2muchfun

Grandma, if it were only true. I'm 6 months into this and I eat too fast at least 50% of the time. I wolf down the first 3-4 bites and then my mind kicks in. A few minutes later the pouch gets pissed and lets me know it. Then I have to sit back for 15-20 minutes and painfully wait for all to pass. Then I try to eat my cold meal but I'm not hungry anymore so i don't. I guess it's keeping me from eating too much but I fear I'm eating not enough. tmf

You'll walk out of the Dr office and won't feel a thing. I've had 6 fills and it's less intrusive than getting a flu shot. tmf

7 Days seems like a long time. Mine was only 3 days and I was still in shock from all the drugs so I don't even remember it. Oh well, gotta do what the doc wants at this point. The first 0-6 months of getting banded you should be listening to your doc and taking his orders. Once you start to understand your band and how it interacts with your body you can exert a little more influence in your rehabilitation to being skinny. tmf

Oh yeah, tastes do change. I'm craving seafood, salmon, orange roughy. I always liked those foods but now I really want them. And for me, they're in between sliders and stuck foods. So, they fill me without a lot of discomfort and satisfy too. I'm sorry but I've never had the back problem but I can see how you could get some kind of referred pain if your band is too tight, or you didn't chew or took large bites? I'd try a slider food like oatmeal or tuna salad. Small bites and chew. See if that still gets stuck to see if you're too tight. Try to work your way up to solids and don't be surprised if some of your favs don't make the cut. I just finished lunch and heated up a leftover filet mignon for the 3rd time and still couldn't finish it. Sad, no more steak for a while. tmf

New, First, lean pockets are garbage. You really need to stay away from processed foods. Eat real chicken, or real bacon slice, or real low fat cheese and don't eat bleached flour. Prepare a real meal and see how your stomach handles it? Are you allowed solid foods already? Regarding the 800 calories per day. Everyone will have their own take on this as it seems like some bandsters make the low calorie diet work. It doesn't work for me. I really need about 1200-1400 calories per day to stave off a metabolic freeze by my body. If I only laid around on the couch 800 might work for me but I'm active and I exercise a lot. If you don't have the fuel to move effectively you won't be able to exercise. You also can't replace fat with muscle on 800 a day. At some point your body will slow down your metabolizm if it's not getting enough calories. Like I said, everyone is different and that's what is so cool about the band. You will discover so much about your body now. You will have to relearn what foods work best and how much you need to consume to make it work for you. The band isn't going to do it all. You're going to have to be a regular Helen Keller and come out better from it. tmf

Showoff!

Mis is right. You may need to find other foods that you can eat. I could eat steak until my fill 2 weeks ago. Now I can't I've found. Fish is OK for me now. Salads were just fine till this last fill too. You will have to relearn every time you get a fill. Good luck. tmf

Waiting, I think she said she wanted to be 19 lbs lighter not that she is. Neaky, You are most likely in bandster hell right now. Your band isn't tight enough so you can consume most anything so right now it's just a diet and we all know how bad we are with diets. My favorite saying here is: "It's just another diet until you get restriction". Of course, I'm assuming since you didn't provide a lot of information on what you eat and how much but most of us have gone through "Bandster Hell". Also, many docs make their patients go on a 2-6 week pre-op diet which rids the body of many fluids and makes the post-op weight loss much less than it would be. tmf

When you shop, make sure you only make nutritious and healthy choices. Don't have chips, ice cream, you know what's bad for you in your pantry or shopping cart. I try to have deli turkey slices in the fridge in case I get the munchies. For me, they take a little time to pass through the band. Other options are apples, pears, blueberries, canned tuna, chicken salad, hard boiled eggs and try to stay away from the sliders? tmf

For someone who has no restriction, you seem to be doing quite well in the loser department. 67 lbs is a lot gal. tmf

Welcome to Bandster Hell. Unless Tracey is right? Try the real food and stay away from the processed cereal crap. tmf

Only if your thing was simple carbs? If you're one of the bandsters who had to have 3 liters of coke every day or a pint of ice cream, chocolate cake? You might have withdrawals. But it's not going to be all that bad. It's not like coming off heroin or Meth(I wouldn't know). tmf

