I am trying to change my habits before any cuts are made. Although I am not banded yet, I have been "practicing". I made it one week on only Atkins shakes morning, noon, and night. So I know I can do the pre-op diet. Now I am trying the Protein first thing but want to make sure I am doing this right.

I wake up and eat Breakfast. Don't drink for an hour or so. Then I drink my Water (although I don't know if I am sipping). About 30 minutes before lunch I stop drinking. Eat protein first, veggies second, and my low carb items last. Then 30-45 minutes after I eat I start drinking water again. That is super hard. Although my portions are tons bigger than they will be with the band... am I doing it right?

Also, you are supposed to drink 64 oz of water a day. How can you do that sipping all day long? Or does the sip thing go away post op? I currently drink 3 bottles of water a day at work. Will that still be possible?

Ok. I made it a week on liquids, and could only make it a day and a half before I attacked a bowl of chili with a pepsi on the side. This worries me because I am so hungry that I have no patience to chew chew chew, sip sip sip.

Will the band REALLY help that much that I will make it more than a day and a half? Or will I want to attack things?

Maybe I am not doing this right...

I've been eating whatever I like whenever I'm hungry but taking a very small portion and doing the chew chew chew thing for about 3 months now. It has made such a HUGE difference. No more heartburn and I'm eating probably 2/3 as much as I was when I used to inhale my food. I'm satisfied after a very small portion but of course without the band am hungry again much more quickly so am eating six or seven times a day, lol. But I think not inhaling your food at the speed of light is probably the biggest behaviour to break and even without the band will make a big big difference to how much you eat.

Simply stopping to take the time and enjoy food is amazingly hard to do. So many things I find are just not satifiying if I cant cram them in my mouth in huge quanities. So much so that if I think "I'm going to chew chew chew" I just cant be bothered eating it. Other things that you think taste good are really horrible when chewed and really tasted. Rich foods for example, like cheesecake. You simply cannot eat as much of it if you eat it very slowly because the flavour becomes overwhelming. When you shove it in you hardly taste it but get a huge sugar hit which of course is what's so good about it.