I was just banded a week ago on the 25th. I am starving. I'm still on clear liquids plus protein shakes. I've stuck to it well, and have lost 8 lbs since surgery a week ago. It has been tough at times my stomach growls constantly with hunger!! I wonder if maybe I'm not drinking enough water? I stick to the 2 ounces at a time that the paper tells me to drink, so I'm not sure if I could hold more or not! I feel satisfied for about 20 or 30 minutes then the growling starts back in my stomach!! Is this normal? If so then I'm ok with it! I'm willing to do what it takes to make this work!

Drink more. Liquids slide through your band so drinking more won't hurt you at all.

PS hunger is normal and doesn't go away completely, unless your body no longer makes ghrelin.

I agree with above, try to drink as much water as possible. Sounds like your tolerating it fine. Hang in there, the initial post op diet will come to an end. Congrats on your surgery.

I was banded a week ago too. This week I am allowed creamy soups, puddings, oatmeal, etc. I had Italian Wedding soup for dinner-I probably shouldn't have had the balls but I did chew them really good. I feel full now. I am not getting enough water in-have to work on that! I do 2 protein shakes (25 grams of protein a pice) and the shakes fill me up. I bough refried beans, hummus, and ricotta cheese-can't wait tii try them. Did you buy sugar free popcycles-they help a lot! I also bought decaf Chai Tea and that is something really nice to sip on.

Good luck to you!

Mandy, we were banded a week ago today. I was sticking to the clear liquids until I called the doctor yesterday. They said I could have soups (it was on my list but I didn't understand it). They said I should just be sure that there are NO chunks in the soup and make sure it is not a heavy soup. I have been more satisfied since I added soups. I put the soup in my Magic Bullet and drink it slowly over 20 minutes or so.

I got banded on May 23 and am on all liquids for 3 weeks. I drink a ton of high protein shakes, soups, drink mixes and it seems to work for me. Good luck!

This phase seems to last forever, but you will get through it. It is almost impossible to get enough calories in this phase unless you drink more than 5 shakes per day. Eat lots of popcycles and Jello. You could even put some whip cream on your jello.

Try and do stuff around the house or go for a walk to get your mind off the growling.

good luck

I could go without eating anything all day,its at night when im laying in bed,is when my stomach growls,but im so thankful,it does not last long.

Thanks everyone!

I was banded on May 25th as well. Can't say I'm loving this part of it, but I'm back at work which keeps my mind off things. I am allowed broths and the nutritionist suggested miso soup. This is that Japanese soup with the tofu and green onion. I strain the tofu and onion out so I only have broth, but I still find it satisfying because it is flavorful. I also strained some homemade onion soup for that broth. That seems to get me over the hump when I'm sitting there staring at the meal my family is about to eat.

re: "You could even put some whip cream on your jello." why? calories in during this early postOp phase is not as important as remaining hydrated. Learning how to live with a simplified palette comes in very handy as times goes on in the phases of Bandster Life.

re: "You could even put some whip cream on your Jello." why? calories in during this early postOp phase is not as important as remaining hydrated. Learning how to live with a simplified palette comes in very handy as times goes on in the phases of Bandster Life.

Says who?

i was banded on march 23, just had my nd fill today, the hunger never goes away, it just does not last as long. Band or no band our bodies will always be hungry, the difference is eating to live, not living to eat. it will pass, my tum tum was growling when i was out of surgery, sometimes its not hunger , just your tum getting used to the band, kinda of like it s fighting it lol

I agree with Jack...A lot of people that have weight issues will increase their cravings by adding certain foods. My dr advises new patients to stay away from these foods for the first 6-9 months to help with the cravings and slowly reintroduce the foods. I realize you've had a lot of success and talk about all the food you can eat now, but a lot of us are still dealing with trying to lose weight and stopping cravings. So this is good advice for most new banders...This isn't for a life without carbs but to relearn your eating habits.

(Jack sorry if this wasn't what you were thinking...but this is what I've been told and have found that it's true! I haven't had carbs for almost a month now and the cravings are almost gone. The first few days without them, the cravings were horrible!)

Says who?

I agree with Jack...A lot of people that have weight issues will increase their cravings by adding certain foods. My dr advises new patients to stay away from these foods for the first 6-9 months to help with the cravings and slowly reintroduce the foods. I realize you've had a lot of success and talk about all the food you can eat now, but a lot of us are still dealing with trying to lose weight and stopping cravings. So this is good advice for most new banders...This isn't for a life without carbs but to relearn your eating habits.

(Jack sorry if this wasn't what you were thinking...but this is what I've been told and have found that it's true! I haven't had carbs for almost a month now and the cravings are almost gone. The first few days without them, the cravings were horrible!)

He said nothing about carbs, but all right Good luck fighting your cravings! I too am still losing weight, but I've learned its about the quantity of what I eat, not where the calories are from, for the most part.

we all have things we like to eat.....whipped cream on jello hasn't appealed to me. To suggest adding unneeded fat combined with a bunch of other non essentials in the service of adding more calories didn't seem to be the route that worked for me.... As a recovering diabetic I've had to simplify my own intake to avoid a lot of pseudo food sources that helped lead me into near catastrophe. And the route that worked better in my case was to not follow cravings for a lot of things. Different strokes, etc. If it works for you great.