Hi, I am new to this site. I've been reading your posts for about a week now. Excellent information! I am scheduled for surgery on Feb 13th with Dr. Steward in Topeka. What exactly does it mean to eat around the band? Thanks for the info! Holly

Eating around the band is when you make food choices that the band can't stop. For example, you can have great restriction, but that's not going to stop you from eating a pint of ice cream because it goes right through the band and on into the larger stomach. Hope this helps!

It does. Thank you so much for your reply!

Besides the soft and liquid calories, it can also mean snacking and eating high-calorie/high fat foods. If you start snacking between meals / grazing all day, you can easily get in way too many calories. Same with just taking too long at a single meal. If you stretch your meal out over a longer period of time, the stuff you ate at the beginning of the meal will have dropped through the stoma and you can fit lots more in.

And also if you make bad food choices, like fried cheese sticks, nachos, etc. too often. Even if you eat small portions, it's still usually way more calories than 2-3 oz of Protein and 1/2 c of veggies would have been. It adds up over time.

Good luck with your banding!

It also means swallowing small amounts of food & washing it on through with liquids so you can eat more. Basically doing all of the things you are not supposed to do & defeating the purpose of the band!

Wow Jessie, you can really see the weight loss in your face with this recent picture compared to the last one! (your avatar pic). WTG!

Thank you! I just sent you a PM. Wondering if you need a new avatar? 50 lbs lost!!!! Molly that's awesome!!