like oh i am doing that and it is costing me calories.

1st thing, sodas, OHHHH i love my soda, I have a problem that i can actually drink normal leaded coke without any problems at all. However, when i thought i couldn't i found that i would order slushies or coke icee's this would get rid of all the fizz and guess what leave all the sugerrry goodness. This was bad bad bad. I still do it just not as much. yes i know it I am not loosing weight because of it, I understand.

2. Dry items i found that if i put gravey or coat it with some type of sauce. Guess what that is just calories galore, gravey's and sauces are either sugar or fat.

3. Bread, toasting it helps, but not by much, i can't get around this one at all.

4. What i have found with the band, which i don't like, i feel the band will stop the good foods but all the bad foods are what i call slip and slide. Things like KFC bang right through, candy, chocolate , cheesecakes, key lime pies etc all right through without a problem. I don't like this about the band because i use to not be a big sweet eater, now i crave them.

I have found that food should not sit on top of the band for a long time, this is a common misconception, that you have a pouch. You really don't what triggers is the feeling of full which occurs when the top of the stomach is stretched. I have found that i can even eat or drink and feel full even though the pouch is empty. It just doesn't last very long. This is because the item that stretched it only did it a little. Now if i eat a piece of filet i can eat two bites and start filling full. The key is to wait wait wait. I am still a very fast eater and i get stuck occasionally. I have started to slow down. Like i said I am not perfect at all, and people can use this post for either good or bad, that is up to you. But please post what else you find that you can cheat with, it might help people who go OHHH i didnt' think about that.

Thanks

Another thing, fruit juices, they are the enemy more calories than coke.

I am not sure of your reasoning behind this topic. Yes, we all can eat around the band, but WHY?????

Why are you doing these things? the band is just a tool and just like any other tool it can be used incorrectly.

I choice to use the band to help me with my mission. to loose weight and to maintain my weight goal. the band helped me do just that and for that I am truly grateful.

Everyone gets what they put into there weight loss journey. It sounds like you got a list of how to work around the band.....

When I was first investigating the band , i always wondered how do you cheat at the band, made no sense to me. If you completely read the post, you would under stand you can use this in multiple ways. 1 of course if you so feel how to cheat the band 2. You might be doing something that didnt' relize you were doing to cheat the band but you are doing it. I am hoping from this we can get other suggestions which people have found they were doing that they didn't think about.

For example while i was in class, a lady had a friend who was pureeing her pizza because she loved pizza, and couldn't work out how come she was loosing weight. Well guess what pureeing ANY food the band will not stop, it will go through and you will have all the calories, it will also allow you to eat more as it isn't stretching the top of the stomach as eating even two bites of pizza. Which would have still given you the taste, but you would have eaten way less.

As i said you can use it for evil or good. Information being out there is typically more advantageous then people just guessing or wondering if they are or aren't doing the right thing.

to cheat is only cheating the person cheating out of living/being healthier...we all have a choice..i choose to be healthy...tired of cheating my life for something that merely tastes good for a moment......so not worth it.....

but you said you dont like your band...it shows...

In order to be successful at ANY wls you have to be willing to change your lifestyle. Trying to figure out how to cheat around the band is not willing to change your lifestyle....

I changed my lifestyle and the band helped me reach my goal and maintain my goal. To me my band has been a complete success.

Carolinagirl, I agree, this is merely an informational post, we have all made mistakes, and there are some people who are stronger than others , and then there are some who just don't understand or relize they were cheating.

For example Soups, there are soups out there that go right through the band but full of calories.

ajtexas, and you never did something incorrect or didn't' relize you were doing it. For example some Protein shakes are very high in calories, i.e. the kellogs one. Tastes good but higher in calories, compared to others.

\

This is a learning experience for everyone and hopefully this will help people relize they are doing something wrong. I am not saying hey you have a band go cheat around it. That is wrong what was the point. This is more I didn't even think i was doing so bad.

