I was really scared about my band and thinking I could never eat certain foods again. I remember freaking out thinking that I'll never have another slice of pizza or a bite of some birthday cake. Well thankfully my doc put those fears to rest and told me that moderation is key.

Today to Celebrate finally being able to eat solids again in a grueling month+ of healing and prep my husband, friends and I went out to Chilis. I drank Water, no appetizer, no dessert. I bought myself a mushroom cheeseburger, took out the doughy parts of the bun, and made sure to have veggies on the side instead of fries. I ate Protein first, but found that after the burger I was pretty satisfied and didn't even get to the veggies. I was thinking about having 1 meal a week to let myself just eat what I want. I've never been big on drinking anything but water, or buying Desserts. What I worry more about is the fat/calorie content of the food I'm eating, especially when I go one day to eat something fattier like Taco bell or Mcdonalds. Of course I'll make smart choices and adjust my meals accordingly when I eat out, like I did at Chilis. Luckily, living in New York, any chain of restaurants has to label all their products on menus with nutritional facts by law, so it's even easier for me to make the right choices when I eat out. Do you think it'll make a difference eating out once a week?

How often do you treat yourself?

I eat out every Monday night before dance class, cos it's too far to go home and then come back to class, plus I have a Lions meeting every second Wednesday. Mondays are easy because I get to choose off the menu but Lions is a bit harder because the menu is set and meals are simply served. There is no option for special dietary requriements. I just try for an overall balance. Good luck

Well...... every day I guess. I mean, I've worked hard on not seeing foods as "good" or "bad" and if I want a hotdog for lunch, I have it and I dont consider it cheating or a treat. However, that's not as easy as it sounds, becuase I did have to work long and hard to get to the point where I didnt want a hotdog every day. This happened somewhat naturally with the band - hamburgers, fries, hotdogs, cake, muffins, anything too bready, they're all really difficult to eat with the band for a lot of people - I can eat them, but even for me, they are tough to chew and swallow, lead to multiple moments of discomfort during the eating, fill me up to the point of discomfort and if not eaten carefully make me vomit. Appetising, huh? Over time, you just dont really fancy those things anymore. Just the very occasional "wow, I feel like a hotdog, think I'll have one". My taste has changed to much easier, and luckily healthier foods.

Cookies, wow, wish I couldnt eat those easily. Those for me are a specific "treat" which I will only have once in a while, certainly not every time I think of it. They're something I overeat every time, there's no such thing as one for me, if I'm going to eat them, its going to be major calorie damage, which is fine, but just not very often.

I dont schedule a day or meal for treating/cheating. That's dieting behaviour, I left that behind forever. I'm of the firm belief and my body seems to believe it as well - that all that matters really is calories - weight wise that is. I want to be healthy and fit too so I eat well for that reason.

I have currently declared war on my own body. i had a cheat day saturday. I got banded 09/02/11 and lost a few lbs within the first few days and nothing after. So saturday I ate like almost 2000 calories and normally I eat around 1000.

In 24 hrs I lost 4lbs. I dunno. My cheat days help me lose weight for some reason. I hate my metabolisim. So every 2-3 weeks I guess I'm gonna have to cheat.

I allow myself to cheat sporadically....I don't have a set cheat day like some people, but if there's a special event - ie a get together with friends, a fair, etc, I let myself cheat. I am pretty restrictive for the most part, so I figure, if I'm going out, I'm going to eat what I want and enjoy it. I still really struggle with stopping before it's too much, and I end up paying for it with a really sore stomach. However, if I didn't let myself cheat sometimes, I don't think I'd have much success with my band. It's worked for me thus far.

