Carrie C.

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Plateau Buster Diet

How to break a plateau

#1 - Do this for 10 days to break a plateau

#2 - Drink 2 quarts of water a day

#3 - You must have 45 grams of protein supplement and all your vitamins/minerals supplements each day

#4 - You may consume up to 3 oz of the following high protein foods, 5x a day

beef
pork
chicken
turkey
lamb
fish
eggs
low fat cheese
cottage cheese
plain yogurt or artificially sweetened (?)
peanut butter
beans/legumes

You may also have:

sugar free popsicles
tea or coffee
sugar free soda
sugar free jello
broths/bullion (sp?)
crystal light drinks

#5 - If it's not on the list, you can't have it for 10 days!!!!

#6 - Keep a food diary and try to get up to 30 mins of exercise daily

How to Tell When You Are Perfectly Adjusted
You are losing 1-2 pounds per week.

If you are not losing 1-2 pounds per week:

A. You may need an eating adjustment

1. Are you eating 60 grams of protein a day
2. Are you eating 25 grams of fiber
3. Are you avoiding all liquid calories
a. Soup can be sign of “soft calorie syndrome”
b. Alcohol contains a lot of calories – 7 calories per gram
(1) It’s also a stomach irritant
c. Fruit juice is just sugar water
4. Are you making healthy food choices from a wide variety of
foods?
a. Are you avoiding soft foods
b. You can’t just eat what’s easy
c. Cheese is glorified fat
5. Are you drinking 6-8 glasses of water a day between meals
6. Are you eating too much junk
a. Chips, chocolate, nuts, ice cream, cookies and other highly
processed junk foods are too calorically dense to be regular parts of a
healthy diet. But don’t avoid them completely to the point where you
feel deprived.
b. Stay out of fast food places
7. Are you getting in two servings of calcium daily
8. Do you always eat the protein first
9. Then the vegetables or fruits
a. Five servings a day
b. Potatoes are NOT a vegetable
10. Is your portion size appropriate?
a. Meat or fish
(1) 3 ounces – the size of a deck of cards
b. Vegetables
(1) ½ cup – the size of your fist
c. Starch
(1) If you eat the protein and the vegetables first you don’t need
much
(2) Avoid: rice, potatoes, pasta
11. You might try avoiding artificial sweeteners
a. Some people think that artificial sweeteners stimulate the
appetite
b. They are HUNDREDS of times sweeter than sugar
c. They teach you to like things too sweet
d. There is no evidence that people who use them are any thinner
than people who don’t
12. Avoid most diet foods
a. Real food usually tastes better
b. Real food is more satisfying than low calorie substitutes
c. When you are only eating a tiny bit the caloric savings is not
that great
(1) Use a teaspoon of real butter instead of a tablespoon of diet
margarine
(2) The body has no way to break down artificial fats
a. They may go into permanent storage
b. Some people think liposuction is the only way to remove
hydrolyzed fats from the body

B. You may need a behavior adjustment

1. Are you eating only when you are hungry?
a. If you’re not sure drink 8 ounces of water and wait.
2. Are you eating three meals a day?
a. With maybe 1 or 2 small snacks
3. Are you sitting down to eat?
4. Are you eating consciously?
a. No distractions, turn off the TV, put the book or newspaper
away, pay attention to your food and your companions
5. Are you eating slowly?
a. Put the fork down between bites
b. Take 20 to 30 minutes to finish a meal
c. Taking longer might cause the pouch to begin emptying
6. Are you taking small bites?
a. Tiny spoon, chopsticks, cocktail fork
7. Are you chewing well?
8. Are you drinking with your meals or too soon after your meals?
a. Practice water loading between meals
b. You won’t be thirsty if you are well hydrated before the meal
9. Are you stopping at the first sign of fullness?
a. Sometimes it’s a whisper: not hungry, had enough
b. Hard stop versus soft stop
10. Do not eat between meals. Stop grazing.
11. Do not eat when you are not hungry

C. You may need an activity adjustment

1. Are you getting in 30 minutes of physical activity at least 3
times a week?
a. Over and above what you would do in the usual course of your day
b. Could you make it 4 or 5 times a week?
c. Could you make it 45 or 60 minutes?
2. Are you taking advantage of opportunities to increase your
physical activity?
a. Taking the stairs instead of the elevators or escalators
b. Walking on the escalators instead of riding
c. Parking your car further away from the entrance
d. Getting out of the car instead of using the drive through
e. Getting off the bus one stop before your destination
f. Washing you car by hand instead of the car wash
g. Playing with your kids

