I am curious how everyone feels in social situations when everyone is eating and drinking and you can't? Do you feel self concious, diappointed, or happy?

Do you feel people are looking at you to see how much you eat now, like you are a lab rat? Do you feel funny when your buddies are telling you have a beer but you can't? Tell me I gotta Know!!!!!

Should hvae checked my spelling.

Ha Ha I try to avoids those frieds! Seriously, I usually tell them I had a late lunch or some such thing...or you can say you are really trying to lose weight. They probably don't notice as much as you think they do.

My friends know about my lapband and they don't comment when I eat. They know I am doing what is best for me and they are supportive. If someone was not supportive then I would not consider them a friend. I used to drink beer but now I drink wine. I do have an occassional beer but I sip very slowly.

I'll let ya know! I'm going to the casino with a bunch of friends from my old work tonight and we are going to the buffet! Thank goodness it will be a free one because I can tell you I wouldn't be able to get my money's worth if I had to pay!

It's not so much out with friends that I feel self-conscious as with co-workers in social situations. I travel a lot and have to eat with co-workers (sometimes strangers and clients).

A lot of times I feel embarassed, self-conscious because it is very evident that I don't clean my plate like others. I get a lot of comments like, "you don't like your food? You aren't hungry? Are you feeling ok?" etc. It's ok if its just one meal, but if I eat several meals with the same people, they really notice that I don't eat much at all the meals.

I think I'm lucky... besides the fact that all my friends know I've had the surgery.. my best friend is about 5yrs post op gastric bypass so it works well.

I still party a lot. It has slowed down my weight loss since I love to drink. I just eat so much less but drink the same. Oh, those empty calories!

Eating out with my mother in law yesterday was tough. She's morbidly obese as well and has even gained another 20 pounds since I last saw her. When she sat down she couldn't look at me for a while.. I don't know why... and then when I got my food she was watching every bite I put into my mouth. I think she was doing this because she is interested in the surgery and she wanted to see how much I could eat. I ate half a wrap and some lettuce dipped in hummus. This is nothing compared to what I use to eat, but it was very filling. Afterwards she said she's glad I can still eat regular food. BUt then I had to let her know that I hadn't gotten my first fill yet, so I wasn't fully restricted. I do feel some restriction, but not much.

Guacamole salad (no lettuce and no tomatoes).. goes down very well about the same time as a margarita. I don't usually eat/drink at the same time, but a tiny bit of food is not an issue for me, on those rare occasions.

I have also use the companionship/visiting/catching up/talking... excuse after eating- I may "nurse" a drink for 1/2 hour - 1 hour before "hittin'" it hard, so to speak. lol goog luck.

PS>>>> no frozen -blended margaritas for me- the cold tightens my band so fast, I felt like I was having a heart attack! lol

I actually deal with this constantly. I am in my last semester in Medical school (I graduate in 1 1/2 months!!!!) and I spend most of my time in the hospital. As a resident you have to eat very fast because you always have work to do. You are also very rarely alone. You also have to keep your strength up because the days are busy and long. I have found it extremely awkard eating with people I work with. Most of the time I just take a shake and drink it and eat when I get home. It is hard to eat fast with the band and people (esp strangers) don't have the patience. It is also weird when something doesn't go down and you have to PB in a cup or run to the bathroom. I have actually found this as one of the more challenging situations to deal with after the band. However, with my friends and family it took only a couple of months for them to understand the struggle and now they are completely understanding. You do hear a lot of "is that going down" or " you don' want anything else?" but all of this is out of love and you learn to get used to it. Today I bought a size 10 jeans and that pretty much made every "weird" meal worth it. So eat slow and enjoy because it's great to feel good, it's great to look good, and it's great to be moving on!

Honestly, I find that people don't notice what I eat as much as I thought they would. Especially if you don't call attention to it, it hasn't been a problem for me.

Well, half of my close friends know, half don't. I went out to dinner with a bunch of friends the other night and it was slightly awkward because I thought the friends who didn't know may wonder why the person who normally cleans their plate AND gets dessert ate so little. They didn't SAY anything. In fact, I didn't eat that much less than my really tiny friends. I'll probably end up telling all of them soon enough because it's more of a hassel to keep it from them. As for the friends who do know, they completely look at how much I'm eating and make comments if I ate more or less than they thought I could. It's not a big deal though. I just love the fact that I can control how much I eat when I'm with them and I don't have to worry about gaining a bunch of weight from one night of bad eating.

It does make it a little bit more difficult to eat with people who don't know that I have the band. I do the " I had a late lunch, or you know I have been trying to lose weight" If someone doesn't know you have the band, it's pretty important to be careful what you order.

My daughter had gastric bypass, so that works out well for us. My two very best friends know I have the band.

My dad doesn't know I have the band. He is 89 and hardly eats at all, so I share meals with him, and told him my stomach has shrunk since I have lost weight.

I keep up with the chatter and at the same time, am eating ve-e-r-r-r-y-y slowly, sometimes even just moving my food around on my plate with my fork/spoon. That way it gives the look and noises that I'm really eating, when all I'm doing is talking and miming eating.

I always make sure that I time my finishing with everyone else's and it works out perfectly.

Although YOU know there's something different, people who know (you've had surgery) 'forget' when you act totally normally. :thumbup: