I was just banded on Thursday 5/22/08 and this has been harder than I thought. I have been doing the liquid diet since Thursday, but today has been VERY hard for me. Especially when all I can think about is FOOD!!!!! I am a very emotional eater, and have been pretty depressed since the surgery. I just now got out of the house this morning (too sore to leave before today) and actually had an adult conversation with my Mother (my dog doesn’t speak good English..lol). All I have been doing is lying down and watching movies since I got home Thursday afternoon.

OK........I want something to EAT!!!!! I am soooo sick of shakes, pudding, Jell-O & the worst thing chicken BrOtH! YUCK!!!!!

I have to fight my mind all the time; I have not slipped one time, and am VERY proud of myself. But it has been just as hard as being on all the other diets I have been on for over 10 years on and off!

Anyone having this same problem?!?!?!

I was banded on April 29th and painfully remember how hard it was to get through those first 2 weeks on liquids. You never realize how many commercials there are about food until you can't have any! I felt depressed, worried that I had made a HUGE $15,000.00 mistake and thought about food constantly. I want to reassure you, all of you, what you feel is so common and normal. But that phase will pass before you know it and life will become happy again. I am now able to eat solid foods, go out with my family and not feel deprived, and enjoy life. I have lost 28 pounds in less than a month! Once you are able to eat mushies and soft proteins you will feel much, MUCH better. You will eat small amounts and not feel hungry. I promise, even the desire for food changes. Hang in there. You are going to fall in love with your band!

I am a Christian and believe that GOD WILL get me through this too! I am also a recovering drug addict. I have been clean for 14 years and was on drugs since I was 12, I am now 35. Where I am going with this is...if GOD got me through that and help me turn my life around, he will also help me with my weight as well. I finally turned it completely over to GOD last night (sometimes I take it back from him for a short while :wink2: even though I do my VERY best not to. I am feeling great today!!! I have a whole new outlook as far as this liquid diet goes. Even though I had chicken -n- stars last night, I had to find a way to forgive myself and not let my old habits bring me down. I understand completely what has been posted recently. I know there is tons of stuff I need to deal with in my past. With such an addictive personality I went from drugs directly to food. Soooo......with all that being said, this morning I am not going to let food get the best of me!!!! I have to tell myself constantly, food does not 1.) have feelings 2.) can talk 3.) can breath 4.) can feel, so why am I letting it have sooo much power over me???

I am a little scared of starting my mushies on Saturday really. I have lost 11 pounds in a week and I don’t want to gain that back!!!!!!!!

:thumbup:I'm having the same problem, but let me tell you MY story... I was on 15 days of Optifast and Clear Liquids BEFORE surgery. Afterwards, 10 days of clear liquids; Now, just starting my second of THREE weeks of full liquids. Then, finally, I can have mushies.

It's called Bandster Hell for a reason. This is a very hard time. I will tell you that if you do eat, especially this soon after your surgery, you could cause your band to slip and could have vomiting and other problems. DO NOT EAT!!!! Go to a support meeting, go for a walk, do something to keep yourselves from eating.

Everybody here is very supportive because we've all been through it. Just keep up the good work and don't eat. Call your doctor if you need to for advice. And drink as much liquids as you can. You need at least 64 ounces a day of non-caffienated drinks.

Best of Luck!

Barbara

This is not an arbitrary rule your surgeon made up to torture you! The purpose of the liquids is to keep your stomach from having to churn solid food, so the stitches have time to heal, and the scar tissue can form, that will hold your band in place.

You've invested time, effort and possibly your own money for this very important procedure. Now is the time to back it up and do your best to adhere to your surgeon's orders. It's for your own good.

Orea

I agree with you Orea15! I read thru the first 3 pages of the post and when I got to your post I was really touched! I was just banded on May 27th. Im struggling with liquids, swelling, and pain but I just keep thinking that this was my decision and I will make it thru this! Thank you for your enlightening post!

I have found that making my own creamed Soups is more filling than buying processed creamed soups. Not sure if you will find it interesting but I made cream of broccoli and cauliflower Soup

1 bag frozen broccoli florets

1 bag frozen cauliflower florets

2 cans of sodium free chicken broth

1 cup skim milk

1 stick of I can't believe it's Not Butter LIGHT

2 teaspoons of flower mixed with broth from the soup

1 cup of 2% Kraft shredded four cheeses

I cooked the broccoli and cauliflower in the chicken broth until very soft. I used a hand blender and pureed the veggies in the chicken broth. I used the magic bullet to pureed the skim milk, four cheese blend, salt, garlic powerder, and white pepper. I then slowly integrated the milk mixture with the pureed veggies. I reserved a bit of chicken brother to mix the flour in and poured that in as well. I let it cook for approximately 30 minutes at medium heat. It hasn't been mastered but it was very filling and had a nice taste. I'm on pureed food but still find that going to fully liquids that are nutritious are just as filling.

