My name is jessica and im 28 years old. I had the band back in may 21st 2008 and have lost around a total of 120lbs. I started out weighting at 343lbs . so with that info aside....

Im currently having some issues making the right choices with food. I have not lost alot of weight in the past 2 months and i tend to want to eat higher fat foods as of right now. I still work out between 2 to 4 days a week. and for the most part pick good foods until late at night. I work 2nd shift so when i get home is the hard time. Ill eat Breakfast around 11am - 1230pm and then lunch 545 pm and for dinner i do an optafast while i walk on the tredmill at work. Sometimes ill have a snack somewhere in the day. I have also picked up drinking coffee which adds calories due to the fact i like it very sweet and light.

Im pretty sure i need to drop the coffee and try to get to bed earlier ( go to bed at 2-3am ) so i dont want to eat at night... but its just hard to do it sometimes. so im looking for some tips , advice or maybe someone to just yell at me hahaha. thanks ahead!

~~Jessica

Hi Jessica my name is Bree and we had our surgery on the same day and I have to say that you have lost so much weight and you are doing great. I have not lost nearly as much as you have. You need to remember that from now on it is going to get harder the closer you get to you goal weight. I also have only lost a few pounds in the last couple of months and I am getting frustrated myself but you are doing great keep it up.

Jessica, that shake for dinner may be your downfall without you knowing it. My nurse practitioner says to stay away from liquid meals because while they may offer the calories and protein you need, they do not satisfy you the same way solid food does. Liquid passes out of your pouch quickly, but solid foods take around 4 hours to digest and pass out of your pouch. So it stands to reason that if you eat "real food" you will be less tempted to snack and will thus be less likely to make bad food choices. I was drinking a shake for breakfast every morning and I was starving by 10:30 or so. Since I started eating a couple of egg whites and a small serving of grits for breakast, I'm fine until lunch.

Thanks for the tips and support ... please feel free to say anything you think that may help. I really need to get myself back on the right track!

Hi Jessica,

First of all, losing 120 lbs in less than a year is some accomplishment! Congratulations.

I gathered from your post that night eating is a part of the problem you are dealing with now. This is a time for me when lots of pent up thoughts and feelings come to the fore. Coming home wound up (and wired with coffee) after second shift wouldn't make this hard time any less hard.

First of all, I really try hard not to dring caffeinated drinks after lunch, because it is hard enough for me to get a good night's sleep as it is. But even then, night eating is still a problem for me. Honestly two things have ever really worked since I've been banded. I've taken sleeping pills at time so that I don't stay up eating. And when my band is filled tight, I know that eating before bed will mean that I'll be miserable at night, waking up and spitting up food that has come back up.

Ultimately I'm going to have to address why I would keep putting myself back in the same situation, time and time again, surfing the net withn the TV on in the background late at night. It's a surefire recipe for bingeing. I think part of it is me sabotaging the progress I've made, wanting to reinforce a lifetime pattern of failure and humiliation.

Before the band, there was a thin person inside of me wanting to get out. Now there's a fat guy inside of me, and guess what he wants- ice cream, and to get back out! If I don't challenge and change my habits and behaviors, it's only a matter of time until he wins. Is that what I want?

Hi Jessica - first of all - CONGRATULATIONS on such a great job with your weight loss! So don't be too hard on yourself, as you have already accomplished so much.

As to some tips - here are a few that occurred to me after reading your post:

1. Try to have some meals ready and waiting for you when you get home AND some things that are still good but very easy to prepare. I find that when I am hungry and tired is when I have the worst time staying strong! So I try to have a few healthy frozen meals, a few small meals in tupperware in the fridge, and a few easy things to eat that are still within my acceptable foods. My favorite is actually cottage cheese with a Target brand pineapple salsa. It is super fast, it is very high in Protein and low in fat and it tastes good. Another good choice are almonds. If I am starving before dinner, I have a handful of almonds which help soothe the pain and tide me over while I get my real dinner together.

