I am 3 weeks post op lap band. I eating ground turkey and tuna and eggs and shakes. I'm having no problems getting anything down and am quite hungry most of the time. I'm hoping after my first fill next week I'll be fuller than I am now. Right now I'm feeling confused about everything

Hunger you are experiencing is bandster hell. you haven't begin to have fills so its like you were prior to surgery. really mentally and verbally talk to yourself about your hunger. if you are eating tell yourself you are not hungry that its just your brain telling you, you are. drink a full glass of fluid. and than get up and walk around until you can get control of that hunger pain. I wish you luck. this is the hard part.

You're only 3 weeks out from surgery...you are still healing....all you have had done is to have the band installed, but without any fills-adjustments, everything is the way it was prior to surgery...same hunger, cravings, etc.

Your Dr. has a treatment plan, I'm sure.

As you progress and have regular Dr. visits and band adjustments, things will slowly change.

It has to go slow, as the band changes so do you have to learn and change along with the band...that is the hardest phase of all and can take months....that is bandster hell.

Unfortunately, some people never "Find It"...change can be hard. We have lived our entire lives eating the wrong foods the wrong away. It takes many people out of their comfort zone and choose not to progress forward.

There is a large learning curve, and it does not happen 3 weeks or even 3 months after surgery.

I had 3 major fills after surgery, each one spaced 1 month apart....and even then, it took a full year of hard knocks (stuck episodes, etc) before I finally started to "Get It"

I am now over 4-1/2 years out, and can say things have become normal, a "New Normal"

Hang in there, this thing does work...but it takes some learning and adjusting to get it right. Untill then, all you can do is pay attention to calorie intake and portion sizes, just as you did with any traditional diet prior to surgery.

BTW, I once asked my Dr, why it took a series of fills-adjustments. He asked me to imagine what it would have been like if he "Fully Adjusted" the band during surgery.....No, I cannot imagine! It would have been a disaster! I can understand why he had to take it slow.

This is also why many Dr.'s are going to the sleeve as opposed to the band....with the sleeve, you have it done and that's it....unlike the band....

It's also why many say the band has a low success rate....at any point you can stop the fills, or even go backwards.....

People do not like change.

Thank you. I did think about the sleeve but I wanted something less invasive. I'm ok with slow as long as it's steady. Go for my first fill in the 6th so I'm sure things will change after that. Thanks for the help!

"Unfortunately, some people never "Find It"...change can be hard. We have lived our entire lives eating the wrong foods the wrong away. It takes many people out of their comfort zone and choose not to progress forward."

@@B-52 nailed it. I find that when I struggle (and I do) it's because I'm resisting change. I still want to eat what (and how) I used to eat. This is definitely a learning process, and I really have to want it. Because change is hard.

That said, the band does help alleviate hunger. So the change required from me is "only" mental. Piece of cake, right?