Rachel412

I didn't have a liquid pre-op diet and I'm doing just fine. Post surgery, you're not going to feel hungry for a while, so the liquid diet isn't too hard. As your hunger returns it gets harder, yes, but I don't see how a liquid diet pre-op could affect that at all. I will tell you what I knew before surgery, but I wish someone had jammed it down my throat: for me, banded life is a diet with an extra little warning system. I'd say my loss is 90% me, 10% the help of the band. The key to success it owning the fact that YOU are in control of what you eat, and how much, and the band likely won't be helping you until you've had 3 or more fills. The harder you work to eat correctly and exercise, the better you'll do with the band.

I bet Jachut would have some good advice for you. My advice is to choose foods that are high in good fats. Protein shakes made with whole milk, smoothies made with whole milk yogurt, guacamole with fresh avocados, a spoonful of Peanut Butter as you walk through the kitchen. In some ways I think your challenge is harder than losing weight. Sending you some support!

Honestly, I think you're OK where you are. I agree that you need to work on portion control, and learning to tell head hunger and real hunger apart. If an appropriately sized meal keep you full for 4 hours (and "appropriate" is whatever your doctor told you to eat) then you're in a good spot. If you're already having problems with certain foods, I'd think a fill would just make that problem worse.

It's normal post-surgery. Congrats!

yuck! I've heard of bands getting un-latched... wonder if that's what happened?

Wow... I'd have a hard time with a doctor doing my fill and then trying to talk me into a revision.

take a deep breath! You don't have too very far to go, you can totally do this. I think that the understanding of how the band works has changed in the past couple of years. There's a link in my sig that talks about what the band should be doing for you, and why it's not really supposed to provide the restriction they used to say it did. I think that'll help you get back into the right mindset of how to best use your tool to help you. Welcome back to the bandwagon

It's been true for me with all of my fills- I feel tighter the few days after the fill, then by 2 weeks out it's "loosned" up a lot.

I agree- sounds like you're too tight. I've never had anything get stuck. If I was puking every time I ate, or I had to wash all my food down... well I'd be pretty pissed. Are you able to get to your surgeon for a very small un-fill?

WOOT! You go!!

For the most part, I agree with you. When I'm in a restaurant and I see people downing a huge plate of food, no matter what it is, I'm amazed now (but in the past I think it would have looked delicious to me). I'm not grossed out by people drinking big coffee drinks, but if it's a frozen frothy coffee with whipped cream in a huge cup, I think "that looks delicious, but I wonder how many calories are in it". I'm much more grossed out by people drinking giant sodas. I dropped soda pre-band and I was never a big drinker anyway. But it's true... once you get used to eating much smaller portions, and not drinking calories, it starts to look like the rest of the world is out of their minds

Dikotomy, if I were you I'd have the band removed. If you were close to capacity and it wasn't working for you, I don't think the odds are good that it'd start workign in that last 1 cc. Are you open minded about having a different WLS now?

Yes, you're just fine. Not everyone is told that they should only eat half a cup- I know I wasn't. Don't worry, you're doing great!

I know you weren't trying to be funny, but... I'll let you know when I get there! I think I spend just as much time thinking about food as I used to, though now I'm putting my energy into thinking about how to make the best choice for a meal, how to get a good amount of protein, what a healthy snack should be, am I really hungry or do I just want to jam something else in my mouth, etc.

They do often loosen up, but they don't always. I'd call your doctor's office tonight and leave a message to see what they recommend. I would think the swelling would go down in 24-48 hours, but I know I often feel my "restriction" changing for the two weeks past a fill until I get another one.

You don't want to be "really tight". You won't be able to swallow solid foods, and being too tight often can cause erosion and slips. You just need to be tighter.

Amazing, congrats!!

My doc says 3 meals a day, each meal should last you 4-5 hours, so if I were you I'd get a teeny fill. You're so close!

That's awesome, congrats! You're losing "slower" because you probably started at a lower weight than the other December people

I agree with about 99% of what you say. I don't think MY band was a bad decision, but I totally agree that weight loss, even with this band, is so highly dependent on what you do/think, not on this piece of silicone wrapped around my stomach.

Do you go 4-5 hours until your next few bites or do you eat more often than that?

It depends on so many different factors! I'm at 7.25cc in my 11cc band so pretty similar to where you are, and this is the first time I've really felt the band doing it's job. But I've heard of people needing to be a lot closer to their "max" to have any restriction. Don't stress over it, if it's not there yet it should be pretty soon.

I'm told to have 3 meals a day- 4 oz. Protein, 1/2 cup to 1 cup of veggies, then up to 1/2 cup of complex carbs if I have room for them. No Snacks unless I'm really hungry, then a cheese stick or another low carb high protein snack. 3 bites... oy...