Dee, Why don't you go in for a fill? Otherwise, it's just another diet? tmf

No, caffiene is fine, in moderation of course. tmf

I have a similar problem but there are some foods that don't cause that feeling(fish, and dark chicken). After 3-5 bites and lots of chewing, my pouch is full, I can't eat anymore and sometimes I slime. It's mostly very uncomfortable and not real painful. I can't talk to anyone till the food moves through the band. And, sometimes I can go back to eating and eat a cup or more. Odd? I agree with the others. Have them take out .25 or .5 ccs. I'm thinking of doing the same. tmf

You know, I think I got all the same info but it was so spread out from different sources that it was difficult to keep it together. Something simple like this would have been a big help. I saved it to my desktop so is it OK with you to pass it on to someone else who might need some guidance in the event you are not watching the boards? tmf

Don't take this the wrong way but there are many bandsters who would trade places with you before surgery! Now I wouldn't cuz I can't walk in heels! tmf PS. I like your liquor cabinet. Is it a real antique?

Yesterday: Bfast= 1 scrambled egg, one slice of bacon I made twice this much and had to refrigerate the rest. Lunch= Some almonds, 3 slices of deli meat Snack= one apple in the morning and some beef Jerky in the afternoon. Dinner= Green Chili Stew/pork 6 ozs, over a burger. I'm surprised I ate the whole thing? Today Bfast= 1 fried egg, smothered in 4 ozs of green chili stew and pork. Snack= 1 pear Lunch= 2 slices deli meat, 4 shrimp w/cocktail sauce. Dinner=Leftover Filet Mignon 3 ozs(all I could eat), spinach and veggie salad w/olive oil, balsamic vinegerette, some crumbled feta cheese, Dessert= 1 Dove dark choc passion bit. tmf Ditto on no processed crap! I also spent an hour on my bike going 10 miles today and also did 20 minutes of strength conditioning this morning. Similar day yesterday.

The massive infusion of drugs is what set me back for a week. I was dopey and confused for a week. Stay tuned to this site and speak up when you have questions? Don't panic if you get real hungry in a few weeks, it's normal(unless you're one of the lucky ones). tmf

I'll bet you two are the only cheaters ever to post on this board

I was always a potato, chips, bread carb guy. I like sweets but I'm not missing them and I do give myself a couple of Dove dark chocolate pieces a week. They're only 40 calories. I miss french fries and a good sandwich occasionally. But, I never had the withdrawals. There's plenty of carbs(good ones) in carrots, nuts, Beans and many veggies so I get enough. I try to keep them all on the low side of the Glycemic Index scale. tmf

I've always been a fast eater. One of the hardest things for me to do is to slow down and eat small bites. Sometimes I eat small bites but I'm shoveling one more bite in before the first one has a chance to squeeze into my pouch. I start many meals this way and it only takes 3-4 bites for my pouch to remind me what a schmuck I am. I don't want to say I'm stuck, I'm just not able to eat anything for about 15 minutes while the food I've crammed down my face is being painfully squeezed through the band. I'll learn and it's all me I know. tmf

I bought a VIc Magary program. It's basically the Paleo diet and a how to video on exercising. But it's extreme exercising. I like it because it's only 10-15 minutes. I find it easier to for me to find 15 minutes in the morning and hit it real hard. It's really intense which has a lasting metabolic effect that carries on long after the workout. It's not for everyone and it was difficult for me to even start but I'm building endurance and muscle too. tmf

Looking forward to your future posts.

Isn't amazing how often these events happen? I've been dodging lunches with old friends and weekend BBQs for two months now. It's so funny how friends contact me and want to see how I'm doing over a lunch? Egad, no way. I'm doing great and don't need the setback. I think I'd be OK in a restaurant as I can order what I want where at a picnic or BBQ there are way too many temptations. I think many of us come by our propensity to make any friends or family gathering a food based fiesta, honestly. Many of our families did the same and some of our parents didn't pass on those genes that tell our bodies to stop eating. tmf