JoJo1

Put some chicken, fish, meat, cheese, or cottage cheese in the blender and thin it with chicken broth or what ever liquid you think will be good with it. You are hungry because you need some nourishment. Broth by itself wont do it and sugar only makes the hunger worse. If you keep your mixture fairly thin, you will be fine!!!!

Actually no one can help you on this because it is so different for everyone. I can eat chicken and meat but I have to do very small bites and chew really well. If I get a bite of something that isn't chewing up completely because it is tough, or gristle-y, I just don't swallow it. I spit into a napkin and throw it away. Chicken skin is hard for me because I have always loved it. I can not chew it up enough now to make it go down well so it cured my love of skin. I just figure it is behavior modification. Tuna and canned salmon are good and go down easily, however I try to eat solid food when I can because I think it satisfys me better. Best of luck !!! Hugs!!!!!

Sounds like you are too tight. You can also spend a couple days on clear liquids, then gradually add full liquids, and slowly add mushies. Once you start vomiting, you don't want to eat for at least 6 or 7 hours. If you have been vomiting for awhile, you should do just clear for at least 12 hours. I suggesst 2 days. Hope you figure it out soon.... Hugs!!!!

The band does not limit any physical activities!! Sounds like a fluke to me....

You are too tight, however you could be just swollen. Go back to liquids for a couple days, then try mushies gradually, then solids very carefully. Very small bites, and chew them very well. If it doesn't help, get a slight unfill. Too tight is not a good thing. As we all know, we tend to think if a little is a good thing, then a whole lot is better. You will not lose weight if you are too tight. You should be able to eat food, but if you are just swollen, you will hate it after an unfill too. The only thing worse than too tight, is not enough restriction. Try not to panic..... Hugs!!!!

A new fill when you are at good restriction, feels like what you are describing. You need to stay on liquids for the recommended amount of time then gradually add mushies then regular food. Very small bites and lots of chewing. I know you have heard this before but right after a fill, is when you need to be extra careful about this. I have been at my sweet spot for about 2 months now, and in the beginning, I had times that I wondered if I was too tight. I just had to remember to take it very easy. You do need to be able to eat food though, once you are past liquids and mushies. If you are unable to eat real food, you will need a slight unfill. It should loosen up a bit in a couple, maybe three or four weeks. That is why I stuck it out. I knew if I got an unfill, I would be wanting more put in, in a very short time. It has been perfect so far. Keep in mind that if you make a mistake and end up throwing up, go back to liquids again for at least 6 or 7 hours. Otherwise you get a chain reaction going and end up losing all of your meals. Best of luck, keep us posted!!! Hugs!!!

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There are ways to get protein in, when you are on liquids. I had to find a way because I am diabetic and do not do carbs at all. I pureed the food I made for my family. Meats cheese, cottage cheese, eggs, etc, can all be consumed on liquids. I put them in the blender and thinned them to the consistency I needed with chicken broth. The lack of protein is making you hungry, and those of you who are only doing sweet things, you are making more insulin which is a hunger starter too. Also you will be hungry on liquids because these slide right through, and do not stay in your pouch. This is bandster hell. You could be in it for awhile, so just hang in there and find ways to get protein. Hugs!!!!!

You need to eat mostly protein, and no slider foods. Sliders, will leave you feeling hungry. Stay away from sweets, and for awhile even cut out carbs because they will stimulate hunger. You will find it is much easier to feel full if you do this. Eat very small bites, and chew chew chew. I still struggle with the small bite thing. I keep thinking if I chew it enough, it doesn't matter how big it is. Every time I try it, I get myself in to trouble. Bites should be the size of one of those ice cubes you get in your cup at the convenience store. It takes time, but it is worth it... Trust me..... Hugs!!!!

It doesn't hurt to ask your doc. It might be normal, I wouldn't bend over for awhile, and see if it just needs more healing time. Hugs!!!

Mashed potatoes are a slider food, so you won't likely feel it yet. You probably will be on liquids and mushies for awhile, so you won't feel much until you get to real food. Even then, it isn't likely that you will feel a lot of restriction until you get some fills. Don't be in too big of a hurry, you will have lots of time to test things out. Hugs!!!

