Im 1 week out and 4 xmas dinner had mash potatoes 2 x's! OMG i feel so guilty. I also had some baileys irish creme! I kno its bad for the calories but it all went down fine. i stopped when full. OMGosh-nnew years is comming now! we r italian- allwe do it eat- hence my problem for the currennt weight annd surgery-lol. anyone else eat at 1 week?

I am from Arkansas and we have a restaurant here named Colton's, they have the best potato soup. I had that today for lunch. I can tell now I am 11 days post-op now that I can hold more. I almost ate the whole bowl. I did really good Christmas, I did not cheat at all . I was on clear liquids and sat at the table and watched my family eat. It was very hard, but I have a very suppportive family. I am ready for mushies. I can't have for another week.

I'm on my fourth day of clear liquids and sometimes it is very difficult, but I keep reminding myself I don't want my stomach churning as it might move the band out of place.

Paulax had a thread a year ago about her liquid diet (30 days...we have the same surgeon)...I read it and it helped a lot.

Right now at times it is emotionally unbearable being unable to eat other than broth, tea, coffee, small amounts of juice, peppermint tea, Jello (blech, still won't go down), and popsicles. I also cannot physically take down anything in large or thicker (jello) amounts, so that helps with the physical restriction...but the head hunger is by far the worst.

Earlier today I wanted to just chew a cookie then spit it out...but that feeling passed.

This is REALLY hard and I totally understand where you are all coming from. I'm just terrified of messing up my band. What my surgeon told me to do contradicts what my nutritionist said, but I don't want to piss off my surgeon.

Sorry if this sounds like I am rambling on...I am up at 4 am with gas pains AGAIN.

To all

Thank God for this thread...I had stopped posting because I strayed from the rules and like most of you started cheating too. I'm so ashamed, but I'm a foodie...so I know it will be hard to change.. It's going to take time...I guess.

It's encourageing to be able to know that I'm not alone...the holidays are tough...food is everywhere and I love to cook...so that's been quite challenging as well.

Best of luck to all of you and for posting your trials and tribulations.

I appreciate it.

I know it's not a popular opinion, but I'm with Roberta. I'm amazed at by how many people (and not just in this thread) admit to cheating, and so early in their post-op diets. I just went to a follow-up support group and met two women who have managed to gain weight since their surgery. They haven't been exercising and they've been eating plenty of holiday treats as well. It's a frame of mind I have a hard time relating to.

This thread is obviously for the "cheaters".... so if your not one, good for you!!!!, but look elsewhere!!

We know the rules and reasons why we shouldn't...duh??? We are here to support each other when we need to get back up.

Please don't post here trying to sound like a doc. We don't need THAT advice. thank you

Why is encouraging people, who are admitting to cheating, not to cheat a bad thing? I think we are all here for support and are trying to be supportive. I don't think it's encouraging to say "Oh, you cheated? Good for you, do it again."

Knowledge is power and knowing the reasons why isn't always enough. sometimes we need to hear it again. And again. We need someone to say, "Oh, you cheated? Um, these are the reasons you shouldn't. It won't be easy, but it is for your own good."

Sometimes docs don't give the patients all the reasons they shouldn't be doing this. They just say "Don't eat it!" And if my doc said that without giving me the why's I would be more than likely to ignore him. We don't know who those doctors are and which patients have them.

There are lots of reasons for some of us to try to give the advice we do. You don't have to like it, and you don't even have to read it...ignore anything with our name by it. But don't question our motives. We wouldn't be here if we didn't want to help and be helped.

For those of you who have cheated, I'm sorry it has been so hard on you. I don't think it has been easy on any of us and I doubt many of us have perfect track records. When you fall down and eat something you shouldn't have, please just tell yourself, oops and get back on the wagon.

Good luck,

Steph

Trying not to cheat is relevant to all of us. At the very least we are tempted. I am not out three weeks yet. I had a slice of supreme pizza at the movies last night. I didn't get sick, it went down fine. I chewed the heck out of it and took 45 minutes to eat it. Did I Cheat...well, I guess I could say that but for a month I have eaten a tanker truck load of broth and popsicles. I don't feel guilty, because gang, i would have eaten the whole pizza and drank 500 calories of sweet pepsi before. So, I dont consider myself a cheat...if I could have listened to sound medical advice for dieting in the first place I wouldn't have been banded. I agree we have to try, we have to encourage each other, but for goodness sake, we weren't intended to stop eating for-ever. It took a lifetime for me to get this big, I cannot expect it to be gone overnight. Happy New Year Guys!

It is my under standing that many people gain between surgery and first fill. Google lapbanders hell

Mrs. Krzyz,

WOW. I can't believe you wrote that!

I had to go read some of your old posts....

