Feeling better, able to eat more but now I'm worried......

Hey there everybody, I am feeling a lot better and I have NOT been having that horrible pain I was having around the port/band area....don't know what was causing it but haven't had the pain now for almost 3 days. I have some questions that I am not sure who could answer....what is sliming?? what is PB?? and what is "stuck" for some??   Also, now that I am able to eat more and have been able to advance to mushies it seems like my appetite has GROWN!!  Before I felt no real hunger and I had restriction....so now I am worried that I am going to start eating and not know when enough is enough.  I have been trying to make sure I am not snacking and that I am keeping my meals to only about 1 cup of food a meal.  I even have been eating out of little tuppers that only hold about 2 cups or so ....so I can get used to seeing "small" and eating "smaller" portions. This week the scale has not budged "down" but it has been flucuating between 3 pounds up 3 pounds down. I know I shouldn't sweat it because losing 10lbs from post-op surgery is better than what I have done on my own prior to it.  I guess it is the fear of not losing.   I have been reading a lot on different forums and I am just amazed at how their is so many levels of extreme on what the band had done for them. So reading about it makes me a little worried that I might be one of 'them" that has issues w/their band. Anywho, for you bandsters who have been losing pounds and have been a roll I would like to hear from you on what your diet or consumption of food is since the time you had the band to now...I'm just curious to see what others are eating and is working for them to keep the scale moving downward. Oooh another question....what foods don't work for you?? I keep hearing that lettuce is a no for some....that bums me out because I love salads!! Well, I know I have a lot of questions but I just really want to know how some of you have been able to make it. thx!!

Eating a cup is about right as long as you eat the protein first. We were told that iceberg lettuce has no nutritional value. It was suggested to wait about 6 months before trying to eat the other kinds of lettuce just because it is harder to digest and doesn't give you a lot of nutrients for the space it takes up in your new stomach. We didn't eat even a lot of veggies in the beginning because three oz of protein frequently took all the room. We started with canned carrots because they were soft. Beware of things that are stringy.

I ate of lot of FF refried beans with LF string cheese on top plus salsa. I also ate a lot of LF cottage cheese. Breakstone 2% has the best flavor to me. I still eat these kind of things almost daily. Tuna and salmon in packets mixed with cottage cheese is another lunch I eat several times a week. I usually have pretzels from Kaysnaturals.com which have 10 gr of protein in one serving. Scrambled eggs and oatmeal (plain) are my breakfasts or maybe Greek yogurt with sweetner and preserves. 

Did your doc give you a list? We got a whole notebook of what to eat and when as well as what not to eat.

Connie 

Connie certainly makes good points.  I have no problem with lettuce, but try to eat very little since it doesn't have much value in it.  In general, I try to get the most nutrician I can for the intake.  Prior to the first fill, you will beable to eat more since there is little restriction from your band.  But try to be a student of eating.  Remember, the band is just a tool to help you on your journey.  If we were able to eat small portions without the help of the band, we wouldn't need the surgery!  The real work is in eating slowly so our brains can register the in take prior to over-eating.  That is the band's greatest value to me.  It sounds like your portioning out your foods well.  The big message is to eat that proper portion over a 30 minute period.  That will help to satisfy the "head hunger" a bit.  It amazes me how I will still try and eat a little more even after I've started to feel pain!  You would think I would be smarter than that.  But maybe that is why I got to the point of needing WLS in the first place! 

Im 15 months out and sometimes if its something I really like I will try that one more bite and it comes back up. Some day I will really lean to stop when its time! Karen

I have just started adding salads to my diet. In the beginning I could not eat lettuce, or mushrooms. The lettuce took to long to go through the band and mushrooms swell when eatten and I would PB soon after eatting. Sliming is where when you eat too much or have that tight feeling from too much food and your body trys to lubercate too much salva will try to pass through and since the pouch is full of food it will come up. So be careful after you start getting your fills if you eat out. I have spent more time when out with friends in the restroom. 12. "What are the slang words you use here, like "PB" or "SLIME"?" Please see this link: http://obesityhelp.com/content/messageboardlingo.html  "Slime" refers to the uncontrollable production of saliva, which usually happens when a piece of food is "Stuck". "Sliming" can also occur as a reaction to eating too much food, or from not chewing food well enough. Sliming can lead to a "PB", or "Productive Burp", which is a small amount of vomit. I got this from a member along time ago. His name is Wendall. He has a list of what is known as Lap Band 101. here is his blog page with 50 lap band questions and answers http://www.obesityhelp.com/member/michlrp/uzone,blog/action, comments/blog_id,100047/blog_post_id,73429/ hope this helps Karen

I got my lap band on 5/27 and lost 14 lbs already. I am sticking to the diet that I was given at the nutrition class. I have not problem with lettuce as I know because I did have some salad yesterday. Yesterday was my graduation day from college and my family and I went out to eat. What I picked off the menu was salmon with no sauces, mushroom, or glazed nuts and substutied everything else it came with for a salad with balsamic vinagretee. Needless to say I had a lot of food leftover to take home. I ate a couple of forkfuls of salad and then a little then less than half of the salmon. According to the menu it was a 7 oz filet. I has some more of the salmon for dinner last night and still have a few bites for lunch today.  I have not quite been eating a cup of food yet according to my diet plan you should only be eating 1/4 to 1/2 cup, but you are probably a week ahead of me in that department. Starting on week 3 I can have 1/2 to 1 cup of food.

Connie, Paul & Karen...thanks for all you insight that you always give me...I always look forward to your help.  Well, I really doing my best to eat out of small bowls/plates and when I measure my food I don't weight it but I only take a tablespoon of everything and it usually equals about a cup.  Like yesterday we went out to eat and I ate about 1/4 of my salmon and about only 1/2 the taters that were there and I was STUFFED....I am making it a point to eat my protein first and so far so good. I know the scale is not budging down but at least it is not going up so that is good.  This week I am starting to incorporate exercise and now that I have gone from mushies to more "normal" food I am eating the heck out of tuna, salmon and tilapia....LOVE IT.  Sam's/Wal-Mart sells this tilapia in a bag and you just put in in a pan w/some garlic/lemon juice/pepper and it like crumbles in the mouth...it's awesome!!  Also, found some PB that has dark chocolate....holy mother on high...I had a lick of it and it satisfied my Peanut Butter and Choco need....it was GREAT....LOV'N PROTEINS!! ;-D