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I am sure I could have eaten solids long before 6 weeks. In fact I am sure that most bandsters feel that way. The reason for the graduated diet is not so much for you to progress until you feel that you are ready for solids it is so that your band can heal into place properly. Part of your stomach has been stitched over the band to help prevent a future slip. When you eat solid foods your stomach churns to digest them, this process can disturb the healing and although you won't feel as though there is anything wrong it could lead to a slip in the future. Therefore it is important that you follow the diet that your Dr has given you. If for some reason you think you can't then you should talk to your Dr and ask him/her if it is OK to progress sooner.

Veggies were 1 of the first things I ate. I made them into soups and after that I mashed them for mushies. Are you sure your plan says no veggies as that seems very strange? What did you eat on the liquid/mushy stages? If you are only allowed Protein why did you eat a hotdog on a bun with potatoes? I understand that you maybe gave into temptation which is something people do. If you are tempted again then I think you would be a lot better off eating veggies than a hotdog on a bun!

My husband decided to cook chocolate chip muffins not long after my surgery, maybe I should have got a new husband!

Yes it sounds like a drop in blood sugar from hunger. This was probably a better indication ( although maybe you left it a bit too long) that you were hungry than a growling stomach. Stomachs growl all the time, quite often for reasons other than hunger.

I love it when people ask questions like this. Imagine if one of us answered and said " you're just weird", that would be rude and upsetting! It is quite common to be tired after a meal, blood is diverted from the brain to the stomach. Why do you think that in many countries people have an official siesta after lunch? As to why you would be feeling this more now that you have a band i have no idea.

That is right, once you are healed it is possible to eat almost anything. But just because you can doesn't mean you should. Once you start getting fills the process becomes easier but in the meantime you need to start taking charge and learning new healthy habits. You are in charge, you choose what you put in your mouth. So instead of eating a hotdog on a bun with potatoes why not try eating a more substantial type of sausage with some salad and some potatoes? Same kind of thing, more satisfying and much healthier. Next time you want something unhealthy, pause and think what healthier option you could replace it with. And yes going to a support group is a great idea. But if you can't get to one just log on here more often, there are lots of people that can help you. You may even find a weight loss buddy.

You have just described me perfectly. I have always hated exercise and my problem was the constant snacking rather than big meals. chocolate , cookies, pickled onions etc. The most exercise I got was probably walking back and fore to the fridge. So theoretically the band should not have worked for me but it did. Just over 2.5 years later I am still at goal and maintaining. Admittedly I have gained 1kg since the beg of Dec which I now need to focus on losing but other than that small blip it has been an easy ride. Which just goes to show that it is probably impossible to predict in advance which WLS is your best match.

All the foods that you got stuck on are foods that give a number of people trouble. chicken can be very dry and hard to eat. Meatloaf also has quite a difficult , grainy texture. Pasta can cause problems because it can swell. As the others have said you need to pay very careful attention to how you are eating. Small bites, chewed well and enough time between bites to ensure the last bite is "sitting ok".Personally I can't do pea sized bites - they are too small and slip past without me being able to chew them properly. I need something a bit bigger that I can get my teeth into and chew. What you do need to remember is that after each fill you need to relearn how to eat. Give it some time to see if the fill settles before deciding that you are too tight.

The best way to check if you are drinking enough is by the colour of your urine - if it is very pale you are sufficiently hydrated - if it is really dark you are not. if it is a stange colour such as blue or orange or something it is probably from some food or drug you have consumed! I drink very little Water, my drink of choice is a nice hot cup of tea with a splash of low fat milk and no sugar or sweetner. Most nutritionists etc forget to tell you that water is not the only liquid you can consume,many other liquids count too. And also some foods have a high water count so they also help towards your daily total.

Yes. One of the former members, restless monkey had that happen to her. She lost weight prior to the op but did it her way not by following the diet she was told to. She went for the op , the Dr "opened" her up and found her liver was too big/fatty so he closed her back up without putting the band on. She then followed the diet she was prescribed and got the operation a couple of weeks later. It is not up to us to try to second guess our surgeons. We are trusting them with our lives so we should be able to trust them enough to follow their instructions. If we don't understand or disagree with what they have told us we should discuss it with them. If we are still not happy then we should change to a Dr that we do trust and who's instructions we are happy to follow.

Everyone is different. If you lost a lot of weight before then that can effect how much you lost immediately afterwards and all sorts of other things have an impact. So long as you are following the instructions and doing your exercise then don't worry. The goal is to lose the weight. The rate at which you do it doesn't matter as it's not a race.

Heres hoping you get to the bottom of this soon.

I agree. To demonise one food group is "silly". In most instances it is not carbs that are the problem it is processed foods. What people should be eating is foods that are as close to their natural state as possible. Foods that your ancestors would recognise. I am amazed quite often when I read through what people have eaten for the day. Often in their Quest to give up carbs and go high Protein they eat lots of artificial , processed stuff. How about instead of a Protein shake having a glass of fresh milk or eating real eggs instead of eggbeaters or whatever they are called etc That is not to say that high carb doesn't work, it can and for some people it does. Everybody needs to find what works for them.