D. You may need an attitude adjustment

1. Are you committed to your weight loss journey?
2. Are you totally honest with yourself about how much you are
eating and exercising?
a. Log your food and activity on ww.fitday.com for 3 days
3. Are you using food inappropriately to deal with emotional
issues?
a. Have you identified what the emotions are that drive your
eating?
b. Can you think of more appropriate ways to deal with those
emotions?
c. Are you willing to seek help from a qualified counselor?
4. Are you attending and participating in support group meetings?
5. Have you drummed up some support from your family and friends?
6. Have you dealt with saboteurs realistically?
7. Do you have realistic expectations about the weight loss
journey?
8. Are you still obsessing about food, weight, dieting, eating?
a. Obsessive – compulsive thoughts
(1) Obsess about something else
b. Perfectionism
(1) All or none, black and white thinking
c. Patience with the pace of healthy weight loss
9. Are you acknowledging your successes with non-food rewards?
10. Have you learned how to take a compliment?
11. Are you giving up diet mentality?
a. Stop weighing yourself several times a day or every day
b. Stop dieting
c. Stop depriving yourself
d. Stop defining food as “good” and “bad”
e. Stop rewarding and punishing yourself with food
12. How do you feel about all the changes taking place?

E. You may need a band adjustment

1. You feel like you are making healthy food choices in appropriate
portion sizes but getting hungry between meals?
2. You can still eat white bread, fibrous vegetables and large
portions.
3. You are having to struggle to lose
4. You are gaining weight in spite of eating right, exercising and
having a good mind set.

F. You may need your band loosened

1. There are times when you can’t get fluids down
2. You are vomiting too much
a. How much is too much?
3. Do you have frequent reflux or heartburn at night?
a. Do not lie flat or bend over soon after eating
b. Do not eat late at night or just before bedtime
c. Rinse your pouch with a glass or water an hour before bedtime
d. Certain foods or drinks are more likely to cause reflux:
(1) Rich, spicy, fatty and fried foods
(2) Chocolate
(3) Caffeine
(4) Alcohol
(5) Some fruits and vegetables
a. Oranges, lemons, tomatoes, peppers
(6) Peppermint
a. Baking soda toothpaste
(7) Carbonated drinks
e. Eat slowly and do not eat big meals
f. If you smoke, quit smoking
g. Reduce stress
h. Exercise promotes digestion
i. Raise the head of your bed
j. Wear loose fitting clothing around your waist
k. Stress increases reflux
l. Take estrogen containing medications in the morning
m. Avoid aspirin, Aleve and ibuprofen at bedtime
(1) Tylenol is OK
n. Take an antacid (Pepcid complete) before retiring
o. Try other over-the-counter heartburn medications
p. See your health care provider
4. See your health care provider immediately (or call 911) if
a. You have a squeezing, tightness or heaviness in your chest,
especially if the discomfort spreads to your shoulder, arm or jaw or is
accompanied by shortness of breath, sweating, irregular or fast
heartbeat or nausea. These could be symptoms of a heart attack.
b. If your symptoms are triggered by exercise.
c. If your pain localizes to your right side, especially if you
also have nausea or fever
d. If you throw up vomit that looks like black sand or coffee
grounds. Or if your stool is black, deep red or looks like it has tar
in it. These are symptoms of bleeding and need immediate attention.

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My band is finally working. I got my second fill May 15th and I have good restriction. I fot my 3rd fill June 6th and am at my sweet spot. It is a hole different feeling now. I can not eat like I used to. Thank goodness. I have 6.5 cc's in my 10 cc band. I have finally moved from the 25 pound mark I was at since the second week after surgery. Now I have lost 36.5 pounds. At one point I wondered if the band was gonna work. Now I know it will that is a really good feeling.   Carrie

Ok, there are different levels of being so called stuck.

Here are some helpful tips on how to deal with this.

1. Mild stuck episode -  Mild feeling of discomfort after eating something too large to go through the stoma

This pain can typically be helped with just walking around, or raising one arm at a time over your head, or flapping both arms or holding your arm over your head, this helps dislodged the food. Sometime chewing papaya tablets/ drinking lemon juice/pineapple juice OR hot tea sometime will also help ease digestion. Typically this type mild stuck episode you don't have to PB or vomit, you can ride this out by just flapping your arms, so you can save yourself a PB episode.

2. Severe stuck episode - Severe pain in the chest, sometimes difficulty breathing, with this type of stuck episode you MUST slime and/or PB/vomit to try to dislodge the food, papaya tabs WILL NOT HELP this type of severe stuck episode, the only relief is to try to walk around and spit up until the food that is dislodge, PLEASE CHEW YOUR FOOD WELL, since this type of event IS NOT GOOD for the band to do frequently and CAN cause the band to slip, but unfortunately is the only way to dislodge the food and NEVER try to drink something when you are feeling hosed up, it will make matters worse. Also, after a very severe stuck/PB episode it is recommend to go on liquids for a day or so to let things calm down to prevent further swelling and further vomiting, you will find a warm heat pad is also good to apply to your chest after a bad PB episode also to reduce swelling around the band.

