I'm new to the forum, so yes, hi and thank you for the welcomes and all of that.

I just sent all my info on to the insurance company.

Sorry if i ask questions that have been answered before, but I am just now joining.

What I really want to know is, will I be able to eat normal foods? My hospital acts like I have to eat lean Protein, fruit and vegetables, and thats it for the rest of my life. If this is the case, I should just stop right now, and now go on with the procedure, if I could do this, then there would be no need for the banding. I understand fully that I have to eat the right foods, but all the time? Will I get to eat McDonalds fries every once and awhile? Since I will be eating such smaller portions, i figure I can still have some luxuries, right? The hospital I am going to says no. I thought that was part of the purpose, we can eat normal (by normal I mean moderate healthy foods) just smaller portions. Am I confused? I realize my weight loss will not be as great with normal food, but I want to lose slow. I'm intrested in lap banding to lose weight by not by cutting out foods, just eating less of them. I, of course, am not talking about the first 3 months, I mean down the road.

Please do not respond if you only eat healthy food, or if you are someone who is kidding themselves that you only eat healthy foods. I want to talk to people who eat moderately healthy foods (or unhealthy foods) that are banded, such as a salad with a serving of full fat ranch dressing.

Also, I am diabetic, how will the hospital handle my liquid stage? I have to have carbs or I will pass out. Anyone diabetic? What did they do for you during the liquid stage, when carbs are not allowed?

Thank you for your help, sorry if I sound harsh.

Leigh

Leigh, I guess the answers to your question about eating "normal" (by which I guess you mean high fat) food is complex. What one can and cannot eat does vary from person to person. When you are banded, some foods just don't go down the way they did before. They get stuck in the narrow part of the stomach created by the band and cause pain - a great deal of pain sometimes - as well as profuse salivation and then they usually come back up. This is called a PB or productive burp. Some people can't eat salad. Some have problems with meat. But almost everyone, I think, has problems with bread, fries, etc. I can't eat any of that stuff - not because it is unhealthy and will slow down my weight loss, but because it will get stuck and make me miserable. So at the moment, I am eating a hamburger without a bun, no fries. This is a treat for me.

On the other hand, some high fat foods go down super easy. Ice cream, chocolate (well, sometimes it causes me a problem), chips, popcorn, etc.

I can tell you that when I first got banded, I paid no attention to the bandster rules (eat Protein first, then veggies, then whatever you have room for). I lost weight anyway. I ate chocolate, etc. But after losing about 50 pounds, the weight loss totally stopped. Despite being banded, there was no way that I was ever going to be thin, get healthy, or look good eating that kind of a diet. I've found that I have to "eat only healthy food now" in order to meet my goals. And I have to exercise if I want to continue to lose. That's just the way it is and I don't mind because I feel better, get compliments almost every day, have lower cholesterol, lower blood pressure, and lower blood glucose.

I have insulin resistance and take glucophage,but my doctor did not require me to be on a protein-only diet, so that was no problem.

I would advise you to think carefully about whether this is what you want. It does mean a total lifestyle change and there's just no getting around it. The band will make it easier for you to eat smaller portions and will make it impossible for you to eat some foods, but that's all it will do. If you are like most (all?) of us, you will probably still need to exert control over what you eat.

Good luck.

Nancy

Leigh, sometimes you have to be harsh to get the truth. A lot of us still eat the same foods we used to eat in moderation (as I eat a chocolate covered pretzle.) But take my advice and at least give the healthy food a try, because the junk I eat is full of addictive properties. Salt, sugar, chocolate, fried foods - it just leaves us with cravings for more. And it is NEVER enough. Obese people have very strong food addictions.

When I was first banded, I gave up french fries. After a month, I didn't even miss them. But then came the day when I ate just two. Eventually that lead up to a small order of fries. Now I eat handfuls several times a week, so I'm right back to the same old habits.

I had great weight loss, but now I'm slowly gaining. I wish I would have stuck to the healthy stuff. The band let me quit eating candy, chips, etc. I still ate a lot of fun stuff (mac n' cheese, tacos, fudgecicles, etc.) but now I got used to the junk-food-side-of-life again, and it's so hard to turn back.

It's all about breaking bad habits. Unfortunately, those of us that became morbidly obese got here from too many bad habits, too many food addictions. If you can go a month without fries, never look back! But you don't have to stick to any type of diet to be sucessful. You can still enjoy normal foods. I just know that the holiday Cookies and crap are loaded with fat and sugar, and now I can't go a couple hours without craving something.