I'd like to modify that statement slightly The band works because you simply cannot overeat if you choose the correct foods. So what the hell does that mean? That if you eat foods such as solid Protein , veg and a small portion of carbs you cannot overeat. The band will work in the way that it is designed to work and you shouldn't be hungry for a period of a number of hours afterwards. What it won't do is choose those foods for you so if you decide that you are going to drink milkshakes and eat candy and icecream and Cookies and other so called slider foods your band won't stop you , you will be able to eat enough of these that you can still gain weight and you will get hungry again sooner than you should. The band also won't force you to exercise. Often people that think they are physically hungry aren't. People lose touch with the true hunger signals and interpret stomach noises and grumbling etc as hunger which in most instances isn't. There are lots of reasons people eat other than true hunger. Having said that I think most of us have had a similar experience to you. We have tried every diet know to man ( and then some) and not been able to keep the weight off. I know I have even tried hypnotism, injections etc. I have lost all my excess weight and have been maintaing now for approx 2 years. This is the easiest diet I have ever been on.

Yes what exactly is wrong? Eating too much? Hunger between meals? Still able to eat chocolate and icecream? If you give us more info then we can hopefully supply more informative answers.

Well lets put it this way. There are a couple of possibilities. 1. I could be 80 my band could be still working fine and not causing me problems. 2. By the time I reach 80 ( in 30+ years time) they have come up with a new , more effective , easier way of losing and maintaining weight so I opted to have my band removed and go with the new method. A choice that I would not have had I gone for a bypass or sleeve initially. 3. My band is causing me problems because I am old and gaga and can't remember to chew properly. Again I have the choice of having my band removed or I might just get it completely unfilled. 4. My band is still working fine but I have no teeth so i am existing on slider foods and gaining weight. I don't see what the issue is. At least there are still choices which is not true with some of the other surgeries.For example what if I got to 80 with a bypass and ended up malnourished because I was unable to eat enough and absorb enough for my bodies needs. It is even possible that in this time frame my band may have to be replaced, possibly more than once. Again I don't see this as an issue. Knee replacement, hip replacements, prosthetic limbs,transplanted organs also all have a certain lifespan and then they too need to be replaced.

My favourites were being asked to model at a local fashion show and having neighbours not recognise me. I saw one at the post box a couple of weeks ago and she asked me if I was the new person that had just moved into the street!

That's awesome. You go and kick some ass!

I'm with you Brenda. My surgeon told me the same. There is not normally any need to use protein shakes as it is easy to get sufficient protein in from a normal diet. The only time I drink my breakfast is if I am in a rush to get out of the door, then I will grab an up and go as I can drink it and drive at the same time.

Usually when you suddenly can't get food down it indicates a slip. I would make an appointment to see your Dr urgently to make sure that everything is OK.

A lot of people have more trouble in the am than the pm. Try sticking to liquids for a day and then soft foods , if you have irritated your band or are swollen that should help. Start off the morning with a warm drink. If you are able to eat after that fine if not have a Protein shake instead and have a proper meal at lunctime when the band should be looser. Also scrambled eggs are notoriously difficult. Rather try a soft poached egg instead - it goes down a lot easier.

I think part of the basics of eating properly that you need to get back to include how to eat as well as what to eat. It sounds as though a lot of your problems may have been caused by you eating too fast or not chewing properly or not leaving enough time between bites. If you haven't got this right then it is easy to get stuck and "vomit". Make no mistake it can be hard. First you have to unlearn the eating habits that you had for the rest of your life up until being banded. You have also learned that no matter what you will always be able to eat candy. You need to find some way of dealing with this. You may need to cut it out completely. You may want to make an allowance for it in your calorie or points for the day/week. You have also found out that having WLS does not guarantee success. That is because it is only a tool. It makes healthy eating a lot easier but it doesn't make the food choices for you or put the food into your mouth. That is the part of the process that you will always be responsible for. Also at the beginning it is new and exciting and we are really motivated. After a while that wears off and it becomes easier to slip into bad habits. What you need to do is remember the reasons you wanted to lose the weight in the first place. So you have made mistakes but that doesn't matter.Pick yourself up, dust yourself off and get back to basics. Do this and I am sure you will soon achieve the success that you are after. And don't forget to keep logging onto LBT as you will get lots of support and encouragement.

Most dr's in Australia have stopped doing things this way as the constant emptying and refilling of the band can actually contribute to problems and affect the level of restriction. The best way to imagine it is to think of a balloon that has been blown up and then deflated a couple of times, compare that balloon with a new one that has never been blown up and look at how different they are. The material in the one that has been constantly blown up and then let down is stretched and not as elastic.

I agree Sue i also thought that was a bit of a strange response. No she is not most likely overweight, she is obese. True Who says she is not serious?( The OP doesn't seem to be the person with the attitude). I understand that she wants to find out if it is possible for her to have the surgery before she gets all excited about it, I would. It is quite possible that she may not qualify via insurance but that doesn't mean that she cannot enquire. She may also consider her options for self payment and if she could afford the surgery that way. That would mean she also need to consider if she would be happy to travel outside of the USA because of price considerations. thatsvanity please feel free to ask more questions ( real or otherwise) and don't let some people scare you off. There are a lot of supportive people on this board that are happy to help.

I think your Dr is talking BS. Yes the band can take the maximum capacity it is designed to, sometimes more. As to whether or not you need your band filled to maximum that is another question altogether. Can I ask which brand of band you have?