3. TRUE STUCK episode - if the food is truly stuck, NOTHING will go through, and you may continue to vomit until you get medical help, and you will experience EXTREME chest pains and vomiting, and difficulty breathing sometimes. I have heard of people having to get food surgically removed through endoscope, this is also call food obstruction and this happens ALOT so be careful.

Edit: Please make sure you chew your food to mush also to prevent getting stuck, chicken should be moist or in some sauce at all times when you have restriction...and bread will become a nono.....

I have personally got a pill stuck and thought I was going to die, but threw up -( about 10 times) until it finally became dislodged, not something I want to remember.

http://bariatrictimes.com/2007/06/02/the-lap-band-ap%e2%84%a2-system-the-platform-advances/

The Band for me!  I copied this from a friends page. I have the same band!!!
on June 15, 2007 6:10 pm
This is the band my doctor is using currently.  I'm excited to get this one!

Allergan/Inamed has a new band in the US called the AP band. It has not yet been released to the general public but I have put a number of these excellent bands in. There are a couple of differences in this band and the previous ones:

1. Cuff - the cuff on the AP band is 360 degrees around, as opposed to about 300 degrees on the prior bands (there was no cuff around the buckle on the old ones)

2. Cuff length - the cuff on the AP band is 18mm longer/taller than on the previous bands, so the surface area in contact with the stomach is much greater, hopefully increasing the speed of weight loss and maybe reducing the risk of slips

3. Cuff volume - the AP small holds 10cc, the AP large holds 14cc

Note that we do not believe that AP patients will lose MORE weight, just possibly faster. So those of you with the older models, it would definitely not be to your benefit to think about having your band swapped out!

• They are either APS (small, 10cc) or APL (large, 14cc).
• They are considered by some to be "the next generation in AGBs".
• They are considered less likely to cause blockage or obstruction than other AGP types.
• They are considered less likely to slip than other AGP types.
• They are considered to be less likely to cause band erosion than other AGP types.
• Like the VG band it is "Omniform" technology - i.e. the balloon has ribs or baffles and the band itself is curved.
• The AP has more of a 360 inflation around the stomach as opposed to the 10cm or 9.75cm (4cc) bands, which have more like 260 or 280 degrees inflation (the rest being the buckle), and the VG which has more like 280 or 300. It is understood that this was simply an upgrade to the existing band to make it easier and less traumatic to remove.
• The silicone material is much softer than other AGP types.
• They are more concentric (rounded) when inflated than other AGB types.
• The balloon is pleated to 'grip' the stomach better.
• The balloon goes all the way around the inner surface of the band, rather than missing a piece at the locking mechanism.
• The balloon is wider. A sideview of the band shows the balloon protruding top & bottom rather than sitting flush.
• They have an easier release mechanism to remove the band if need be.
• They have the locking mechanism isolated from the stomach.
• AP type bands have been FDA approved for the US, but will not be available until the summer at the earliest.
• We understand that there are NO plans at this time to discontinue any of the bands Allergan already makes. They still plan to manufacture and offer the 10cm and the 9.75cm (the 4cc) bands as well as the VG band.
• new : AP ( Advanced Platform ):
• APS ( small)
• APL ( large )

Hey I finally got the surgery. Every thing went well. I am doing great. I have to say I am a little hungery. I think I should associate this with thurst instead.
remember Drink Drink Drink. Yesterday went well I really liked Dr Broussard. He is a good Doctor did a good job.

Hello today is the first day of my new Life. I go for the band today. I am a little nervious but excited more so. I will let every one know how things went.
3/19/08

Post Date: 3/17/08 7:43 am
This is to all of you. My name is Carrie and I am having surgery on the 19th of March. In 2 days. I was scedualed for today the 17th of March and have paid for the sleeve. My husband was so scared of it he could not grasp the thought of losing me now or later on (20 years) due to some complications of cutting out my stomach. He is a thinker I am a doer. He makes up for me when I am not thinking things threw and I give him a push when things need to get done. I thank him for helping me realize that was not for me. The things I have read here have also helped me see the risks are to great for me. I am going to be a bandster now. The reasons are so simular to yours. I am really to scared to go threw with the sleeve. I love my family and my health is to imporant to me. I have 75 to 80 pounds to lose and the control I will have with the band will help me accomplish that. So thank you all for your words they have touched some one more than you may have intended. LOL. I will be back