OneYearLater

It's a STRANGE thing... I've gotten so used to my stomach constantly growling over the last 6 weeks that it's really odd to not have this happening. I was walking around the mall with my daughter and I would notice here and there that my stomach was quiet! Could I eat? SURE! But I wasn't HUNGRY...I wasn't FULL.... but I wasn't hungry either.... It's taking some getting used to! lol

I'm still very new to all of this only being 6 weeks out as of today. I had my first fill on Wednesday. To be honest, I can't say it was pain free like many of you. I got the numbing shot which BURNED and the DR was having a hard time getting to my port. The needle was moved around A LOT until finally I could hear a pretty big POP....ugh...but I digress.... I was filled with 3ccs and I know that most experienced people with this say that it takes a few fills sometimes to finally hit that elusive "sweet spot"...but what exactly DOES it feel like? Do you feel FULL after a small amount of food..or do you feel "Not Hungry"? I'll be honest..after this first fill... I can eat still... A LOT if I wanted to probably. Do I feel full? NO! Buuuuut......I'm also not hungry. Oh sure, I have head hunger and if I felt inclined could probably go get a 6 pack of Cinnabons and wash it down with a 64 oz. soda (don't worry....I wont )...BUUUUT.... I'm not "hungry". Before the fill, not long after, my stomach would start to growl. Now? The growling is gone. I definitely don't feel like I'm full and could eat more...but I'm not "HUNGRY". Did all of that make sense??? Anyway, I'm wondering if this is what good restriction is supposed to feel like...or do you actually feel FULL with a much smaller amount of food? Is this it? Should I keep experimenting with more saline?

Ok... so that time of the month is coming up and I'm so FREAKIN' HEAD HUNGRY!! I haven't had a fill yet and don't worry, I'm not going to start eating everything in sight...but MAN! If I could shove a cow into my stomach and get it past the band I would...ok...maybe not. I think I'll go gnaw on a tree or something...do trees have any Protein? :smile2:

Love Love Love Muscle Milk Light in the Chocolate Milk flavor and Chocolate Mint. I was at the Vitamin Shoppe the other day seeing if they could recommend anything that tasted as good as Muscle Milk just to try something different. Everyone in there pretty much agreed that the Muscle Milk/Muscle Milk Light tasted the best. I seriously would have nothing BUT Muscle Milk Light except for the fact that I have to eat SOME food haha!

I'm assuming that you haven't had anything filled in your band yet (some people have doctors that will do a slight fill during the surgery). Without the restriction you probably won't feel full. It's just your stomach the same size with an unfilled band. You CAN usually eat pretty much anything ....the question is SHOULD you? The amount of time that doctors say to eat the mushy food progressing slowly to more solid food isn't so much for the weight loss part of the process, but is to give your stomach time to heal.....eating things like that (harder foods like pretzels etc) probably isn't good for your stomach when it's still in the healing stages. When I first was banded, after about 4-5 days, I was STARVING and felt like I pretty much could eat ANYTHING. I'm finding that the more i'm following what my doctor told me to eat (TONS of Protein, low carb, no breads or pastas) the less hungry I am feeling as time goes on. I haven't had my first fill yet

You look fantastic! !! Great job!

Yes you are... lol. No, but seriously, I'm not an expert, but I'm about a week and a half further along the road. You will sometimes see lots of loss at the beginning because of all the fluids and since we're usually on liquid diets/mush those first couple of weeks. Your body is repairing itself and you suddenly are taking in a lot less calories than normal. Once your body starts getting used to the small amount of calories, it starts to be much more efficient with energy usage and you stall out with the weight loss. Some wise little birdies here on the forum that have more experience told me that more of the loss starts to come after the fills start...so I'm looking forward to that :drool: I did, however, make sure I wasn't using a lot of carbs for my calories and have added exercising in and am seeing the dropping in weight again....in inches and in pounds.

