New braces = Good way to loose a few pounds.

[eurydice]

Hi all, just had to put my comments in as well, I'm finding foods really boring too, eating the same things, I am craving pizza at the moment as it's one of the few things I've found I really CAN'T eat - I even dreamt of eating pizza the other night! I seem to have indigestion as well, probably from constantly not chewing my food properly, as you already mentioned, and I'm not snacking like I used to do between meals as it's too boring to keep cleaning my teeth which I suppose is good .... does anyone else feel like going out for a meal is not the fun it used to be? I dread going anywhere social now that involves food. And another thing, I'm sick of not being able to eat after an adjustment because of the 3 days of pain, then have a week of eating "normally" then 2-3 weeks of pain and lacerated cheeks from the archwire poking out the back brackets!!!!

Sorry about the Big Moan, but I feel better now it's off my chest! ....

Euryxxx

[redjunebug]

im sooo hungry!!! ive had my brackets and rubber spacers on for a week and i cant even chew gum.. if its not soft enough for me to mash around in my mouth then forget it! im going in today to get my metal bands and archwire on... if i dont lose any weight through all of this im going to be pissed! ha ha ....God i miss bacon...

[Daisywho]

*eurydice* - Haha..dreaming about pizza...I soo understand what you mean.
And OH my god the not chewing food properly issue. The other day, I swallowed a piece too big and it hurt going down my throat..LOL..chewing is too much work, but I could see how it could be dangerous.
One more thing about your post that I agree with. You are on the nose about the restaurant thing. I love to eat out but now it's like MEH, paying to eat food that you can't properly enjoy is a pain in the you know what...But I'm sure it will change soon, as people say it does.

*hotslinthesun* - Thanks for the wish. I'm considering this trip my reward for going through these annoying times....LOL...any excuse for a vacation..


I will add though that it is getting better as the days go by. I'm eating a little more and learning how to manoeuvre the food in my mouth. yeepeeyayay.

[Stephanie]

Yeah, eating is a pain (literally) now. I would say that it's good for weight loss, but ugh.. I can't even eat my salads anymore. Or if I do, it takes me about an hour. I haven't lost any weight from eating a lot less because my energy level has completely dropped. All I want to do is sleep.

[radioqueen]

I can sympathize... I lost 13 pounds from the time the spacers went in till now. Eating hurts... takes too long... and means tedious clean-up... but at the end of the day, we'll have the smiles we've longed for.

There are other perks as well. As I've mentioned before in other posts, by correcting my crossbite, my nightly head and neck pain (caused by clenching my teeth as I slept) has totally gone away.

[redjunebug]

i cried last night because i couldn't eat the home made bean and pasta soup i made for dinner. i got my archwire and metal spacers on yesterday and it is a living hell..thank god for pain killers. my partner felt sorry for me and made me a really good soy smoothie! she is sympathizing because she too had braces, although it was like 20 years ago when braces were REALLY bad and went all the way around EACH tooth.. ughh....no thanks.

[decisionmade]

what amazes me is that i have already lost 10 lbs due to surgey/extraction/spacers/expander..the list goes on..and /i don't even have my braces on yet.....well luckily I can afford to lose a bit morere...I had gained 8 lbs before this whole process even began at the advice of my ortho! So i guess I should just call this my own personal "extreme makeover- DM'S addition" Hey redjunebug..I seeyou are in MA too!

[Layla]

Eek! A few of the replies seemed serious about losing weight being positive. I just want to post to add that not getting enough calories per day, and starving yourself, is definitely not a healthy way to lose weight!

I find when my teeth hurt, it's easiest to eat soup - as thick soup as possible, to try and equal a regular meal.

[TuZZi]

My favourite soups are veggie, veggie with pasta, clam chowder, cream of mushroom, and creamy turkey. With those, at least you are getting a lil more of a meal than just plain ole chicken noodle. I've also grown fond of protein shakes and protein drinks from the store. They seem to help with my energy level a little bit.

