I was banded on jan 23rd 09 ..and the last few days I have been starving...protein shakes don't do anything for me. I tried eating regular food and I have no problem eating that ..seems all I want to do is eat.. is this normal? I obvoisly have no restriction what so ever ...I have healed really well..no real discomfort at all. What do you guys think ?

Banded 1/28/09

I saw where someone moved from clear liq to solid liq. and can now have protein shakes. Is protein shake not how we get the protien from the start? I am supposed to get 60g prot per day.

I dont think this person has done their home work about how the lapband works or the healing side of it..by giving your stomach solids in a liquid stage of healing is very dangerous, you are on liquids to stop your stomach muscles from over working & doing damage..bleeding, stretching the pouch, ripping the stitches etc..& undoing all the hard work the surgeon & other people have put into you having a great tool for you ....sorry if this sounds harsh but what you are doing is very silly & dangerous..im in bandster hell on liquids too but i would never put my life at risk for the sake solid food until i am allowed to eat it

If you miss chewing on something try a piece of leather

Yes, I was banded on the 22nd and today was tough. I am very hungry. I realize that things need to heal, and I sure hope that the rest of this experience isn't just willpower. I am allowed mushies on 2/2. NOt too far, I've made it this far, I can do it and so can you. I would be very careful, with your solids and I have found that a sf popscicle can get me through a rough spell. We can do this!

This post may make me unpopular, but here goes:

I think the language we use reflects the over-importance those with weight issues have given to food.

I frequently see language on this site like 'starving', 'dying of hunger', etc. I think part of what the liquids phase and bandster hell phase should give us is reassurance that hunger is ... JUST HUNGER. It's not a life-threatening condition. None of us are in any danger of starving to death. There are no serious ill effects from short term calorie deprivation. We need to be stronger than the hunger. In the short term we should be able to just work through it. There is a light at the end of the tunnel.

I can't remember her name, but one weight loss expert used to make her clients go six or 8 hours without eating- not every day but ONCE- and fat people would be terrified of the hunger, but would live through it and learn from it.

When I feel uncomfortably hungry, my technique is to remind myself of the millions of people for whom this is their normal state of being, because they are chronically hungry due to poverty. When I frame it that way it really doesn't seem like that big a deal. I know my body would like some food, but I also know it will be just fine if it doesn't get it right now.

Excellent post! That used to be a pet peeve of mine to see someone writing about how they were starving to death. I always pictured a little kid in Africa with a BMI of 12 while realizing the person writing was MO.