In one post you recommended that a patient move to the mushie stage (against their doctor's advice).

In another post you admitted to eating Wendy's chili six days post-op.

How can what WE post be considered detrimental to others, when what YOU are doing goes against the rules specified by our surgeons? I don't get it.

The most shocking part, I find, is that you are a teacher. You definitely do not follow the books.

We all got fat for eating too much. Now we have a tool inside of us that we must obey (for lack of a better word) ... this is the reason people get banded, so that they HAVE to eat a certain way otherwise there will be consequences to their actions.

In my case I ate like a horse, ate too much, then at times barely ate any food at all. Now I am four days post-op and I AM STARVING at times! However I am deathly afraid of messing something up inside of me .. I have two small children, this procedure was self-pay .. I can't mess this one up. I have GOT to stay in control. There is a light at the end of the tunnel, I will be able to eat more foods soon.

Sure I have lost 13 pounds, which is great, but that isn't what this initial post-op period is all about.

Would you suggest that gastric bypass patients have sugar, even it's just a little bit once in a while? Have some chili, it went down well (never mind it stretches their pouch)?

It is my under standing that many people gain between surgery and first fill. Google lapbanders hell

Do you have a specific URL I could look at? I don't know what site you are referring to. I found a plethora of sites with that keyword.

Thanks!

Wow I hadn't visited this thread in a few days and I had no idea it would become so confrontational! Wayne I think you made a great point about how eating one piece of pizza was a huge improvement over what you would have done before. I think that some of the issues people have about what others are eating is that everyone's Doctor recommends something different. I was allowed mushies after the first week while some of you are on liquids only for two weeks to a month and some can't even have shakes for the first two weeks. This leads to people advising what was oked by thier Doctor to someone else and some people get very upset!! I certainly agree that you should listen to your Doctor but it is very interesting how much stricter some are than others.

Even though we all have problems with food, we are very different in our dieting styles! I have found that if I give myself an occasional small cheat it can help me stay on track. For me it is keeping the big picture and not giving up because I ate one cookie and deciding to eat the whole box. It seems that some people on this thread think that we are encouraging each other to cheat. I don't think that is it. It is helpful to know that we are all human. By the way even though I have followed my plan only 90% of the time I am down 23 pounds! So be kind to yourselves and get back on that horse and for those of you who are perfect so far try not to judge cuz you never know when one of those cravings will grab you by the throat.:hungry:

Yeah girlygirlz, some people take it way too far. Maybe not eating makes us CRANKY! Ha Ha. You gotta laugh though, better than cryin all the time. Reading some of these posts makes you wonder what all the babies are gonna do cause the tears are being used up here!

Oh yeah, every guy still loves his first grade teacher! Hats off to you KRZYZ!

girlygirlz, you said it perfectly. I would hate to see this board big one judgemental-ring circus. I like coming here to know im not alone, and that others are experiencing the same things as I am. We all come from different backgrounds, circumstances, lifestyles, but we ALL have this experience to share with eachother...the good, the bad, the ugly.

Id hate for people to start feeling uncomfortable with their thoughts, advice, questions in fear of looking like a "cheater" or one that doesnt give a flip. this is HARD. No matter where you are in your weight loss or your process, this is the hardest things most of us have ever done. We need to keep that in mind and not be so quick to put people in their place.

That being said, some of us respond better to "tough love" than others...I for one, need a good ass kicking every now and then, but sometimes, i do just need to be understood.

This whole process is hard. There isn't one easy part about it. Except maybe choosing chocolate, vanilla, or strawberry Protein shakes. The two weeks before on liquids sucked. The three weeks after on liquids sucked more. Then there was mushies that didn't even smell good. Now there is softs that just taunt with their calories and I can't say no to. This is HARD!

Just because you cheat does not make you a cheater. It isn't WHO you are, it's what you did. If it happens you come here and say I'm dying for good food and I ate it! Then you remember why you are going through all this hell and that you aren't alone. We ALL want to eat. We all want to eat NOW!! That's why we needed the band in the first place. Some of us say "Thank goodness. I did it too." And others say "Come on, you can get through this!" It is all support and we need both types. I need to know I'm not alone and I need someone to tell me to buck up.

There is no reason to feel like you shouldn't state how you feel. We need to learn to be more compassionate and see things through other's eyes. Every post on this board serves a purpose of some sort. It will give another hope or maybe help them understand what they are going through better.

I'm not saying, "Why can't we all just get along." I'm saying we need to take a deep breath, back up, and understand that this is HARD on all of us. I appreciate Heavy's comments. Hell, he has broke the 50 pound mark in less than a month! I also appreciate knowing that I'm not the only one who struggles every day.

If I could do this alone, I wouldn't be here. Would you?

(okay, off my soapbox)

Steph