As I understand it, the band is installed with no restriction at all. The post-op diet calls for Clear liquids for the first week, broths and Soups for the 2nd week and Protein shakes for the third week.

How on earth do you stay on such a limited diet with no assistance from the band? Heck, if I could stay on a diet like that, why would I need a band at all?

The 6 weeks post op are affectionately called "Bandster Hell". I'm dreading my pre-op and post op diet (liquids only 1 week pre-op, 2 weeks liquid post-op, 2 weeks puree'd, 2 weeks soft). My surgeon explained that our stomache has to heal and therefore we have to introduce food very slowly.

I just remind myself that this is only for 7 weeks total...I try to remember what I was doing 7 weeks ago and how quickly that time passed. After the 7 weeks I can start experimenting with regular foods...protein first, then veggies/fruit, then complex carbs.

Now, I have read a few posts from people that never needed a fill. For those select few, they had enough restriction with an unfilled band. I'm not counting on that being the case for me, but it sure would be nice

What has helped me is to think about it for my HEALTH and not to lose any weight at this stage (of course you do but I think of that as a "side effect". The pre op was to shrink my liver in order to make surgery easier and the post op is to heal. I don't feel much restriction, but I am finding that Protein shakes and cream soups do fill me up.

Good luck

It is really not as bad as it seems...at least not for me it hasnt been. I had a pretty good pre op diet..I could eat food...some can only have protein drinks..I could have 11 oz of protein, veggies and 2 fruit a day...veggies were unlimited...at the time I thought I was gonna die...but really it was not that bad...as far as afterwards, I am just getting ready to start on regular food tomorrow....I have not concentrated on losing weight since surgery but have done exactly what the doc told me too. I have only had real hunger pains once since surgery and that was because I went way too long before eating...duh...that was MY fault...so it really isnt that bad. at least for me...Deanna

At first your stomach is swollen so you feel no hunger for about 5 days then it gets tougher. The liquid diet is hard but once you get to mushies you can eat a bit more normally.

The first six weeks is the healing phase! So weight loss isn't the main goal although plenty of people lose a lot this time. I didn't but tomorrow is six weeks and I am going to get my first fill!!! Thank goodness.

It is hard are the other options any easier?

My diet seems more - 2 weeks liquid before - 1 week after and 5 weeks of mushie foods!!!

But I have 2 1/2 more weeks to go - I'm hangin in there

I was losing weight like crazy during the liquid stage and that helped a lot. Getting on the scale every day and seeing the lbs go down every day was a great motivator

yeah I lost 10 lbs the 1st post when I was on liquids - then I went to mushie and in 2 weeks I have only lost another 6 lbs

As I understand it, the band is installed with no restriction at all. The post-op diet calls for clear liquids for the first week, broths and soups for the 2nd week and Protein shakes for the third week.

How on earth do you stay on such a limited diet with no assistance from the band? Heck, if I could stay on a diet like that, why would I need a band at all?

My surgeon wisely had me follow a liquid diet for two weeks pre-op. I had 5-to-6 packets of the Medifast diet each day -- no bars or supplemental foods at all.

The first 5 days were Hell. Truly.

After day 6, however, I found that I got used to not eating and immediately after surgery, I found that I didn't WANT to eat. Today makes one week since my surgery, and I have been following a clear liquid diet -- much more stringent than the Medifast diet. As I type this, my stomach is growling but my surgeon told me that this is a time when I simply hafta suck it up and wait until I can advance to the pureed diet.

That step will happen after my follow-up exam this morning in about two hours. For the next week, I can have foods the consistency of thin mashed potatoes -- but it will be food, and I can't wait.

I've lost 19 pounds in three weeks. All during this process, I had the same thoughts as you. That being, "If I can lose weight this way, why do I need the band?"

Let's examine that thought. I'm 46 years old. I've deprived myself of food off and on all of my life in order to be thin and healthy. I've been obese since I was 8 years old, so I've been losing and gaining and losing and gaining -- through self-deprivation, diet programs, diet pills, shakes, powders -- you name it, I've done it -- for nearly 40 years.

And THAT'S why I need the band. This is a tool to help me STOP the cycle of lose-gain. Now I will be able to eat real foods, in portions my body needs to be healthy, and I will no longer be ABLE to overeat. I will physically be unable to overindulge. That's why I need this band.

I will have no restriction for another three weeks (my surgeon does fills at week 4). I realize that adding this small amount of food will probably have me more hungry than I am at this moment, but I will deal with it. I didn't think I would make it through the first 5 days of the Medifast, and now I'm itching to have some of it since I can't right now. I think it will be okay. Let's just take it one day at a time.

My two cents........

I think it's a lot easier to subsist on a completely liquid diet than it is to just "watch what you eat." Complete avoidance of solid food is much easier than just having a little bit of something, or chewing very carefully. So the initial post-op diet is relatively easy, especially when you have healing to think about as a motivator.

The really hard part comes when you're on solid food but have no restriction. It's extremely important to be gentle to your stomach by eating tiny bites and chewing carefully, but it's hard because you might be just as hungry as pre-surgery.

It's hard, but if we made the decision to have banding surgery we have to be willing to TRY to observe the rules.

Now I will be able to eat real foods, in portions my body needs to be healthy, and I will no longer be ABLE to overeat. I will physically be unable to overindulge. That's why I need this band.

........

My feeling EXACTLY. This is similar (stupid comparison I know, but here goes) to me biting my fingernails all my life. I KNOW it is a gross habit and my family has spent my entire life slapping my hands out of my mouth, to no avail. Then my front tooth cracked from teeth-grinding and I had to have a bond put on....which they said was VERY delicate.....and to be very careful with biting down. Okay, so after unconsciously knocking the bond off three times ($275 a pop) by biting a fingernail, suddenly I had a vested interest in NOT doing it. Never looked back and it's been two years...and now the passage of time has cause behavior modification where I don't even THINK about it anymore. Especially if I am self-pay....no way am I gonna blow $13K down the drain!!! I KNOW I can do it. I just have to have the proper incentive.

Thankfully, my surgeon had me on cream of wheat and applesauce before I ever left the hospital. For whatever reason, he does not believe in the liquid diet for weeks afterwards. I was immediately on protein shakes and soups, etc., then eating soft food about 2 weeks later. I'm not saying you should go this route though - follow your doctor's advice! I have noticed that people who do the liquid diet seem to lose faster than me. I am 7 weeks out and 14 lbs lighter. Frankly I am happy to have slower weight loss if it means I don't have to eat broth and jello for a month.

How easy / hard is it to slip or flip?

I'm being paranoid i think, but I'm worried about this feature.