I had my surgery done over two years ago in Houston by Dr. Speigel who has done THOUSANDS of lap-bands here in the U.S. I have to say, I am very disappointed in the end results. I can't eat anything before suppertime without drinking lots of hot liquids along with it. It has made having lunch out next to impossible and I haven't lost nearly all the weight I expected to lose. I was on the low end of the scale (comparatively speaking), I guess, to begin with and so I didn't have AS much to lose as maybe some others but still, I would think after 2+ years, it would be more than 40 lbs. I still get choked and have pb if I am not extremely careful with every single bite. It's been this way from day one and so here I sit, still overweight and miserable at every meal. Dr. Speigel has absolutely no bedside manner. I would trust him for fills but if you're looking for a doctor you can talk to, find someone else.

Unhappy with the results all the way around-:wink2:

Tammy

If you like sweets buy sugar free candies, or sugar free pudding etc. That way you get the sweet but not all the sugar. Tis what I do and I am not even banded yet

Do any of you that have the problem with the sweets, which I did too for the first 9 months it seemed, have other issues that could be contributing to this. Are you over-filled? I found when I had taken my 10cc band from being full at 4 ccs down to 2ccs that I can focus on eating a lot more healthy foods than just settling for the sweets. A variety of foods. I seemed to crave certain foods but because they were difficult to eat I would eat the easy ones.

I still feel restriction at 2 ccs but I'm not choking on every piece of Protein now and I feel more satisfied and don't have to rely on the "slider" foods anymore because they go down so easily and taste good. I know it's much harder during certain times of the month but I guess I have to give myself some slack. If I buy sweets I'll buy just enough for a one time deal and not keep a box or a couple boxes around anymore because that's just too tempting for me.

I was a huge sweet eater pre-band. Some of the ways I deal with sweets now:

If I'm really craving a treat, I try to indulge on a small scale. If I want ice cream, I have a little cup (the kind they give out at school sometimes.) That's around 100 calories. I don't do this often, but when I do it, I don't let myself feel guilty.

I tend to make Desserts for specific occasions. If we have dinner guests, for example, I make sweets, serve them, then send most of the left overs home with the guests. Then, I promptly freeze the remaining dessert. Then each of us in the family gets usually one more serving of that treat. I'm the only one with a weight problem in my family, but I feel like it's a good trend for everyone to cut down on their sweet consumption.

I don't let things stay in the house that are a temptation to me. I have dh take them to work or something.

Another thing I'll do is make something I've been craving for a potluck. That way I can have a serving of it at the dinner, but not end up with the whole pan of it. Our church has potlucks every other month or so.

I had my surgery done over two years ago in Houston by Dr. Speigel who has done THOUSANDS of lap-bands here in the U.S. I have to say, I am very disappointed in the end results. I can't eat anything before suppertime without drinking lots of hot liquids along with it. It has made having lunch out next to impossible and I haven't lost nearly all the weight I expected to lose. I was on the low end of the scale (comparatively speaking), I guess, to begin with and so I didn't have AS much to lose as maybe some others but still, I would think after 2+ years, it would be more than 40 lbs. I still get choked and have pb if I am not extremely careful with every single bite. It's been this way from day one and so here I sit, still overweight and miserable at every meal. Dr. Speigel has absolutely no bedside manner. I would trust him for fills but if you're looking for a doctor you can talk to, find someone else.

Unhappy with the results all the way around-

Tammy

Where in Alabama do you live? I live in florence, but go to Dr. Miles in Bham....there are good docs I've heard about in Decatur, Huntsville and Mobile.

So glad to hear I'm not the only one not losing what I expected to lose. I had lost 33 lbs and now for the past 10 months or so have gained about 10 lbs back. I have never had the feeling of restriction. I feel very very disappointed in myself, but I do go every month to the doctor. They have done xrays and I have stretch my pouch, but I guess I have some emotional eating problems. I guess I will have to see a head doctor about it, but haven't had the nerve to tell my husband about it yet.

I do try not to buy anything that would temp me. I love to bake and I really wanting to do that. I miss cooking the way I use to. I do think I don't eat the hard protien because it is hard to eat small bites and chew ,chew,chew. What kind of hard protien are you eating for breakfast? Breakfast is the hardest meal for me, I'm not a breakfast person.

Again thanks for this thread I do feel better knowing I'm not alone in my struggle.

Carol,

My favorite breakfast is plain yogurt (greek Fage is the best) sweetened with stevia (you could use Splenda) and then sprinkle over it a 1/2 to 1 cup of Kashi Go Lean Crunch, Honey Almond Flax Cereal. It can get stuck if I don't eat slowly, but it satisfies and keeps me full till lunch, not to mention yummy!

