Hello everyone....been trying to get back on the lapband wagon and I need the list of the do's and don'ts of it. I know there is rules to live by and I have forgotten most of them. I have been swimming and working out in the gym....but I am not making any progress in the losing weight category...so I need the list to refresh my brain of the rules. I have been banded since 2008.

Please help me! Been searching online and I haven't found the list yet of the rules.

love and light,

dolphin

What kind of shape is your band in? Any restriction?

I ask for this reason....I was taught the "Rules" even before I had surgery....at that time they made very little practicable sense...unless I was dieting and therefore did not need surgery in the first place.

The staff assured me that one day, after my band gets adjusted, I would THEN need to know the rules by heart in order to not experience any problems...so it was best to start learning them now.

Example...

I was taught to take small bites, I think it was as small as your fingernail.....put the fork down in-between bites, and chew thoroughly...(can't remember for how long a time period), and do not drink while eating....

That was one rule...and it made little sense to me at first.....HOWEVER, once my band got properly adjusted, it became the ONLY way I can eat....and I still have to follow that rule to this day if I want to get through a meal....Small bites, take my time and chew thoroughly, put the fork down, and NEVER drink with my meals....if I do not do these things, or close to it, it will result in getting stuck...having the food come back up....and possibly experiencing pain.....

Oh, and another rule that goes with the above...come 20-30 minutes and I'm finished with my meal.....I'm taking my time eating following the first rule, but I must stop within a time frame otherwise I could take my time and eat all day...(Graze)

Third, when starting a meal, go with the protein first before moving onto the other things on your plate....this became very practicable because sometimes after I've eaten the protein, I cannot continue with anything else on my plate....It would not be wise to do it in reverse...start with the mashed potatoes and never getting to the protein.

I've read here people applying the rules 2 ways, one is to use them as if on any diet to loose weight, and the other is to use them in order to follow a new lifestyle with the band. I am the latter.

I don't have to remind myself to eat this way anymore, it is a new habit that has become part of me....eat too fast or too large a bite and the band will let me know for sure!!!

Then there are other things I must do if I want to stay healthy....8-8oz glasses of water per day, 60-70 gms of protein per day,....vitamins,....and exercise.

I've also learned what types of foods are band friendly....mostly due to texture and how well they break down when chewed....and because of this I have decided to avoid certain foods all together...

It also turns out these foods are not that good for me in the first place.

@@ThinDolphin3 I agree with what @@B-52 wrote. I think a good way to start is going back to those band basics. Every now and then when I see I am getting "sloppy" with my eating habits and often that will happen when I have needed a band adjustment for one reason or another I will go back to the beginning for a "reset" if you will.

I will start by doing a few days of a liquid only diet. I feel that this helps me to reset my mind and my body and band as well. It gives it some "rest" from any sloppy eating I might have been doing and it helps my body to detox the sugar which is my downfall. I'm a sweet eater.

After a few days of liquid diet I will move to soft foods, and again do this for a few days and practice eating in small bites, putting my fork down between bites and not drinking with food in my mouth or just after I have swallowed food.

I will then progress to solid food (knife and fork type foods) and again cut the pieces I am about to put into my mouth into small bites, and take the time to chew and savor the bite before swallowing and cutting the next bite.

This is where my sloppy eating habits come into play for me. Often I am pressed for time and I am not even mindful of what and how I am eating. This is key. You want to be mindful of the choice you make, and mindful of how you eat it.

I will sometimes derail myself by taking too large of a bite, and/or eating too quickly and causing food to stack on top of each other causing me discomfort. If I am in a "rush" (which I always seem to be) I will try to slug back a sip of Water...and woe is me because I know better and now I am good and stuck and need to find a bathroom to resolve the issue. This will happen to me when I have had Fluid removed for one reason or another...usually because of a cold or medication which will make my stomach irritated and cause that swelling to cinch the stoma even smaller then I need it to be. So they take some fluid out an I get sloppy.

Here is a great site with information on eating with the band etc.

http://drsimpson.net/fills/Lap-band-eating/lap-band-not-restriction/lap-band-and-restriction.html

Very simple. Measure a reasonable portion. Eat all the protein, all the veggies and then carbs if you still feel hungry.

The moment hunger stops, walk away!

Drinking with meals is allowed as long as you wait a full minute after swallowing food. Food does not, indeed MUST not stay above the band and so the original pre-2008 guidelines no longer apply,

One of the other posters finds it helps her to go back to liquids. We all do what works for us but That wouldn't work for me. The band is not designed to work with liquids and FOR ME going on liquids wouid be pointless masochism!

Hi there, maybe watch the Golden Rules (in link below)? And the Dr. Simpson site really helped me understand how the band works to dim the appetite. Good luck with all -- you will get there!