Lap Band....First Episode!

[jimmc77 43]

Hey Gang...

Today is my first day on puree food. Day13...lol.

So... I figured it would be a good time to try and make a meal and enjoy some good.

I made roast beef, mashed potatoes, and cream corn.

I was out all day... so didn't really eat today. Was still doing the liquid diet. Boost, Water, coffee in the morning, blah, blah, blah.

So anyway...I was so excited about this meal. Sat down and I think I forgot I had the lapband. Has a couple bites, didn't really think about it.

Well all of a sudden, I get this feeling like something is stuck.

Well... didn't the food get lodged. All the discussion groups I read about this. The stuck feeling.

I wasn't expecting it. I figured I would have to see the surgeon in 6 weeks, get 2 cc's into the port to tighten it...lol.

Is it possible... I'm already at a good setting. The green spot, The sweet spot....lol.

Does anybody have any info for me please.

I read we have to chew 20 times, 20 bites of food, for 20 minutes.

I'm kinda excited....lol. In a weird sort of way....lol.

[Treadmillwalker 486]

You could be....but maybe not. I felt restriction my first couple of weeks, but learned it was likely swelling. By four weeks I only had that stuck feeling if I didn't chew well enough. I'm not yet at the sweet spot, I have my second fill on 12/27. My understanding is that once I'm in the sweet spot I will feel full at between 1/4 and 1/2 cup of food per meal. In about a year at the 1 cup mark. I believe it is a feeling of fullness versus feeling something is stuck. I could be wrong...

Banded 10/12/16

[jimmc77 43]

I think it will take some time to tell.

But hoping I don't have to wait too long into the new year to find the sweet spot.

I did sign up for the gym today...so I will go about this the same way as I have I past.

Eat healthy... work out, lose weight, and hopefully figure this out.

I'm usually good for 3 months or so... then the wheels fall off...lol.

2017.... has to be different.

[WLSResources/ClothingExch 3,444]

Maybe, maybe not. It's too soon for you to know how your band is. You really goofed, scarfing down chunks of beef and corn, especially since you were to start purees. It sounds as though the food went down after a while rather than coming up? In either case, the feeling is miserable. For now, slow down and focus first on eating properly and developing new habits. When your band is an ideal dance partner, you'll know for sure and we'll all rejoice..

Keep in mind that it's not about "fullness." "Full" means "too much." That's how we got obese. People who live at a healthy weight aim for satiety, not fullness. Satiety means eating and reaching a point where you think "I can eat two or three more bites," but you don't because you're satisfied. Learning and living it is a good goal among the other good goals.

"I'm usually good for 3 months or so... then the wheels fall off." -- Always carry a wrench.

Small bites, chew to smithereens, pause for a slow count to 20 before the next bite. hen the band is well-adjusted, you'll get the "enough" feeling. Know, however, that some foods go down endlessly and, of course, they are the ones to be avoided or greatly limited -- crunchy things such as chips and sugary things such as Cookies and cake are among the culprits that we can keep eating without feeling much of anything.

[jimmc77 43]

Oh it was puree'd....lol.

Roast beef, and it was cream corn...lol.

All good... I just got a little ahead of myself yesterday.

Part of the learning curve.

Puree foods until Tuesday... then to try whole foods for a couple weeks, then chat with the nurse and surgeon about my first fill.

They only do them after 6 weeks from surgery.

[BayougirlMrsS 3,939]

@@jimmc77 So you hit a little bump in the road.... We all do it.... But take this as a lesson, remember what you have learned and try your best to avoid it again.

No one is perfect at this.... we have all messed up in one way or the other whether we want to admit it or not. I doubt you are in the green, not saying you can't be, but your most likely just still swollen. Stick to the food schedule... it's there for a reason. I know your hungry and every thing you see on tv, driving, at work... is all about food. but this will pass.

Im sure you heard this before but in case you haven't.... this is what I did when i introduced food back.

I know everyone told you about the small plate. I bought the kids plate.. you know the ones that have the cartoons on them and the three sections, it also came with a fork and spoon. I took my 1/8cup out and measured it all... I made sure before i took the first bite that i cut everything up in bite sizes. For me the nail on my pinky finger was a good size. I ate my Protein first... always. then the greens and then what ever else if i was still hungry. After EVERY bite i put the fork (kids fork) down.... closed my eyes and really concentrated on what was in my mouth.... i savored each bite. It became a game for me to try and figure out the different spices in the food. I NEVER sat in front of the tv, read, or held a deep conversation while i was eating. These things are distracting and you will forget what you are doing and before you know it, you didn't chew enough and bam... problem. NEVER NEVER put a glass of anything in front or near you while eating. Again, out of habit you will forget and bam... problem.

I know some people wrote everything they ate down and logged it in and weighted out on a scale.... i didn't. I fixed my plate with what i knew was my limit and only ate that... even if i was still hungry, i never got up for another bite. Waited my 30 min or more and than drank something.

congrats on joining the gym. I tell every person that ask, one of the biggest parts of a great outcome is exercise. And i don't mean 2-3 day for 30 min..... I mean.... 5 days for no less than one hour. I started with walking after surgery. then i moved on to zumba, bodypump, combat.... I also mixed in some treadmill, elliptical.. and then some weights. When i first started i could only do 5 min on the Devil.... Aka Elliptical, but i worked my way up to 45 min...... Remember Eat Less and Move More...

NEVER NEVER reward yourself with food.... NEVER!!!! Only with positive stuff... things you like... for example Fishing, for every 5-10lbs. buy a new fishing lures.... or pole or something... Like i told another girl, some people put a $1 in a jar for every lb they lose... if they gain, they take it out and put in another jar, when they lose it again, put it back. Then at the end year treat yourself to something big.

I hope some of this helps you...

Chris

[needtorecover 574]

For the puree phase I would take meat broth and put whatever Protein I wanted in a food processor and ground it down to a thinned paste. Worked well enough. I certainly understand missing food and feeling hungry but you'll get through it.

I had a very hard time getting most things down the first 4 weeks post-op because of the swelling but I was pretty well back to normal after I healed.

I'm a year post op and I'm still not at my "sweet" spot 100% but I'm almost there! Even though it's been slow-going for me I'm very pleased with the results. Before on standard diets I'd lose 10-15 pounds, get excited and regain it back plus another pound. At the rate I was going I'd probably weigh somewhere between 320-330 by now. I was literally killing myself with my food issues. 42 pounds may seem modest a year out but my numbers have greatly improved, I've lost a couple sizes, and I just *feel* better.

Point is: be patient. You're already better off now than you would've been if you didn't have the surgery at all so there's a reason to be happy

[B-52 7,113]

I was fat - Obese becausaeI ate all the wrong foods, and ate the wrong way.

Diets never helped, tried and failed 100 times.

Lap Band surgery changed all that. It FORCED me to change what I eat, and how I eat.

I once ate like a glutton, now I eat like a bird.

Not going to guess what your episode was, but be ready. The lap band will change your life.

Why else did we have this surgery if we do not want it to do something???

I am 6 years out. What and how I eat has become routine. But in the beginning while I was learning my lessons (the hard way) I sometimes got stuck a few times a day until I finally broke!

Even today, every now and then without thinking I will take too large a bite - swallow, or gulp a drink and immediately I will be strongly reminded I did have surgery once.

People who get stuck, have food - slime come back up immediately think there is something wrong....(Maybe there is but not with the band)

I say seize the moment, think about what you did to cause the episode, and learn from it....eventually you will break all those habits you never knew you had and change your life for good.