Starting Over

Hello! I had a Lapband placed over 10 years ago. I lost some weight with it, but was constantly throwing up (5 root canals!) and in pain and I never lost significant weight unless I was basically starving myself and exercising like crazy, and it just wasn't sustainable. I had the band placed at 30yrs though and still wanted to party and drink and have babies and so I definitely wasn't ready for RNY at that time. It was a Constant battle to even drink water some days. I could barely get food down all day and then would eat candy and ice cream at night ugh!. Still, it kept me in check and stopped me from gaining, gaining, gaining. I had all the fluid removed in September '16 from endless complications and gained over 40 pounds. I've been finally approved to have the Lapband removed and revised to RNY on May 9th and I'm SO FREAKING excited!!! I lost my mom on Christmas this after an awful battle with leukemia and I'm just so ready for a big change and to feel empowered. My mom was my best friend and I've been lost without her. Everything hurts all over now and I can't wait to get moving again. I'm praying to God that this will work and I can make the changes I need to ??????. I hope to find a good group that I can be accountable to and learn from. I got lazy with the Lapband and no****ching carbs, mostly because the band prevented me from eating dense protein most of the time so I'd eat anything soft. I'm vet inspired by you guys! Thanks for having me!

I am a newbie - surgery tomorrow. Your experience sounds similar to my Husband's with the lapband. I call it his throw up band. He has had it since 2008. He did lose some weight initially by not eating anything but ended up in the hospital with severe anemia. The people on here are awesome and I am so greatful for their support and advice. Good luck to you!

Welcome aboard!

Join the menu post, and there you will find a plethora of ideas for a healthy diet!

I didn't have the lapband, but I've heard so many people talk of how it was near impossible to eat healthy with it. Hopefully you can make the changes during the first few months to get your eating habits where they need to be.

Hang in there, and enjoy all there is to learn here on these boards!

Welcome to the board! I wish you the best of luck with the next part of your journey. Keep coming to the menu boards. You will get great advice and help!

Hi IDWTBF,

We are so sorry for all you have been through and you are going to get a revision. If you stick to the basics this will be your answer. I usually share this with people that had regain but the basics are the same to follow no matter where you are on this journey. We look forward to your updates and we are here for you

Planning/Preparing

Remember when we were preparing for surgery? How many meetings, classes and such did we attend? We were told the more prepared we were the better our chances were for success. And they were right. Go through the house, car and work place and get rid of trigger foods. Stock up on foods that will keep you on track. I removed every bad carb/sugar temptation and replaced it with lots of protein, veggies, grains and fruits.

Journaling

Get back to journaling. This will help you identify when you feel like eating, stress factors and any triggers in your life. Once you identify these factors, this will help you put tools in place to keep you from eating. It became clear I was not taking time for me anymore. I worked my day job and then spent the rest of my time caring for my husband. It was easy to reach for fast, prepackaged food. Since I purged my home I have to eat clean as there are no other options LOL

Use a tool to track you're eating and exercise like Getting Started with Health Tracker. Once I started to track ever bite and drink it became clear why I had gained.

Goals/Rewards

Make a list of goals for yourself. Make them realistic and small. Some of mine were move more, purge all junk from my home, eat more protein.

Food

In general, a long term post-weight loss surgery eating plan includes foods that are high in protein, and low in fat?, calories, and sugar. Important, vitamins and minerals are provided as supplements. (if you had a different surgery adjust this to your food plan).

Water

Water is our Best Friend. I have to say I never went back to pop or any bad drinks, however I was drinking tea like crazy. What is wrong with drinking tea? I was either using sugar or 3 equals and 3 sweet n lows per 32 ounce glass. So I was either pushing to be diabetic or get cancer. I found once I started carrying a bottle of water around 24/7 (yes had one at my bedside) I lost the cravings for the sugar and I KNOW those artificial sweeteners are not good for me. Look I am old and if you add up all the artificial sweeteners I have consumed I am sure I am at the rat in the lab getting cancer threshold.

MOVE!

I can't say enough about how key this was for me. The reason I kept my weight off for almost 10 years was no matter what, I kept moving. If I could not go to the gym I would walk. I loved Zumba, bootcamp workouts, lifting weights. When I stopped, the weight started coming back. So for me I am starting slow to avoid injury by walking and using some of the workouts on my Demand TV. Find something you love to do and it won't feel like a pain in the *** to do daily.

Support

If it's an option "run" don't walk to a support group.

Keep me posted on how you are doing.

Excited you are getting that Lapband out and getting a revision. Yes, come to the daily menu thread...JuniperBerry who starts it M-F is a lapband revision. I know she is happy she did it.

You can start posting now. No time like the present. Good Luck!

Welcome! You can learn so much here as well as creating some support and accountability.

Wow thanks for all the tips and support folks!!!