hi,this probably wont make sensce but if you can help me then that would be great.i now have 9.5 ml in my band and my band holds 10ml[so i have the maximam they will give me]my problem is that i can eat chocalate,say half a family block[naughty i know]samboy chips,hard chewy lollies ect..feel full when had a big binge[with out being sick],but when i have salad and chicken or vegies ect.. i can hardly eat as much[ i should stick with the healthy option i know]i wonderd if my band has moved,a friend of mine has had hers corode into her stomach so i feel im over reacting as im worried that my band might have problems, i geuss my question is can you get down more processed foods over fresh,hope you understand what im trying to get at.im concerned as i can eat more than what i feel i should be able to eat.thankyou.p.s,i will get it xrayed if i continue to worry,its just a 6hr drive for me to see my specialist,so hope you guys can give some input:cursing:

Hi Blue Eyed Girl. One of the pitfalls of the band is that "slider food" goes down really easily but good healthy fibre food is harder to eat. Slider food is all that stuff like chocolate, icecream and chips, that have very little in the way of bulk to stick in your pouch and just slide right though the band - unfortunately, they are also all the high calorie high fat foods.

You need to fill up on good healthy food, so that you are not hungry and have enough willpower to concentrate on making good choices, instead of using up all your willpower on trying not to eat when you're hungry. If the healthy foods are filling you up faster - GREAT!! That's the whole idea right there in a nutshell. It's up to you to work WITH the band and eat right.

What you are describing is not a symptom of a band problem - that's exactly how the band is meant to work. Good luck mate!

PS: You're doing fantastic on the weight loss!! Don't sabotage it now by turning to chocolate and chips!

Edited May 23, 200818 yr by Fanny Adams

thanks fanny adams,i geuss when i know a freind haveing problems you fear the worst,i knew the band wasnt going to be a miracle cure it just gets hard at times,i also felt at 9.5 ml it would be alot easyer,i do feel guity when i go and binge,its hard work to lose weight especialy if you go and blow that good effort,that lifestyle change is very hard to beat.i will have to get back into my cross trainer and feel great again and stop thinking the worst[and if there is a problem i will just have to deal with it,the lapband was my last hope/of keeping weight of for good.thanks for the advice,i know your right.thankyou

No worries mate. Actually, I was thinking I'd given some good advice and then after I posted, I saw that you had lost more than I have and thought "who the hell am I to give you advice!!" LOL! :blushing: Hang in there - you're doing great! And a little bit of indulgence now and then obviously isn't hurting - that's what "normal" sized people do! We just have to remember the "now and then" part and not make it an every day habit.

i know what you mean,my occasional treats have just been 2 occasional[smile]you have in one way done better with your weight than me/i have had my band 1 yr comming this july,i know within myself i could have done alot better,but im hopeing by september to get to my goal weight of 60kg[i hope,if i can get control and stop putting on instead of loseing]you have great advice,and i know withing myself that what your saing is true,just need a wake up call to get back on the wagon again[smile]still adjusting i geuss,doesn helthat the bad fods do go down so well,i geuss i compare to much to others i know with the band,say for example they could eat 5 squares of chocolate,where as i can polish down heaps more/i used to be able to eat 2 value meals at hungry jacks and still be hungry,theres no way on earth i could do that anymore,so i geuss its differant for everyone and where they feel that restriction[if i just didnt eat the chocolate it would be easyer,cause my trouble is stopping at just one]how you going with s watson,r u happy with the amount of fluid he's putting in for you?

sorry,i have a wireless key board so all the letters arnt comming up when im writting,hope you can make sense of it all funny adams,will put new battrys in.sorry

Maybe a mix is best. Perhaps you should eat the salad/chicken/etc first and save something sweet for last. Then you will start by being full to begin with.

I say start with the salad then eat a small portion of a slider food.