I was thinking about adding silken tofu to a small portion to see how it tastes.

I just finished my two weeks all liquid phase and now I'm 1 1/2 weeks of blended then 1 1/2 weeks of mushies. A lot of my hunger was mental too. What helped me was before surgery I put a bunch of pictures of what I wanted to look like on a piece of paper (just pasted them into one document in Word) and taped it to my frig. What a reminder when I'm pissing and moaning about being hungry, standing in the kitchen staring blankly into the frig and pantry!

I also just tell myself, "Knock it off, Erica. Seriously. Nut up and drink some Water." and then I leave the kitchen. We can do this! Our health, our future, our lives are on the line. WE CAN DO THIS!

WOW!!! What perfect timing! I have been fine up until about 2 hours ago, I was at my mom's slipped and fell and busted my knee right open. Thank goodness our friend (a Dr.) was there and able to get me stitched up and taken care of. So of course, like in the past, the first thing I would have done was go eat to make me FEEL BETTER. Well, I DID NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am soooooo proud of myself! Its so strange how GOD works, my Mom just brought me back home and again I thought...hmmmm.... I sure would feel better if I ate something, but I wanted to check this site first. Well...here are all of your encouraging words, and it has set me back into place! I cannot tell you all just how MUCH I appreciate all of your words. Sometimes I don’t want to hear them, but.... I know that you are just giving support, and I am extremely grateful for that!!!!!!!!!

Sorry about the knee! How lucky you were to have a doctor right there on the spot. No waiting forever in the emergency room for you.

Good for you for resisting the temptation to dive into comfort food! The thing about eating for comfort is, it doesn't really work, and you end up hating yourself for doing it. All in all it's a bad deal, isn't it.

Now you get to pat yourself on the back! :thumbup:

Orea

Lunabeane, I forgot to say, your soup looks great! I'm going to try it.

I agree. I am so sick of soup (especially broth), Jello and pudding. I don't think I will EVER eat these things again. Two weeks prior to surgery and now after surgery more liquids. I see my surgeon tomorrow to have my stitches and staples out and I am supposed to get a NEW food plan. I'm looking forward to the change to MUSH! I find going out to a restaurant a pleasure even if I just have a cup of soup and enjoy the company and focus on the visiting part.

I have to say that I have felt full from DAY 1 from my banding procedure. I am enjoying this full feeling. Its delightful! I don't recall EVER feeling this way before. I make dinners for my family and it doesn't bother me. Although, I caught myself mindlessly "tasting" my cooking and caught myself in motion. Hard to break this since I cook so many nights at home. I really needed to see others going through this period.

It is tough but lets face it, we can see light at the end of the tunnel and see hope to find such a powerful tool to get our weight under control and START LIVING by doing things we have been unable to do. My knees are feeling great after losing 14 pounds so far. I will learn if I lost more tomorrow when I see my doctor.

I agree! You are right on. This is a new relief from the obsession of food and to feel full and not craze food. I'm into it!

I'm so proud of all of you!

Orea15...thank you so much for your nice words. They really do mean alot to me! :thumbup:

I was banded on May 29th and I think I'm hungry. It may be psycological though. When and what type of protein shakes help?

I know what you mean. The liquid diet gets old fast. I had my staples/stitches out yesterday so I am adding food now. Its a bit scary because I had the liquid intake down pat. I am sipping on a Protein drink right now. I need to go to the store tomorrow to buy different types of food, i.e., cottage cheese, oatmeal, etc. Its exciting to try new foods. I have just re-read all my literature about what to eat during the third week after surgery.

I buy liquid drinks from Trader Joes (vanilla and chocolete). I think they are 35 grams of protein. I put them in the refrigerator so they get very cold. I then put one can contents into the blender with a small amount of skim milk. I add cinammon and/or a small banana to the vanilla-flavored drinks.

Someone from my support group gave me a lead for a coffee flavored Protein Drink (like a latte). Its call Achiev One. I bought the Mocha Java flavor. Its has 20 grams of protein. Its the #1 protein drink in our support group. One of our members sells it from her car! I had to travel about 20 miles to get it. It tastes like a cold coffee drink from Starbucks or a coffee place but cold. I sometimes put it over ice.

I also bought some protein pudding made by Sly Stallone. I bought it at GNC (I think that is the initials).

I went out to Breakfast with my husabnd today the first time in a very long time (over a month). I had a poached egg with toast and coffee. I drank the coffee first and than ate my egg. It tasted very good but the best part was to be out and about again. I still feel shaky on what to order when I am out at restaurants. I'd appreciate some input from others about this. Sometimes if I know specifically what to order it helps. I used to order a cup of soup and that worked for me. As you all know, its difficult to control the portion as well as you can at home.