For those of you who have already had the surgery....

Do you WANT food? Do you CRAVE it?

I'm into my third day of 2 weeks of 800 calorie per day liquid diet. I am about to devour my couch, that's how much I just want to EAT something.. I know that my stomach is large now and it WANTS to be filled...

I'm just worried that I'm going to struggle with this for the rest of my life. Or will I? I want someone to tell me that NO - once you have surgery, the WANT goes away.. you eat when you need to and sometimes you have to force it.... please tell me this is the case!! Someone!! LOL

I hope y'all know what I'm talking about... I just don't want to live the rest of my life feeling deprived... that would suck. i want for food to not be IMPORTANT to me anymore... eat to live... you know? Not live to eat.... Well, time to make another protein shake! Peace out!

Hope to read some responses from you non-newbies!!! HUGS:bored:

Question:

Is that what "restriction" means? That I won't feel the "want" anymore?

Is it possible to get restriction right away? LOL Just curious.. really concerned about this...

As soon as you get banded, your mind doesn't change. You'll still want food. You'll still want chocolate, cheetos, cupcakes, beef Jerky, etc. Your mind doesn't change at all.

I assume you're on Optifast? Drink lots of water! I enjoyed Crystal Light a lot. Also, I enjoyed chewing gum.

Manda -

thanks for responding...

OK - yes, I'm on Optifast.... 5 shakes per day.. I bought crystal light but haven't taken it yet... drinking water, having sugar free pops and sugar free jello... have chewed lots of gum.... it's just hard... I know I sound like a spoiled brat... i know I can't have my cake and eat it too, no pun intended! :thumbup:

Was the liquid diet the hardest part of the process for you?

I think you've asked a very logical and important question. For me, the band doesn't take away the desire to emotionally eat, more importantly, but it does take away my ability to do it without suffering very uncomfortable physical consequences.I was banded on 1.27.10 and while its only been 3 months, my relationship with food has changed. While I still allow myself to have treats, many days, like today, I have to force myself to eat because I know my body needs the protein. So I feel like I'm eating to get stronger and healthier vs. trying to eat away my feelings. I hope this makes sense. I've lost 48 pounds and haven't felt this good about myself in a very long time. That is my true motivation to keep focused. Good luck to you on your journey!!

thanks for sharing that!!!!

it's what I wanted to know... I just want to have the hope that I WILL be able to control my desires... I don't want food to be such a focal point in my life!

Anyway, I'm sure I'm worrying more about it than I should... probably because I've been on liquids for days... LOL I DID have 1/2 a saltine cracker tonight.. I just needed it... can't really explain it... and it was so good... as if it were lasagna! LOL:thumbup:

going to try not to do that again...

I don't have a surgery date yet but it will happen sometime this summer. I SO have the same questions that you do. Thanks for asking! Please post after surgery what you're experiencing!

Now I want to see what sort of scars are left by the surgery...

I am right there with you!!!! I started my 2 week liquid diet on Monday the 26th, so I'm now on day 4. And although I started out hungry, irritated with everyone, and with no energy, I can really tell a difference today. So I think maybe my body is done with it's detox!!! But I have had the same concerns that you have. Will my want go away? I'm glad to know there are people out there just like me who are feeling the same anxiety that I feel. But WE CAN DO THIS!!!!

You soon will not feel like you want to eat everything. I was on the Optifast program last year, so I understand what you are going thru. It takes about 6 days. The smell of certain foods made me want to cry, I was so wanting to eat!!! :redface:

Also, it's not normal to only have liquids and our need to chew is hard to break.

Good Luck and keep us posted as I have not been banded yet.

I don't have my surgery date yet, and so therefore haven't started the liquid diet, but I am curious, can you take medicine like Phentermine while on the liquid diet to help curve your appetite??

honestly, the craving doesn't go away... or hasn't for me and i'm 2 years post-op. if you liked ice cream before surgery you're still going to like it after surgery!

i think, for me, it's going to be a constant struggle. it honestly gets to the point where the internal struggle is so huge that i literally have to talk myself out of eating too much.

you either listen to your stomach (or band) that will eventually tell you "No More Food!!!" or you listen to your head that tells you "One More Bite!!!" you're so used to just eating that one last bite that turns into finishing everything on your plate.

even with the band, the struggle will be there BUT i do allow myself the occasional treat of a small vanilla cone or some snack sized chocolate!

