I was banded 9 days ago and have hit a point where I am so hungry......I'm so sick of eating soup and am wondering how long this hunger will last? It's beyond cravings.....I am truly, truly hungry....

I hear ya, and so do most other bandsters. After the swelling goes down, the restriction decreases and the hunger returns. Until you have your first fill, you are pretty much like you were pre-banded. It is vital that you stick to the Dr's instructions in order to allow the stitches in your stomach to heal. If you give in and eat solids, you could risk breaking a stitch and band slippage by throwing up or just over stuffing your pouch. So, for now look for more hearty soups that you can puree in the blender. I relied on Bean with Bacon soup. It is high in protein and thick so it sticks around longer. Mashed potatoes with milk are good too, just make them really thin. Be sure you're getting in enough protein and drinking as much water as you can. Get creative with your blender and hang in there. You'll get through this.

I hear ya. I am 4 days post op and am now starving, I just want to :faint: collapse! I am tired of soups!!!!!. Does anyone know if I can put some speghatti (SP?) sauce and a few noodles in my blender and eat it. I am so ready for the mushie stage!

Hey, being hungry is GOOD news! You're healing, and healing well. I think that's an extremely good sign. So what if it's a little hard for the next week or so? You're working on a project that will CHANGE YOUR LIFE.

Do yourselves a big favor and just concentrate on not getting too hungry. Eat plenty of Snacks (in accordance with your post-op diet), drink whatever the heck you want and don't worry about calories! Now is healing time and not losing time. There will be plenty of time later on to think about calories etc., but right now healing is job 1.

Congratulations on everyone's banding!!

Do you live near a Jamba juice ( http://www.jambajuice.com )or similar place? They have interesting drinks and they add a free Protein boost and they can add additional protein if you pay for it. Many of us have found that the kind of hunger you're talking about can be helped with increased protein intake.

This, too, shall pass.

I hear ya. I am 4 days post op and am now starving, I just want to :faint: collapse! I am tired of soups!!!!!. Does anyone know if I can put some speghatti (SP?) sauce and a few noodles in my blender and eat it. I am so ready for the mushie stage!

Not noodles. They have been the cause of many a problem. BUT...if you give it a day or two, you can put some spaghetti sauce and some cottage or ricotta cheese into the blender and make a pasta-less lasagna.

I need some encouragement. Today I am 10 days post banding and I too, am starving! I went to lunch with my Mom (who, by the way, got approval for the RNY) to one of our fav Mex. restaurants and although I got the tortilla soup w/o tortillas, I practically drank the queso! The waiter laughed and brought me more! I took in more food than I have since being banded which depressed me and made me think that maybe I have caused the band to slip or that I don't have any restriction. I could cry. I want to follow the plan and stay with the liquids but I doubt cheese flavored lard is on the recommended diet! I'm so hungry----starving really! I have never in my life been so fixated on what to put in my mouth. I need to chew something. Can I have jerkey at this point? What about a big juicy rare steak? Fried chicken (just one thigh, I promise)? Fritos and bean dip? :hungry: Help!

Raven, read the posts above and believe that you can do this. REALLY, YOU CAN!! It's not really hunger you're feeling, it's just the urge to munch. And pretty soon you will be able to munch!

Don't worry about not feeling restriction. That's very normal at this stage of the game; the post-op swelling has gone down (GOOD!) and there is no saline in your band to make it tighter. So you feel no effect right now with liquids (even cheese-flavored lard) and when you start on solids you may only feel a very slight effect. You're doing great!

When you start on mushies check out all the cool dips and spreads that you may never have tried before. Mousses, pates, cheeses, all of these are fantastic mushies and there's a huge variety of them. Go for the bean dip! Just use a spoon instead of Fritos, for a while. Eat what you want in order to not get so hungry that you can't leave the steak alone. This healing time really is important, and you know you can do it.

3 weeks post op and I'm also starving .. now im eating more mushy foods but it's alot better then soups .. hang in there !!

After I got done being banded they told me I could eat soup and mash potatoes for one month.

I lived on runny mashed potatoes made from a package with some melted cheddar cheese. It was heaven I remember. LOL..also tomato soup was a fav.

Tropical Smoothie, if you live near them, have a wwooonndderful splenda sweetened smoothie I love love.

It's pineapple orange. And they will add stuff to them to make them 'meal replacement', so they will keep you full for longer

Hang in there!

Smoothie King, if you live in the South.

To the OP....

Just remember, eventually you'll probably get to the point where you'll have to force yourself to eat because you won't feel hungry. Just think of that, and it'll help you get through your day.

I am 7 days post-op and I feel your pain. I just grit my teeth and work through it. I spend my days getting Protein in my body, and believe me I am sick of Protein drinks. But I paid $15,000 for this band and I am not going to break it in a moment of weakness.

food is just food...that is all it is. We are much stronger than food. Just get through one day at a time...remember we all can do this. Thousands of people have done this before us...it's our turn now.