lap band and the MFP

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back2theIslandbody
back2theIslandbody Posts: 27
in Food and Nutrition
I have recently had lap band surgery and it is not as cut and dry as I thought it would be. It is very difficult and I credit all my weight loss to date so far from the surgery. I have hit a plateau and trying to change it up a little as far as my diet and my excersize goes. If anyone has any suggestions please let me know. Also I find that because of the limitations that I have w food, my calorie intake is not as high as it should be I only eat about 750-800 calories a day and then I excersize and it burns about another 200-400 calories. If anyone who has had the surgery and is facing this issue or has mastered this issue please share !!!

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  • cassieko
    cassieko Posts: 40 Member
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    Hey - I am an RD and used to work with WLS patients. Where are you getting your calories from? Make sure you are getting adequate protein - If you don't, your body will start breaking down your muscle mass and your metabolism will slow down. That was always the biggest issue with my pts hitting plateaus...

    Also, what kind of exercising are you doing? Strength training or just aerobic activity?
  • rolandhulme
    rolandhulme Posts: 148 Member
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    Hey Michelle! Welcome to MFP and congrats on the weight loss.

    I'm not an expert, but do you think the lap band combined with exercise might mean you're ingesting too few calories, and that's why you hit a plateau? I spent six weeks eating really lean and didn't lose a pound, and then it dropped off once I picked up my calories to maintenance level (which was probably under maintenance because I don't do a good job logging my exercise.)

    I know your body goes into starvation mode if you have too few calories, so maybe that's the reason.

    I would suggest - and again, I'm no expert! - trying some protein shakes. They'll up your calories and the protein will help maintain your lean body mass so you keep your muscles (or build more) and lose fat. I'd also stick to weight training and avoid cardio, as you want to build muscle at this point, rather than just burn calories (of which you're probably eating too few.)

    Wiser and more experienced people are bound to weigh in (geddit?) soon - but hopefully I've given some food for thought!

    Good luck and welcome on board!
  • back2theIslandbody
    back2theIslandbody Posts: 27
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    I have a protien shake in the morning, and i try and add a protien for lunch and w dinner .. it is about 40-60 grams a day depending onm y hectic schedule .. I have just been doing cadio .. however wed I am starting up w tae bo (for now till I get Zumba) looking forward to something new.. I have just been able to start bending a lot better w/out the port getting kinked ... which is so much better
  • Elizabethhobbs84
    Elizabethhobbs84 Posts: 26
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    I haven't had the surgery myself but I'm a medical assistant that sees it everyday. I work for 3 bariatric surgeons, who specialize in lap banding and gastric bypass. I would be extremely careful with any program like MFP without consulting your surgeon first.
    I see the benefit of MFP as having a food diary, sometimes, you surgeon likes to see this. I know mine do. A common question I ask my patients are "What are you eating?"
    You would have to factor in your fills/band adjustments, ect. Also your diet should be different than that of some one who has not had gastrointestinal surgery. The way your body absorbs food and nutrients has changed.
    Basically I'm trying to say consult your surgeon first. Hope this helps :-)
  • back2theIslandbody
    back2theIslandbody Posts: 27
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    Thank you so much for the advice ... I am going to start making wiser choices I think you are right Im just not eating enough .. but it is hard cause I can only eat so much at 1 time ... 1/2 cup of food and take 20 mins to eat it... I dont know about you but that is a hard concept to swallow (LOL) but I am getting better at it
  • back2theIslandbody
    back2theIslandbody Posts: 27
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    I haven't had the surgery myself but I'm a medical assistant that sees it everyday. I work for 3 bariatric surgeons, who specialize in lap banding and gastric bypass. I would be extremely careful with any program like MFP without consulting your surgeon first.
    I see the benefit of MFP as having a food diary, sometimes, you surgeon likes to see this. I know mine do. A common question I ask my patients are "What are you eating?"
    You would have to factor in your fills/band adjustments, ect. Also your diet should be different than that of some one who has not had gastrointestinal surgery. The way your body absorbs food and nutrients has changed.
    Basically I'm trying to say consult your surgeon first. Hope this helps :-)