Carlaluz and DeLarla

Hi, thanks for the reply,

By "normal" as I said in my post I meant moderately healthy, like a salad with a serving of ranch dressing. I don't even like "many" high fat foods or junk food. Right now I am eating healthy foods and losing slowly, so I guess maybe this isn't for me because it doesn't sound like anything is going to change about my diet. My hospital is telling me i can not ever eat fries and bread again, this will not work for me. I wanted to do this so that I can add stuff back into my diet, but if I'm already eating healthy, there is no need. I fail with diets because I have to cut things out like ranch dressing, cheese, bread, not hamburgers, ice-cream or chocolate, not any sweets. It's not going to be much of a life change for me, it sounds like I'm already doing it. To me it kind of sounds like everybody struggles with food just as much as they did before the surgery (other posts i read) Also, all this PB stuff, sounds like a disaster, I don't want to live my life worried about throwing up. I was considering this because I'm diabetic, my diabetes is in super control A1C of 5.0, but, one day it might not be, that is why I am considering this.

If I sound bitchy its because I had no idea, and I'm upset that this is not going to work out for me.

Leigh

Leigh,

Here's the deal... you are still going to be you. But if you want your life to change, this is a tool to help you change it. If your not ready to try then of course you can fail. But give your self a chance. You won't be able to eat the same amount, but you can drink in your calories which is how I kept my weigh higher than it should be. I try to stay away from bread... icky feeling will change the way you feel about things. But I can eat other things in moderation.

I'm starting to get the feeling that I am not being clear.

Bushbaby,

I am already doing the diet that is recomended once you are banded, therefore, my life will have no changes. I'm already losing weight slowly, but it sucks because I have to eat super healthy. I just want to eat moderately unhealthy stuff in moderation, just like you said, that was what I was looking for. This way I can still lose and be eating some stuff that taste better than grilled chicken. Is this the case or do you guys always eat healthy?

Leigh

No I am sorry sweety I am not being clear... yes I eat cake and ice cream and sushi and everything I ate before with the exception of bread... I gave up bread because it hurts! I try not to eat the above mentioned because they slow the process but I am not dieting anymore. This is a life style change that you will do at your own time. The more you change the faster you will lose. But if you want it to be slowere its all under your control. The thing that it did for me was it gave me the ablity to STOP! I did not have that mechanism before. I could eat all day and night... now it will make me sick. I hope I better explanied it.

I see your point, Leigh. When I'm eating healthy, I eat a small portion of what you call a "normal" salad. I eat real salad with a real croutons, bacon bits, real salad dressing. I eat real cheese, and I even eat chicken fingers dipped in ranch. But I stopped losing because I started adding too much crap. Also, I can't have that yummy salad every night. You kind of have to stagger fattening salads one night with a lighter version at other times. So in answer to your original question, yes, I was losing a lot of weight while eating "normal" so to say.

Every single doctor is different. My doctor did not consult me on nutrition, but one of his assistants did. She described the way I'm supposed to eat for life, and she was very adamant that I never again follow a diet. She wanted me to eat "normal" foods. I was to eat three meals a day, NO snacking, and to chew my food and eat for 20 minutes, then stop. I was told to introduce one food at a time, and eat whatever my body tolerated without dieting, counting, writing it down, etc. But most band doctors tell you to eat your Protein choice first, then your veggie, and eat carbs at the end so that you don't overdue the carbs.

I am able to eat bread now, but I wasn't for the first 6 months. Bread gets stuck in my throat. Imagine having something really dry stuck in your throat that causes a lump and refuses to go down - that's the feeling we're talking about. I had problems with bread or dry chicken, but I never had problems with Pasta or rice. A lot of people can't eat pasta or rice for the same reason, and a lot of people have problems with fries for the same reason.

Hey, if I was able to lose weight the way you are currently losing weight, I would never need the band. Good for you, you are very lucky cause none of us were able to lose weight that way... I take that back, most of us DID lose weight that way many times, but we always gained it back with extra pounds.

Maybe you should discuss the differences between having a band and having a gastric bypass with your doctor for better clarification. With the gastric bypass, there are foods you'll probably never get to eat again because your body simply can't digest them. The bypass completely re-wires the stomach so that you can't digest certain foods. With the bypass, the bottom part of your stomach no longer functions, so you lose a lot of the digestive process. In addition, you can't absorb nutrition. The band doesn't come with these problems since everything you eat first sits in the top pouch, but then it slips through to the bottom of your stomach where it is digested and absorbed just like it always did. So ask your doctor to be more specific in the reason you can't ever eat bread or fries again.