For example the icee's at a cinema, that is one of my biggest thing, a coke a nd popcorn. I went there and found that i could stomach without a problem a icee. Which while i was ordering it , it didnt' occur to me that was most likely 1000 calories of nothing. Until after the fact.

Oh god I was feeling so bad and worried and now I can see I'm not the only one. I have a 14cc band and only had my first fill (4.4cc) a week ago.

At first I thought the fill must have not given me any restriction as I was able to eat just a day later and I have eaten big meals too. I know it sounds crazy but a few times I even forgot I had a band on. Yesterday I didn't eat or drink all day as I was so busy with the wedding (my brother got married on Monday) and as I gulped my dinner down (dry chicken n rice dish), I got an acute pain in my chest as if the food was stuck half way to my stomach. I had a feeling of needing to throw up but couldn't. That was only after eating about four or five big spoonfuls. I was in shock n panic.

I grabbed some coke and thought I'll either vomit or it will go down but at least I won't be in pain. The food went down. I wish it hadn't.

We had a family meal for lunch today n I kept reaching for the diet coke so that the food would go down n I could enjoy the meal with everyone else. Then I did the same for dinner. I am getting frightened of myself now. I paid for this surgery as I wanted to lose weight. I looked at the wedding pics and they make me hate myself even more. I have stopped weighing myself. I am scared that if I find out I have put on weight I will give up completely like I used to when dieting in the past.

I promise myself to be good from tomorrow. I have to do this for myself. I can't keep risking a band slippage or any other complications. I won't be able to forgive myself as there is no one else I could blame. I am so afraid right now as I didn't think that I wouldn't be able to control myself and behave this way. I am afraid I will do this again. I hope I won't allow myself. Could someone give some harsh warnings about what I have done to discourage me from repeating this please.

Oh god I was feeling so bad and worried and now I can see I'm not the only one. I have a 14cc band and only had my first fill (4.4cc) a week ago.

At first I thought the fill must have not given me any restriction as I was able to eat just a day later and I have eaten big meals too. I know it sounds crazy but a few times I even forgot I had a band on. Yesterday I didn't eat or drink all day as I was so busy with the wedding (my brother got married on Monday) and as I gulped my dinner down (dry chicken n rice dish), I got an acute pain in my chest as if the food was stuck half way to my stomach. I had a feeling of needing to throw up but couldn't. That was only after eating about four or five big spoonfuls. I was in shock n panic.

I grabbed some coke and thought I'll either vomit or it will go down but at least I won't be in pain. The food went down. I wish it hadn't.

We had a family meal for lunch today n I kept reaching for the diet coke so that the food would go down n I could enjoy the meal with everyone else. Then I did the same for dinner. I am getting frightened of myself now. I paid for this surgery as I wanted to lose weight. I looked at the wedding pics and they make me hate myself even more. I have stopped weighing myself. I am scared that if I find out I have put on weight I will give up completely like I used to when dieting in the past.

I promise myself to be good from tomorrow. I have to do this for myself. I can't keep risking a band slippage or any other complications. I won't be able to forgive myself as there is no one else I could blame. I am so afraid right now as I didn't think that I wouldn't be able to control myself and behave this way. I am afraid I will do this again. I hope I won't allow myself. Could someone give some harsh warnings about what I have done to discourage me from repeating this please.

dont be good tomorrow, be good to yourself today, right now

you list all the things you know not to do, drink coke, eat to fast

you can control yourself IF you want

ps: i pm'd you

koolnoor, believe it or not there are studies that say diet drinks are either worse than a sugary drink for you. Might want to look at that. I have found ice tea has become my savior. Especially from teavana.

But yes some people can stomach fizzy drinks without a problem. i Have asked my doctor about it, specifically i want to know if there is a problem with fizzy drinks if they aren't full of sugar she said if you can stomach it shouldn't have any problems at all. Your body will tell you. For example club soda with some orange flavoring is great.

ajtexas, and you never did something incorrect or didn't' relize you were doing it. For example some Protein shakes are very high in calories, i.e. the kellogs one. Tastes good but higher in calories, compared to others.

