Fat Woman With A Band

I’m still on the path on changing my food around a bit. The food sensitivity list showed no or low sensitivity to fish and shellfish. Actually I showed the most sensitivity to shrimp, which I’m not really fussy about anyway.

But, the thing is I don’t really like to cook with fish. I like tinned sardines, and do consume tinned tuna and salmon. That’s all good. I think cooking a bit more of it, with a bit more variety would be helpful.

Then, of course, there’s the fear about which fish to cook. Is it healthy? Might it be contaminated? Might it be overfished? To help me with those questions, I found this great site run by the Environmental Defense Fund in the US with a seafood selector guide. They even have a PDF to make a pocket guide.

The guide helps by showing which fish are caught or farmed in environmentally friendly way. Which fish are good for your heart, and even some cooking tips. Additionally, there’s a list of fish oil supplements showing which are acceptable based on their own research and analysis of the manufacturer’s responses to a questionnaire.

I loved this site. I think it’ll give me just the push I need, because now I feel a bit more informed, to cook more frequently with fish.

The question being: do I recommend the laparoscopic banding procedure aka the adjustable gastric band to help lose weight?

If I had my life to live over, I would have asked for another set of genes. The set of genes that would let me know when I’m full when I’ve ingested enough calories to keep me at an average weight. My mother, my uncle, and my sister managed to capture these genes. It’s not to say that each of them had been at exactly the same weight for their entire adult lives, because I know they each fluctuated. However, as my sister can do now, when she feels that she weighs a bit more than she’d like, she somehow has the inner resources to cut back a bit on her eating, and perhaps ramp up exercise a bit, and the excess weight sloughs off. Somehow her genes allow her to make these food/exercise decisions before she becomes overweight or obese.

I simply cannot do that. I eat quite a lot before I’m full, and I’m sure that there were times when I stopped eating because there was no more food, not because I couldn’t eat more. The curious thing is that I can do the “stopping” with alcohol easily. Not, not, not with food.

Back to the question. The banding has worked for me. I stop eating because I’m full with much smaller amounts than I would have consumed previous to the procedure. And, importantly, I can abide the side affects.

The first side affect is bad breath. I think this happens because I also have extra “spit” – I really don’t know how to explain this. I try to keep my teeth extra clean, and do a lot of gargling with non-alcoholic mouthwash.

The second side affect is the occasional productive burping. This usually happens if I’ve eaten too quickly, or not chewed my food enough. The food kinda gets caught, and I have to throw it up. I don’t do this too often now, as I’ve learned to slow down, and chew more thoroughly.

The lapband doesn’t help you make good food choices, or tell you to exercise. It helps only with volume of food you consume. You still need to DO the right stuff to lose weight, or to keep your weight under control.

So, I’m weaseling out of answering the question. The band worked for me – I don’t know if it’ll work for you.

I get so much out of being with friends and loved ones. Yet when I’m in trouble, usually emotionally and sometimes even physically I tend to withdraw. There’s probably some psychological reason for that – maybe one of you can enlighten me – and though I know I can almost always feel better after talking, I still withdraw.

I attended a support group at the clinic this week and I was reminded yet again how the happiness hormones kick in after just talking and interacting with others. I wasn’t in a particular bad headspace before the meeting, just having an average day. At the meeting I met eight women who were in different stages after lapband surgery. I knew one woman as we are attending the same nutrition class, but I had never met any of the others, or the facilitator.

Obviously we had a few similarities:

• female
• overweight
• had laparoscopic band surgery
• had lost weight
• had been overweight a long time.

All the other women had children, and by coincidence three of the women were nurses.

The facilitator led the discussion, and most of the women shared their experiences – how they felt, what worked for them, etc.  And even though we ranged in age from early thirties to late sixties (a guess as no one asked about ages and I’m really bad at guessing age), we each had similar experiences and feelings around being overweight and living with the band.

The topic which had the most diverse opinions and experiences was “who had we told we were banded.” Many of the participants had told only the closest family. I, of course, have told just about everyone. Though I’m being a bit disingenuous as I’ve told only those people who, as the nutritionist says, “are interest-ready.” I think as I lose more weight more people will ask what’s going on, and I may share even more then.

I’m going to come looking for you the next time I feel stranded.

Cue 86-piece orchestra, with a large percussion section, and play the big music.

Started the pre-op deprivation diet today. I know. I know. It’s all in how you frame it. At this very moment, I’m feeling deprived, and the endpoint is so far away, that I can’t think of it clearly.

Grrrr.

O.K., I’ll stop. That’s it. No more feeling sorry for myself. Done and done.

I’ve been doing a lot of reading about dieting, finding the descriptions of experiences that will help me. Lots and lots to read about. Some written by people “just like me”, and some sponsored by medical organizations.

I’ve added a couple of more sites to my blogroll, to give you an idea of what’s available. Elastic Waist has some very funny videos. And Weight Matters is authored by an Ottawa doctor specializing in bariatric topics.

I’ve ordered a couple of books written by women after their successful weight loss. I’ll post reviews as soon as I’ve read them. Wonder why it seems as if it’s only women who talk about weight loss? Usually, if you see or read about a man’s weight loss, it’s associated with an athletic achievement. Gender roles appear even in weight loss stories.

On the bright side, tomorrow is two. Oh, and I can drink coffee or tea. See? It’s all in how your frame it.

And a big shout out to canadiangirl who had her surgery on Nov 20th. I’m happy to report she’s doing well. Go, canadiangirl!