How Becoming a Bandster is like Becoming a Parent  

A Peek in the Life of a Real Lap Band Patient

 Becoming a mother is something I dreamed for, prayed for and prepared for. Although, as most of you parents out there know that a dream come true has both its challenges and rewards. I feel that getting a Lap Band and becoming a parent are quite comparable. Like becoming a mother, getting banded was a dream come true. It is something I longed for prepared for worked hard for. However, just like becoming a parent, there were things that nothing could have prepared me for. For example with the first child you are so very careful to be sure that child is always clean always safe and only the best will do. A minor cut or bump would send me to the doctor or even the ER for sure! But as time goes on and I had another child experience has taught me that some minor scrapes and bumps just need a kiss or a band aid or on a bad day both, and it is okay if they go out and get a little dirty now and then. In fact it is actually healthy for them.   

    Just is the same with the Lap Band. At first I was the most careful bandster you could ever ask for. I only ate what I should when I should and how much I should. Then time passes and I tended to lax a little. That first bump in the road sent me to the doctor right away. Oh no I PB’ed on a chocolate covered cherry! I know my band must have slipped for sure! Not true I just had to do liquids for the next meal or two. But that wasn’t good enough for me I had to do liquids for the rest of the day and all the next just to be sure! Now I have learned what I can eat and what I should be careful with. Just like the child that gets dirty and bumped, now I have learned. And I don’t feel the need to go to the doctor at every little mishap anymore.  In fact it is healthy for me, to be able to live and learn from my mistakes, and explore different kinds of foods that I can tolerate.  

    Another way getting banded is like becoming a new parent is all the judgments you receive from your peers. As a woman in today’s world you will be judged whether you decide to stay home with you children or if you decide to work. If you decide to stay home you will be judged by those saying “ women have worked hard for the right to go to work and by not doing so you are keeping us stuck in the 50’s” other side says “ if you didn’t want to raise children you should not have them!” As a stay home mother I feel that all children on both sides of the spectrum are being loved and cared for very adequately by their parents. And if you want to work please do not hesitate to love a child just because you love your career too.   

    Just is the same for the Lap Band. One side is saying, “ If you are not going to follow all the rules and lose it all then why even get it?” Or I have to have RNY because I love my chocolate too much and don’t want to give it up. My answer to that is yes you can have the Lap Band and slide from the rules now and then. While doing so you will not lose all the weight you want that is a consequence for those actions. However, it doesn’t mean one should get rid of their band because they let a rule slide now and then. I have lost a considerable amount of weight and do not follow the rules to an exact science. Does that mean that I should have never gotten the band? Heck no! I would still weigh around 400 pounds! Being around 200 is so much better! And getting the RNY means you will more than likely have to give up your chocolate all together. However, If you and your surgeon have made the decision to go that route then by all means do it with a clear conscious and surround yourself with others who made the same choice as you. It is so important to surround yourself with the peers that will support you and get rid of your saboteurs. Just like a stay at home mother would not get much support from a group of career moms. 

    Should you exercise? Yes, you should! We all know that. We knew that before we were banded. But lets face it if we did everything we wouldn’t need the Lap Band. I don’t have a set work out routine, however I am a much more active person. I ride bikes with my kids, bring the laundry up the stairs my self, and take the first parking spot I see (unless it is just too cold out there!). I am just trying to live a normal life and now I can do that.                                                                

                                                               A Typical Day of Eating   

I have a lot of people ask me what my typical day looks like when I eat so I wrote up a sample menu.The number one rule I follow is water. 
I start the day (around 8-10am) with 12oz water (1st one takes about 1 and a half hrs to get in) 
wait 30 min then have lunch 

Lunch will usually consist of leftover dinner from the night before –and trust me there will always be leftovers! Or if I go out it will be something off a dollar menu. And I eat about half of that, and maybe a couple of someone else’s fries. (I am too cheap to spend the money on a small order of fries and only eat a few!)

About ½ cup cottage cheese and 4-8 wheat thins (Or maybe some leftover lunch if I got something off the dollar menu)

2-4oz of meat 2-4T of veggies few bites of whatever I want Today I had potato chips and ranch dip. Yes full fat chips with full fat dip. About a small hand full of chips and 1T of dip.If we go out to, say, Chili’s I will order the grilled chicken sandwich and substitute the fries for the sautéed veggies and my family always gets chips salsa and ranch for an appetizer So I have a few of those trying to be careful and save room for dinner! Then when dinner comes I take the chicken off the bun and have a nice grilled chicken dinner with sautéed veggies and take most of it home.

Chips and salsa or bean dip or half of a toasted cheese sandwich or crackers and cheese