Have you considered that your band is too full and that is why you have trouble eating solid food? You should be able to eat most regular food (just less of it) as long as you take small bites and really chew, chew, chew. You may be still losing weight, but there are a couple of real problems with only eating foods that go down easily:

- are you getting your nutritional, Vitamin and mineral needs met by following your current eating plan?

- there is a real danger that you will start to eat more and more of the danger food, increasing your calories and fat intake. The cycle then begins again where you are eating more, not losing (or gaining), getting discouraged, eating more (you see where this is going)

- the real purpose of the band is to help retrain your eating patterns to healthy food and healthy portions. Can you say you are doing this? If not, what happens if and when you get to goal weight and you are trying to maintain on a life of chocolate. Pretty tough to do. I know I tried for many years and just got bigger and bigger and bigger.

Just my 2 cents worth.

Have you considered that your band is too full and that is why you have trouble eating solid food? You should be able to eat most regular food (just less of it) as long as you take small bites and really chew, chew, chew. You may be still losing weight, but there are a couple of real problems with only eating foods that go down easily:

- are you getting your nutritional, Vitamin and mineral needs met by following your current eating plan?

- there is a real danger that you will start to eat more and more of the danger food, increasing your calories and fat intake. The cycle then begins again where you are eating more, not losing (or gaining), getting discouraged, eating more (you see where this is going)

- the real purpose of the band is to help retrain your eating patterns to healthy food and healthy portions. Can you say you are doing this? If not, what happens if and when you get to goal weight and you are trying to maintain on a life of chocolate. Pretty tough to do. I know I tried for many years and just got bigger and bigger and bigger.

Just my 2 cents worth.

thanks for your 2 cents worth,i do need to hear it,my eating habits have been a shocker latley,i dont as such have an eating plan[had just stuck with salad and chicken ect...]and i was loseing the weight by doing that,i geuss i was haveing chocolate ect... first instead of last[dreadfull i know]i had waited so long for my 9.5 ml,geuss not eating the junk food would some how be easyer,i can eat most food except bread/can eat it well toasted however,i geuss i think the worst of am i going to be the one with a band problem[but hey,if i keep going i may very well be]so i need to pull my head in and remember whats important,i geuss i thought the band was going to make that lifestyle change easyer,but you still have to make the right choices and exercise,thankyou everyone for your help and support,i needed to hear your feed back as every ones journey with the band is differant.thanks.gail

That's what banding is all about - reminding yourself to eat the "right" foods, the ones that are more difficult, so you dont have room for easier ones. My band works exactly the same way - my capacity for chocolate is not diminished in the slightest from preband days, not at all. Same with biscuits, I can easily eat a whole packet.

You just have to not do it.

thats good to know jacqui,i geuss i listen to my friends to much/they have only a few mouthfulls of yoghurt or chocolate and are sick,so i just thought that would be the same,it has tacken me alot to feel the restriction,i was so worried there was somthing wrong with me,it's like sometimes i feel restricted and others nothing,mostly when eating crap food,so i was so glad when you said about being able to eat a pkt of biscuits ect...as thats what i was able to do,then of course down on myself when i put it back on,i just have to keep reminding myself of my goal,why im doing this,i have 2 wks left of tonyferguson milkshake diet food/left over from when i had my lapband put in,so i might just use them up before they go out of date,might give me the kick starter i need,i dont want to rely on it however due to extra cost when i dont need to fork out for it when you can eat healthy and get same results.thanks for the great advice,to some people,some people may think some post's are silly,but when you hear others say things you wonder if your surposed to have same reaction,then you think yours isnt working,but i geuss its a bit like some people can eat bannana,others cant,some bread,some cant ect....so i hope if theres anyone else out there who was feeling like me that these people have shed some light on the matter.

If you have a bit of a sweet tooth, I think it is a good idea to plan in a small treat within your daily allowance, best done as dessert. That way you can look forward to it all day and say no to other things during the day, because you know you'll get your sweet fix that night.

