I was banded on 8/11/11 and noticed that I am still eating fast and not chewing as I should, but I am not having any problems. By the time I notice what I am doing I am halfway thru my meal. I am going for a fill on 9/27/11 and I am terrified, I need to get this under control so that I will not have any complications following my fill. Did anyone have this problems before their first fill and how long did it take you control eating habits?

Hi, I'm Terri, banded 6 months and read your topic and wanted to share.

I want to tell you that you are normal and from what you say, nothing is wrong. You sound so worried. You are where you should be - starting to learn to live with your band. You had your surgery and have been healing. The doctor will fill you soon. But right now you only have a minimally tight band. So yes, you probably can eat most anything. Some folks actually gain weight in this phase. My PA told me that as long as I did not gain he was happy.

The things you are so worried about learning are going to come, but they will come slow, and part of it will be trial and error once the band gets tighter.

There are 4 things to learn: Eat slow, Chew it thoroughly, Small bites. Some things need to be left alone (I avoid bread and potatoes - french fries).

Eating slow is my biggest downfall, I still get too hungry and tear into my chow. When I am not on a rampage, I try to eat with manners such that between each bite I actually lay the utensil down and try to converse pleasantly with my hubby.

Chewing thoroughly -- try to hit some number, 25 or 30 or even 40 with tough meat.

Small bites -- I have heard others say that they use a baby spoon to eat. I use a fork to stab rather than my old mode which was shovel.

The thing I want to tell you is to ENJOY your weight loss journey - your message sounded so stressed. The LAP band was one of the most wonderful gifts you could ever give youself. Don't rush your journey to get so some magic #. And don't agonize, call your doctor's office and ask questions. My motto is that the PA's secretary is my BFF.

Also, take a break one in a while and reward yourself: My PA told me that nothing was forbidden to me anymore. And that is all the encouragment that I needed. I may take 6 extra months to get to my magic #, but I can tell you this - i will have had birthday cake and celebrated life with my fiends and family along the way.

I wish the same for others. Good luck with your journey.

PS tickker below is inaccurate. I forgot my password and cannot update. My surgery was 2/16/11 and I am at 60 lbs lost.

Until you have restriction your stomach is no different than it was presurgery. Did your doctor require therapy sessions that cover mindful eating. If not I would seek out a therapist that specializes in eating disorders. These sessions really helped me concentrate on eat bite and truely enjoying it.

Take one, just one, dried cranberry and chew it slowly. See how much flavor you notice. When you eat a handful at a time you chew quickly and swollow with out hardly tasting.

I too, had/have this problem. Some of it comes from the fact that I often only get 5-10 minutes to eat lunch at work, and even then, I am frequently interrupted. Or sometimes I wait too long to eat, and then I am STARVING, and eat too fast, or don't chew enough.

I did not have any issues until my first fill, and the first 4 days, I ended up PB'ing my main meal of the day.

I have been working on not eating fast and chewing here at home, but I am afraid when I go back to work- the last day that I worked, I actually packed an all mushie lunch to prevent problems!

It's like learning to ride a bike- you'll have a few spills but eventually we'll both be experts!

Thank you all for your feed back! Terri special thanks to you, your post was such an encouraging message. I smiled the entire time reading it, feeling much better by end.

I too seem to have times that I eat way too fast.

It lets me know pretty darn quick.

I have found that I can not eat and watch TV. I have to set at the dinning room table and eat. For this.. I LOVE LOVE LOVE my DVR! lol

I have been a "food Inhaler" for MANY years and it is a really hard habit to break... BUT I know that we can both do it!! We are better than that old habit!!