Well...... every day I guess. I mean, I've worked hard on not seeing foods as "good" or "bad" and if I want a hotdog for lunch, I have it and I dont consider it cheating or a treat. However, that's not as easy as it sounds, becuase I did have to work long and hard to get to the point where I didnt want a hotdog every day. This happened somewhat naturally with the band - hamburgers, fries, hotdogs, cake, muffins, anything too bready, they're all really difficult to eat with the band for a lot of people - I can eat them, but even for me, they are tough to chew and swallow, lead to multiple moments of discomfort during the eating, fill me up to the point of discomfort and if not eaten carefully make me vomit. Appetising, huh? Over time, you just dont really fancy those things anymore. Just the very occasional "wow, I feel like a hotdog, think I'll have one". My taste has changed to much easier, and luckily healthier foods.

Cookies, wow, wish I couldnt eat those easily. Those for me are a specific "treat" which I will only have once in a while, certainly not every time I think of it. They're something I overeat every time, there's no such thing as one for me, if I'm going to eat them, its going to be major calorie damage, which is fine, but just not very often.

I dont schedule a day or meal for treating/cheating. That's dieting behaviour, I left that behind forever. I'm of the firm belief and my body seems to believe it as well - that all that matters really is calories - weight wise that is. I want to be healthy and fit too so I eat well for that reason.

I agree. Everything in moderation. If I want it, I eat it. Since this is a life style change and not a diet, there is no cheating!

I have currently declared war on my own body. i had a cheat day saturday. I got banded 09/02/11 and lost a few lbs within the first few days and nothing after. So saturday I ate like almost 2000 calories and normally I eat around 1000.

In 24 hrs I lost 4lbs. I dunno. My cheat days help me lose weight for some reason. I hate my metabolisim. So every 2-3 weeks I guess I'm gonna have to cheat.

I'm 9 months out and the scale and I have been at war lately and i'm getting so depressed. SO I was like WTH, let me try a cheat day (i actually don't really limit myself to what I can and can't eat, I just count calories and keep my Protein up), but on Thursday I have been craving chicken tenders and waffle fries for ages, but kept myself away, but I had them on Thursday and had a really high calorie day 2500 calories. According to my body media fit, I still had a 720 calorie deficit for the day. Made surer I went to both the gym and kickboxing. I was hoping it would kick my metabolism into high gear. But nope, the scale still hates me and I'm getting more and more depressed.

I don't have a cheat day either. I eat what I want within moderation - I try to stay away/limit the foods I consider dangerous for me - cookies, cheesecake, chips n dip etc - meaning I don't purchase these items but if I am out at a party or there are treats at work - I usually don't deny myself.

I eat what I want in moderation. No diet, no cheating. For the rest of my life...

Yes, I give my self cheat days as well. For the most part I'm pretty good. I've gotten more creative with my food

and now I'm really enjoying my own recipes. I don't miss bread at all to be honest! I believe you can make

anything taste good with the ingredients we are allowed to have

I agree, this is not a diet so there is no cheating. This is for life, so I allow myself somethings that I shouldn't have every now and then. It works!

Hmm, I realize this is an older thread, I just have been wondering if people take a day a week off or something silimar. I'm glad I ran into this though, it makes me realize I dont have to take a day off, because it's not a diet. I recently took a day where I decided I was just gonna eat. I still logged everything; took the bag of chips and counted out 2 servings and logged it, etc. The biggest thing I took away from that was that yes, I can still eat 2-3000 calories a day if I want to- it proved to me that this isn't all about just having a band placed in your stomach, you still have to work for it- despite what outsiders think. Apparently I could eat 2-3000 calories every day if I wanted to. But I choose not to, yes I CHOOSE not to! What a great feeling. My average daily intake for the last two weeks, including my big eating day is 841 calories, so I'm happy with that! It's not easy, I needed that day. But now I see maybe I should not take a whole day, just eat something I like that may not be 'band approved' once in a while. Thanks guys!

I eat what I want, just in moderation. I have not found a food that I can not eat. I have found though that when I eat something sweet or with a lot of processed sugar in it, I crave it a lot more for a few days after. It is better for me to try and limit those types of food to keep myself from spiraling out of control.

I think moderation is the key, I dont think you should eat 1000-1200 calories a day and then on your cheat day double or triple that, I dont find that to be good for your body at all