Peyton

Thank you all so much for your responses. This is good to hear, I absolutely hate dry well done meat, so I would have no problem saying goodbye to that forever, as long as I can enjoy the occasional medium rare high quality cut of steak. And I don't mind cutting certain foods down to an occasional treat, I just don't like the idea of never being able to eat them again. And it seems the only thing that I hear that almost nobody can tolerate well is soda, and I don't drink much soda anyway. The only thing that I will miss having regularly is beer, but I've been looking for a reason to start appreciating wine. Thanks again!

I am considering getting a lap band. Everything seemed great about it until I read a bunch of stories of people having trouble with various foods. I have read that you cannot eat fried food or carbonated beverages(beer included). I have also read that people have trouble eating various forms of meat. Is this a permanent thing? I know that you are supposed to avoid carbonated beverages, but what about a beer that you let sit for a couple minutes first and if you have just one. With fried food and meats, is it something that gets better with time? I have no problem with adjusting for the first year or so, but I'm hesitant to do something that will make it so I cant eat a french fry several years down the line. Finally after I take off the weight, I will be wanting to add some muscle mass, adding muscle means taking in a lot of Protein, will Protein shakes make it past my pouch relatively quickly so I can take in a decent amount? Thank you for any insights you can give me.