Anyone out there with any input please i'd love it... today is day 7 of my banding and i'm on the 2 week clear liquid diet..followed by mushies and so on... today i feel down... like i dont know why i did this... well i do and i dont...i can look in the mirror and remember why...however... i didnt do this so i can starve..and i feel like i am... i know my body is healing and i intend to follow the dr's orders to the T... its so hard though.... i feel like i could have dieted on my own and got these results..heck i'm starving myself...and when you get to eat they recomend small lean meats ..which i know is best!! however, its not how my life works here in cajun town louisiana lol ... we eat good!!! i'm looking for a " you can do it " ...from anyone who's been there and done that... i'm sorry...i just feel like a big mistake today... help!!:faint:

7 days - 1 surgery, 1 yeast infection (from antibiotics), 1 urinary tract infection, 1 bout with plurasy? (trouble expanding lungs).

I say all that so you know it could be a lot worse. Even with my issues and the overwhelming grief I felt saying goodbye to my best friends (food). I know that you and I both did the right thing and this too shall pass. Keep hope alive.

Jesus Cares.

Try to keep in mind this phase is not really a "DIET" as much as it is a necessary evil to help give your body the best opportunity to recover smoothly from surgery. This might not help much but it did help me a little. It was always so easy to cheat on myself when it was just pounds but when I reminded myself that this was for my recovery it made it just slightly more bearable.

You are already half way thru the clear liquid stage. YOU CAN DO THIS!! You won't believe just how good mushies taste after 2 weeks of liquids.

Is your doc allowing Jello or sugar free (SF) popsicles on the clear liquid phase? If the doc is allowing jello there are a variety of things you can do with it to change things up a bit. One is to run it thru a blender after it has started to get thick but is not yet set. Gives it more of a mousse like texture.

We all KNOW that we DID diet and did not get ANY results--and then we dieted over and over again, and over and over again we had no results!

You hang in there because before you know it, it will be week six, then week seven, etc. and you will forget all the trials and tribulations you had in the beginning--especially when those pounds just come off--slowly, but your weight will actually go DOWN!

You know you've made the right decision--it's just tough times now.

Michelle is totally correct when she said, "This too shall pass!"

Hang in there, we all went through this phase. It really helps with the healing process.

I went for my first fill today and met the person that had surgery the same day as me. We had a good long talk about the process, he confided in me that he did not follow the Dr's orders and has had various problems. He has not lost the weight I have and they believe his band might have slipped due to the vomiting he experienced when overeating.

He told me that once his band is straightened out (he might need surgery again) that he will follow the Dr's rules to the letter.

Moral of the story, please - please hang in there. You are almost throught the liquid stage (I was on it for three weeks) and the musshies do taste good.

Please remeber this is only a small step twoards the overall goal.

As a side note, I eat everything just smaller portions. You should be able to enjoy all your favorite things.

thanks everyone for ur posts...support.... it feels so good hearing from the "been there" crowd.... i must say today i feel much better and know i'm doing the right thing... i just have to get over the " magic" brain...i wanted to wake up skinny and eat donuts doing it lol...NOT!! HAPPENING I KNOW!! everyday is a struggle and my new struggle is ... not so bad after all.... because its best for me.... it makes me healthy.... thanks for the herbal tea tip!! i will try it! may you all be blessed with love....happiness...and best of all GREAT HEALTH!!

Twig, you can do it! You are going thru what many call Bandster Hell, the first 6 to 8 weeks until you get your fill and off of the mushies.

Most of us had "buyers remorse" after banding too, I know I did. I also mourned the loss of food and felt I would never be normal again.

As Jack said, it does get better everyday, I promise you it does, so hang in there and just know this is just a temporary phase of the plan.

Hugs!

I understand what your feeling, i'm 11 days out and 2 days ago I received the go ahead to start puree foods which has been great. I ate 1/2 an egg and was full. I also had an infection in my port on day 3 and was on antibiotics until yesterday.... my gift is a yeast infection... I was very depressed for two days, now i'm feeling much better and excitement has set in. I've only lost about 16 lbs but my bloating is gone.

Hang in there, you will be fine.

16 pds is awsome!!! dont put only in front of that.... i havent weighed since wednesday and on that day i was about 17 lbs gone.... i wouldnt say only...you go novb!! i'm impressed.... i do feel better today ..maybe because i'm getting closer to eating lol i met someone at my daughters basketball game last night who brought my spirits up also..she was banded in aug..and lost 53 lbs... she eats what she wants...just smaller amounts.....i thought...omg i can do that i can do that!! please god make me feel full.... right now on the egg drop soup i feel full but can sip about a cup of it.. is that too much? i feel guilty on that...otherwise...things are lookin up and my butt is going down!!!!!!! (hopefully):whoo:this humpty dumpty body has to go!!!! haha

:clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2: You are going through the "What have I done phase?". This is perfectly normal. Most of the time when we have surgery it is because someone else says that we have to. When we decide to have a surgery there is nobody else that we can blame, we can't say that I had to have it done because my doctor said so. This is why most patients get last minute cold feet a couple of days before the lap band surgery. You need to ask yourself why you had the surgery done. What have you missed out on because of your weight issues? The food that we all love so much because it give us comfort and is always there for us at some point becomes an addiction. Like any addiction at first there is that immediate satisfaction and eventually the dependency begins and there is never enough to satisy us. One day we wake up and realize that we have given over our life to our addiction. Trust yourself you made the right decision and you will gain so much more than you are giving up.

:clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2: You are going through the "What have I done phase?". This is perfectly normal. Most of the time when we have surgery it is because someone else says that we have to. When we decide to have a surgery there is nobody else that we can blame, we can't say that I had to have it done because my doctor said so. This is why most patients get last minute cold feet a couple of days before the lap band surgery.

I think you just described exactly what I am going thru today. I haven't been handed yet.

The whole "deciding" to have surgery instead of "having to" have surgery (like for my cesearean when there was no advance notice). I think that is what I am struggling with, even though I've been fighting my weight for 9 years and over the years I've had chest pains, back pain, etc not to mention a family history with everything you can imagine that obesity can contribute to. I know I need to do something about my weight and what I've done in the past hasn't lasted longer than a few months at a time.

But still, I am having the cold feet thing today although I'm 3 weeks out - probably due to talking to an unsupportive friend just a few minutes ago!

This stage is normal. But, right now you need to focus on healing from surgery and not worrying so much about how much you're eating. So, just eat healthy foods and if you're hungry then eat a little more. My doctor has always told me that you should not go hungry, that's not the point of having a band. He said as long as the food choice is reasonable and you are truly hungry then eat a little more.

You'll eventually learn how to schedule your eating and monitor your portions so that you are not eating "extra" portions. It took me probably a month until I got it right because I had a pre-concieved notion that all bandsters should be satisified on 1/2 c. of food at a time until I learned that's not necessarily true.

I'm not suggesting a total failure of discipline or anything...I'm just saying don't let yourself starve. Feed your body good foods in reasonable portions and you should be fine...that's my philosophy and it's worked just fine. I never go hungry.