[jcdamon3]

Hi,

I have had my braces on for about 6 weeks and I have not lost very much weight. Maybe one pound. I don't really want to lose very much weight. I am 46 and if I lose too much weight my face looks too thin. Ick. I am 5'6" and weight 132-135. I find if there is a will or a way I will eat.

Anyway. Here are my thoughts on eating. I just have to chime in. In order for your mouth to HEAL you have to eat well. Your body needs nutrition. Since getting braces I am trying even more to eat really healthy foods. Yes, I eat pretty much everything, even if it hurts. I have damon 3 so maybe I don't hurt as much. All I can say is when I am hurting I feel like something is actually happening. I would rather feel the pain then feel nothing and have nothing happening.

Anyway here are some good eating tips. Most are pretty good nutritionally except for a couple.

1) Pizza : Try Pizza Hut pan pizza. The pizza is very, very soft and even if you eat the crust it shouldn't be a problem. Alot of people don't eat the crust on their pizza anyway. Not at all good nutritionally, but sometimes you just crave things.

2) Another really soft thing, but not great nutrionally is cheeseburger at MacDonalds. Very, Very Soft. French Fries, not so soft.

3) The best snack in the world is smooth peanut butter. You really don't have to clean your teeth afterward because you put it on your tongue and you don't really need to chew it! It just sort of melts in your mouth. You won't gain weight if you make it a snack and don't have more than 1 - 1 1/2 tablespoons.

4) Jamba juice. Get a vita boost, or an antioxidant boost (or both). It is better nutrionally than a milksake and guess what? The size sixteen is only about 300 calories.

5) cook your vegetables a little more. Green beans are very soft when they are cooked enough. I like them al dente but for now I put up with them softer.

6) If you like cucumbers but think they are too hard to chew, grate them up and put them over your salad.

7) Take a multivitamin and Calcium especially if you don't drink milk like me. I am lactose intolerant and also allergic to milk.

Yogurt is good for you and has calcium. I don't feel a need to brush if I am having yogurt as a snack. I just rinse my mouth out really good with water.

9) Bananas are usually pretty soft.

[jennielee81]

Lost 5 pounds then GAINED 10!!! I was "average weight" for my 5' 7" height now I'm pushing "overweight"

Braces don't stop me from eating...just stop me from eating a few things....

None of my friends have noticed the gain, but my husband (I'm sure) has. (though he hasn't said anything) It's hard to miss.

[privatepilot]

I too, was ready to lose a few pounds when I got these things. But, I have gained 3 1/2 pounds. I am eating less, can't figure it out. Maybe braces have calories! I guess I'll stick to my chocolate, wine and ice cream diet!

[*hotslinthesun*]

I just went to my doctor's the other day because I had some bloodwork that came back, it turns out that I have high cholesterol. I'm 5'8", 139 lbs, 24 years old and female. I have always watched what I ate and excercised regularly. My doctor told me that the high cholesterol was genetic, since pretty much everyone in my family dies in their 40s of heart disease, and that the good cholesterol levels were much higher than average due to my eating/excercising (which is a good thing), but the bad cholesterol levels were too high.

So, I have to cut out anything with fat or cholesterol in it. Therefore with my braces, I'm on a no crunchy, no sticky, no fat, no cholesterol, no staining (I have ceramics) diet. Plus I just got an adjustment and my teeth hurt, so I'm pretty much living on chicken noodle soup, mashed potatoes and yogurt. I think it's impossible NOT to lose weight on this diet!

[Daisywho]

*Layla* My post was supposed to be kinda humourous. How people respond to it, is their own.

I would never encourage using that as a means to lose weight. I'm very health conscious. Was trying to find anything positive at the time for not being able to eat much. More like venting. Losing weight was the only good thing ahaha.

Oh well, I am actually just about pretty much used to it now. No more wax. And I'm eating pretty much anything. Woot Woot. Let's just hope I don't gain weight. I may have lost a pound or two and that's about it.

I have to say though, I do eat a lot slower (takes time to fish stuff out with your tongue), which is very good for digestion.

Yeepeeyayay.

[diande]

I lost 1lb in 12 days...trying to reverse that ASAP
I have the hardest time gaining weight and not about to let braces turn around my progress in this other area!