But if you have the willpower and control to lose weight by eating sensibly on your own, then there's no reason for you to need weight loss surgery. WLS is strictly for those of us who have tried and failed many times over - a last-chance resort... our last hope.

I wish I was able to eat healthy every single day. A few ounces of protein, a portion of veggies and a couple spoons of carbs. Geeze, life would be good. But I got the band because I have been on too many strict diets. The last time I pulled out the scale to measure some chicken I had a nervous breakdown and threw the scale at the wall screaming and crying.

I hope nobody gets mad at me because a lot of people, once banded, do stick to a healthy plan. Maybe one day a miracle will happen, and I'll no longer want nachos but till then................

One last thought. As part of the pre-screening process to see if you qualify for a band, your doctors will put you through a nutritional screening and a psychological screening. If you express your desire not to change during these screenings, you might be rejected. The doctors have to make sure you are 100% ready for a complete lifestyle change. I'm not saying that will happen, it's just something to think about.

When I was losing consistently, my meals were:

Breakfast - Protein shake

lunch - about a cup of the last night's dinner leftovers, or 1/2 a normal salad

Dinner - about 1 1/2 cups of WHATEVER hubby made for himself (meat, potatoes, spaghetti, meatballs, lasagna, etc) or 1/2 to 3/4 "normal" salad with real dressing.

Dessert (bad girl) I always let myself have a fudgcicle or low-fat ice cream sandwich

I lost almost 70 pounds that way. But during the holidays I started snacking inbetween meals, and now I can't stop. All I want is to get back on track! Maybe I need 2 bands?

Delarla,

I completely identify with you, I am losing now, but i have failed at 100 diets too because I have to cut things out, this one that im on now will probably fail too. I'm just not sure if I want to get banded so that I can eat the same things I am eating now.

DeLarla says "But I got the band because I have been on too many strict diets."

---this is the exact reason why I want to be banded, I can't handle this strict diet, I'm about to go insane:)

D-- "I hope nobody gets mad at me because a lot of people, once banded, do stick to a healthy plan"

To tell you the honest truth, i bet "some" people are exagerating about how healthy they eat.

bushbaby,

you explained it perfect!

I'm feeling better that this may still be an option for me. Now that I hear I'm not going to have to eat lean chicken, veggies for every single meal, it makes me feel better.

Leigh

i wont have to worry much about the life style change because other than sticking to the plan, i already eat the way they want me too. the only change i will have to make is sticking to it, which i know is a huge comitment.

I am soo glad to hear it. I wouldn't not be banded for the world. Go look at my pics...my smile says it all!

how do i find your pics?

btw i used to live in saltillio

Leigh,

I do not eat healthy all the time. I eat healthy about 85% of the time. The first six months I stuck to a very strict eating plan cause I wanted to expedite my weight loss. THen I started adding some healthy carbs back to my plan the second six months.I limited treat to special occasions when I would have a piece of cake or a cookie or some french fries. It really depends on how fast you want to lose the weight. But generally speaking (which is what everyone means here) you will have to make some permanent lifestyle changes. Yes, I still have my treats, but if I want that piece of cake now that I am closer to goal, I have to work it off at the gym or take a long walk around the neighborhood just like most thin people do. I guess what I am saying is that all of us are metabolically challenged for life having been obese for so long, lapband or not. You will always have to eat less to keep it off. The band will help you do this cause physically you will never be able to eat what you previously did with proper restriction. But you still make the choices what goes in your mouth.

What I do that works for me is I go out once a week and eat whatever I want. Of course with the band, I know that the amount will be much less. But it is still possible to sabotage yourself with any WLS and it is also possible to eat around the band. So your docs are being very black and white here because if you practice good habits early in your banding journey, most of those new habits will stick with you forever.

Babs in TX

334/188/170

-146

6/23/03

I have lost 72.5 lbs in 8 months and the first 6 months I ate pretty good healthy wise and followed the rules but now I am eating like I did before part oif the time but in much much smaller portions. I look at it like this..you get out of it what you put into it.If you want to lose much slower and are content with that, then Yes eating Mcdonaleds french fries are OK.. My weight loss has slowed very much ever since I have been making bad food choices..am I ok with that? Somedays I am and somedays I am not! The band is a toool we still have to do some of the work. I am ned of a fill so with that and making bad choices , Im seeing the results of it..no weight gain but very slow weight loss. The good thing about my band is I can still enjoy life and eat what I want but smaller protions without fear of gaining.

I guess my whole point is that I have a problem with addictions. I'm addicted to sugar, salt and fatty foods. I can't have "just a little" because it just starts up my junkie-engine, and then I'm not able to stop. I WISH I didn't like goodies!