How much is diet and how much is the band...

Pizzicato66 Wow I just had to comment on how much weight you have lost in two months  Awesome Job!! 

Laura...you are still in the healing stage by far.  So you shouldn't be worried about losing(you will lose I promise), but about getting in enough for your body to heal and function.  You are still swollen even if you don't feel like it.  You will see results soon, and as weird as it may sound....your scale will move when you least expect it to. GLGL!

Kris thanks for the positive words.  I didn't realize that I might still be swollen as I feel fine.  As for my scale it might move when least expected but it might be helped by my foot kicking it across the room.

I asked my Dr ok how many calories a day do I eat he said this is not a diet eat what you want small portions and eat your protein first. I eat mexican food and get enchalidas beef or cheese refried beans and can only eat about 1 1/2 enchalada a little beans I am full, also fajitas beef or chicken really good.  I ask them not to bring the chips until our food arrives that way I am not tempted to eat alot of chips.I can not eat like this every meal but I do eat out 2 times a week.  This is the way the band is suppose to work according t my Dr and he feels strong about it. I eat things I like Yes 1 slice of pizza a hamburger, taco but in moderation.  Jana

Good question.   For me, the band only stops me from stuffing myself.  So that is where the choices come in.  It took me a long time to get restriction, and until I did, I ate until my band stopped me.  Sometimes I made the right choices and sometimes I didn't.  I will say that I could not lose any amount of weight and keep it off without the band as long as I am the one making the choices. My problem is not so much sweets, although I do love my ice cream, but rich creamy "things".  And we all know how well they go down.  So for me it has to be about diet to get the max out of the band.  And it is very hard for me.  I was just thinking last night that I should not be allowed in my own kitchen because the creative juices get me in trouble.  I can not just make a simple meal of steamed fish and veggies!!!!!!!  Although, I do like healthy foods and I am not a junk eater, I can still do a lot of damage when I start poking around and making things up as I go along. It is confusing Lyndee, so I am constantly picking myself up and recommitting.  I never was a very well behaved little girl.  I know there is a lot more I can do.  And I know because of factors that I have no control over, it is harder for me to lose weight.  Old, post-menopausal, need more fill than anybody else I know of, pear shaped, just to name a few. So, I think we all have to examine our own particular cir****tance and do the best we can with what we have to work with.  Patience has been my best friend in this whole thing.  My thing is to never stop trying even though I throw a lot of road blocks in my way. Good luck to Lyndee and all.

I basically am in a sense doing a LOW CARB diet....but, to me, the band makes everything easy....before, i would loose a ton of weight...one time lost 85lbs on low-carb...but then i gained over 100 lbs!!!  This time with the band, its easy to do a low carb diet, loose, and this time NOT GAIN IT BACK!!! YEAH!   This time its MUCH easier cuz Im not as hungry!  This time im actually APPRECIATING EATING HEALTHLY FOODS!  Yeah!!...To me, whether you call it a diet or not a diet, i dont care...MY GOAL IS THE PRIZE at the end!  GO BANDSTERS!!!

For me this is a diet/way of life.  Anything fattening goes down easy and I could have virtually unlimited quantities of it, so for me the band does not make that choice for me.  I think for me with a good fill it is 40% band, 60% of my food choices.  With a band that isn't so tight, it is 90% food choices I mus****ch, 10% band.  Simply put when I'm tight, I eat to live, when I'm loose, I live to eat.

Hey Lyndee - great question and I'm going to come back here and read all the replies for my own benefit as well. I've heard some people say they don't diet -- and I can't wait for that day to come for me. I've been banded for 3 months now and it's definitely been me dieting. I am sure the band has helped but it's been me watching what I eat, not eating crap, not binging, no candy / pop / chips / french fries. I got a fill a week ago and it's helped me feel more satisfied on smaller amounts which is good. But before the fill, I would eat my serving of food and be done with it. Would I want more? Sure. So I feel like I have definitely still been dieting. I've also been exercising 3-4 times/ week consistently which is a pretty big change for me as well. So to date, for me personally? 50% band, 50% Krista

I feel like everyone else does. I've been told that I took the easy way out. But that's not the case, as we all know. I haven't had a fill yet, I'm only 3 weeks out and  I don't have that full feeling anymore when I eat and it's very, very easy to eat the wrong thing. It's so much a "Head thingy". I have to stop and remind myself why I did this. We all took a very BIG step in our lives and we'll all make mistakes once in a while. Just get over it and move on. I too have difficulty getting my water in. I have a job that will not allow me to have anythig to drink at my desk and we all know tha****er is essential to weight loss. It takes discipline and perseverance and that's why we need to stay on these posts. To motivate one another, right? So let's DO IT!

I don't know what you find confusing about losing weight after band surgery. Ask your nutritionist how many calories and how much protein you should eat in a day, then do just what he or she says.  There are no gray areas, it's black and white.  You can cheat, but you can't cheat the scale. Most nutritionists will say something like 1200 calories a day.  I don't know about you, but for me that's a diet and always will be.  It requires careful planning, and especially a record of every little morsel that passes into your mouth.  I hope nobody ever told you this would be easy.  If they did, they were lying or misinformed. I used to hate nutritionists because what they have to say is so simple, yet so hard to do.  Now I know they're right, and the band is the "higher power" that makes beating obesity possible for me. Your decision about a fill is a judgment call you have to make with the help of your doctor.  If you comply with your nutritionist's recommendations and you're starving all the time, you sure oughta think about one.