Confessions and concerns...

[KMCD 0]

Okay, so I got downright tired of being tired and nauseated all the time. Just eating creamed Soups and such was horrible. I was supposed to go to pureed food, but it looked and smelled bad. Last night, I got together with some friends and we have bar-b-que. Someone had brought chopped beef. I took tiny portions of that, creamed corn, potato salad and macaroni salad. I ate very very very slowly and chewed the heck out of everything. It went down just great and I felt so much better, I was ready to stay up until midnight talking! Today, we went out to lunch and only ate a small portion of my chicken (again tiny bites) and some refried Beans and I stopped before I felt full. I have been starving this last week. I know I'm only a week out and I feel bad for not following the diet. Am I going to mess up my "pouch?" Of course, I really don't have a pouch since there is no saline in the band yet (just an expensive funnel right now). Everything goes down okay and I chew the heck out of it. I just hated the feeling of being so lethargic and with out energy. I got the band hoping I would be able to eat what I wanted, just in smaller portions. Surely, having the band doesn't mean that I will have to go back and forth between liquids and creamed soups the rest of my life?!?!

[lingling 0]

Hey there

I did the same I must confess. As long as you're honest with yourself and your portion sizes and it goes down I think it's okay - although I was very anxious going to my 1mth appt today wondering if the band had slipped as I was eating real food from the beginning of wk 2.

Try to keep your Protein up - that will be what is making you lethargic.

Hang in there!

[jujuvee 0]

just because it goes down ok does not mean that it's ok to eat. There's a reason we are put on a specific diet. You just had surgery and the point of following the food phases is to allow for healing. If your stomach has to churn to digest you risk pulling stiches loose or even slipage. This is the hardest part off the process but talk to your dietition and get back on track. This is just my opinion but I know that getting approved for lapband took me 5 months and I can't imagine any setbacks because I didn't follow instructions this early into the process.

[AngieB2009 0]

Okay, so I got downright tired of being tired and nauseated all the time. Just eating creamed Soups and such was horrible. I was supposed to go to pureed food, but it looked and smelled bad. Last night, I got together with some friends and we have bar-b-que. Someone had brought chopped beef. I took tiny portions of that, creamed corn, potato salad and macaroni salad. I ate very very very slowly and chewed the heck out of everything. It went down just great and I felt so much better, I was ready to stay up until midnight talking! Today, we went out to lunch and only ate a small portion of my chicken (again tiny bites) and some refried Beans and I stopped before I felt full. I have been starving this last week. I know I'm only a week out and I feel bad for not following the diet. Am I going to mess up my "pouch?" Of course, I really don't have a pouch since there is no saline in the band yet (just an expensive funnel right now). Everything goes down okay and I chew the heck out of it. I just hated the feeling of being so lethargic and with out energy. I got the band hoping I would be able to eat what I wanted, just in smaller portions. Surely, having the band doesn't mean that I will have to go back and forth between liquids and creamed soups the rest of my life?!?!

I recommend taking some liquid Vitamins. That will help with feeling worn out. I to have had my mini cheats. For the most part I am staying on track. Think of this as 3 weeks of treating your stoma right. It's difficult, but we can do it! Soup for me was a disappointment. I liked the drinkable yogurt phase the best. I am going to drink 2 shakes a day, vit-Water and do my best to stick with Soup at night.

Don't worry about getting off the band wagon, just make sure you jump back on. If you are anything like me, one to many and a thousand is never enough. What I am saying is it is super easy to keep on cheating once I've cheated. I know in my heart that the only person I am hurting is myself. Well, my loved ones too. 3 weeks of a horrible diet is not the end of the world. It's the beginning to a new life!

We can do this! We can do this!

Hugs!

Angie

[rannah12 0]

I called my doctor at week 2 and said I am so tired and hungry all the time he said some people progress faster then others and to just got slow and chew everything well. listen to your body and I would call your nutritionist or doc because if you tell them you are struggling they may give you the green light. I also noticed that if I didnt take my Vitamins daily I had a decrease in energy. Good luck and dont stress just use your resources.

[PharmaGirl 0]

lingling, I did the same as you and my doctor is good with that. Even so, I have the same concerns - will I damage something, etc. etc. I spoke to the surgeon at my one-week post-op appointment and like rannah's doctor he advised listening to my body - he advised that everyone heals at a different pace and the time to progress to the next stage in foods is therefore different for different people. That is why not all doctors recommendations match up - some doctors base recommendations on the slowest progressors, some on the median progressor, some on the fast healers. He advised that if I felt up to it I should progress to mushies and when ready progress to soft food and then if they're going down ok move to real food. As I said in a different post, he was adamant that once progress to the next stage of food had been made and was going ok there should be no going backward (avoiding caloried drinks, ice-cream, etc, at all costs). I chew the living daylight out of any new food before I swallow and wait to see how I feel after the first couple of bites. If everything is ok (and so far everything has been) I keep going. I am now eating all types of food and I will be coming up for 2 weeks with the band this Thursday. I am careful to stop eating when I feel my pouch is full (usually around 3/4-1 cup of food). I also don't drink for at least an hour (I try for 2 hours) after meals.

