Here is info will come in handy when thinking about fills/adjustments. Great information. I have seen this information before and it is really good.

How to Tell When You Are Perfectly Adjusted

You are losing 1-2 pounds per week.

If you are not losing 1-2 pounds per week:

A. You may need an eating adjustment

1. Are you eating 60 grams of Protein a day

2. Are you eating 25 grams of Fiber

3. Are you avoiding all liquid calories

a. Soup can be sign of “soft calorie syndrome”

b. Alcohol contains a lot of calories – 7 calories per gram

(1) It’s also a stomach irritant

c. fruit juice is just sugar Water

4. Are you making healthy food choices from a wide variety of

foods?

a. Are you avoiding soft foods

b. You can’t just eat what’s easy

c. cheese is glorified fat

5. Are you drinking 6-8 glasses of water a day between meals

6. Are you eating too much junk

a. chips, chocolate, nuts, ice cream, Cookies and other highly

processed junk foods are too calorically dense to be regular parts of a

healthy diet. But don’t avoid them completely to the point where you

feel deprived.

b. Stay out of fast food places

7. Are you getting in two servings of Calcium daily

8. Do you always eat the protein first

9. Then the vegetables or fruits

a. Five servings a day

b. Potatoes are NOT a vegetable

10. Is your portion size appropriate?

a. meat or fish

(1) 3 ounces – the size of a deck of cards

b. Vegetables

(1) ½ cup – the size of your fist

c. Starch

(1) If you eat the protein and the vegetables first you don’t need

much

(2) Avoid: rice, potatoes, Pasta

11. You might try avoiding artificial sweeteners

a. Some people think that artificial sweeteners stimulate the

appetite

b. They are HUNDREDS of times sweeter than sugar

c. They teach you to like things too sweet

d. There is no evidence that people who use them are any thinner

than people who don’t

12. Avoid most diet foods

a. Real food usually tastes better

b. Real food is more satisfying than low calorie substitutes

c. When you are only eating a tiny bit the caloric savings is not

that great

(1) Use a teaspoon of real butter instead of a tablespoon of diet

margarine

(2) The body has no way to break down artificial fats

a. They may go into permanent storage

b. Some people think liposuction is the only way to remove

hydrolyzed fats from the body

B. You may need a behavior adjustment

1. Are you eating only when you are hungry?

a. If you’re not sure drink 8 ounces of water and wait.

2. Are you eating three meals a day?

a. With maybe 1 or 2 small Snacks

3. Are you sitting down to eat?

4. Are you eating consciously?

a. No distractions, turn off the TV, put the book or newspaper

away, pay attention to your food and your companions

5. Are you eating slowly?

a. Put the fork down between bites

b. Take 20 to 30 minutes to finish a meal

c. Taking longer might cause the pouch to begin emptying

6. Are you taking small bites?

a. Tiny spoon, chopsticks, cocktail fork

7. Are you chewing well?

8. Are you drinking with your meals or too soon after your meals?

a. Practice water loading between meals

b. You won’t be thirsty if you are well hydrated before the meal

9. Are you stopping at the first sign of fullness?

a. Sometimes it’s a whisper: not hungry, had enough

b. Hard stop versus soft stop

10. Do not eat between meals. Stop grazing.

11. Do not eat when you are not hungry

C. You may need an activity adjustment

1. Are you getting in 30 minutes of physical activity at least 3

times a week?

a. Over and above what you would do in the usual course of your day

b. Could you make it 4 or 5 times a week?

c. Could you make it 45 or 60 minutes?

2. Are you taking advantage of opportunities to increase your

physical activity?

a. Taking the stairs instead of the elevators or escalators

b. Walking on the escalators instead of riding

c. Parking your car further away from the entrance

d. Getting out of the car instead of using the drive through

e. Getting off the bus one stop before your destination

f. Washing you car by hand instead of the car wash

g. Playing with your kids

D. You may need an attitude adjustment

1. Are you committed to your weight loss journey?

2. Are you totally honest with yourself about how much you are

eating and exercising?

a. Log your food and activity on ww.fitday.com for 3 days

3. Are you using food inappropriately to deal with emotional

issues?

a. Have you identified what the emotions are that drive your

eating?

b. Can you think of more appropriate ways to deal with those

emotions?

c. Are you willing to seek help from a qualified counselor?

4. Are you attending and participating in support group meetings?

5. Have you drummed up some support from your family and friends?

6. Have you dealt with saboteurs realistically?

7. Do you have realistic expectations about the weight loss

journey?

