Hey all. I was banded 6/21. I'm currently on a "soft foods" diet but I'll admit to trying things here and there to see how my band tolerates it. I dropped 8 lbs the first week and then plateaued. Today is my third week and I'm up 2.2 lbs.

I feel out of control in my food choices and the amount I'm eating. I have no restriction in the sense that I can eat normal bites, but I do get full, which is something I had rarely experienced prior to surgery.

I restricted myself to about 800 calories and when I wasn't losing, I upped the calories and now I have gained. I'm not exercising. I know this needs to happen. My motivation has been diminished by the past few weeks.

I know this is the bandster hell. I guess I need words of encouragement...help to make me preservere and get through this any ideas on what I should/could do is appreciated.

My first time was in a restaurant with an overly dry chicken breast. It was a Friday night, the place was packed, and we were seated as far from the bathroom as you could possibly get! I wonder if everyone remembers their first time !

That would be a great topic for the weekend eh?

tmf

Everybody else gave you good advice. I just want to add two suggestions.

1. Never let yourself get so hungry that McDonald's seems like a good idea. The way I do that is by eating small, planned Snacks as well as small, planned meals.

2. Always carry a healthy snack food with you. You could post a thread asking for suggestions for snacks like that. I always carry a Protein bar in my purse. That way when you're leaving work and hungry (because you didn't eat that snack I suggested above), you'll be able to deal with the hunger without visiting McDonald's.

LOL, I just had my first pb yesterday!! I'd had stuck episodes, but not a real pb- and ick! It was on a way too dry meatball . Good thing it was at home- it was really unexpected.

so, what happens on a pb episode? am i gonna hack up like a cat per tmf?? i cant picture myself coughing up a furball.....i need details......what can i expect? how do i avoid this?? do all people do this?

so, what happens on a pb episode? am i gonna hack up like a cat per tmf?? i cant picture myself coughing up a furball.....i need details......what can i expect? how do i avoid this?? do all people do this?

Here's my typical experience of a PB or productive burp (which is regurgitation, not vomiting).

I'm eating something, anything, and suddenly I get the uneasy feeling that it's going to come back up. Sometimes there's an uncomfortable (not painful) fullness in that back of my throat, but sometimes the PB happens too fast for that. As soon as I have a suspicion that a PB is about to happen, I find a bathroom (or at least a sink) ASAP. And up comes the food I just ate, maybe with some slime (thick and sometimes foamy saliva). Then it's over.

Except for times when my band was just too tight, or when my band slipped, most of my PB's were due to user error: eating too fast, taking bites that were too big, not chewing very well. Some of them happened when I was eating a food that wasn't cooked in a band friendly fashion, especially dry meat. So that's your answer to the how to avoid it question.

PB's aren't an inevitable feature of a bandster's life. I know a very successful and happy bandster, 4 yrs post-op, who has never PB'd even once. On the other hand, if you do PB, it's not the end of the world...it's just a signal that you need to eat more carefully.

Thank you to everybody's encouragement and support. I'm trying not to worry about calories, but focus on protein and water intake. The scale needs not dictate my mood and my ambition.