2. Find some substitutes that satisfy that sweet tooth. Again, I am addicted to having something sweet right before bed. I normally have either sugar free cocoa (which is sweet and warm and choclatey but still okay) or I have vanilla milk. For that, I use my low fat milk and add some splenda. Then microwave it for about 1 min to 1 and 1/2 minutes then stir in some vanilla. It is sweet and yummy but not bad for the diet.

Hope those help!

jessica with all due respect( turn around so i can kick your ass) hahaha you have lost 120 pounds...do wana regain it? nooooo right so get your crap together.....hahaha lol

Thanks for the support and ass kicking my sexylips haha.

Another thing i need to add to the list of things to change is drinking. Been going out a bit the past few weeks.....

You know, Jls_27 - you and I are in incredibly similar situations. I am 27 years old, started out at 321 lbs and am down to 180- I was banded April 11, 2008. I am also at a point where I have started making some pretty crappy decisions about what I eat. It seems chocolate has been re-introduced into my life lately and eating out has become more common.

This past week I’ve been working incredibly hard to not eat out for dinner or lunch and to make sure I get my exercise. Chocolate is still there, but the trigger-food chocolate (these excellent little milk-chocolate caramel thingies) has been replaced by plain dark chocolate. I don’t like dark chocolate at all but it works great for a chocolate-fix and is DEFINITELY not a trigger food. I’ve also been working to replace the simple-carbs with fruits. Grapes and Strawberries are in season- two of my favorite foods of all times.

You may want to start readjusting your food choices one item at a time. Are you like me in that you love your sugar? Or are you more a loaded baked-potato type woman? Make it a point to keep trigger foods out of reach. Make sure you have healthy or at least minimally unhealthy substitutes that won’t result in a second or third helping. If you can cook, do it. If you can’t cook, eat things that you know will fill you up easily without too many calories. For me it’s chicken. I can eat about two oz of chicken and be completely full.

Also- this is very important. Just because we’re getting close and close to goal doesn’tmean we can forget about our required Protein intake. Make sure you’re getting your protein J I have to remind myself of that every day- the stuff is gross LOL

Good luck- Excellent work thus far!!!!

My name is jessica and im 28 years old. I had the band back in may 21st 2008 and have lost around a total of 120lbs. I started out weighting at 343lbs . so with that info aside....

Im currently having some issues making the right choices with food. I have not lost alot of weight in the past 2 months and i tend to want to eat higher fat foods as of right now. I still work out between 2 to 4 days a week. and for the most part pick good foods until late at night. I work 2nd shift so when i get home is the hard time. Ill eat breakfast around 11am - 1230pm and then lunch 545 pm and for dinner i do an optafast while i walk on the tredmill at work. Sometimes ill have a snack somewhere in the day. I have also picked up drinking coffee which adds calories due to the fact i like it very sweet and light.

Im pretty sure i need to drop the coffee and try to get to bed earlier ( go to bed at 2-3am ) so i dont want to eat at night... but its just hard to do it sometimes. so im looking for some tips , advice or maybe someone to just yell at me hahaha. thanks ahead!

~~Jessica

Hi Jessica! I'm so very sorry to hear you are struggling right now. You may believe this or not, but it is much more common than you may realize. There are many of us who do at some point come accross some rough seas. Where the weight stops or goes in the wrong direction, and we have to work really hard within ourselves to get motivated to finish out the race.

Do not worry! The last thing you should do is that... if you think back to when you got to your highest after many attmepts at weight loss, what were you feeling? Was it the feeling you have now? Hopelessness? Failure? Well, that is a surefire way to get back there. Oh, it's so much more difficult to gain with the band, but you can! So, please for your own sake be careful!

You have to think positive. I tell so many people this, and yet it is something I personally have such a hard time with myself. I have to keep those feelings of doom at bay, and remember how far I've come. I have to always try to get back there, even if it takes me forever and a million attempts.

I am here for you anytime! I certainly understand what you're experiencing. Just keep in mind, you have done an outstanding job so far, and you with all things considered don't have that much more to go. Don't let anymore time pass and get back on that horse! I believe in you!!

Hi Jessica,

First of all, losing 120 lbs in less than a year is some accomplishment! Congratulations.

