I was banded 4 weeks ago and so far I have lost 45 lbs and have lost about 5-6 lbs a week for the last couple of weeks. It has been pretty easy to eat small meals by eating slow and just stopping when I have had enough - I probably could have eaten more,but I chose to stop. I have kept up with all my exercise and food on livestrong.com and have pretty much stayed under 1500 calories a day and usually exercise every day - walking or playing tennis.

On to the wagon - I fell off yesterday. For the last week and a half, I have been getting progressively hungrier and unable to last in between meals before feeling empty. I have been snacking (trying to be healthy snacks) some and trying to drink plenty, but yesterday I went off the deep end - milk duds, pizza rolls, more hummus than usual, crackers and cheese, ice cream, etc. I never did eat a huge amount at one sitting, but I did graze for most of the afternoon starting at about 2pm and I was actually doing great up until that point. I swear it is an episode like this that absolutely pisses me off and wakes me up at the same time. I have been feeling very good about not being hounded by hunger for first time in a long time, but yesterday it came back with a vengeance. I realized at some point yesterday afternoon that I was no longer eating for hunger, but eating because I wanted to and that was the most scary part!

Today is a new day and my first fill is next Tuesday. I just need to keep it together until then.

Yes, you are going through a wee bit of bandster hell. I hit it around the same time 4.5 weeks after surgery.

My first fill helped me a little bit. But I know I need more.

From I understand, on average, it takes about 4 adjustments to get into the sweet spot.

MY biggest thing is try to keep my hunger at bay, and not gain weight until I get more fills.

The good news is you "caught" your bad behavior. In the past would you? I am going to guess its doubtful. So much of this is about changing 1/2 a life time or more of bad habits. That isnt going to happen in a day or a month, it takes time.

Hang in there. I am also having a problem with my hunger. I went a little overboard yesterday and have felt horrible about it. But the point is, I wouldn't have felt bad in the past if I did this while on a diet. It would have made me get off the diet and stop caring. I don't get my first fill until the end of the month. I am ready to get it so that I don't have to use my willpower, which is very good, until then.

Jack, thanks for your wisdom and insight. I am starting to recognize the difference in actual hunger and my brain telling me that I am hungry.

Did you notice that most of that stuff is filled with sugar and carbs? I find that if I splurge on sugar it is hard to stop (at least for that day). I’m not a doctor so don’t quote me on this stuff, but the way I understand it sugar causes an insulin surge which makes us feel even more hungry.

I am an advocate of giving myself a little treat on occasion (for me that is about once every 10 days), I just really have to think about it before I do it. I try to do it later in the day so that I can go to sleep if the cravings really start. Also, I try to have a snack only after I have eaten a meal so that there is less room to binge.

Don’t beat yourself up over a single episode, just don’t let it become a habit. One of the things I do now is cut back on calories a lot the day after any sort of splurge, this usually negates any scale issues. This is so much easier to do with the band!! Pre-band, I never would have been able to cut my meal in half or substitute a meal with a shake – now it’s easy.