I'm a bit worried and confused. I was banded on 6/30, so am only a week out, I have been reading some posts that have me concerned. Right now I am still on a "Full Liquid" diet, but have added a bit of cottage cheese from the soft food phase which I will be moving into. I am hungry! True when I eat/drink I don't take in more than like a cup at a time, but it doesn't last long, I am hungry very soon after. I was looking forward to the point where I could eat real food and feel satisfied again, but now I am reading posts that say it is all about will power, and you never REALLY feel satisfied again:frown: Is this true, will it always be about will power:confused: One post said you will fill full more in your chest than in your stomach, it will be like you don't want to eat because it will be uncomfortable but not really a satisfied feeling:confused: Right now I am feeling a little panicky, did I make a mistake:scared2:

I'm a bit worried and confused. I was banded on 6/30, so am only a week out, I have been reading some posts that have me concerned. Right now I am still on a "Full Liquid" diet, but have added a bit of cottage cheese from the soft food phase which I will be moving into. I am hungry! True when I eat/drink I don't take in more than like a cup at a time, but it doesn't last long, I am hungry very soon after. I was looking forward to the point where I could eat real food and feel satisfied again, but now I am reading posts that say it is all about will power, and you never REALLY feel satisfied again:frown: Is this true, will it always be about will power:confused: One post said you will fill full more in your chest than in your stomach, it will be like you don't want to eat because it will be uncomfortable but not really a satisfied feeling:confused: Right now I am feeling a little panicky, did I make a mistake:scared2:

This is a great question. IMO, a lot of us bandsters have to re-learn what getting full feels like. I prefer not to even use the word "full", because it implies that old feeling of having eaten too much. Heck, by its very definition, full means filled to capacity. Once we get banded, we should abandon the word "full" and instead use "not hungry", because that's the way we should be eating.

As bandsters, we're supposed to eat until we're not hungry, not until we're stuffed to capacity. The goal is to see how little you can eat and not be hungry for about 4-5 hours.

This is a great question. IMO, a lot of us bandsters have to re-learn what getting full feels like. I prefer not to even use the word "full", because it implies that old feeling of having eaten too much. Heck, by its very definition, full means filled to capacity. Once we get banded, we should abandon the word "full" and instead use "not hungry", because that's the way we should be eating.

As bandsters, we're supposed to eat until we're not hungry, not until we're stuffed to capacity. The goal is to see how little you can eat and not be hungry for about 4-5 hours.

You're a smart man, you are absolutely right, I really used the wrong word, what I meant to ask about is feeling satisfied, not "FULL" which is not a pleasant feeling. If I can remember the true goal here, which should be as you said "to see how little you can eat and not be hungry for about 4-5 hours." I will do just fine. I just had been feeling really hungry and started to panic, plus even though I am down 11 lbs, I haven't lost a thing for two days, and felt like I was eating next to notrhing, well, I examined what I had actually taken in as far as calories, fat & carbs, and while it is true I hadn't eaten much, I had managed to take in a little over 1000 calories and 137 carbs. I couldn't believe I had consumed almost 400 calories and 89 carbs from juice :thumbup: believe me today their will be a lot less juice and a lot more Water, if I am going to consume 400 calories it is going to be with something that sticks with me a lot longer than juice!

Don't panic. It will be fine. Yes, you will have a different feeling when you are finished eating instead of full but its not unpleasant. And sometimes when I am enjoying something I eat till my little pouch is full and then I regret it! :thumbup: But I am satisfied after I eat my little meals. But like I always say "Sometimes my stomach is satisfied but my mouth is still hungry" when something tastes really good.

But here is the important part, now between meals I start feeling a "need to eat" instead of being "HUNGRY!" The band has helped me so much with hunger control, (I guess I should say the band with my fills) because at first I was so hungry, too! But just hang on and do your best to wait out bandster hell and it will get better once the fills start.

I also would like to recommend that once you start eating real food again you should stop drinking all juices until you go into your maintenance stage and then reintroduce it slowly, because your right, it can stop weight loss. But if you need it now to get through the liquid stage, by all means use it.

Good luck and try not to worry, your doing a good job!

Don't panic. It will be fine. Yes, you will have a different feeling when you are finished eating instead of full but its not unpleasant. And sometimes when I am enjoying something I eat till my little pouch is full and then I regret it! :thumbup: But I am satisfied after I eat my little meals. But like I always say "Sometimes my stomach is satisfied but my mouth is still hungry" when something tastes really good.

But here is the important part, now between meals I start feeling a "need to eat" instead of being "HUNGRY!" The band has helped me so much with hunger control, (I guess I should say the band with my fills) because at first I was so hungry, too! But just hang on and do your best to wait out bandster hell and it will get better once the fills start.

I also would like to recommend that once you start eating real food again you should stop drinking all juices until you go into your maintenance stage and then reintroduce it slowly, because your right, it can stop weight loss. But if you need it now to get through the liquid stage, by all means use it.

Good luck and try not to worry, your doing a good job!

Thanks! Ordinarily I am not much of a juice drinker, I just felt like with this liquid stage I would need the extra nutrition I felt it was better to drink juice than eat a popcicle that was basically koolaid and that may have been true the first few days when I was strictly on a clear liquid diet, but now I can get my nutritional needs met w/o the high calorie juice, so it will be greatly reduced, I will continue to use a small amount of it to help me get down the yucky liquid medicines, but I plan to reduce my intake to no more than 8 oz a day. I am feeling more satisfied today, and not so panicky.