\

This is a learning experience for everyone and hopefully this will help people relize they are doing something wrong. I am not saying hey you have a band go cheat around it. That is wrong what was the point. This is more I didn't even think i was doing so bad.

For example the icee's at a cinema, that is one of my biggest thing, a coke a nd popcorn. I went there and found that i could stomach without a problem a icee. Which while i was ordering it , it didnt' occur to me that was most likely 1000 calories of nothing. Until after the fact.

We all make mistakes. But no I never intentionally ate something just ot see what would happen.

When I got the band I decided I had to change, I had to change EVERYTHING regarding my eating habits. & I did just that. I don't eat very many carbs, I eat mostly high protein & veggies. Gave up the cola, icees, popcorn, and everything else that helped me get to 250 pounds. I made a choice to change my lifestyle.

I am now healthy and happy with my weight and my band. This is what works for me.

I get part of this okay.. yes I think it's a learning experience for some and some people like to experiment to see what they can get by with.. I have made some bad choices here and there too.. I definately have not drank one soda though and am afraid to do that for fear I will damage my band.. I drink Wyler's sugar free peach tea and lots of water.. coffee in the morning..The part of the band that I like is that I cannot eat large amounts of anything..I get signals like hiccups or uncomfortable feeling when I do...CG and AJ are way more experienced than me.. but common sense is the key here.. Changing behavior is a huge part of the success of your weight loss... You have to make up your mind to do something about the bad behavior.. We all have eating disorders or we wouldn't be here.. so, nobody thinks we are better than anyone else believe me... Take Care of yourself and Only You can do that...

This is one of those posts that can head south real quick. But I'm going to put my own spin on it.

I don't cheat my band to cheat it. However, I bend rules to actually achieve nutrition. For instance, I too have issues w/ dry meats so I almost always eat certain meats with a sauce to moisten it and allow it to pass more easily. Technically, sauces are calories, sliders etc. But depriving myself of essential Proteins is my concern, not the added 15 calories of sauce.

Also, when you are at goal weight and are maintaining, you eat a crap load of things you didn't in diet mode. Just today I had a strawberry shake. Now, If I ate this because it was an easy slider, or if I am counting that as a meal xxxxxxxxxxx wrong. However, some foods I wouldn't touch prior to goal are now more permissable in small amounts and intermittently.

Noone needs to be self righteous here. We all have foods (even healthy ones) we struggle with and want to find ways to incorporate them into our diets. My only advice is to not have too long a list, introduce these foods nor methods too soon after being banded, and compensating calorie wise when you are knowingly cheating.

Life, banded or not, will always be about moderation. Stick to your rules, give yourself permission to live and enjoy life, but don't make either excuses. If it doesnt work for you (ie gaining weight) it's time to nix it.

Things I dont condone the most is overeating, eating knowing you will be pb (ie bulemia) etc. That's something you'll never hear me endorse

I don't think anyone should "experiment" with their band, i am just being honest yes i have caught myself cheating and until after the fact of doing it, i didnt even think about it. i am certain everyone here has and learnt at some point oh damn i shouldnt be pureeing that pizza (which was never me i hate pizza). That lady didnt relize what she was doing was really bad until months later when they couldnt work out why she wasnt loosing weight.

If I have learned anything at all about losing weight it's that it's OKAY to have a treat here and there, you have to live, as long as the majority of the time you are staying on plan. People are not fat because they eat soup. Or too much fruit. Or a handful of M&Ms. People are fat because the consistently make poor choices, or don't make any choices they just go through life with their mouths open wide. I was one of those people myself, I don't judge. I still smell a Dorito and throw caution to the wind....but I'm learning, and living, and the new me is wide awake and aware of my life =)