Another one I'll do is cottage cheese with pineapple (I have no trouble with it getting stuck) or canned pears. That has a good amount of Protein from the cottage cheese.

Depends on where you are of course, I am in Huntsville and I was banded by Dr. Freeman in Anniston, AL. I really like him, he has the best bedside manners (personality in general) of anyone I've ever met. He remembers me, and personal info about me, I never have to remind him who I am, and he's literally ALWAYS smiling and laughing. He's very jolly. He had RNY so he understands WLS and is very energetic. Anyway, if you are near there, I'd recommend calling him and seeing if they will do follow up on other doctor's patients. I still go to him despite the 6 hour drive total, cause he's worth it. Pre-op I checked out Dr. Fuccundus in Huntsville, and thought they ran their place like a money market.. in, out, doc has no time to actually meet you, that'll be $500 please.

shinyhappymommy,

Thanks for the ideas. I try eggs once in while with low fat bacon bits in them, but they don't seem to stay with me. I do a lot weight control oatmeal.

I do protien shakes once and while, but not very often.

I see your from Kansas. Where is nowhereville?

Carol

So glad to hear I'm not the only one not losing what I expected to lose. I had lost 33 lbs and now for the past 10 months or so have gained about 10 lbs back. I have never had the feeling of restriction. I feel very very disappointed in myself, but I do go every month to the doctor. They have done xrays and I have stretch my pouch, but I guess I have some emotional eating problems. I guess I will have to see a head doctor about it, but haven't had the nerve to tell my husband about it yet.

I do try not to buy anything that would temp me. I love to bake and I really wanting to do that. I miss cooking the way I use to. I do think I don't eat the hard protien because it is hard to eat small bites and chew ,chew,chew. What kind of hard protien are you eating for breakfast? Breakfast is the hardest meal for me, I'm not a breakfast person.

Again thanks for this thread I do feel better knowing I'm not alone in my struggle.

:eek:I have head probs too... I'm going to see a hypnotist on Monday and praying that will help me with the mental part of it. I also get so tired of eating a bite of Protein and getting stuck, that I am swapping dinner for a Jack In The Box shake more often than not. Plus the binging on junk food is just not helping. It's crazy that I can down an entire can of Pringles, but I can't eat more than a couple bites of eggs/meat, Pasta, bread with out getting stuck.

If you can't eat solid Protein, then in my opinion, you're too tight. The band isn't doing you any good if it's getting you to the point of choosing slider foods and not being able to get in good nutrition.

And Carol, I live in Northwestern Kansas. My town is small enough that with just a little information about me, it would be pretty easy to figure out who I am. So I just keep it vague.

:eek:I have head probs too... I'm going to see a hypnotist on Monday and praying that will help me with the mental part of it. I also get so tired of eating a bite of Protein and getting stuck, that I am swapping dinner for a Jack In The Box shake more often than not. Plus the binging on junk food is just not helping. It's crazy that I can down an entire can of Pringles, but I can't eat more than a couple bites of eggs/meat, Pasta, bread with out getting stuck.

I agree with Shiny... and also fell into the same trap of being too tight and getting frustrated because I couldn't eat the healthy foods and would then compensate with the "sliders". I then had 2 cc's taken out to go back to "normal" and eventually added one more back in and I'm fine now. It's still very slow but I'm basically doing the best I can. My expectations were never to get down to 125 again just to be at a healthy weight that I found to be pleasant and to maintain that. I think my expectations maybe a bit different than others because of my age and my relationship with my hubster. My health is better now that I am eating better and exerciseing on the treadmill so I may not always measure my successes by the scale, maybe by my diabetes being under control and my bad cholesterol numbers are better and I'm not as out of breath as I used to be.

A surgeon at a support group I attented once was asked what "number" they should be restriction-wise and he told them that you do not think about the number and not to focus on that number it's how you are doing restriction wise. You can't ever compare your numbers with another bandster it's very individual. You need to be able to eat protein but not too much so you find where you should be and talk to your doctor about explaining it better. I know everyone wants to find their "sweet spot" but maybe some do and some never do it's like the "G spot". Good luck to you Nanook.

Gee, I would love to find sweet spot and my "G"spot. Man I would hate to miss out on both of them. LOL.

Carol

Nanook, how did you get your name? My sister in law has grandchildren in North Carolina who call her nanook of the north.

Nanook, how did you get your name? My sister in law has grandchildren in North Carolina who call her nanook of the north.

My eldest brother gave me that as a nickname growing up as my real name is Nancy, not really sure why but he did. Maybe I'll have my grandchildren call me that when/if I get them, lol. Nanook.

Gee, I would love to find sweet spot and my "G"spot. Man I would hate to miss out on both of them. LOL.

Carol

I know what you mean, lol!