Hello I just had my lap band on 12/30 and as of 1/5 I lost a total of 20lbs with the combination of the pre-op diet and the liquid diet. I am feeling like I am just sitting back and watching and not sure how to feel. I have been dealing with weight issues all my life . I find it harder now to follow the post diet and I am still on mushy , cottage cheese textures for another 2 weeks . My first fill is scheduled for 1/26/09. I thought grits were a life saver just to have a different texture of food. Does anyone have suggestions on how to deal with the urges of wanting to eat food again., I have been using sugar free gum to quench the desire and give my mind time to shut up before making any mistakes. I geuss I never realized how much food played a role in my life . Any support would be appreciated or ways to continue to stay on tract. :laugh:

I am 3 weeks out and finally on purees. It is wonderful to eat something and feel full. I was stuffed after lunch today, and still not really hungry. That being said, I go home where everyone is eating chips and cookies, and it smells soooo good. My advice is to tough it out. I mean, this will not go on forever, and think about other diets you went on. You usually last what, a month or two? Pretend this diet will end in and week or two (which it kind of will) and you go on a new diet. I loved my refried beans, cheese, and spinach today, because all I could eat before was cottage cheese, yogurt, and soup before. One step at a time...

Thank you for the reminder to take it one day at a time. Yes I have had those fat free refried beans and it was heaven. I made little egg quiches to use as my protien snack and they are helping out and returning to work has helped structure me than just staying focused on the food I can not have.

I always felt good having a baked potato or mashed potatoes. I know, starch is bad, but hey, I couldn't eat that much of it, and I'm avoiding starch now that I can eat real food again...but it made me happy at a time when I could have little else.

I'm also a sweet junkie. To avoid turning to the comforts of ice cream, I mixed up a batch of instant pudding with unflavored Protein powder mixed in. It helped me get my protein down and I felt like I was having a treat.

Hang in there! You're doing great!

I lived on SF pudding with protein power added, might not have been the most balanced but of the things I tried it was what tasted the best.

As rough as this period is, think about this- 8 or 9 weeks of hell to get back to small amount of real food vs a lifetime of yo yo dieting and being unhealthy. I figured I could do anything for 8 or 9 weeks. Good luck

I posted this on another thread, but I thought it would fit in equally well here.

I didn't feel much restriction until my 4th fill about 4 months out; that wasn't quite enough and my 5th fill about 5 months out finally gave me enough restriction that I began to understand what people meant by the "sweet spot".

You will stay hungry for about the first 2-4 weeks until your stomach gets adjusted to the new limited amounts. After that, you will still have head hunger issues until you reach the "sweet spot". Once at the sweet spot, even if you crave something and give in, just a small amount goes a long way. Of course that doesn't apply to "liquid" food.

I had a lot of questions and doubts initially because I really did think this was the easy way out prior to surgery. I was self-pay so I didn't have to jump through all the hoops and go through all the classes, etc. Had I done so, I might not have gone through the surgery. Now, I am so glad I did go through with the surgery but I admit I went through it blind.

In looking back, I realize the first 3 months were the toughest because the band isn't working at its optimum level (at least for me). Don't fool yourselves into thinking you can get bigger fills to get more restriction early -- that's a dangerous road to erosion. Let your mind, body and band have the time it needs to get to know each other and become a healthy team.

As for what helps when during the mushy/healing stage, drinking Water, jumping jacks (when you jump up and down and feel how uncomfortable it is to be in your own skin, it's a pretty good deterrant to not feed the oversized skin) and anything else that helps get your mind off food.