ruby_soho

Hi! Ok, let's see I'll try to do my best to answer everything. Protein drinks-I drank high protein Ensure. I really liked the chocolate flavored one. After days of having just broth and jello, the Ensure was the best thing I ever had :-) I bought 2 giant containers of protein powder, but I could never get it to mix into drinks without being able to taste it, so I finally gave up on that. The liquid diet scared me too, but it's not so bad. During that first week, I wasn't hungry. The first day my stomach growled was a week after surgery, when I went for my post-op check-up. Even then, it wasn't uncomfortable. I could fill up really easily on small containers of applesauce, or a small container of yogurt. I was never ravenous. I am eating solid food now. I haven't had many problems from that, aside from learning to slow down and chew well. I was eating with friends one day and started eating like I used to, taking larger bites and not chewing as well as I should, but I was soon reminded not to do that. I ate too much too fast and it came right back up. Lesson learned. From reading these posts, I see that I'm in 'bandster hell' right now. I feel like I should be eating less, but sometimes I'm just hungry. By making high protein choices (high protein slim fast bars, a small piece of cheese, and tuna are some of my favorites), I can stop the hunger. I am no where near as hungry as I thought I would be, and it's a lot more manageable than it was before surgery. I have a lot more energy, I don't get the mid-afternoon slumps, and I just feel so much better. I hope this helps. If you have any more questions, just ask. I don't mind answering them at all. The unknown is scary...I'm relying on the pro's on here to help me through the different stages. It's nice to find a whole community of people that are going through the very same thing I am.

Hi vcr, I was banded on 7/18 and I flew through the food stages. My doctor told me that I could progress to the next level every 5 days. I'm in my 5th week now and honestly, I've been eating "normal" food since the 3rd week. I'm careful to chew things well and I'm following the no drinking 30 mins before and 1 hour after eating. I'm down 20lbs and go for my first fill on 8/31. I'm so ready for my fill though, because I'm noticing that my hunger level and amount that I can eat is increasing. I'm consuming anywhere from 900-1400 calories a day. I'm completely in love with the USDA's food pyramid website. It has a tool that lets you track calories, protein, fat, etc. It has a lot of food listed to choose from. You know the hard thing for me has been the lag time between eating and getting rid of that hungry feeling. I know that when I fill my pouch I need to stop, but my tummy still feels empty. I'm slowly learning to read the signals my body sends. I feel like I'm dealing with a toddler that's trying to tell me something but I can't understand it. I've never been able to just push away from the table until my plate was clean or I was painfully full. This is a serious learning experience. So far I'm really happy with the band. I like this new found freedom from food and overeating.