Weigh-Ins are on MONDAYS - Updated July 3, 2017

Surgery Date: October 20, 2009:

Monday, July 30, 2012

Thank You For All the Lessons...

The Lap-Band had NEVER limited my portions.

The amount of food that I eat has always been up to me and my choices.

Here's how it had usually gone down with my Lap-Band:
  1. I measure (or weigh-out) my one cup portion of food in a dish.
  2. I chew like a maniac and eat it all in about 25-30 minutes.
  3. There is nothing left in the bowl or plate.
  4. I am done eating. 
  5. BECAUSE there is no more food to eat.
Did I feel like I could eat more? Abso-freakin-lutely.  Pretty much at every meal.  But I didn't usually.

Ever since my last fill (about 8 weeks ago), here are things that are NEW to me:
  • Not finishing my one cup of food because if I eat one more bite, I feel like it'll all come back up. I'll now usually eat and enjoy about 3/4 of the meal, solid proteins and veggies/carbs.
  • I now realize why they always tell us bandsters, "protein first."  Don't tell anyone, but I used to kinda roll my eyes at that saying. I thought that some medical peeps thought that up in a fancy conference room somewhere and thought that it sounded good...EVEN though they never had bands inside them, so what did they know. But now I realize that there might not be any room left for the protein if I start with the veggies/etc. I never really "got it" until now.
  • Not having room for dessert.  I'm too full.  Dessert is usually at least a once a week event. For example, I went to Cold Stone Ice Creamery the other night with friends and DID NOT EAT ICE CREAM. WTF. I NEVER pass up ice cream. Ever. Ice cream! The ultimate slider-food and I didn't feel like I could comfortably eat it.
  • I've stopped eating snacks too soon before a meal, because the snack will literally take up too much room. I now fully understand the phrase "don't eat that, it'll spoil your dinner."  I sometimes pass on the chips n' salsa and the bread basket now at restaurants. WTF x 2.  An entirely NEW concept and experience for me.
These are things that haven't really happened before.

Ummm...have I finally begun to understand what this Lap-Band is meant for?

Has it really taken over two years and nine months to get to this place with my band? I did flirt with this concept when, in my opinion, I thought that my band was over-filled last summer. But I wasn't ready then.

But I am ready now.

I'm okay with my band at this level (7.8 cc's in 10 cc band).

Of course, this new restriction level didn't stop me from making a delicious chocolate peanut butter pie on Saturday and then eating three slices of it over the weekend.  But that's a discussion for another day I suppose.

I still haven't had an official food "PB" since being banded.  All food that has gone down, has stayed down.  But I have come very close a few times! Yikes.

I just have had occasional difficulties swallowing large vitamins.  My first food PB will happen one of these days. And I will tell you all about it in gruesome detail so that you too can cringe like I always cringe reading about your first PB stories.

I'm liking these new-to-me experiences with my Lap-Band.

I always knew that my band could do this, but do you know what?

I am very thankful that it actually took this long to get here.

If it hadn't taken this long to get to this level of restriction, I wouldn't have learned so many lessons that have hopefully, permanently, changed my food behaviors.

I think that I'm loving my Lap-Band even more now.




And now for a photo that I forgot to show you about six or seven or twelve posts ago because it was trapped inside my iPhone. But the pic is released now...to roam free among the interwebs. I got henna tattooed at Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World when I was in Florida.  The tattoo lasted about a week and then faded away.  A perfect amount of time for this commitment phobic girl:
I miss my spray tan...don't you?

26 comments:

  1. Thats great! Lovely restriction and very cool tattoo!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ooh pretty henna!

    I'm surprised by your post - but in a good way! You've proven to me (yet again) that it's not the band that does the work, it's *us*. You've managed to set yourself up for success with great control and discipline, even when your band wasn't sending you those "STOP EATING" signals - amazing and inspiring!!

    A lesson I can't hear and internalize often enough - thanks, LBG!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Now I want a spray tan, you look fab. And I hear ya. The "try and eat slow and make your food last an hour" gals? Negatory, that's for the birds. I got stuff to do!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I've never gotten to that point and I've been banded for over a year now. It sounds pretty awesome, I'm not gonna lie ;)

    ReplyDelete
  5. pretty henna and pink nails...yes I need a tan too!