I hated my two week Optifast diet. Today, I was mixing a chocolate Protein powder into milk, and it reminded me of mixing the Optifast shakes. Even though my Protein shake didn't taste anything like the Optifast, I still had a hard time drinking it. I felt so blah. The sound of mixing mixing anything into a cup gets to me. The other day my sister was making some kind of shake and the sound brought back memories. It just turns me off.

It'll get better though. :redface:

I also like how Kalipso2 to said that "if you like ice cream before sugery, you're going to like it after." That's such a great example. It's all about choices, and this, by no means, is the "easy way out." At times I wish I had done the gastric bypass because I could eat all kinds of junk, but still lose weight. But of course, I'm still happy with my choice. I still have all of my organs in the right place. :thumbup:

Banded 2/22/10 - I read somewhere that the band is the most effective for people whose biggest problem was portion control while grazers and junk food eaters would have a tougher time. Here's my experience so far:

The first few weeks were the hardest, but they went by fast, like a dream now. Once on solid foods and after having two fills I'm never hungry in between meals and it doesn't take much to fill me up.

I do crave forbidden foods from time to time, but not as bad as before being banded. Sometimes I feel a little down when I can't eat the things I used to (bread, rice, Pasta, junk food), but it's not like I think about it constantly. Food just isn't as important any more and I find pleasure in the things I can eat.

I am having a hard time with noshing in between meals though. Fortunately, I only keep healthy foods in the house so it's not too bad.

I think a lot of willpower is needed with the band. That's something I wasn't good at before. Now, the band motivates me to stay on course because I don't want to fail at this. I'm finally not dieting anymore; it's just "eat this - not that." That's the lifestyle change I've been needing all along and the band is giving me the kick in the butt I needed to make that change. :redface:

Hello Conservachick, looks like we are about on the same timeline, I started my liquid diet on 4/23 and surgery on 5/7, lets keep in touch! I too get hungary and have something off of my doctor's acceptable solid food pre-op list, but we can only do that once per day, and he would like us not to, but I normally have once per day a few slices of lean deli meat or a baked chicken breast. It normally satisfies me enough that I get past it. I am now 7 days into it and it is getting more manegeable I think, yesterday I did not drink all the shakes I took with me to work, that is a first! :redface:

It's a great question to ask---I wish more people did ask it before surgery, so they'd know what to expect.

Banding will not take away hunger---at least not at first. And it definitely won't take away cravings.

BUT--and it's a big but (ha! like mine)---once you get past the hellish period of non-restriction, your hunger level dramatically drops, so it becomes lots and lots easier to resist temptation.

Plus, your stomach capacity very simply is reduced to the point where overeating becomes more or less a non-issue.

You do have to find a way to deal with the feelings that food creates for you---because they don't really vanish after surgery. (Two good books to help with the emotional aspects of overeating: Shrink Yourself by Roger Gould and The Food and Feelings Workbook by Karen Koenig.)

The band is a really great tool. It really does what it's "supposed" to do----it makes living on far less food, well, liveable. But it does take quite a while after surgery for most people to reach the point where the band really provides restriction---during that time (or even before), I think it's important to eat as though you do have restriction, so that you have good habits in place.

It's really amazing how much room life has for other things when food is not the primary focus :redface: You may experience grief initially, but the rewards really very quickly outweigh the costs---and that makes it all worthwhile.

Good luck!

I feel like a loser and a horrible person right now... I just had 4 bites of pepperoni pizza... :redface: I can't believe I did that... almost 4 DAYS INTO my liquid diet... 800 calories... I was so happy today.. no headaches, feeling like I had lots of energy.. but I heated up a pizza for the kids and when I took it out of the oven I couldn't resist... I went back and forth for several minutes.. then I just cut a very small bite size piece and had it.... and it was so good for a few seconds.. but right now, if I could, I would go vomit.. but I've never been one of those.... anyway... just wanted to share.. I feel such guilt and I feel like a big fat loser!