Well it is easier to take them in than to let them out!! :ohmy: I have been going to thrift stores and getting a few things because I don't want to buy clothes yet either. When I got to a size 14, I bought an expensive pair of jeans because I thought I would never be smaller than 14!! Well then I got into a 12 and thought the same thing. Now I am buying 10s at the thrift store. I will wait until it is hot, to buy summer stuff. Hugs!!!

I lost 9 1/2 lbs my first week, then about a pound a week since then. Your perception of time gets screwed up when you get a band. You only think everyone on here is losing much faster. They aren't. Average is one pound a week, so you are starting out ahead of the game. One thing that helps me is I put the scale away and only get it out once a week. Typically, I lose 2 lbs and then don't lose the next week. I don't have periods any more, so I don't think I have water fluctuation, but it just works that way. I know I would go crazy if I got on the scale every day, thinking I was doing something wrong because it didn't move today. Also, you are so excited to see a difference, you want it to happen now. All of us want that, but you will be much better off if you stay around one or two pounds a week. My sister in law is losing weight right now, and she asked me what I do about sagging skin. I wondered about it because I don't have any, so I googled it. What I found out, is that you will have a much less chance of having sagging skin, if you lose it slower. They said 1 lb a week was ideal. Since that is the rate I have been going since the first week, I figure it has something to do with it. I don't go to the gym, I only walk, so it isn't any magic exercise I am doing. You will lose at a more steady rate after you are on real food. Liquids go straight through so you can add up the calories without really knowing it. You also need to reach restriction, which if you have been reading the posts here, can take awhile. It depends on the agressiveness of your doctor, and it also depends on how much you need to reach your sweet spot. It is different for everyone, so you can't get any solid answers from here or from your doctor either. Try to be patient. In a year, you will be thinking you did the very best thing ever for yourself. In the mean time, start walking or doing some form of exercise even if it is only a few minutes a day. It is huge for weight loss success!!! Hugs!!!!

I also walk. I have learned to love it. I started with a couple blocks. I found I could make the time for that. Then when it seemed way to easy, I increased my distance. I found I could get two miles in 30 minutes and that wasn't such a huge chunk out of my day. I do it in the morning before work because I knew if I waited, I would talk myself out of it. I went in all weather, because I knew I would find a lot of other reasons to not do it if I started using weather for an excuse. I live in the mountains, so much of the winter I needed chains on my boots to keep me from slipping. Now, I like it so much, I do another hour after work in the evening. 5 1/2 miles a day. Wow I never thought I would do that in my life. Now that I have lost weight, I have so much more energy. I raked for a half day on Sunday, and cleaned up my own mess and still went for my walk. I did 7 miles that day. The thing that keeps me doing it now is the scale going down and my jeans getting looser. I have not had any plateaus at all yet. My advice, is don't set any huge goals right now. Just get moving even if it is only 10 minutes to start. It will get better. Hugs~~~

I think the point they were trying to make, is that both calorie reduction and increased exercise must occur in order to achieve weight loss. I often mistrust the outcome of studies because you do not know what else is going on in the lives of the people in the study. They probably used some overweight people but probably some people who don't necessarily worry about what they put in their mouths, and found that they consume more calories when they work out. I do think you need to keep track of calories and their relationship to exercise to achieve long term weight loss. I am one of only a small percentage of women, apparently, that lose their appetite when I exercise. It only works when I exercise in excess of an hour a day though. Maybe that is the whole trick, or maybe I am just weird!!! Either way, it works for me so I am going to keep doing it..... Hugs!!!!

I love that I don't think about food all day long. In fact I only do when it is meal time and I am hungry. I used to spend the whole day thinking and planning meals snacks, etc. Fitting into smaller and smaller jeans is also huge. I also get a lot of pleasure out of fitting into the chair with both of my little miniature daschunds at the same time...:ohmy:

I was 58 when I got my band, and I also went to work on Tuesday with a Saturday surgery. I work on my feet in a beauty shop. It was really busy, and I had to trouble at all. I did get tired, but I figured out early on, that drinking the water is the key to that. As soon as I sat down and drank a glass of water, I was ready to go again. You will be fine!!! Hugs!!!!

