I am sooooooooooooo hungry! Right now I am in the puree stage of my diet and in the beginning it wasnt that bad, but lately I have been getting hunger pains in between meals. I dont feel the "full" effect after I finish my meals even though they are lasting 30-35 min. Evening time isnt that bad because I try to keep myself busy, but at work I am dying. Water doesnt even fill me up like before.

My day consist of:

Breakfast

3 tablespoons of fruit

3 tablesppons of a starch

2 tablespoons of milk product

Snack

Protien shake

lunch

3 tablespoons of protien

3 tablespoons of veggies

2 tablesppons of a startch

Snack

Protien shake

dinner

3 tablespoons of protien

3 tablespoons of veggies

2 tablesppons of a startch

Snack

Protien shake

I can mix up the tablespoon amounts as long as I dont exceed 8 tablespoons (1/2 cup)

Does anyone know of something that I can try to fill me up before I call my docs office or chew my arm off which ever comes first.

They dont want me to have a fill till 3 months after surgery. They want the band to scare in place and all that stuff.

I dont know how it is for you...But if I start my day with Carbs only and NO Protein I'm starving all day long and by the looks of it your breakfast consists of carbs only No protein. Maybe trying having protein in the morning that could help. and once you get off the puree stage it gets easier, you will be able to eat foods with more consistency that will stay with you longer. This is just a little bump in the road. In the big scheme of things it will all be worth it. Hang in there It does get better and the hunger will subside once you get to mushy/solid stage.

Good Luck~

The pre-fill stage was about my worst.

Can you do chilli, tuna or egg salad yet?

They dont want me to have a fill till 3 months after surgery

The standard wait for the first fill is 6 weeks.

Hang in there.

Kim, this is a hard time, but remember it's temporary! Try to find something to do that's not food-related. Avoid those t.v. commercials - they're all about food! Maybe a leisurely walk at lunch, or check out those clearance sales for those smaller clothes that you're going to need VERY SOON. Do you have a great book that you can enjoy? When you get home, try a nice leisurely soak in the tub. How about a nice cup of hot tea anytime (and it counts toward your water load)? Get a variety of flavors, add honey and lemon, put in a pretty cup and enjoy. Sometimes just something warm helps. Have you tried refried beans? You will survive! Hang in there, girl!

Please don't chew your arm off! That would be cheating to get your weight down! And you might need it later for those great hobbies you'll be pursuing!

I had a good laugh about eating my arm off and cheating!

I have one more week of purees, then I go to soft foods. I don't see the difference though between purees and soft foods or even solid foods for that matter. Right now I am pureeing real food and once I get to soft or solid foods I have to chew, chew, chew so doesn't that basically make it pureed?

I guess that's what is depressing me because I feel as is I will never be full until my first fill.

Why are you trying to live on tablespoons of food? I say, take in more. This time frame is not about losing weight, it's about healing. If you don't lose weight taking in more puree, or even gain, it's going to come off when you hit solids and your first fill.

It is more important to stick with the prescribed consistency now than to try and lose weight.

I was told by my doctor not to exceed a half a cup of food at each meal. So I need to break up my meals by tablespoons so I get a protein, veg and starch with dinner and lunch and a fruit, milk and starch in with breakfast.

I thought the 1/2 a cup of food thing was after a fill?? I could be wrong. Your stomach is still healing that is the reason for the pureee stage. Less digestion work for your stomach to have to do less churning and turning, helping to heal the band in place with less digestive acticity. As the weeks pass you advance to a new stage of food as you heal atleast that it what I was told by my nutritionalist & doc

I was told by my doctor not to exceed a half a cup of food at each meal.

Can you "eat" more frequently, then?

Quantity restriction is one of those variable things by doctor. I always advise following your doc's orders, but you may also want to ask him if it is possible for you to increase the amount at this time, since purees should be just running through, and not causing your stomach to work.

Let him know you are too hungry - if he doesn't okay larger portions, perhaps he'll prescribe you an appetite suppressant until you can move to solids, which should keep you statisfied longer.

I don't understand why the newer, less-experienced doctors invent stuff like a three-month wait, when doctors who have been banding people for YEARS do the first fill in five or six weeks.

I don't understand why a banded person WITH NO RESTRICTION would be told to eat a half a cup of food per meal, when the people teling them that OUGHT TO KNOW that you cannot get your needed Protein in with that plan, and that you will be hungry and malnourished.

Sorry...but it sounds to me like your doctor has way too much experience with bypass and way too little with the band. There is NO published iinformation that says to wait three months, and I'm pretty sure Inamed does not encourage a three-month wait.

GRRRRR. And the worst part of all of this is that the patients feel like failures and the doctors never hear about the ones who do as they wish...

I would NEVER advise you to ignore your doctor...but I'd tell you what I'd do. I'd go elsewhere and get a fill.

And...

The mushy stage with the most experienced doctors lasts a week and so does the puree stage.

oops

Originally posted by GeezerSue

I don't understand why the newer, less-experienced doctors invent stuff like a three-month wait, when doctors who have been banding people for YEARS do the first fill in five or six weeks.

.

Glad you said something, Sue. I have been seeing this over and over in some other forums that I read. All this new protocol for measuring foods. Some of them are being told to use those little souffle cups? ugh... That is absolutely gastric bypass protocol and it's very scary because of course everyone wants to believe 'their' surgeon is the smartest. But it's very evident that GP eating regimens and thinking is creeping in and some of these people are scared to death to drink continuously on liquids or eat any more than 1/2 cup at a time. It's totally bogus information and it's beginning to run rampant with so many new docs jumping on the 'band' wagon, so to speak... Scary..

I'm sure Inamed has done lectures on this but it seems these folks are returning to their offices and re-writing the rules.

I agree!

I do not weigh or measure my food.

I do not use a smaller plate

I do not use a smaller fork or spoon.

I eat until I'm satisfied

I follow the bandster rules for the most part with Proteins first, no drinking during or after a meal for atleast 1 hour

I drink lots of Water every day ( except last week)

I do not exercise as much as I should but I'm content with my weight loss to date

I must be doing something right becasue I have lost weight every single week since being banded.

Waiting for the plateau!

I'm ready for it

My doctor says 3 oz protein mushies. That has to be more than you are eating. In general though this is a will power diet for now.