    Thank you so much .. yes I have asked him and he said it was fine for me to track everything here !!!
  • Knaroz
    Knaroz Posts: 23
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    Heya back if you wanna add me as a friend I had the band in July 2010, and as my weight loss has slowed I decided to come here and track stuff. What they are saying about your low calories is a very big reason for the plateau. Right after I had my band I went full metal exercising and cutting calories. And my weight started to creep up. When I begin to track it I noticed that I was taking in 600-800 calories a day but was exercising just as many off so my body was in starvation mode. I backed off the diet part and the weight started to drop again. It definitely is a fine line between eatting right and eatting enough lol
  • back2theIslandbody
    back2theIslandbody Posts: 27
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    Heya back if you wanna add me as a friend I had the band in July 2010, and as my weight loss has slowed I decided to come here and track stuff. What they are saying about your low calories is a very big reason for the plateau. Right after I had my band I went full metal exercising and cutting calories. And my weight started to creep up. When I begin to track it I noticed that I was taking in 600-800 calories a day but was exercising just as many off so my body was in starvation mode. I backed off the diet part and the weight started to drop again. It definitely is a fine line between eatting right and eatting enough lol

    **THANK YOU** I am goig to try that cause i am getting frusterated .. congrats on your loss so far it is wonderful. I am going to try that and see what happens...
  • cassieko
    cassieko Posts: 40 Member
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    Our docs used to recommend 90g protein/day - most pts had a hard time getting that in, but at least by trying, they avoided the simple carbs/high-sugar "diet" foods that would sabotage them... Increase your strength training - when yuo build muscle mass, it increases your Basal Metabolic Rate... may be the push you need in the right direction.

    Do make sure you are getting enough to eat, maybe add snacks in between meals (cheese and nuts were always pt favorites).

    Good luck :)
  • back2theIslandbody
    back2theIslandbody Posts: 27
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    Our docs used to recommend 90g protein/day - most pts had a hard time getting that in, but at least by trying, they avoided the simple carbs/high-sugar "diet" foods that would sabotage them... Increase your strength training - when yuo build muscle mass, it increases your Basal Metabolic Rate... may be the push you need in the right direction.

    Do make sure you are getting enough to eat, maybe add snacks in between meals (cheese and nuts were always pt favorites).

    Good luck :)

    Thank you very much for the suggestions... I am going to start doing that .. I was told the 1st 50 is the easiest the last 50 is the hardest ... and I am sure starting to believe that !!!
  • JeanSmith
    JeanSmith Posts: 1
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    I was told what I could and couldn't eat from the doctor that did the lap band. But reading on here and looking at receipes its like everyone is doing the total opposite of what I am or will be doing. I was told we can't drink any milk (soy,lactose) or have anything related to milk or eat any sugar for the rest of our lives after /Now how is that possible to avoid those two things when sugar is in everything. I can understand maybe limiting your sugar intake to 3g and under. But we are allowed to have: non fat cottage cheese, not fat cheese...okay there is milk in both of those so not sure or understand why we couldn't have milk. I want to do the right thing and eat the right items but am a bit confused. So does anyone suggest anything without milk based products or sugar?
  • back2theIslandbody
    back2theIslandbody Posts: 27
    Options
    I was told what I could and couldn't eat from the doctor that did the lap band. But reading on here and looking at receipes its like everyone is doing the total opposite of what I am or will be doing. I was told we can't drink any milk (soy,lactose) or have anything related to milk or eat any sugar for the rest of our lives after /Now how is that possible to avoid those two things when sugar is in everything. I can understand maybe limiting your sugar intake to 3g and under. But we are allowed to have: non fat cottage cheese, not fat cheese...okay there is milk in both of those so not sure or understand why we couldn't have milk. I want to do the right thing and eat the right items but am a bit confused. So does anyone suggest anything without milk based products or sugar?

    I know how it can be confusing.. I was told the same thing by the dr as well however I asked about non fat milk and that is allowed ... limit the suger as much as you can I know it is hard but I am a huge chocolate finatic and I got suger free hershey bars and it helps took a while to get used to it, but eventually it works and i dont crave it as much as i used to. Hope this helps
  • imasopranogirl
    imasopranogirl Posts: 1
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    I am so glad to see these comments on here. After reading I'm realizing I'm low on calories which slows my weight loss down after lapband. Thank you!!! Now onto finding things I can get down. My issues change daily. Once day I can eat chicken, the next day I can't. I've also learned leftovers are NOT my friend any longer! When food is from the night before it tends to dry and will not go down!

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