I gathered from your post that night eating is a part of the problem you are dealing with now. This is a time for me when lots of pent up thoughts and feelings come to the fore. Coming home wound up (and wired with coffee) after second shift wouldn't make this hard time any less hard.

First of all, I really try hard not to dring caffeinated drinks after lunch, because it is hard enough for me to get a good night's sleep as it is. But even then, night eating is still a problem for me. Honestly two things have ever really worked since I've been banded. I've taken sleeping pills at time so that I don't stay up eating. And when my band is filled tight, I know that eating before bed will mean that I'll be miserable at night, waking up and spitting up food that has come back up.

Ultimately I'm going to have to address why I would keep putting myself back in the same situation, time and time again, surfing the net withn the TV on in the background late at night. It's a surefire recipe for bingeing. I think part of it is me sabotaging the progress I've made, wanting to reinforce a lifetime pattern of failure and humiliation.

Before the band, there was a thin person inside of me wanting to get out. Now there's a fat guy inside of me, and guess what he wants- ice cream, and to get back out! If I don't challenge and change my habits and behaviors, it's only a matter of time until he wins. Is that what I want?

Hi! I pretty much agree with everything you've said, but one thing sticks out at me. I don't think any bandster should strive to be that tight. I've been reading around and finding lots of people end up having long term problems with their bands, and it's mostly due to being overly restricted. I've heard so many of them talk about that very symptom. So I just want to say, be careful with that. The last thing you want is to end up losing the one thing that has helped you in your weight loss and from gaining back to where you started.

Anyway I also wanted to comment on the whole good person/bad person thing. I think that is something we all deal with! Some are just much better at suppressing that Devil on our shoulder, and some of us have to flick him off! LOL!! It's so tough, no doubt!

Thanks for the support and ass kicking my sexylips haha.

Another thing i need to add to the list of things to change is drinking. Been going out a bit the past few weeks.....

Yes Jessica, that is definitely something you will want to stop doing. So many empty calories, and is considered a slider too.

You know, Jls_27 - you and I are in incredibly similar situations. I am 27 years old, started out at 321 lbs and am down to 180- I was banded April 11, 2008. I am also at a point where I have started making some pretty crappy decisions about what I eat. It seems chocolate has been re-introduced into my life lately and eating out has become more common.

This past week I’ve been working incredibly hard to not eat out for dinner or lunch and to make sure I get my exercise. Chocolate is still there, but the trigger-food chocolate (these excellent little milk-chocolate caramel thingies) has been replaced by plain dark chocolate. I don’t like dark chocolate at all but it works great for a chocolate-fix and is DEFINITELY not a trigger food. I’ve also been working to replace the simple-carbs with fruits. Grapes and Strawberries are in season- two of my favorite foods of all times.

You may want to start readjusting your food choices one item at a time. Are you like me in that you love your sugar? Or are you more a loaded baked-potato type woman? Make it a point to keep trigger foods out of reach. Make sure you have healthy or at least minimally unhealthy substitutes that won’t result in a second or third helping. If you can cook, do it. If you can’t cook, eat things that you know will fill you up easily without too many calories. For me it’s chicken. I can eat about two oz of chicken and be completely full.

Also- this is very important. Just because we’re getting close and close to goal doesn’tmean we can forget about our required Protein intake. Make sure you’re getting your protein J I have to remind myself of that every day- the stuff is gross LOL

Good luck- Excellent work thus far!!!!

Hello! I'm sorry you are having a rough go at things yourself! I'm can see though you have all the right things in mind, and that is what it takes to stay afloat! We can all do this! I truly believe in my heart we have what it takes. If we had the courage to have surgery and risk our lives, for goodness sake we have the strength to do what is right for our bodies.

I would like to invite anyone who is struggling to a thread I started. I'd like for us to get together and continue our fight to get to the finish line!!

http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f15/do-you-need-lose-those-pounds-youve-gained-91795/

Before the band, there was a thin person inside of me wanting to get out. Now there's a fat guy inside of me, and guess what he wants- ice cream, and to get back out! If I don't challenge and change my habits and behaviors, it's only a matter of time until he wins. Is that what I want?

I love this! Heck, I may post it on my computer screen to try to get me to stay away from the vending machine around 3pm every day!