[bella5425 0]

Okay, so I got downright tired of being tired and nauseated all the time. Just eating creamed Soups and such was horrible. I was supposed to go to pureed food, but it looked and smelled bad. Last night, I got together with some friends and we have bar-b-que. Someone had brought chopped beef. I took tiny portions of that, creamed corn, potato salad and macaroni salad. I ate very very very slowly and chewed the heck out of everything. It went down just great and I felt so much better, I was ready to stay up until midnight talking! Today, we went out to lunch and only ate a small portion of my chicken (again tiny bites) and some refried Beans and I stopped before I felt full. I have been starving this last week. I know I'm only a week out and I feel bad for not following the diet. Am I going to mess up my "pouch?" Of course, I really don't have a pouch since there is no saline in the band yet (just an expensive funnel right now). Everything goes down okay and I chew the heck out of it. I just hated the feeling of being so lethargic and with out energy. I got the band hoping I would be able to eat what I wanted, just in smaller portions. Surely, having the band doesn't mean that I will have to go back and forth between liquids and creamed soups the rest of my life?!?!

I can really relate to you and your struggles of hunger. I was banded on the 22nd of April and was on liquids for a week and I didn't cheat until the night before I was allowed to go mushy and I had 3 bites of cottage cheese. I just couldn't take it..I feel like I will never eat Soup again. I am technically on the mushy stage until Thursday and have been eating tuna salad, cottage cheese, canned pears, peas and tilapia filet for 4 days now but I am so hungry it is hard for me to stop. I am putting my food on a small dessert plate and eating from there but my head is so messed up about food I feel like I am overeating. ackkk! I would check with your nutritionist or your dr. just to make sure you aren't doing anything to damage the band. Good luck!

Katie

[KMCD 0]

Thanks everyone, I really appreciate the input. After I saw Jujuvees reply, I felt super ashamed. Especially since I've been waiting years for the lapband, not five months.

I don't want to risk anything, but I was thinking that if I was super exhausted and feeling nauseated (to the point of dry heaves), what was I protecting? If the sutures were going to split, they would have with all the dry heaves.:tongue:

Being a nurse, I suppose has its downfalls in that I know how tough those sutures are. It takes more than just a little bit of stomach rumbling to pull it out or break it.

I understand what everyone is saying though. I will double check with my nutritionist. I'll let you know the outcome.

[myturn2bhappy 0]

KMCD- ((HUGS)) I've been there and done that. I've made a pledge to myself to suck it up and get back on track. But it is hard knowing that I can eat other things. My weight loss has stalled which is what gave me the kick in the butt to be a "good bander".

[jujuvee 0]

Thanks everyone, I really appreciate the input. After I saw Jujuvees reply, I felt super ashamed. :thumbup: Especially since I've been waiting years for the lapband, not five months.

I don't want to risk anything, but I was thinking that if I was super exhausted and feeling nauseated (to the point of dry heaves), what was I protecting? If the sutures were going to split, they would have with all the dry heaves.:ack2:

Being a nurse, I suppose has its downfalls in that I know how tough those sutures are. It takes more than just a little bit of stomach rumbling to pull it out or break it.

I understand what everyone is saying though. I will double check with my nutritionist. I'll let you know the outcome. :tt2:

By no means did I want you to feel ashamed and I am sorry if that's the way it sounded, but 2 weeks into this is pretty early to introduce chunky foods, but that's just my opinion and if your doc is ok with it then that's great. Something that really helped me was re-fried Beans with salsa and sour cream, also I took 2 chewable Centrums a day and did not skip the Protein shakes, the lack of Protein is what causes fatigue.. keep us posted on what you find out and I hope you get to feeling better soon.

[KMCD 0]

Hey Jujuvee, the only reason I mentioned your post was because it was the second post and it made me pause and think hard. Lots of others have weighed in (no pun intended) on it too.

But, the word from the doc is that I'm fine. As long as I listen to my body (and chew really well), it's okay. Particularly since I was having such a hard time with nausea and such. If I had called him on Friday, this posting never would have had to happen.

Today, I feel 100%, almost like I never had surgery (except for the scars). I knew that as a nurse, I would take risks that I shouldn't. That's what I feel bad about. I know more than I should, which isn't always a good thing. I tried to prepare myself for this by really working on sticking to the preop diet (of which I did okay until the last weekend before). The one thing I will never do (which I have heard among my profession), is try to do their own fills, unfills! YUCH! I was lucky, this one turned out okay, but it was a good lesson.

Thanks for all the support. You guys have no idea how much it means to me!

[myturn2bhappy 0]

Glad to hear all is well!