Today was my 2 week anniversary. Decided I would temp fate and have a little chicken (been hungry). Well, did I learn a lesson. Pureed stuff and liquids have been going down without a fight, but tonight was a dinner with some out of town relatives and decided I would join in. I was at the table chewing on some chicken when all of sudden felt like my chest was gonna explode and thought for sure I was gonna throw up all over the table. Everyone could see it on my face. Had to sit there for a minute then walked into the kitchen hovering over the sink. :biggrin: Thankfully I did not throw up, but learned a lesson. DO WHAT THE DOCTOR TELLS YOU. Only one more week and I can start with solids, but I will wait longer for chicken......

yah those are hard habits to break, i find myslef wanting to make something quick and usually history repeats itself. fast typically wasn't good for me, so now i make sure i make what i need no matter how tired/stretched/bull headed i am. it gets easier, you will be fine. g2s

During my third week...i cheated and had some french bread with cheese....i had horrible horrible tummy pain...I was on the floor in a ball for an hour and i had really bad diareha with pain. So i learned my lesson. But i am in the beginning of week 4 now and had one scrambled egg with tomatos and avocados a few hours ago...i am crossing my fingers. I lost 18 pounds the first 2 weeks and only 2 pounds in the past week...is that normal?

I 'experimented' last night and am also paying the price today. My weapon was scrambled eggs which I normally despise. I was soooooo hungry I scrambled 5 eggs & added a little grated cheese. It went down really good, but when I stood up it felt like someone punched me in the gut. Still hurts today. Just really wanted to find out where the limit was - how much can you eat before it triggers that full feeling. Not doing that again! Good luck!!!:smile:

5 eggs!!! I am a month out and only eat 1 scrambled egg at a time -- I'm suprised you didn't loose it all.

I am eating anything I want(chicken, steak, bread, pasta), just much much much smaller portions and chew, chew, chew!

I was told my pouch (portion of stomach above the band)was about the size of an egg - so thats about how much I try to eat at a time.

Edited March 29, 200818 yr by mnn2501

I chew meat till it feels like applesauce in my mouth....I was banded on 2/22 & can eat anything...I have felt the pressure when I eat too fast & that is usually due to talking while eating...It really is easier in the earlier weeks post-op to eat at home & not talk so that you can concentrate on learning to chew the food to the right consistence before swallowing. Just my 2 cents! :teeth_smile:

Lisa, I'm with you.. I am uhh 3 weeks post op(banded March 7) and have no trouble eating!! I guess it varies from person to person?? I mean I have no fill yet. I havent been OVERDOING it.. but who gave me permission to eat "regular food"? Arent we supposed to stick to pureed food? Or is it eat what we can tolerate. I read that your doctor said "if you can smash it with a fork you can eat it" lol and yea I too can smash the crap out of anything! lol..

I am sooo confused dont want to stretch my pouch. Whats the difference between "mushies" "soft foods" and "puree foods"??? Why are there sooo many variations of what we can/can't should/shouldn't eat at this stage?

AND how much can YOU really eat?? I mean I am reading alot that folks are (at this stage) still only eating 2-3 oz.!! WHY ARE YOU ALL DOING THAT?? Lol.. is it because you CAN'T physically eat more? or because you were told not to? I have posted these questions b4 and I am just lost. I know I should be asking my doctor but Hi today is Sat and I cant wait till Monday. I should have asked all of this at my follow up. I guess I was too excited to think about what I should really ask.. Like EXACTLY how much really fits in there at this point(no restriction)?:thumbup:

I am a couple of months out so I have a couple of comments to add.

5 eggs are simply too much for comfort. I think it was more of a quantity issue than the eggs themselves. It is difficult right after surgery and you are able to finally eat more but you are still in the uncomfortable time before having your first fill. I know for me, I had to learn to overcome habits. At that stage, my mind thought I want a lot but I simply couldn't eat it all without suffering for it. You will soon learn you are satisfied with a lot less.

chicken . . . what is up with chicken? Almost every experience with being extremely uncomfortable had chicken involved. Yet I can still eat chicken I just have to be very very very comfortable with it. I can be miserable after properly chewing two bites. I also find that if I only eat chicken alone, I am more likely to have a problem. It may have been a little early for you to start with the chicken but it could also just be the chicken itself that was a problem. This issue has come up at every stage of my banding journey when chicken was involved. I still incorporate it into my diet because I love it. I also find that if I brown it good and it is a little tougher I tolerate it better but some other people say softened chicken is easier. Even deli chicken can give me problems and how easy is it to chew that properly??? It must be something with the texture.

Before your first fill, 2-3 oz is good to go by but is extremely difficult to stick to because you can get verryyy hungry. It is more a suggestion than a physical impossibility. The fill should make all the difference in the world once you get to that point in your banding journey. How much actually fits in there now? A whole heck of a lot than you would probably want if you eat slowly and it is really soft. At this point after surgery, you will have to rely more on yourself to stick to the eating plan than your band. It is not easy at 3 weeks, that is why they call it bandster hell . . . but it is only a temporary situation. If you can limit your quantities now you will find things will go much easier for you down the road.

Hi,

I found the only way to stop a life time of "wolfing" it down was to use a baby spoon and put it down after each bite. I'm a big guy, must look kinda funny seeing me with a baby spoon. But not as funny as seeing me in an extra large casket!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you for the info Heather!! that sounds logical. I will modify accordingly since I dont have much longer before my fill. I realize that even THEN I may not be restricted to a point that works for me, so your right I need to start NOW..

Moonshadow..thanks that answer is perfect!!:thumbup:

Hi,

I'm a big guy, must look kinda funny seeing me with a baby spoon. But not as funny as seeing me in an extra large casket!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:thumbup: Great attitude!