Hi all

I know it's a personal question but I am a little lost, My Dr sent me home with a list of post op foods and general instructions but no real structure. It was an out of state thing, for financial reasons. I was banded on 08/05/09. I lost about 12lbs almost imiedatly. then I tried the mushy foods, all went well, now I can eat what ever I want. And no weight loss for a week and a half. I try to eat slow and stop when full. I was also wondering about eating and drinking at the same time, I find it hard to not have a glass of Water or tea with food.

I know I need to exercize some self controll, and exercize in general. I try to eat my protien first, I get wierd headaches if I don't take my vitimin and eat my protien, but I wonder if I am eating too much. My eating goes something like breakfast; one egg, or yogart or a couple of pices wheet toast, Lunch: Soup or chicken salad no bread lettuce scoops,Dinner; half of a small chicken breast then a few bites of veg. for snack; soup or yougert, or cheese grits. Ok that looks like a lot. May be Its because I havn't been filled yet, that happens on 9/19.

Any advice would be great, I feel a little lost, and like I'm just trying to figure out whats what. Oh and if you guys have recipies to share thats cool too.

Hey, congrats on your banding!

I was banded a while ago, but I do remember being very hungry when I started my mushies. Once your swelling goes down, you don't notice the band. My doctor even warned me that a lot of people ask "are you sure there's even a band?" You will feel no restriction until your first fill. It's just like it was before the surgery. That's totally fine and normal.

Keep eating slowly and chewing well (if nothing else, it'll be practice for when you get a fill). Eat when you're hungry, a few small meals a day.

I'll admit, the one thing I still have a problem with is that I always want water while I'm eating! That's the one thing that really bugs me. Every now and again I'll take a sip during a meal if I really need to (sometimes I really need to!)

Sounds like you're getting your proteins in and everything though, so that's great. I'd recommend getting protein in other places too, when you're ready to try it. For example, instead of wheat toast - I like eating Akmak crackers (it's a brand - they're sesame crackers) with my eggs, or in general when I want a crackery starch. They also have protein in them. I also love Greek yogurt (I add some vanilla protein powder and berries to mine because otherwise it tastes like sour cream). I'd recommend Greek yogurt over regular yogurt, if you haven't tried it, because it's thicker and will help keep you full longer.

As for exercise and self control--- I say try one thing at a time. Yes, exercise is important, but only do what you can for the moment. I know personally it's easier to tackle one life change at a time - so I got my eating habits down, then I started an exercise program. I hate going to the gym so I play tennis and softball, and sometimes I walk. I just recently started going to a trainer to help me lift weights because I've lost enough weight that I want to start firming up. Don't be hard on yourself. This is a huge step for you, and you're already on your way! It's a life change, not an overnight one, so just go at your own pace.

You're doing great, keep it up! I'm happy to answer any questions you can, hopefully you found these answers helpful!

Doesnt look like a lot to me, I think you're doing fine.

I lost easily and well on about 1500 calories a day and I maintain on about 1800 so my daily list would look HUGE to most people. But I firmly believe that a) I was a bit lucky, with the amount I ate, to only get to a BMI of 35, I must have a pretty good metabolism, and because I eat well, varied and enough and I run daily, I have kept my body's furnace going rather than slowing down and have absolutely no need to exist on puny amounts like 800 calories a day.

People have said to me, oh, you eat almost normally (I eat like a normal person with a smallish appetite) why do you need a band. The band keeps me from wanting to eat 3000 calories a day, which is about where I was at - AND that was mainly healthy food, so you can imagine what sort of volume it was. My dinner plate used to be a large sized plate piled high.

I too was banded on Aug.5th. I'm still on mushy food. In a few days I will be on solids. Last week for the first time I had not felt any restriction. After reading the posts on here I was reassured. I had thought maybe I over stretched my pouch or the band had slipped, but according to the more experienced banders, I am able to eat more, due to the lack of swelling from the surgery.

I go in for my first fill on Sept 17th and can't wait! Thank goodness I am still loosing weight. Although, not at the same rate as before. It's only 2 lbs this week. I have also been exercising five days a week too.

Thank you every one, I feel better now. Reading this and other threads has been so helpfull. I realy can't just drive over and see my Dr any time I want, I guess I can phone if it gets serious, but I know things are moving in the right direction. I just get a little overly concerned. I need this to work so badly, not only because of the price, but it's time to reclaim my life, I have a lot to do that health issues related to being to heavy won't help.