8. Are you still obsessing about food, weight, dieting, eating?

a. Obsessive – compulsive thoughts

(1) Obsess about something else

b. Perfectionism

(1) All or none, black and white thinking

c. Patience with the pace of healthy weight loss

9. Are you acknowledging your successes with non-food rewards?

10. Have you learned how to take a compliment?

11. Are you giving up diet mentality?

a. Stop weighing yourself several times a day or every day

b. Stop dieting

c. Stop depriving yourself

d. Stop defining food as “good” and “bad”

e. Stop rewarding and punishing yourself with food

12. How do you feel about all the changes taking place?

E. You may need a band adjustment

1. You feel like you are making healthy food choices in appropriate

portion sizes but getting hungry between meals?

2. You can still eat white bread, fibrous vegetables and large

portions.

3. You are having to struggle to lose

4. You are gaining weight in spite of eating right, exercising and

having a good mind set.

F. You may need your band loosened

1. There are times when you can’t get fluids down

2. You are vomiting too much

a. How much is too much?

3. Do you have frequent reflux or heartburn at night?

a. Do not lie flat or bend over soon after eating

b. Do not eat late at night or just before bedtime

c. Rinse your pouch with a glass or water an hour before bedtime

d. Certain foods or drinks are more likely to cause reflux:

(1) Rich, spicy, fatty and fried foods

(2) Chocolate

(3) Caffeine

(4) Alcohol

(5) Some fruits and vegetables

a. Oranges, lemons, tomatoes, peppers

(6) Peppermint

a. Baking soda toothpaste

(7) Carbonated drinks

e. Eat slowly and do not eat big meals

f. If you smoke, quit smoking

g. Reduce stress

h. Exercise promotes digestion

i. Raise the head of your bed

j. Wear loose fitting clothing around your waist

k. Stress increases reflux

l. Take estrogen containing medications in the morning

m. Avoid aspirin, Aleve and ibuprofen at bedtime

(1) Tylenol is OK

n. Take an antacid (Pepcid complete) before retiring

o. Try other over-the-counter heartburn medications

p. See your health care provider

4. See your health care provider immediately (or call 911) if

a. You have a squeezing, tightness or heaviness in your chest,

especially if the discomfort spreads to your shoulder, arm or jaw or is

accompanied by shortness of breath, sweating, irregular or fast

heartbeat or nausea. These could be symptoms of a heart attack.

b. If your symptoms are triggered by exercise.

c. If your pain localizes to your right side, especially if you

also have nausea or fever

d. If you throw up vomit that looks like black sand or coffee

grounds. Or if your stool is black, deep red or looks like it has tar

in it. These are symptoms of bleeding and need immediate attention.

(Note: Pepto-Bismol or other medications with bismuth will turn your

stool black. Iron supplements can also make the stool tarry.)

e. If your pain is severe

Does he do it under Floro? It is better to do little by little because that tiny bit can get you to the sweet spot and too big of one can get you too tight. I was too tight for three months and was miserable. You don't want to do that and your body usually takes about a week to really tell you if your tighter or not. Usually if you drink the powdered stuff under the floro your dr can see how fast or slow the liquid goes down. That is how your dr knows if he needs to back some out or add too.

My doctor does not use the fluro. He said "if you know what your're doing you don't need it" ha ha. It sounds like people who get the fluro get a better handle on getting to the best sweet spot possible. WEll he doesn't do them so I have to get him to do smaller fills and/or unfills as needed. Or I have to try one of the other doctors in his practice which is what I think I will do. thanks for the support

Just had my second fill (2cc) a week ago and I am having trouble keeping ANYTHING except liquids down. I was kinda hoping this would work itself out, but I don't know if maybe I am pushing too fast or should I just sit back and let my body adjust?

My first fill was 3cc and I had no problem, but then I really wasn't feeling anything before that, so it was not that big of a change. I am sure this question has been asked before, but I don't have the time or patience to go thru the whole thread.

SO, do I need to call my Dr. or should I just ride it out? My meds go down fine. Maybe I am eating too much at one time?

Anyhow, anything in the way of advice would be helpful.

Thanks

Arekaybee

Sounds like you're a little too restricted, especially if it tightens up like it does sometimes after a week or two. However you might try something before you give up on it and get an unfill.

Try taking very, very small bites and then chew each bite 32 times before you try to swallow. 32 times is a whole lot. Most foods are completely disentegrated by the time you've done that. Consequently, you can get it down without a problem. However you have to wait a little while between each bite - like almost a minute - to see if whatever you just chewed is going to feel stuck. That stuck feeling doesn't always happen right away and you don't want to find out the hard way!

