:w00t: I can't stand this!! I have trouble getting everything down until late- afternoon early evening. It is becoming more and more difficult to follow a healthy diet. I have to cram all of my eating into the evening and I am not a night person. I go to bed fairly early so I don't have the chance to work off what I eat. Does anyone else have this problem? I also find myself eating at night just because I can. Is there anyway of getting food down earlier in the day?:wink2: Even liquids are hard to get down before p.m. and it's not that I don't feel hungry throughout the day I am just very limited in what I can get down. Usually it's garbage food with no nutritional value. I know I have to take responsibilty for poor choices at night and eating just because I can and not because of real hunger but if anyone has any suggestions for getting things down earlier in the day PLEASE let me know. Even eating healthy at night is a problem because then I don' t get enough calories in to continue weight lose. I never thought I would say this but I wish I could eat more!!!

I'm not banded yet but I'd bet people will say you need a slight unfill.

Yes, it's possible you need a slight unfill. I also have this problem, but to a lesser degree and I feel that I am at my sweet spot.

The first thing I have in the morning is a cup of coffee....something warm to "open" things up. About an hour later, I sip on a Protein drink. Sometimes it goes down well and sometimes it gurgles a bit.

By lunch, I'm able to eat a bit. I've found that Proteins like cottage cheese, hummus and tuna salad go down the best....but usually only about 1/4 cup. I might also eat a couple bites of veggie or a strawberry.

By dinner, I can usually eat 1 to 1-1/2 cups of food, BUT I try not to. I try to eat about 3/4 cup of balanced protein, veggie and carb. I can eat more but I eat slowly, savor the food and stop when my plate is empty.

Since I am a night person, I find myself getting hungry around 10:00pm. I allow myself a snack....something like 1/2 Protein Bar, sf fudgsicle, sf pudding cup, or a few nuts. It seems to satisfy my hunger and keeps me emotionally satisfied with a little "reward."

I think the key is to find a few healthy food choices that you can tolerate earlier in the day so you are not starving by evening. Talk to your doctor about the difficulty you're having and he will surely have some advice. Like everybody else on this board has said....sometimes the slightest unfill or fill can make the difference between suffering and success.

Good Luck.

Edited May 24, 200917 yr by Mim

Definitely an unfill, what you are doing is counterproductive in that it doesnt set you up for healthy chocies.

I find that like most bandsters, I really dont feel like eating in the morning and can easily go to lunchtime without Breakfast. But to eat a good breakfast really makes a difference to how well and how much I eat the rest of the day. It prevents the afternoon munchies.

Personally, my appetite has ALWAYS shut down at about 5 pm band or no band. I've never ever had a night time eating issue, I know its very common, and I have a son who does this - literally doesnt eat ALL day at school and then eats solidly from 4pm to bed.

You know, I personally believe its crap that you'll get fatter if you eat those calories at night v in the morning, your body uses and stores continuously throughout a 24 hour period so when you store it up as fat at night, you'll burn it up when you dont eat the following day.

But you'd FEEL so much better, eat so much more senisbly and have so much more energy if you ate regularly, so I'd unfill.

i wake up HUNGRY, which i think is a good thing - considering that when i was fat, my first meal was around 1-2pm minus my huge latte.

i have been getting up around 4-5am to give an insulin shot to my golden retriever. while not ready for a meal, i have been grabbing an atkins Protein shake, or making my own......deal w/the dogs & ranch....then have some kind of breakfast around 10am before hitting the gym.

my husband is also banded - can't eat a lick till after 3pm; he's a night owl....me not so much. i'm good not to eat after my diner....but he packs in 85% of his meals from afternoon on. it' hasn't impacted his weightloss, or made mine any more effective.......

if however your not able to eat till later in the day, and still hit bed early; the advice given is correct.....an unfill is suggested.

Thanks for the feedback. I guess the thing I didn't mention is that no matter whether I just had a fill or if I do not have much restriction I still experience this problem. But I definitively have been making poor food choices. I will call my dr Tuesday about an unfill and I'll try and stop playing games with what I am eating.

Ditto Mim. I can't eat anything in the morning. For some reason I get inflammation during the night. dr says it may be irritation from my apnea, which is expected to improve as I lose weight. Whatever the cause, I have a cup of coffee or hot tea about an hour after I get up in the morning. 30 minutes or so after that I can eat.