I am a diabetic, and if I am hungry in the morning, it usually means my blood sugar is extra low. You really need protein at that time rather than sugar. Protein helps keep you from doing that again in a couple of hours. I have the Muscle Milk powder from Costco. I mix it with my coffee in the morning. It is good mixed with coffee, but I have the same problem with protein drinks as you do. I hate them!! I will buy muscle milk again though, cuz it works for me. I think you just have to keep trying them and see if one works for you. Cheers!!!!

Get rid of the idea that you will someday do it on your own. You would have by now if you could. We are all in the same boat. 1. you will have challenges but all of us do, which ever way we decide to do this. 2 you will have to mourn the loss of food. All of us do. 3. you will succeed if you really want to do it. All of us had that fear. 4.you will not be able to do it by yourself. None of us could. 5. you have the advantage of educating yourself before you do this. Not all of us did that completely. 6. it is about knowledge not physiology. All of us are figuring this out. Don't get the idea that the band is going to do it for you, however the band is an amazing tool that will transform you. You will have to choose good foods, exercise, plan ahead, and have patience. If you can do this, you will be successful. I did not tell a lot of people I was doing this because of the fear you are having right now. I later decided this was rediculous, however if you are not sure, don't tell people until they notice that you look so much better that they can not help noticing it. Believe that you are worth it cuz you are. Believe that you can do it cuz you can. Above all else, don't listen to another single person, this is your decision. Believe Believe Believe!!!!! Hugs!!!!!

Most of them won't even notice, but if they do just tell them you are on a diet!!! Nothing else needed. They will probably have to give you advice, but the subject is easily changed!!! Hugs.....

One thing to remember is that when you have a stuck episode, you need to go back to clear liquids for at least 6 hours after. Some need 12 hours, so do not try to eat again for awhile. The swelling just gets worse and worse unless you give it a rest!!! It does sound like you are too tight though, a tiny unfill can make all the difference.!!!! Hugs!!!

I used the papaya enzymes in the beginning, and at times thought they helped. Now there are times when walking around helps and other times that it doesn't at all. One night this week, I went for my 5 mile walk after eating, feeling a little bit stuck. I figured the walk would fix it. It didn't. After I got home, I tried to drink water, and the stuck item came right back up. Every day is different. I can go weeks without any trouble, then all of a sudden I will have trouble with a food that is usually fine. Can't figure it out at times, but it always works out fine!!! Hugs!!!!

I agree. I worried about this too, but what I found out, is that nobody cares what I am eating. Also, since you are eating slower, people think you are eating as much as they are. It is harder during liquids because you feel like a weirdo. I ate out during liquids and ordered soup. I was with my husband so I didn't have to worry about him anyway. Those liquid days seem like a long time when you are in them, but afterward. it seems like a very small amount of time. Cheers!!!

It truly is a wonderful beginning to the rest of your life. My life has changed so much, and I haven't stopped being excited since I found out I was going to get a band. I love that I don't worry about food anymore. I love that I am not obsessed any more about gaining back the weight I've lost. I love shopping for clothes. I love the attention I get. I love that I am not hungry all the time like I used to be when I dieted pre band. I love everything about this journey and you will too.!!! Hugs!!!

We can't lose if we are too tight. One of two things keep this from happening. Either we go into starvation mode, where our body thinks we are in a famine, and it slows down everything. Or we tend to eat a lot of slider foods, and the calories add up much quicker than we thought. I have watched this in my daughter. She lost 95 lbs after banding, but cannot lose at all when she is too tight. She eats icecream, pumpkin pie, yogurt, whatever goes down easily. I haven't been too tight yet, but a couple of times I wondered. Both times were right after a fill. I loosened up in a couple weeks though, and now I can eat real food. Very small amounts of it, but I can eat. This is why they don't recommend people doing their own fills. Because we are over weight paople, we are naturally creatures who think if a liittle bit is good, then a whole lot is better. I suggest you log your food intake and calorie intake and see where you really are. You most likely need a slight unfill. It is okay to eat. I really hope you figure it out soon. Hugs!!!