Well, I braved a Breakfast for my 5th graders this morning. I only had one mini sausage ball and two sausage cups when I usually eat two plates full! Tomorrow night, we have a family get together with finger foods only. Do you all think it is safe for me to eat the food there or should I bring my own small meal?

I have zero restriction in my band because I have not had my first fill. Even so, my conscience has kept me from going over my restricted 600 calories per day. I guess I just need someone to tell me it is ok to eat these finger foods!

Finger food should be fine. My suggestion is to scope out what there is and make the choice you think would work for you. Then just put some on a small plate and only eat from that. This was suggested by my local support group. Plus do not try to not eat throughout the day (like some used to do before being banded) because that could fail you and you might try to eat more than you can handle.

Good luck!!

Try to stick to the protein choices if you can rather than carbs and you should be fine.

Well, I braved a breakfast for my 5th graders this morning. I only had one mini sausage ball and two sausage cups when I usually eat two plates full! Tomorrow night, we have a family get together with finger foods only. Do you all think it is safe for me to eat the food there or should I bring my own small meal?

I have zero restriction in my band because I have not had my first fill. Even so, my conscience has kept me from going over my restricted 600 calories per day. I guess I just need someone to tell me it is ok to eat these finger foods!

I think you already answered your own question. If you are limiting your calories and each finger food has at least 100 calories then you could eat 6 and that's all for your day. Sounds like you shoud stick with your routine eating and pick one great finger food to eat. Then walk away and mingle. It will be easier to do this when you have restriction but practice makes perfect. Good luck.

A big thank you to all for your advice. I am going to eat my normal breakfast, normal lunch, then eat at the party. I will stay away from the breads and sweets!

they way i see it, we (meaning us bandsters) need to learn to interact at "normal" food functions. i told all my family and friends not to change meals because of me.

i can no longer eat pizza. it's just way too much bread for me.... even one piece. my mom wanted to change pizza night to something else but i refused. i'd learn to make due. i've learned i can eat the crust off one piece of pizza and the toppings off 2 pieces. everyone is left happy.

i just learned to adapt my eating habits during holidays and dinners. you'll do fine!

I would have some solid protein (chicken breast or chicken/turkey lunch meat) as a base before going to the party. This way you won't be starving and will be able to make better choices. Many parties have cut up veggies with dips; eat the veggies only. Another party staple is cheese cubes. While cheese is high in calories it also has calicum and protein. As a previous poster mentioned I would lean towards protein based foods (as long as they are'nt fried. I will admit when I go to family parties etc (which are less than once a month maybe two) I do allow myself to have a couple carb based treats (ie crackers). I don't keep that stuff in my house so it allows me to have a taste. One of my issues in the past has been totally cutting things out of my "diet" for say a year at a time, eventually caving which leads me to saying "screw it I can have this occationally" and then going back to terrible food habits. As another poster mentioned we need to learn how to eat like thin people eat (they just do it without thinking); they have 2 crackers and stop. They don't plan on denying themselves certain foods forever.

Great advice honk! We shouldn't deprive ourselves either. Instead, we should learn how to make better food choices. It helps me a lot to be able to plan out what I will eat. My first plan is to eat on a dessert plate. I know someone is bringing a deli meat/cheese tray and someone else is bringing some popcorn chicken in wing sauce. So, those are two "safe" foods I can lean towards tonight. My goal is to stay far away from the sweets!