Sweet/Junk food eaters

FighterGirl · 06-27-2008, 08:46 AM

I learned to never deprive myself, yes I want to lose weight, but I want to enjoy life. I never ever buy more than one serving and if I do, I take what I can handle and give the rest away.

The Lap Band is about a change in lifestyle, no a complete reprogramming. Find healthier alternatives and remember portion control.

Shamrockgirl60 · 06-27-2008, 10:09 AM

Great inspiration seeing all the pounds lost here. I am so looking forward to my banding.

By changing eating habits now it won't be as hard after the banding. I will not totally deprive myself of anything, unless it makes me sick. A bite or two won't hurt.

Luckily I can tolerate splenda well. Have used it for years but then again I also abused suger, which I don't now. I need to get into control of what I eat. The pre-op diet I am on. Low carb high protein and veggies does help. A sugar free Popsicle and fudgsicle is such a treat now. I also love Dannon's Plus 0 yogurt. I have it for breakfast.
I think adding protein powder to that would be good for breakfast.

Now what was your favorite protein shakes? I want to get the right ones. I hope they give me more instructions on what to eat before and after surgery.

kkarryall · 06-27-2008, 10:48 AM

Thanks for all the great replies!! This is really encouraging!

Crazy4MyK9 · 06-27-2008, 09:18 PM

I'm glad Amy (kkarryall) started this thread and that I found it. I'm going to visit this thread often, even if there are no new posts. I'm hoping it will help me.

I'm seeing my surgeon on July 11th and I'm hoping for a little fill. During the month of May, I was doing so much better at 9 cc. You see, I had gotten a 1 cc fill at the beginning of May. Well, my period came at the end of May and that 1 cc caused problems. I was too tight, vomiting, and had horrible chest pain. The 1 cc came back out. The problem is that at 8 cc I'm experiencing too much hunger. I haven't wrapped my head around making all healthy choices, so I start turning to poor choices.

It amazes me that just a wee bit of fluid could make the difference in my Lap Band, but I need this tool to work for me, so I think I need some fine-tuning. I don't think 8 cc is my "sweet spot."

My fingers and toes are crossed that I can beat this. I do need to start journaling all my food again because the calories add up so quickly. I'm thinking that I might also start using the Weight Watchers points calculator again.

gkeyt · 06-28-2008, 12:24 AM

I think that's one of the biggest myths about the Lap Band, that "sweet eaters" can't be successful with it.

I consider myself successful, being 12 pounds away from goal, and I was a huge sweets eater. I still love sweets, but since I don't eat them often I no longer usually crave them. I do think it's important to learn how to have them occasionally, because after about a year of following the straight and narrow, it's easy to start slipping back into old habits. Learning how to keep things in check and how to enjoy treats in moderation has helped tremendously. Of course, I still have my moments when I overindulge, but thankfully they are pretty infrequent these days.

Learning how to manage "trigger foods" without binging, and how to deal with all the emotional aspects of eating, are the real work of the Lap Band, and I don't think one can be successful at this without dealing with these things, even if you don't figure them all out perfectly. The band definitely helps--but it's just the start. It's pretty easy to defeat the band if you really want to.

SugarBean · 06-28-2008, 04:38 AM

Crazy,

Maybe you need to see if you can get less than 1cc at your next fill. I have read on one of the threads that you can get as little as .1cc and it makes a difference. Maybe you need something like .4cc or .5cc Ask your doctor.

Jachut · 06-28-2008, 05:59 AM

I'm a sweet tooth and the same foods - cakes, doughuts, cookies.

I challenge you to scarf down 3 donuts in a row once you're banded. I can guarantee you'll PB that out your ears, nose AND mouth. Its impossible.

Cookies still go down great, I handle it like I did before. I dont buy them and if I really must have one or two, we make it a family thing, buy a packet, share them out, everyone has a reasonable treat but they're gone. I absolutely do NOT keep them in the house or buy them thinking I'm going to just eat one or two out of the packet.

Same with chocolate and stuff like that. We had some tonight actually, its Saturday night here, we had a movie to watch, had a glass of wine and some chocolate. But we bought the 55g bars of Cadbury's and had a piece or two each, not a family block of chocolate.

Dont eat desserts, never have as a general rule, not unless its a special occasion.

I've managed OK. When I do break out with my band, its ALWAYS sweet foods but I just decided I couldnt keep eating the way I was if I wanted to lose weight, so really, I stopped.

And of course now that I do lots of exercise, I can get away with a lot more than I could before.

Barb12590 · 06-28-2008, 06:23 AM

I will be banded by George Fielding on JUly 7th! Can you tell me about your experience at NYU? Did you stay overnight or just "23" hours? Were you put in a semi-private room. I'd love to hear all about it. Were you in alot of pain? How did you do on the liquids?

Obviously, I am newer to the band than you. I was told by the psychologist that if you are a bread/pasta/food lover, you do really well with the band because it can't fit through. Is that true? Listening to you guys, it doesn't sound right. He told me that eating
Ice cream and foods like that are easy to go through the band and would slow down weight loss. I thought that was good for me because I am a bagel, pasta, FOOD lover. Not so much for the sweets, although cookies haven't stood a chance around me. I am on day 6 of my two week liquid diet(straight liquids) and I was doing great. Yesterday, I had chicken broth. I guess it had too much salt or something because I am feeling soo bloated this morning. After 5 days, I almost forgot what it felt to be full. I was feeling like I was losing weight. I feel like my mind is clearer, though! Wish me luck!

SB0233 · 06-28-2008, 07:13 AM

I have a sweet tooth as well, and Lap Band is working for me. I just try to make slightly more sensible choices, instead of brownies and ice cream.

I don't cut out all sugars. For example, my morning yogurt has sugar, mainly in the form of fruit. I also generally have a fruit popsicle bar after dinner (only 80 cal, but it has sugar). If I am really having a craving, I will skip the chicken for dinner and get a smoothy with a protein boost. I find the fruity stuff satisfies my cravings and does not take me too much off track.

Another good substitute is to eat protein bars. Many have a small amount of chocolate in them and you are still getting your protein requirements.

Your food choices have to work for you, otherwise you will not stick with it.

Good luck.

Crazy4MyK9 · 06-29-2008, 11:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SugarBean

Crazy,

Maybe you need to see if you can get less than 1cc at your next fill. I have read on one of the threads that you can get as little as .1cc and it makes a difference. Maybe you need something like .4cc or .5cc Ask your doctor.

Hi Sugar Bean,

Last week I decided to send an e-mail to my doctor. When I discovered that he was out of town, I then decided to just go ahead and make the appointment. I'm hoping for .3 or .4cc. I know there are risks of having too much restriction, so I'm proceeding with caution. My appointment is July 11th. I'll be sure to come back and post an update.

In the meantime, I'm soaking in everyone's advice on this thread. :biggrin2: