What is that feeling like? I had my surgery 3/11 and SOOOOO counting the days till I have have mushies (this Wed) and since I will be able to eat eggs, mash pots, creamy Soups.. I just wanted to know how you know when enough is enough.

Is it a painful feeling? Do you get bloated? Or do you just "feel" full?

I was, and am, scared to get too full, so I eat maybe 1/4 cup of whatever it is and stop. (I was banded 3/12 and started mushies today -- was on "full liquid" for 5 days.) Then, about 3 hours later, I will get hungry again and I do the same thing. This is VERY different from my historical eating pattern of 1-2 oversized meals a day. My doctor never said how much to eat, I just am thinking it is better to get the protein, etc., into me in small batches rather than try to cram it all in 3 times a day! Hope that helps.

You'll learn that your new "full" feeling is high up in your chest, almost in your throat. some people have signs like burping, hiccuping, deep breaths, etc. and they know to stop. Mine is hiccuping and deep breaths. If I eat another 2 bites after that, I will be overfull or get stuck. I had to learn the hard way that when I would feel that pain, i wasn't necessarily stuck every time, that is my full feeling now. it's a completely new feeling and everyone is different.

I get the hiccups and that's my signal to stop. If I eat another bite or two, it hurts and those bites usually come back up.

i haven't started mushies yet (hopefully this week!) but i've noticed when doing my liquids that i get this wierd feeling. it's almost like feeling full but different. hard to describe. not really in my chest but not a stomach feeling really either. i can kinda just tell that i'm "full" and should stop. sometimes whatever i'm drinking tastes so good i wanna keep drinking it, but i know it could be bad if i get overfilled and i make myself stop. i guess that's breaking the habit i've had for so many years of being full but finishing the food just because it tastes good. that's what got me where i am now and i gotta break that cycle. thank heavens my band is helping me now!

When I started mushies, I had to call my nutritionist because I couldn't eat everything that she told me to eat.

She wanted me to eat one full cup of food at every meal with, in addition, 1/2 cup of pureed fruit 3 times a day as Snacks. Some of the food assignments seemed bizarre, ie a required 1/2 c of mashed potatoes or Pasta at every lunch and every dinner. 1/2 c of rice could be an option to the potatoes or pasta in the second week of mushies.

After 1/2 cup of food, I just felt full, I had no interest in taking another bite. In fact, I thought if I did take another bite it might make me ill.

When I made the call to the nutritionist, she still insisted that I had to eat it all or I wouldn't lose weight. I was literally in tears from frustration. So I made another call to the Coordinator of Bariatric Surgery at the hospital where I'd had surgery. The coordinator has a lap-band and she was awesome while I was in the hospital. She told me NOT to overeat, to stop when I was full. I'd received a notebook full of information from her before sugery, which included phases of a lap-band diet following surgery. What life saver.

Long story sorry, anyway .. let's just say there are huge differences in opinions about diet. Even my surgeon has a different opinion but tries to work as a team with the nutritionist who is in the group where he practices.

I'm not sure I can go back to the nutritionist. There have been many things I've doubted about her diet instructions a long the way and now I'm convinced that I cannot work with her for the lack of confidence I have in her knowledge and experience with lap-band diets. Not sure how I'm going to handle this. I hope my surgeon will give me fills even if I don't return to the nutritionist.

I'm now following a diet from the bariatric surgery coordinator which totals 3/4 cup of mushie food at each meal.

1/4 c Protein (eggs, cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, meat, fish, beans)

1/4 c vege

1/4 c fruit (but don't eat it if feeling full)

- mashed potatoes sparingly replacing fruit or vege

- pasta and rice NEVER in this phase.

64 oz of clear non-caloric liquids

THIS makes a lot more sense to me and it's keeping me full!

I also supplement 8 oz of my Clear Liquids with an 8 oz protein Water (20 grams of protein)

And that's my story of feeling full

Sorry about the book.

i still cant figure out my full signal and im 17 days post op and on mushy food.. so i just eat the 3-4 ounces that my doc told me to eat cause im definitly scared of overeating.

I'm a week out of surgery and am on liquids/creamed soups for another 10 days. I am having a hard time knowing when I am full or not too or when I am hungry. Mostly I'm having a hard time wanting anything- thats ok, I'm still healing... I've been on liquids for 17 days now, and I just sort of feel put off by anything liquid overall. I know my body needs nutrition, but my tasetbuds and my tummy are not happy with much.

Drasan- I meet with my nutritionist every time I go for a fill. Like you, I don't agree with everything she says. I just yes yes her at the meeting and move on. Maybe this will work for you.