Ok..I have a feeling this is going to come across as a dumb question..but wanted to see if anyone else has experienced this and if I should be concerned or not. I"m about 3 1/2 weeks out from surgery. My scars are pretty big and I have been able to feel the port since it's been a harder bump...not a big bump, but I could feel it. All of a sudden today, I just realized that I suddenly can't feel my port at all. It doesn't feel hard in any spots... Should I be concerned about this? Is this totally normal?

What are you eating? If you are that hungry, it sounds like you aren't getting enough Protein in. If you are eating carbs or sweets...you will keep feeling hungry. Eat more protein or try sipping on a Protein shake when you start to feel hungry..that and LOTS of Water liquids etc. A lot of it could also be head hunger. This definitely isn't brain surgery, so if you haven't been able to find and tackle the head hunger demons, you will still want to eat all the time. Good luck! It's a tough battle and it's still all really new...one step at at time.

I'm 3 weeks post op and was really struggling with the hunger. I was pretty much at a standstill and even gaining some weight back and forth. I decided to play around with my calories to find what worked for me. My dr. said 3 meals a day....no snacks. I was at about 600-800 and not losing at all and miserable from the hunger. Little by little I edged myself up to about 1000-1300 by adding a couple more protein drinks (Muscle Milk Light) in between meals (one a little before I go to sleep at night) and I've started losing weight again at a great rate and am WAAY less hungry. Satisfied, but not stuffed...and not having to deal with the grumbling all the time. Don't know if that will help you, but it sure has helped me.

My doctor actually made me sign a form saying that I understood that under no circumstances post op was I to take NSAIDS (Ibuprofen, Naproxin etc). He is pretty conservative though, but if my surgeon says not to...I'm listening to him :biggrin: Ask your doctor...

Thanks everyone. I feel so much better. I've seen a few posts where people stated that their doctors didn't give them a fill because they were losing weight at a good rate...which alarmed me. I just couldn't imagine having to continue a whole lot longer without any restriction like this. The stomach grumbling is crazy! It's constant...hopefully in my next appointment coming up soon I'll finally be out of this limbo phase..thanks again!

I'm 3 weeks post op with a very conservative surgeon. I had 2 weeks of Clear liquids, and I am finishing out my first week (of two weeks) of mushy food which is only cottage cheese, non-fat yogurt, eggs and tofu- 3 meals a day no Snacks. I'm ok with him being careful during my healing stage...but MAN am I in Bandster Hell! I'm getting hungrier and hungier each day...and it's getting harder and harder to deal with! I'm sure SOME of it is head hunger....but most of it is the stomach grumbling hunger. I'm following his directions because I figure if I have come this far...I might as well go all out. I'm losing weight, but I mean...shoot! Who wouldn't eating like this? lol I'm scared to death that when I'm supposed to get a fill, he'll tell me that I'm losing enough weight without it and I'll be in HELL for a lot longer! ARGH How did you guys survive bandster HELL???? Anyone have any tips on how to get through this phase as smoothly as possible???

Just bought a couple of 1.65 tubs of Muscle Milk Light on Amazon.com for about $20 with free shipping since I bought two. LOVE LOVE LOVE it! :rolleyes2: See if it's cheaper there for you

I think the fact that you are here seeking help is a postive sign! We're all human and it happens. Before my banding, when my brother in law passed away, that was a turning point when I started gaining so much weight that I had lost before that and lost control. The stress and emotional craziness can do that to you... The thing that helped me was not trying to go back to what i was doing before that motivated me..it was doing something different that was exciting that started my motivation back up. For me, it was getting banded. For you it could be maybe getting a fill if it has been such a long tiem since you have had one to help you get back on track. Is that an option? Maybe if you can see a doctor about having a fill to hopefully get your motivation back?

