I am going into my 5th week and I am finding eating so unpleasureable and an unhappy event. I miss looking forward to eating. Now, I just do it out of survival.

I still feel comfortable with shakes, Protein bars, Soups, yogurt and cashews flat pretezels with no yeast. Everything else is a struggle. I try grilled chicken and chewing 1000 times is hard for me. Many times I have gotten the chicken stuck and I have had to throw up to feel better. Same thing with very soft moist roast pork. Doesn't work. I am really starting to wonder if it is not about swelling, but the stricture. Is it something they can loosen up?

I miss gulping cold Water when I am really thirsty and the relief that comes with it. I can be in the hot sun and wanting to drink water, and I have to sip it slowly and frequently, it sucks and not satisfiying.

I went to a festival today at a park. The food section had that strong fried smell. I was repulsed. I couldn't even breathe with out wanting to throw up. That smell was horrible. A smell that didn't bother me before. They had your typical stuff, fried cheese, donuts, corn dogs, hamburger, pizza, fries, fried fish, etc. I could not find one thing that was decent for me. Thank god I had a Protein Bar in my purse, it got me through the day. I kept looking at other people as they ate and I see kids with plates full of Cookies and sugar. I see heavy set girls with a plate full of fried, greasy food. You know the kind that you bite and the grease pops out? Yeah that. Eww. I would look at other people and the amount of bread in their sandwiches. Others were eating funnel cakes with lots of powder sugar and downing it with a regular pepsi. I was like wow. The things one notices when you are a bariatric patient post surgery is amazing. You start paying attention to all these details. At least I did. I was even looking at my BF as he was eating his fish and chips and thought wow....I need to get a life insurance policy on him. lol. Sounds mean I know, but paying attention to how he is eating and others, reminds me what I used to do. How can I not understand why I was fat? It is so obvious as to why.

All I want now is to just be able to sit and have a normal dinner without worrying if it is going to get stuck. That is all i ask for. I don't care if it is a tiny portion. I just hate eating scared. It is how I feel about food now. I fear it.

Lucky you! I have restriction of Water for a while now. I wish I can gulp water like I used to. Now I can't. Specially when you get the water burpees as I call it.

It is funny you say that, I feel the same way. Turkey chili works great for me. But there is only so much you can eat of it every day. I am tired of chicken Soup too, so yeah.

I have trouble with meat too and I'm 8 weeks out. I can only eat a 1/4 of a turkey patty and I'm done. But give me turkey chili and I can eat 4 ounces no problem. i don't really mind about the meat thing because it just confirms that I actually had surgery done. I actually questioned whether my surgeon did anything because I could drink without any problems after surgery and felt zero restriction while drinking.

I would avoid lettuce if I were you. I'm 11 weeks out and I am just now able to eat it, and I can only eat a little bit. My dad has had his lap-band for 12 years and still cannot eat lettuce. When I serve salad, he eats the other veggies in the salad, and when I serve caesar salad (with his recipe of dressing), he eats the croutons and anchovies, in fact I keep anchovies around just for him - and he has to serve himself!

I would stick with ground meat, that was my trick. Bolognese sauce (hold the pasta), chili, smashed meatballs, smashed meatloaf, ground turkey tacos and enchiladas and burritos, even just some sauteed ground meat with a side of something soft, like steamed carrots. My husband was so obliging, we seriously had ground meat of some sort every night for a month! To get my 4 year old on board with all the ground meat, we told him it was ground hamburgers, he loves McDonald's cheeseburgers (they are a special treat) and hamburgers are one of his favorite foods, so I just told him I smashed up a hamburger, or made it into a new shape. Everybody was happy!

Another option for me was kielbasa. If you can find turkey, light, or fat free kielbasa at your grocery store and can handle the sodium, it's a good option. I would peel off the casing with a vegetable peeler, sautee it with some potatoes, and then dice both up really small. I couldn't get more than a few ounces of anything in in the first weeks, but that's kind of the point.

I also relied heavily on dairy Protein. I developed a lot of food aversions in the first weeks after my surgery (they are getting better now) but I could always get some yogurt or a slice of cheese down. I kept mini Bel Gioso 'snacking' mozzarella cheese packs and those light babybel cheeses (the ones in the red wax) around, as well as my favorite sliced cheese (muenster). Cottage cheese with a little Splenda satisfied sweet cravings.

I also keep sorbet and frozen fruit on hand. Sometimes a bite of frozen mango or a teaspoon of green apple sorbet helped me open the fridge and not have everything look disgusting. They kind of functioned like the 'digestif' drinks that were used pre-1900. Honestly, a cube of frozen mango is GREAT for nausea! Peppermint, in the form of tea, and lemon Water also helped me with the 'omg solid food is disgusting' thing.

I guess I got lucky, I had SEVERE morning sickness with my first pregnancy (think Princess Kate), and it was no picnic the second time around either, and I am allergic to most pregnancy-safe anti-nausea meds, so I have gotten pretty good at managing when I need to eat and everything looks horrific. Right now, the only post-surgery aversion I have left is to Protein shakes, and I have been working around that with Isopure protein water.

Edited February 17, 201511 yr by gal friday

Im 3 months p/o and have nausea most of the time, so eating is gross for me too, I never throw up though, just ALL day nausea. I think 5 weeks sounds early for such bulky meat, but we were on a pretty conservative diet advancement, still on purreed at 5 weeks, maybe try to back up to softer foods for awhile will help.

Yes, I do get grossed out when I see people eat, and I KNOW I ate the same way. I wonder if this is how fit , no WLS people see things?

I am a revised lap-bander and I did extremely well with the it until I started having issues with the band itself.

I was sleeved 2 weeks ago & I've already planned, when I am able to eat out, I will order my food & a to-go container at the same time. I will leave an appropriate amount of food on my plate and put the rest in the to-go box. This way I won't be tempted to overeat. I realize that sometimes just one bite can throw you over the edge, but that's usually due to not chewing enough.

Good luck to you on the journey!!!

I should warn you that just one bite over can throw you over the edge, regardless of how well you've chewed. You're going to be miserable at least a few times in the beginning, there is a learning curve to it.

I should warn you that just one bite over can throw you over the edge, regardless of how well you've chewed. You're going to be miserable at least a few times in the beginning, there is a learning curve to it.

Thank you, I will keep that in mind. Mushies are okay, but when it comes to solids, I struggle.

you are right in time for the 30 day buyer's remorse! my surgeon and everyone in the office said it happens to 9/10 people...you are playing head games with yourself about gulping Water and fried food...forget it all - this is your new life and there are changes but they will be for the better in the long run!

you need to try some different Proteins...chicken does not seem to agree with you right now - i mean, you are only 5 weeks out -- I would stick to what works, there is no reason to push yourself and try to force "normal " eating

hang in there!

I am a revised lap-bander and I did extremely well with the it until I started having issues with the band itself.

I was sleeved 2 weeks ago & I've already planned, when I am able to eat out, I will order my food & a to-go container at the same time. I will leave an appropriate amount of food on my plate and put the rest in the to-go box. This way I won't be tempted to overeat. I realize that sometimes just one bite can throw you over the edge, but that's usually due to not chewing enough.

Good luck to you on the journey!!!

That's what I had to do in restaurants with my lapband!! The only problem was I had to order a meal that would make a good leftover so I used to order a lot of Pasta. Not sure what I'll be doing now- its too early to know what I can tolerate