I was banded on Nov 20th. It has been almost 3 weeks. My post-op diet plan states that I should only be eating ¼ cup off food at each meal. I am eating more like ¾ to 1 whole cup of food at each meal. I feel like I am cheating!! I don’t really feel any difference with my stomach!! I feel like I have already started down a bad path right out the gate!!

Edited December 10, 200817 yr by TigerGirl

ummmm you are cheating.....if your doctor told you not to eat more than 1/4 cup then thats what you should be eating or you'll stretch your pouch......follow your doctors directions:glare:

I was banded the day before you. Some meals I can only eat 1/2 cup and occasionally I can eat 1 cup. I eat something every 2 hours because I'm hungry and also my nutritionist told me to.

My surgeons plan for post-op week three and four is 1/2 cup of food for the meal. If you haven't had a band fill yet you may be able to eat a little more then the 1/2 c. Some surgeons are doing pre-fills on bands so I don't know if you were or not. Our plan states that you may have additional food between meals if you become hungry. I would take it easy and eat very slowly. Stop as soon as you feel full.

Our week five is return to regular diet.

Regular diet is 1/2 c or 4 oz. of food with 2-3 oz. being Protein and remainder of non-starch vegetables. All protein must be eaten first.

Good luck!!!

Your band was most likely put in place empty. So once the surgery swelling subsides, your appetite and ability to eat will be close to what it was pre-op. Most surgeon's at your stage are focusing on healing your stomach from surgery. It's true you don't want to overeat and stretch your pouch. But, if your eating very small bites and chewing bery well, it's likely that it's going right through the band, so stretching the pouch wouldn't be physically possible.

Overeating at your stage is very easy to do. However, if you don't have any sense of fullness after eating, it's likely that the band is not restricting you because it's empty and the surgery swelling is gone.

Do your best to eat the prescribed portions, but don't be surprised if you need to eat more frequently because you don't have any restriction. What you're experiencing is very normal - don't fret about it.

Brad

i dont think you are cheating... you may want to take smaller bites, chew and wait a few minutes between bites... make sure you aren't really satisfied before you take another few bites... it normally takes about 20 minutes for the brain to say "hey, i'm not hungry anymore" which is what you are aiming for ... you dont want the "IM FULL" feeling.

plus, without a fill, you have very little to no restriction. good luck