If you go very, very slow with this, you may only be able to eat a few bites at each meal or when you're having a between meal snack, but that's okay because you'll be noticing a nice weight loss in good time. When you can't eat very much when you are this restricted, high protein snacks between meals are important so that you don't break down and eat something like a shake or ice cream that is high calorie because you're so hungry.

Patience is the key. 32 chews is hard to do sometimes, but it is very important. If after trying this really slow methodical eating, you're still only able to manage liquids, I'd call the doc and see what he says. The good thing is that you will have already given it a lot of effort and you can tell him about it.

BJean

I really liked your post. You explain it so perfectly what we go through. I'm going to work on the 32 chews. Thanks.

Thanks. It took me many painful PBs to realize exactly why my doctor and dietician were telling me to slow down, take small bites and to chew, chew, chew.

An interesting aside is that Nancy Reagan once claimed that she stayed slim by chewing each bite 32 times.

BJ

I have to tell you this chew 32 times is not easy. Nor is waiting between bites, But I'm trying. I wrote on my hand "chew slow" so maybe I'll remember each time i try to eat

Edited January 17, 200917 yr by Bandana

Oh don't I know it!! Some things just won't last 32 chews. But if you do it, things even like a piece of chicken or steak or just about anything, won't wind up being big enough to get stuck. It's been a Godsend for me. Great idea to write it on your hand! Whatever it takes to get us to our goals.

Good morning everyone.

I have had 6 cc put in and still feel nothing at all. Its like the nurse is missing my port.

I had that much fill before and was where I felt like I needed to be, then I got sick, dehydrated spent the night in the hospital with an iv. Dr. said he thought it was from sinus infection, too much coughing and etc.

He took it all back out and started me over again.

Before when they would do a fill I could feel something then. Now its not there.

All this while I have started gaining some weight back. I did the write down what you eat, no help. I even bumped the exercise up a notch. Still the scales didn't move down.

Last week, I got upset and said enough is enough.

Right or wrong, I started the Dr. Atkins diet.I have lost 5 pounds this week.I plan on staying on Atkins until the band starts doing its thing.

I also plan on asking the Dr. to do the swollow test to see what the band is doing or not doing.

Has anyone else done the Atkins diet?

Has anyone NOT done the Adkins diet?

It usually works for me if I don't stay on it for too long. If I do try to lose a lot of weight with Adkins, after a month or so, I go berserk and eat carbohydrates non-stop for a month. Like a freak without nature.

Did you gain any weight back when you quit Atkins?

My Dr. told me not to join Weight Watchers, they don't count calories and I'm not suppose to eat more than 800-1200 calories a day.

I can just see the nurse's face if she found out I was on Atkins. That is very high calories and fat

The reason that Adkins works is because it is mostly protein. If you have the Lap Band, it is probably difficult for you to get enough protein, especially if you are severely restricted. So my doctor doesn't discourage an Adkins type diet. His dietician has always stressed that we eat our protein first at any meal. And also the reason that they suggest adding a whey protein shake if you are having trouble with hunger.

The actual Adkins diet is so restrictive that when I have gone on it, by the book, for a long time, and I finally start craving carbohydrates and get out of control and eat them exclusively for a while, then yes, I certainly have regained the weight. Hence the Lap Band surgery.

Went to Dr. today. Had lost 7 pounds. He was thrilled ask me what I did different. I told him about Atkins diet. He said he don't like that diet and he advised people to only go on a diet they could live the rest of their life on.

When I ask about gaining weight back I was talking about with the lapband. I also went on Atkins when I was younger. Lost gobs of weight. Over the years gained it back and then some. I was on one diet or another from the time I was 14 until I got the band.

Today, I started making notes of what I eat. Again. Maybe this time I will keep the notes more than 3 weeks.

You know, I quit smoking 7 years ago, I can do this too.

I agree with your doc - diets are bad. I always regained weight when I went on a diet. Got me where I am today. I misunderstood, I thought you were asking if I gained the weight back after dieting.

I don't know about the Lab Band. I have regained some lbs. over xmas, but I feel certain I can take it back off again, whereas before the band, I probably wouldn't have lost those pounds.

Good luck! If you're writing down everything you eat, you might consider the Body Bugg for additional information. You can order it online or get it at 24 Hour Fitness. I learned a lot when I wore it. I just got tired of keeping track of everything I ate.

I can relate about the size being small. I am down to 195 an I just got into size 8/10 jeans. I still have somemore to lose but excercising to get the skin tightened up now for summer. I have hit a plateau. Did you?