I'm day nine post op and I've pretty much skipped cream soups and moved to mushies and real food. I can only eat maybe 1/4 cup of food before I'm full. Theres no fluid in my band so I wonder why I can't eat more. I know I've been breaking alot of rules but I feel good and I'm still only getting about 800 calories a day. Probably less. I also drink alot of water as I eat it helps me get a little more food down, which is what I want right now.. Do you think I'm doing any harm to my band with this routine? I'm kinda wishing I just had the gastric sleeve done I'm really tired of worrying about this foreign object in me flipping and flopping around..

You should be following your surgeon's directions. Im glad you are feeling pretty good but the rule breaking needs to stop. You might be setting yourself up for a rough road.

You don't really want to be using fluid to get more food down. You want food to stick around in your pouch area.

Do what you will but please consider following your doctors rules.

Best wishes.

I second that, you should be following the rules.

Why would you want to be trying to push more food down? The point is to utilise your band so that you feel satisfied on less. Also now is the best time to learn and get used to your new eating rules. If you get into bad habits so early they will be very hard to break.If you can't stick to the plan now it will get harder later and you could be sabotaging your own success.

so I guess you should ask yourself why you even bothered to do this if your not willing to even try ??

I want to get a bit more food in me because one or two bites and I'm done. I calculated my calories the other day and I only took in 400. I dont want my body to go in to starvation mode and hold onto fat rather then use it. I have been trying actually and have lost 18 lbs these past 9 days. I do agree I need to not form the bad habit though.

You should be following your surgeon's directions. Im glad you are feeling pretty good but the rule breaking needs to stop. You might be setting yourself up for a rough road.

You don't really want to be using Fluid to get more food down. You want food to stick around in your pouch area.

Do what you will but please consider following your doctors rules.

Best wishes.

Yes but is it normal to feel full after a tble spoon or so? Thats like 50 calories depending on what I'm eating. It just doesnt seem good

The question is why have you skipped liquids and mushies and gone straight to real foods? Was it because your Dr told you to? To me it seems as though you are not yet ready for those kind of foods. If you are having to drink to get the food down then you are either:-

taking bites which are too big

not chewing properly

eating foods which are not suitable for you at this stage.

You need to follow the program correctly as otherwise you are setting yourself up for future problems.

Yes but is it normal to feel full after a tble spoon or so? Thats like 50 calories depending on what I'm eating. It just doesnt seem good

Yes it is normal for the time being - probably because you advanced your diet against your doctors orders. You are probably still a bit swollen on the inside. Get back on your surgeons plan and stop pushing it! Really. You can do it!

Ok that sounds logical, I guess I will take a step back.

you need to just stop and go back two steps . do you want fail then keep going the way you are stop it now.you did this for a person being yourself or for your family .FAMILY.

The idea at the beginning is to not have your stomach digesting food. The muscles of your stomach contract during digestion and that cn weaken the stitches leading to a slip later on. Go back to liquids. Do what your doctor told you.

Immediately after surgery doctors are not as concerned about calorie intake and content as healing. I was placed on Clear Liquids for the first week. No mention of Protein. Just clear. broth, Water, juice. That sort of thing. My surgeon didn't care of I got in 50 calories or 5000 calories, as long as they were clear liquids and I was hydrated. Same thing when I moved to full liquids.

You most likely have some swelling giving you some restriction. Unfortunately, the immediate post-op phase is about healing, not about feeling comfortable, full, or satisfied, or counting calories. All of that will come in time.

My surgeon had me on liquids for THREE WEEKS after surgery. THEN mushies, THEN gradually back onto solid food. If you're only at Day 9, and you're already forcing solids and cheating around your band, you are SO getting way ahead of yourself. You are not adapting your behavior to life with a band, and you are heading dead ahead into failure. If you did any research at all, you should know there are specific steps to follow to be successful with the band. Do as others have said, and go back and do what your surgeon said to do. Developing patience is one of the first steps to learn, and you need to give your band a chance to work. You didn't get fat overnight, and you will not lose that weight overnight. Slow down, use your common sense, and give yourself an option to succeed.

BTW: Stating that you wish you had gotten the sleeve instead of banding because you don't want to be concerned with your band flipping and flopping around shows you don't fully understand the process. And with the sleeve, you'd need to carefully monitor your food intake even more carefully, because sleevers have their own set of problems to deal with. Eating wrong with a sleeve can lead to dumping syndrome, severe vomiting episodes, and even stomach failure. The grass over there is not exactly greener than where you are.

You have an amazing tool at your disposal that will work really well, if you learn how to manage it properly. Learn how it works best, and then follow those rules. You'll be a lot happier in the long run.

Good luck!

Dave

There's a very specific reason your Dr tells you to do clear liquids, then other liquids, then soft food, then mushies, then soft solids, then solids.

Your band is sutured to your stomach and your organs are moved around a lot during surgery, everything is swollen, sore, healing - for 4-6 weeks - watch a video of the surgery if you want to see what happens.

If you are pushing it now - you will not succeed in the long term. If you continue the way you are going right now - chances are you will tear the sutures, you will stretch your pouch, you will likely overeat and end up vomiting, and will slip your band. Everything you're doing now at 9 days post op is a signifier of what's to come.

You're heading down a very bad road.

Back up - go back to liquids for a week. Start fresh and learn to live with your band. Keep a food diary, keep an exercise diary, keep a diary of what you are feeling and experiencing every day.

During the first four weeks I couldn't eat more than 600 calories a day. Protein shakes, Soup, Jello, popcicles - that's how I lived. And due to that diligence, when I was over filled for two months (unable to get an unfill due to billing issues) and was vomiting almost every day, my band never slipped, never moved, my pouch never expanded. My experience those first 4-6 weeks allowed me to weather a bad couple of months without damaging the band or my stomach.

And don't consider another surgery, based on what you've said, even if you had a sleeve done or gastric bypass, you would have overeaten.

This may sound very negative but it's the truth and consider it tough love.

You're either going to do this or you're not. Make the decision now, before you cause yourself all sorts of problems.

I sent you a Message on this matter. Please read it, and Message me back.

Shirley.

Hang in there HungryBetty! I can understand your concerns and why you are doing what you are doing. This is a huge psychological change for anyone who does this. For people who are used to eating whatever they want (like I used to), liquids seem crazy to live on for a week. But isn't it great how the Band works? You don't have to feel hungry while doing it! (at least not much) I got my Band 2 weeks ago, so I know where you are at, but keep fighting and keep trying to do what your Dr says. There are good reasons why he told you what he did, and it wasn't because he wanted you to starve, it really is for the best.

Keep positive and even if you do make mistakes, just learn from them and keep going. That is why we are all on this site, to learn and flourish in our newly Banded lives!

I know some people may have seemed a little harsh above, but take the information they provided and use what you can to get thru these first weeks!

Best of luck to you!!! My thoughts and prayers are with you during this time.

Just remember, you took the hardest step by making the choice to get the Band, changing your entire life. Now are the follow up steps to make it work. You can do it!!