Really hard time adjusting to life with the band?

dietpeach · September 26, 2008

Did anyone have a really hard time adjusting to life with the band? Was the sudden change in what you're able to eat shocking, especially if you're used to eating bread, soda, etc.? And did it get better over time? How long did it take until your new way of eating started to feel "normal"? Does the lack of hunger help? (Is there a lack of hunger?)

So many questions, I know!

msnenequeenie14 · September 26, 2008

I was having a really hard time for a couple weeks after I got the band. I was losing like crazy immediately after the surgery but ywo weeks after my post op my weight loss started to trickle off. I am happy to say I have not gained anything, but a I haven't lost anything additional either. I'm having some troubles with my doctor, I really need a fill so I can get started and they never call back. I was banded 6/30/08 and my first fill wont be until probably 10/14/08. My main problem right now is that I can still eat the way I did b4 I got banded, I don't allow myself to, but its scary! Since I don't have any restriction yet, I have taken to just plain old starving myself and taking these organic appetite supressants so I won't let the food get the best of me! But it was quite a shock to my life

georgia girl · September 26, 2008

Did anyone have a really hard time adjusting to life with the band? Was the sudden change in what you're able to eat shocking, especially if you're used to eating bread, soda, etc.? And did it get better over time? How long did it take until your new way of eating started to feel "normal"? Does the lack of hunger help? (Is there a lack of hunger?)
So many questions, I know!

Hi dietpeach! The new way of life can seem a little shocking sometimes, but it does get better over time. I do not miss soda anymore at all. Bread doesn't have to be out the picture completely if you can handle it. I choose not to eat it the majority of the time, simply because I watch my carbs.

It's been a year since my surgery and I don't even think about it as being a "different" way of eating anymore. It's normal for me now. Once you get good restriction, it helps with hunger a lot.

Good luck to you!

Jachut · September 26, 2008

Not really. I mean the liquid diet bit was not even that hard, it was so exciting to be on my way, and I knew it wasnt forever and i wasnt hungry anyway because I was lucky to have good restriction after surgery.

I was full of motivation and excitement, which kept me on the straight and narrow for quite a while, but really, I eat now the same as I did before, only in much smaller quantities. I ate healthy food before (with a few too many treats), and I do now. Its just now my meals are smaller and when I feel like a muffin at 4pm I say to myself that I shouldnt because I wont be able to eat my dinner. Its just a bit of self denial, its absolutely not a totally different life for me.

Now, I guess if I ate McDonalds for lunch every day and pizza for dinner every night and had drive through breakfasts and drank buckets of soda, it might have been hard. But I didnt, and so it wasnt.

I'm not sure how I would have overcome that, I'm not really that good at self denial. I feel for people who have to change that much, it must be incredibly difficult.

lea2015 · September 26, 2008

Hi,

I was banded on Sept 18, had my first Dr. visit yesterday was very pleased with myself. I am diabetic, I lost 7 pds & my night time insulin was cut in half.

I read your post and like your way of thinking. It really is all in our minds. If we have what we want now, we will not be able to have what we need later. So far my journey has not been too bad. A great way to get 25g. of Protein first thing in the am. I make a cup of Decaf, add a scoop of chocolate whey powder blend,I add about a tablespoon of milk. YUM just like a latte. Good luck all you September Bansters.

lea2015 · September 26, 2008

Great site, I had surgery on the 18th. I have been home recouping all by myself me & the dog & cat. No one to see me eat something I am not supposed to be eating. I keep thinking of the new me. You really have to learn to say no to yourself, what you want now might stop you from having what you need later. We have to remember what size our stomachs' are now, not how much we ate before surgery. I know I don't plan on stretching my new stomach.

Good luck

kiz · September 26, 2008

"Does the lack of hunger help?"

In a word, YES! It's amazing how beating that demon, hunger, wards off cravings and over-eating. This is going to be a healthy way of life for me, not a quick fix diet. I finally see a light at the end of the tunnel, and I'm not going to set myself up for failure, by trying to be a super dieter. I'm eating healthy foods, but I will allow myself treats now and then. There are foods that I'll never have in the same way again, for instance, a large diet Coke, but I know, in the future, I can have a sip now and then. Right now, I don't want it or miss it. I stopped drinking diet sodas a month prior to surgery, and I think that helped a lot.

I would put in my time on my elliptical prior to surgery, but it was a chore. I knew the weight wasn't coming off. Now, I can't wait to get on it. I'm also walking 3 miles in the evening, and because I've already lost around 20lbs, it's a breeze. I'm walking it ten minutes faster than I was previous to surgery, and I'm just getting started after taking time off to recover.

As far as bread, I already ate whole wheat bread. Since banding, I'll have a slice of LF whole wheat toast with my tuna occasionally. I know I'll miss having a nice hamburger with a big bun or an Italian sub, but I'm confident that I'll find replacements that I'll enjoy just as much. Heck, right now, having my clothes loose, rather than "pop the button" tight, I'm not craving any of those foods.

My husband and I were out for dinner, and rolls were served. I ate a small section of a roll in small teeny pieces w/ butter, and it was very filling. I wouldn't do that on a nightly basis, or even weekly, but as long as I'm able to eat it w/o getting stuck, I'm fully satisfied with it.

tapshoes · September 26, 2008

Did anyone have a really hard time adjusting to life with the band? Was the sudden change in what you're able to eat shocking, especially if you're used to eating bread, soda, etc.? And did it get better over time? How long did it take until your new way of eating started to feel "normal"? Does the lack of hunger help? (Is there a lack of hunger?)
So many questions, I know!

I'm only 7 months banded, so I can't answer long-term (Jachut is my reference point for long-term banded life). However, I can say that I too have not had a lot of difficulty in living with the band. I still have bread, rice, etc just really small portions. I have everything (except soda) but much smaller portions. It was frustrating at first to give up my diet coke, but on balance, health was more important. Now, I don't even miss it. The real challenge was (and continues to be) not in WHAT I eat, but in HOW I eat. I discovered that I am a 'gulper' by nature. I did not chew alot, and this has been the most difficult lesson to learn (and relearn, and relearn...). I also apparently talked a lot when eating with the result that I would swallow air which then just gave me more problems. Chew chew chew chew chew....don't talk, and chew some more. My difficulty!