What kind of vibe are you getting from them when they are around each other? Do they act more like old buddies, or is there a little bit of flirtation going on? If the vibe is more like flirtation, that's a big red flag. It might be some weird little game they have going on to make each other jealous using their current flames as pawns. If it's more of a buddy vibe...then count your blessings. You are dating a guy that is mature enough to get past previous feelings and see the good in people and has no problem getting into relationships and keeping friendships. Nothing wrong with that... There isn't much that will turn a guy off more than insecurity...so make sure that you aren't showing any. Good luck!

This post actually made me laugh outloud when I saw it. I'm about 2 weeks post op and that is all I want to watch....cooking shows!!! The strange thing is that I'm not hungry when I watch it and I'm not finding that it's making me hungry at all..... but I just enjoy watching it now and seeing all the food. Strange huh? I'm glad to see I"m not the only person that has found themselves doing this lol

One of the things that happens to us and causes us to gain weight especially as women is that we are caregivers. We devote so much of our time and energy taking care for others through our lives and neglecting to take care of ourselves. Your husband and your "friend" are probably so used to being the center of your universe that they feel threatened you are taking steps to take care of yourself for a change. It's different and change is something that some people don't accept too well. It could also be that something big that you had in common is now gone. Eating is a social activity and a common thread for many people. Think about how often we meet up with friends to eat or how much "together" time with our loved ones is spent at meals. That might be part of the "change" that they are having difficulty adjusting to. It sounds like it's possibly all of these things as well as jealousy, resentment...and perhaps thinking that now that you are doing these healthy changes in your life that you are going to start trying to change them as well- even if that is not the case. All of these things won't get resolved until you can talk them through with your loved ones. You are capable of loving them AND loving yourself at the same time.....but you need and DESERVE that love and support in return. Good luck!

Thanks so much for the encouragement. I definitely was peeing like a racehorse from all the IV fluid..that's for sure! It's also great to hear from folks that lost it slow to begin with but are still very close if not right there at goal!

My doctor didn't say anything about not worrying about this healing period, but you're right. I probably need to just step away from the scale for a while. I'm DEFINITELY below 1200 calories right now with it just being Clear liquids and a Protein drink, I'm only at about 300-350 calories a day right now at the most. Now that I think about it, it was about 4 days ago that I started walking every day for about 30 minutes as well with that same caloric intake, so I'm probably in starvation mode and not getting anywhere near as many calories as I need lol. That is probably what I need to do...is chuck my scale out the window and go back outside to get it in a month or two lol Thanks!

Hi all, New here with posting, but have been lurking now for a while. I was banded Sept.3rd and dropped 12 pounds quickly in about 5 days out which was nice to see. I'm still in my 2 week clear liquid/1 Protein drink a day phase and as of about 4 days ago, I started to feel the actual hunger pains....stomach growling...the works. I've been staying good and have been trying to just sip an ounce of my Protein Drink everytime my stomach grumbles...but that sure is hard! Anyway, I've noticed about 4 days ago, that I've started gaining some weight. It's been about a pound a day and it's eating away at the 12 pound loss which is frustrating and sad to see. I see everyone here with such great losses the first week or so with an expected slow down after and although I know that this is meant to be a slow process, I'm worried about the gain! I haven't even started mushy food yet!!! I'm afraid I'll gain even more next week when I start those...ugh... Anyone else going through the same thing...or have had it happen with good results later?

Yep...sounds like gas. If your Dr is ok with it, Gas X is your friend! :thumbup:

I would think that it's not realistic to lose that many pounds in that short of an amount of time, but it might be fairly realistic to lose a good amount of inches to get closer into that skirt by then. It would take a lot of commitment, lots of cardio daily, low carbs and also adding in weights to increase lean muscle which also helps burning calories as well as firming you up. And even if you don't get right up to that skirt by then...just think how great you will look and feel with that added exercise in 6 weeks! Good Luck!

Hi All! Stopping by to introduce myself and say hi! I was banded September 3rd and I've been quietly lurking :thumbup: