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Your diet looks ok! I've been reading some people's diet on here and they look tough. I think I will slowly cut back my food intake over the next couple of weeks. To make it a little easier for afterwards. I'm sort of wishing the date was here. I want it over and done with so I can stop thinking about it. I'm not scared or anything just impatient I think. Lol. Sent from my iPad using LapBandTalk

On my liquid phase I lost about 16 pounds. I'm on my 3rd week (mushy foods) and after going from the liquid stage to the mushy foods I went up about 4 pounds. On liquids I was on about 300 to 400 calories a day to now about 700 - 1,000 per day. Why the weight gain if the calories are still low (under 1200)? When does the weight start coming off at a normal rate of 1 to 2 pounds a week? Once I start regular food and go to maybe 1200 will I gain all my weight back? Please let me know if this is typical in the beginning? Thanks,

Ya you will be fine. I had 2 kids under 5 when we went not to long ago just sit down when u can. All the walking around will help with ur weight loss. Mall of america is fun. Liquids suck but at least taking protein powder or drinking the already mixed ones will be easy to carry with you just remember to drink water in between ur delicious protein drinks since u will be walking so much. Hehe i remember those days not to long ago i will never go back to pure liquids..

What's the biggest danger, if youre body is not making you hurl it up? Is it that you'll stretch the sleeve? Or that food will pass to quickly to digest? I have this same fear since I eat way too fast too.

Great post -- makes my day. And I had a good laugh over your location listing, "in a state of constant flux." Your ferocity is coming through loud and strong. I feel, it, too -- this new courage; I'm showing up in my life in a whole new way. It feels great! Yes the weight loss, the health and vitality, etc., but for me I think it's about the appetite monster finally being shut up. All that mental chatter about food was making me second-guess myself and the things in my life. Not anymore!

I can sympathize with you. In just a year I've gone from 250 to almost 300. I'm like 290'ish. I could get around pretty okay at 250, but this being almost 300, I hurt so bad. My fingers are so swelled up that my wedding ring is like digging into my finger and causing rashes... Just walking up the three flights of stairs I have to go up everyday kills me. The tendons in my knees snap and creek... then, what do I go and do??? This morning I stopped by Chic-fil-A and got a bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit!! With a small sweet tea!! As I ate it I was telling myself "WHYYYY???".. but, I ate it with pleasure anyway. I think I'm eating even more because maybe I'm pre-mourning food that I won't be able to have later if I get the lap band. I say "if" because until I get approved, you never know what could happen.

I had my first fill last Thursday, 4cc's into my 10cc band. This is going ok. I can eat fine as long as I am chewing and going slowly. I have had a few episodes of not doing this well enough. Sometimes I feel satisfied with about 1 cup of food, sometimes I feel I need more. I usually get 3-4 hours of feeling like I am not hungry. This afternoon after eating lunch about 1.5 cups of chicken chili and beans, I still felt hungry. This suggests to me that I need more fill. However, I am burping so much. Even after the first bite, there is a lot of burping. I emailed my doctors office and my physician feels that due to the excessive burping I am overfilled and should have some fluid removed. I am sure that the burping is not due to eating too fast. I have tested this several times. I am just not sure about the un-fill. I am not sure about any of this right now, its all confusing. Sometimes I feel like I ate enough, sometimes I don't. I know that I am probably not in the green zone after the first fill, but if I am overfilled then....well I don't know what then. Any input about this is appreciated!

I think it depends on what stage of food you are on. In the beginning, jello and yogurt would constitute a meal for me. Now, jello is more like a snack for me. Same goes for popsicles. I can still have a yogurt as a meal for breakfast but I prefer something like cereal or scrambled egg whites.

Yup! But it was actually this stuff: http://mybrands.com/product/Kitchens_of_India,Palak_Paneer-Spinach_w/Cottage_Cheese,10oz They have it at the grocery store and it's 170 calories per serving and nine carbs. There's not much food in the box really but it's nice and light.

Yep SLOW down!! My mom made the observation the other day that one problem with laprascopic surgery is that we forget we have had MAJOR SURGERY!! Also any other major surgery they would be encouraging us to eat good healthy foods for our body to heal, instead we have restricted our calories big time. It takes time. I went back to work after 2 weeks (but I only work 1 full day a week) had to take a nap at lunch, and it was 5 weeks before I returned to all my activities. But I also had complications during surgery, and I'm 53. I also felt like I should be more based on those posts you mentioned.

So I'm down about 47 pounds (stalling now but think its because I have my period). I was sleeved 4-24-12 so I'm almost a month So nsv's. Maybe tmi but I have a much easier time cleaning myself in the bathroom... If you know what I mean. My "hump" in the middle of my back is disappearing. I can easily put on shoes. I can walk without getting out I breath Normally after a family get together I woul only be able to help with the clean up for so long until my back was killing me but today I was able to really help! And I was able to drink and eat some normal food (very small portions) so I didn't feel Left out or look strange... No one here today saw anything strange... Which is good because I'm not ready to tell them. My stomach doesn't touch the steering wheel My shorts that were always too tight are now too loose!

Why dont you give your band a rest with a day of liquids and then try a process of elimination? Devote at least 2 or 3 days to eating the right amounts of the right foods, small bites, and chewing well. If you still have problems with sliming and vomiting, it is too tight. (If you have no more problems then you know what you need to work on...those all important bandster rules!!)

I CAN NOT believe it has been over 3 months from my surgery. Anyone who is thinking about getting this surgery, or in the beginning stages....STAY POSITIVE! I suffer from severe anxiety and this journey has been awful. Days after my surgery I was so depressed about my choice. I wanted to go back to my surgeon and have him put my stomach back in. I was having anxiety attack after panic attack daily. I was so depressed that I took such a drastic step and cut my stomach out!!! But...looking back. I wouldn't change my decision for the world. I haven't been this happy in YEARS. I had a series of traumatic events happen which left me at my low point and I was addicted to food. Yes...addicted. People think it's a joke...but it happens. I no longer use food as a coping mechanism. I don't revolve my life around food. I don't eat so much that I can't get up. It feels amazing to have energy to do things. So here is some hope to anyone in the beginning stages....it gets better. I'm loving my "new" life

At my first cook out since my surgery three weeks ago.. It's so hard wanting all the delicious foods cooked on the grill.. I guess I'm mourning the old way of eating :-/ I'm just sitting here watching everybody eat.. I know it will be easier soon but this is really really hard..

I was banded on the 20th. Day 1-2 was rough but have gotten much better by the days to follow. On day 5 now and all pain is almost gone. My only complaint at this time is that when I get up from a reclining or laying down position I get an immediate air bubble feeling just under bmy chest cavity. It does not last long but it is becoming a real annoyance. I can feel it coming on when I start to move and I usually have to stop, let it pass, then resume my activities. I am hoping that this is normal because of the absence of solid food but really do not know. Has anyone else had these problems.

Keep in mind that some of this may be in your head too. One bad experience, and your mind could play tricks on you and "close up" before you get a fork near your mouth. Try some deep breathing before you eat. Also drink something about 30 minutes before to tell yourself that you're fine and the food WILL go through. But if you find something is giving you trouble (even if you've eaten it fine before), lay off that for a week and go on to something else. There were foods that I suddenly couldn't eat anymore a YEAR after my band. Give yourself time to adjust after those fills. You'll react differently to each one, so it's going to be a lot of trial and error.

Thank you for sharing. I am 4 years out also. I lost about 100 pounds. In the past 2-3 years, I have let it creep back up. I need to lose at least 30 pounds now. I do not exercise much at all. I have realized that I have to get control or it will all come back. I have lost 7 pounds in a week by portion control and smart food choices. I’ve got to keep going.

Hi to all - been off for a long time - now I am hoping to be regular on this talk forum to get and give support. I had my lapband 2 years - was very careful and no slippage first 6 months - not much trouble in beginning due to fear of slippage. But for rest of time I throw up more that I think I should be and even had fills in and out to try to adjust. Still lately back to upchucking too much. I know sometimes I eat too fast if have gotten too hungry. I know sometimes I eat too much. I don't usually get back onto all soft foods if I to upchuck sometime during the day - for rest of day. I've become an ice cream at night person since it does stay down and soothe - a typical lapband thing I'm told. I have tried doing smoothies with Protein for Breakfast and doing ok. Big problem for me is that some days I'm open enough to eat a fair amount - no more than the 1.5 cups volume - and other days like this morning I got a bit clogged up with morning coffee!!!! Does this extreme heat affect our openings? Am I inflamed and thus more closed from the throwing up to be actually not able to finish the cup of coffee? (That is not common, please know). I have an elem. age child and my husband works crazy mixed up hours so I don't get to the once a month evening support group at my surgeons. Hoping you all can help me. Am I a slow learner? Could something be out of alignment with my lapband? (The first 2 days after surgery it could not even swollow Water - so they took out some fill - and then I was ok - when x-rayed, one doctor said it was in a bit cocked - I wonder if that would have remained and I'm still not quite right - does that make sense - I guess I should talk with my doctor about that - I thought I'd ask for an xray next doctor visit to make sure all is ok - or again - am I just not getting it yet - heaven forbid I follow the rules! ha Some days I can eat ok after upchucking in the morning, for example. Others day no way. Is this just the lapband perhaps - I think so, eh? Thanks for your help and letting me know if you relate to any of this? Appreciate your feedback!

I am currently on day 9 of my surgeon's required liquid diet. I thought I was doing well with cravings etc lol...then last night I had a dream in which I ordered a huge greasy cheeseburger (usually not my go to food) made with swiss cheese and onions and gooey sauce and as I took my second bite I remembered my diet and yelled "oh NO I am on a liquid diet!" and spit out the second bite....then I was embarassed because I have good manners and well, that wasn't good mannered lol....I forgot I was on a liquid diet until after I had a bite and then I worried that bite would mess up my surgery lol....what a weird dream.....especially because when conscious I mainly crave hoagies or salads .... also I went to the store today to stock upon cream of soups...I felt slow motion and kind of dizzy...After leaving the store it occured to me that I hoped nobody thought I was drinking or on some type of drugs. Didn't help that I bought a pill crusher too. Along with Biotin. I will post my preop list later.

Well its been 12 days since my surgery. I am now 18lbs smaller. I feel good about that but of course when you start out at 301, you can't really see 18lbs that well. I feel it though. I must admit that i have been cheating a little on what I eat, although not how much I eat. I have had some tuna salad the last couple days, made with low fat mayo and hard boiled eggs. I used onion powder instead of the real ones though. It tasted like AMBROSIA! but after a few ounces I felt full and backed away. My HARDEST problem is not drinking while eating! I believe this is a habit however and one I must break. I used to drink at least 16z of diet pepsi with each meal! I am guessing since I did not chew well that I did to wash down all the huge amounts of food that I ate. I have been trying to count my chews on things like the tuna salad. Of course with the soup, etc up till now, chewing was not necessary. I am looking forward to eating somewhat normal foods in normal (non-fatboy) portions. I am hoping that most of my favorite foods will still be tolerated by my band with just MUCH less of it, however, I am in a mind set that if I can not eat some of them, then it will just have to be that way... I have given up my vice of 20yrs so far after surgery... DIET PEPSI. I have been walking for exercise from about the 2nd day after getting back from my surgery. I guess 7 days ago. I have been walking at least a half hour a day. Yesterday I walked 50 min! I don't know if it is excitement or the fact that I don't have 10lbs of potato chips and diet pepsi in my body or what but I have really felt energy to walk. Now don't get me wrong, normally I would rather take a good beating then do exercise and it is not like FUN or anything, but I have felt like doing something other then sitting and walking has been tolerable. Well, enough...that is how I feel so far!:cursing:

Well its been 12 days since my surgery. I am now 18lbs smaller. I feel good about that but of course when you start out at 301, you can't really see 18lbs that well. I feel it though. I must admit that i have been cheating a little on what I eat, although not how much I eat. I have had some tuna salad the last couple days, made with low fat mayo and hard boiled eggs. I used onion powder instead of the real ones though. It tasted like AMBROSIA! but after a few ounces I felt full and backed away. My HARDEST problem is not drinking while eating! I believe this is a habit however and one I must break. I used to drink at least 16z of diet pepsi with each meal! I am guessing since I did not chew well that I did to wash down all the huge amounts of food that I ate. I have been trying to count my chews on things like the tuna salad. Of course with the soup, etc up till now, chewing was not necessary. I am looking forward to eating somewhat normal foods in normal (non-fatboy) portions. I am hoping that most of my favorite foods will still be tolerated by my band with just MUCH less of it, however, I am in a mind set that if I can not eat some of them, then it will just have to be that way... I have given up my vice of 20yrs so far after surgery... DIET PEPSI. I have been walking for exercise from about the 2nd day after getting back from my surgery. I guess 7 days ago. I have been walking at least a half hour a day. Yesterday I walked 50 min! I don't know if it is excitement or the fact that I don't have 10lbs of potato chips and diet pepsi in my body or what but I have really felt energy to walk. Now don't get me wrong, normally I would rather take a good beating then do exercise and it is not like FUN or anything, but I have felt like doing something other then sitting and walking has been tolerable. Well, enough...that is how I feel so far!

TL; DR: this is a post about 12-step recovery. Your mileage may vary. food was never the problem. Food was the solution. The problem has always been the build up of normal human emotions. This is not an original thought from me, JWM. I heard this in an OA podcast. The speaker, Harlan G., discusses the twelve step recovery program of Overeaters Anonymous in detail, and at length, and describes how he has recovered from compulsive overeating, giving him 17 years of abstinence and several hundred pounds of weight loss, from a high weight of 700 pounds. I am blessed to have had the resources to get WLS and my LapBand nearly two years ago. I am blessed to have found my way back to OA and am vigorously working a program of recovery that addresses the physical, emotional and spiritual aspects of my disease of food addiction. I need both. Since my surgery in March of 2014, I filed for divorce and moved out of my home with my college age daughters, leaving behind an abusive and controlling spouse who will not let go. He continues to be openly aggressive to me and our daughters and we have gone "no contact" as much as possible. The divorce should come to a conclusion three months from now. This two years had been, by far, the most stressful of my life. I began therapy for my divorce shortly after moving out, and my therapist recommended Codependents Anonymous. CODA helped immediately. From there, I soon found my way back to OA which I had been in decades before. I began working the program, and finally got a sponsor in December last year. Working the OA program with a sponsor and attending lots of meetings gave my weight loss the kick in the pants it needed. I found myself addressing the daily emotions head on instead of hiding in the food. I was now able to make the changes I wasn't willing to make the first year and a half after my WLS. I put down the fried food. I put down the alcohol. I put down the prescription pain pills that I "needed" for my knee pain. I put down the buckets of movie crapcorn I was eating every week. I put down the Thai noodles that I would fantasize about during my work day and run to like a lover at 5pm. I put these things down and I felt so much better. I didn't feel good. I "felt" better. I felt pain better. I felt sadness better. I felt anxiety better. I felt worry better. I felt like a walking, talking rubber band wound up tight and ready to snap. And sometimes I snapped. I went to OA and CODA meetings nearly every day. I went to my therapist every two weeks. But once every two weeks isn't enough for the daily buildup of normal human emotions that is life. And that is where my OA sponsor and the people in these 12-step programs come in. I have a network of help that I can rely on daily. Whenever I need it. The miracle of modern texting allows me to vent to an understanding person 24/7. And sooner or later that person replies and I get a perspective on my problem or situation I didn't have before. I reach out and get out of my own head every day to help somebody else. And I am recovering. One day at a time, I am recovering. I no longer think about food all day long. I plan it, I commit it, I log it, I stick to it. And consequently, my LapBand miraculously is now at the right level of fill and works perfectly. I also practice self care in other, important ways. I listen to meditation recordings. I pull out my markers and I color in adult coloring books. I get foot and shoulder massages monthly. I meet with friends weekly. I give my dog his nightly Raindrop oil massage and it relaxes us both. Food was never the problem. Today it is no longer the solution. This has been my path of recovery. I expect I'll be on a path of recovery for the rest of my life. That's cool. Today I have a life.

I agree with Guy. I eat Protein in the morning. What you are eating is considered a slider food even though it's somewhat nutritious. Try egg beaters, or scrambled eggs, turkey sausage, ham, omelettes. They're a little harder to digest so they stick around a lot longer. I also eat skinny flat breads with an egg, ham and cheese slice. It's around 300 calories and sticks around for many hours. One other thing? My doctor explained to me that as time goes by, our pouch becomes a more efficient muscle and adapts to pushing food through the band with more ease. In other words, it becomes stronger which can appear that your stoma is more open when it's not. I'm going in for another fill tomorrow for the same reason. I seldom get stuck and I believe I need the adjustment so that I feel satisfied longer.

That's awesome! I actually had my surgery the day before you... and I've lost about 28 lbs. so far! It is exciting... i have a question for you though... have you already had your first fill? and also do you feel restricted? I just had my first fill at my 4 week follow up appt. and I'm suppose to stick to 2 oz. meals... however... I find myself still able to eat way more than that... and I keep catching myself testing the waters a little and going beyond my 2 oz portion size. Just wondering how your experience is going. I'm still on mushy foods for the next 2 weeks... and then I graduate to "textured" foods. thanks for the post! Kayla