Ok. Ok.... bad pun from an old movie... but here's the thing - I know I only had the surgery LESS THAN ONE WEEK AGO (friday the 12th) So why is it that I am wanting food so bad now?

I am sooooo sick of this liquid only stuff. I WANT FLAVOR!!! I WANT TO CHEW!!! I WANT DAGGONE FOOD!!!!

ARRRGGGG!!!!!

What is wrong with me? I wanted the band so bad and now that I have it, I am hatin' it because I can't eat food yet (and I still have 5 weeks of no solid food... WTF?!?!)

How in the heck will I make it? I don't know if I should be ticked off at myself or just say - "this too shall pass" I am sooooo ready to eat something other than watered down tomato Soup and crystal light drinks.

PLEASE someone tell me it gets better - tell me that what I am feeling is normal! Tell me that if I give in and eat I will puke it up and never do it again... I am actually almost willing to tempt it...

WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH ME???????

Needing major help,

Amy:faint::hungry::rain:

It's a few short weeks out of an entire lifetime. You can do this. If you want the band to heal properly around your stomach you have to do it. We've all been there. Just follow the diet.

(Copied from a previous post I wrote)

When you eat food your stomach has to churn and work to break food down so it can pass through the GI system. When you drink Clear liquids it virtually does little to no work. When you drink full liquids it doesn't have to work hard. When you eat solids your stomach has to work very hard to break down food. It almost looks like stomach spasms.

Since it is the scarring and adhesions that hold the band in place and not the sutures (long term), when you eat solids your stomach is moving and churning and this prevents adhesions from forming.

The other issue is that when they first started doing this procedure they made the pouch bigger than they do now. People were not losing weight with a larger pouch so they started making it much smaller. If you eat solids before you are supposed to you can actually push your pouch down and the adhesions that do form will secure the pouch in place but with a much larger size. You could end up with a larger pouch and weight loss will be very difficult. The only repair is surgical and then you start the post op diet all over again. I doubt most docs would redo the procedure because you didn't follow the post op diet.

When you don't follow your doc's instructions you are only harming yourself. If you want the band to work, you have to do as your doc tells you.

I think there should be a huge warning label somewhere that patients have to read before surgery. If you want your band to work you have to follow the instructions for EVERYTHING and especially a post-op diet.

When you are doing clears/full liquids/soft foods remember that sugar, ANY kind of sugar or carbs will make you want to eat your right arm. Protein will kill hunger. It's the way your blood sugar and pancreas work. When you eat sugar your blood sugar increases. Then your pancreas kicks out insulin, then your blood sugar decreases and that sends hormones that tell your brain you are hungry again. When you consume protein it doesn't mess with your blood sugar much so your body isn't constantly trying to tell your brain you are hungry. Oh, you'll still have head hunger issues, but we all have that and that is a big reason we are fat. But mix head hunger with stomach hunger and we will fail. It's just too much.

So cut out ALL sugar and most carbs, limit carbs to 30gms daily. Then bump up your protein and that should make it so you can manage post op diets.

Thanks Wasa - I need a swift kick in the behind... good news is is that I found out I was Allowed full liquids instead of just clear liquids (which is what I was doing) so now I think I will be able to do that for the next couple weeks. ON week three I can move to mushies so this is only a day and a half early from one week - so going to full liquids makes a huge difference instead of just tomato soup and Water - i get soupy oatmeal and grits and pudding and yogurt... but the tomato soup and water thing were about to kill me... (metaphorically speaking)... I know I could have probably continued on a little while longer but it was so hard... with great folks like ya'll givin' support.. I know I can do this...

Thanks again!!!

Amy

Stay focused! You CAN do it!

I know it is hard, it was hard for me too! I'm now on mushies and who would have thought that mushed, pureed foods that actually look so gross when you prep them could taste like heaven!!!! I'll be on this stage for at least 2 weeks before I can start solids. But it is better than the liquids!

YOU CAN DO IT! Its so hard those first couple of weeks, months even, but after that fill that hits the "sweet spot" you will be amazed at how things change and those horrible weeks will seem like a distant memory! I think they call this time "bandster hell" for a reason! Keep working hard!

I can't tell ya'll how great it is to know there is such wonderful support out there. But you know something else that helped me (today that is) was seeing how much weight I have lost. 18lbs in 13 days is just phenomenal to me!! I am soooooooo geeked already!!! I can't even explain it. I feel like I can do this just about forever - what a natural high.... I am SOOOOOOOOOO GEEEEEEKKKKEEEEDDDDDDDDD!!!

I can't even explain the elation!!!! YEEEE HAW!

OK.. new goal - to keep this great feeling for more than a day!!!

Time to buy a scale (haven't owned one in years) so I can watch it go down!!!!

Amy

Good for you Amy! I know exactly how you feel, wait till you get to 50lbs! I almost can't believe it when I look at the scales! I am half way to my goal, I would like to loose another 50lbs. Its such a great feeling! It makes any of the difficulty that comes with being banded totally worth it!