    ReplyDelete
  6. You continue to amaze me everyday my dear! How crazy you've had the band this long and you are just now REALLY feeling the restriction. That's some awesome will power my friend. You go girl! Maybe 135 isn't a completely absurd goal?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Julie. I think I'll stick with 145 lbs for now. At 135 lbs, only the tatas get smaller (nothing else) and me no likey that! LOL :)

      Delete
  7. sometimes I hate that feeling, sometimes my emotional side takes over and I really want to finish that plate of nachos instead of having 3 fill me up. I am so glad it is there to save me from myself.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thanks for the post always so informative

    ReplyDelete
  9. I like reading this....I feel very similarly. I don't have a huge amount in my band - 6 ccs - but I think the eating patterns I've picked up have helped a lot. I didn't feel any restriction at all until my last fill, and even now it's hit or miss. Learning to be comfortable with the amount I eat and the feeling of satiety has helped a lot. Glad to know you've paved the way!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Do you have any regrets since being banded?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I only have one regret: not getting the band sooner. Kicking myself for not doing it earlier in my life.

      Delete
  11. What do you do about measuring your food when you are out to eat? I do great at home, but when we go out I feel like I eat more than I should (but not as much I could). Recently I have been asking for the to go box before I ever start eating...which has helped.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Your restriction level sounds like how my sleeve's been all along. Yea!

    Love the tat.

    ReplyDelete
  13. great info, as usual, girl! protein first sure does ring true, doesn't it?!

    ReplyDelete
  14. AnonymousJuly 30, 2012

    I'm confused. If the band never limited your choices, and you always felt like you could eat more...but you have also had great success and only regret you didn't get it sooner - I'm confused how it DID help you so much? What was different for you all this time that is due to being banded? (Again, sorry if that seems like a dumb question...I'm really trying to understand the difference of realistic expectations for banding, I also know each person's experience is unique.)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good question CJ. :)

      The band's main purpose (in my opinion) is to reduce true/real hunger, not restrict intake of food.

      And absolutely my band has been doing just that since I first got it. I am almost never hungry. But that never stops my "head hunger" AKA when a trip through the Taco Bell drive-thru sounds like a good idea, even though I am not hungry.

      I can sometimes go 6-8 hours and FORGET to eat because I'm not hungry. So I sometimes have to eat based on the clock (every 3-4 hours).

      Delete
    2. AnonymousJuly 31, 2012

      Thank you! That is a very clear answer, and extremely helpful. :-)

      Delete
  15. I so wish I had saved the true restriction until now. Before i had way more drive and determination...having a nice restriction to kick me in the arse would be nice :)

    The PB thing ins't really that traumatic..definitely not like food poisoning or anything :)

    xxxooo

    ReplyDelete
  16. I agree with Tina-- and that said: this was a great and interesting post.
    I've somewhere learned about 'spoiling my dinner' and I think this was related to the band... I somehow got the sense of "I won't enjoy my food as much unless I'm hungry enough to eat."
    But I've never done the absolute discipline of measuring food and then saying 'the end.' This is clearly a way that you are succeeding and I will try to take a page from you.

    ReplyDelete
  17. You are doing so well and I love the picture at the end. You're just a tiny little thing now. Adorable too. :)

    ReplyDelete
  18. i am curious, when you say you measure a cup- is that of everything protien, veggies, etc combined? Or do you have a cup of veggies, a cup of protien, etc.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. thanks....i have been doing seperate...i think its time for a fill for me! lol

      Delete
  19. Finding that sweet spot is so darn tricky.

    Loving the henna btw! xx

    ReplyDelete
  20. wow. this is the first time I've felt we are polar opposites in or band experience. that restriction you're note feeling. ....I've had since my very first fill. MANY pb's along the way. yup. my band was doing all the heavy lifting. until about a month ago when things were so tight we emptied it completely. i still have good restriction. i just have to listen more carefully to realise it. I'm now doing the heavy lifting that you apparently have been doing all along. again, you amaze and inspire me!

    ReplyDelete