You have to be really smart about it though, and make sure you don't have stuff around that you can overindulge in. For example, I don't trust myself AT ALL with a block of chocolate or a packet of biscuits in the house- who can stop at a couple of squares or 1 or 2 biscuits? NOT ME!! So I get things like the Nestles Diet Creme Caramels, which come in fixed serving sizes. When I'm up on site, I'm lucky, because the kitchen puts out a selection of tiny cakes and pastries, all cut into 1 inch by 2 inch squares. I can take one back to my room with me and nibble it in tiny bites, because I know I can't go back and eat the whole cake. Most of them are only around 150-200 cal in such small portions.

If you like chocolate, maybe buy a Cadbury Freddo once a day? They are only 105 calories and could easily be factored into a daily allowance. I wouldn't trust myself to buy a multi packet though - coz I'd eat half of them in one night if I could. Perhaps you could make it a daily ritual to walk down to the corner deli and buy one for your late night treat? That way you get in some exercise and can't go wild and scoff the lot.

Have you considered that your band is too full and that is why you have trouble eating solid food? You should be able to eat most regular food (just less of it) as long as you take small bites and really chew, chew, chew. You may be still losing weight, but there are a couple of real problems with only eating foods that go down easily:

- are you getting your nutritional, Vitamin and mineral needs met by following your current eating plan?

- there is a real danger that you will start to eat more and more of the danger food, increasing your calories and fat intake. The cycle then begins again where you are eating more, not losing (or gaining), getting discouraged, eating more (you see where this is going)

- the real purpose of the band is to help retrain your eating patterns to healthy food and healthy portions. Can you say you are doing this? If not, what happens if and when you get to goal weight and you are trying to maintain on a life of chocolate. Pretty tough to do. I know I tried for many years and just got bigger and bigger and bigger.

Just my 2 cents worth.

thanks for your 2 cents worth,i do need to hear it,my eating habits have been a shocker latley,i dont as such have an eating plan[had just stuck with salad and chicken ect...]and i was loseing the weight by doing that,i geuss i was haveing chocolate ect... first instead of last[dreadfull i know]i had waited so long for my 9.5 ml,geuss not eating the junk food would some how be easyer,i can eat most food except bread/can eat it well toasted however,i geuss i think the worst of am i going to be the one with a band problem[but hey,if i keep going i may very well be]so i need to pull my head in and remember whats important,i geuss i thought the band was going to make that lifestyle change easyer,but you still have to make the right choices and exercise,thankyou everyone for your help and support,i needed to hear your feed back as every ones journey with the band is differant.thanks.gail

This is exactly what is happening with me, too, Blue! I'm too tight to enjoy healthy foods and have been subsisting on all forms of cheese, tortilla chips and ice cream!! It's an insidious thing, too.... I mean you wake up one day and get real about what you've been eating and think, "How did I get here?" I've got a strong nutrition background and know for a fact that I cannot be healthy on this junk I've been eating!! I'm going for a slight unfill on Tuesday to help me get back on track. I want to be able to enjoy my favorite summer fruits of canteloupe and watermelon! I miss salads and chicken!!

PS - As far as the 'daily treat' thing....those 100 calorie packs are GREAT because they give you a stopping point to pause and decide if you really want more. The answer is almost always no! I recommend them!

Edited May 24, 200818 yr by TerriDoodle

Be careful with the watermelon, even after an unfill - I have been able to eat just about anything, had no trouble with breads, pastas, meat, etc, but tried watermelon a few days after my last fill (when I was allowed back on solids) and OH BOY did that hurt! Watermelon has always made me burp big time, so I guess that's what all the pain was about but man, that's the first food I've found that I'm not in any hurry to try again... Now fresh salads and chicken, I eat every day for lunch and love them!

I can take teeny tiny bites of watermelon and am OK with it. I can't have a SLAB of it like I used to though!!! LOL

Maybe I'll just have to substitute with Pina Coladas instead. tee hee...