I know I have seen this post before but I can't find it doing a search.

Last night I choked on a small piece of chicken skin but a snack size Snickers went down like it was water.

I won't even touch milkshakes and stay clear of my favorite Wendy's frozen chocolate desserts.

I have a cold and am afraid that the Dr won't give me my fill tomorrow even though I am eating like a pig.

I ate almost a full 16 oz bag of Trader Joe's Salsa Tortilla Chips tonight while reading my favorite message boards.

It is a struggle every day to not gain back the 30 lbs I lost prior to surgery. I am not happy with this band and this starving feeling makes it worse. I was less hungry before I had the surgery and even though I was overweight I never ate the amount I am eating now.

You are eating slider foods - candy- and chips and not Protein. If you can't eat protein you are too tight - and then you end up eating the junk. The protein will fill you up more than the junk food would as it goes right through.

How many cc's are you at? A sign of being too tight is eating too much slider foods because you can't eat protein - unless its all behavioral in which case the band won't help you solve that.

Sounds like you simply need a fill. If you're hungry, can't stay full, can eat way more than your alloted ounces... you need a fill.

Candy is notoriously slider like in nature. Especially chocolate. It slips right through.

Keep trying to get in as much Protein as you can and go very very slowly! Try to follow the basic rules when you're stuggling. They can feel like a life ring during that horrible week right before a blessed fill.

I have the same problem. I can eat chocolate like there's no tomorrow but try to swallow meat is like trying to blow bubbles out my butt. Thinking I should become a vegetarian. Don't tell me I need a fill or that I'm to tight because neither is true.And my meat is always pea-sized, chew, chew, chew.. I also don't eat breakfast because I'm tight in the am so it's not till noon or later till I can get real food down..

I think it is so strange how many of us can have the same band and have such different experiences. I am not sure how much I can eat, because I am always so cautious to eat too much. I have had some instances where I had to spit up chicken because it was too dry, and other times I have no trouble. I have not had any real sweets since my surgery two months ago until yesterday. I had a small mini cupcake at our class Halloween party and I thought I was going to die. I ate it at about 1:45, and I didn't start feeling better until about 6:30. Maybe it is all in my head, but I can't even stand sweets right now. I have been eating some carbs ( a no-no for my doctor), but I try to have very little and make my choices carefully. One day my weight will go up a pound or stay the same, and then a few days later it will go down two pounds. Really weird, huh? I go for my first fill today, and I hope he will give me a fill. I have lost about twenty pounds since I saw him five weeks ago, and he may not give me my first fill. I stay hungry all the time, but I have really tried to not eat unless it was meal time. We can do this, guys. Even if we all get discouraged some days, we can do this!:thumbdown:

I guess my question would be, why are you eating a snickers at all this soon after your surgery date? Not to mention chips. You are sabotaging yourself and will continue to struggle to keep the weight off if you continue with the same habits you had before the band.

It's true, as others have said, Mickey, that those foods are sliders. They have a consistency that slips right through the band, especially when you have little restriction - although, sadly, those foods almost always go down easier. Chances are, the chicken skin stuck like one of those clingy stickers rather than being too dense to go through your stoma.

Two things will help you, I think. The first is getting to a fill level that you get good satiety (without choking) on good solid meals. One stuck incident isn't an indication that you're too restricted. There's a bit of learning that goes with the band. Secondly, keep those slider junk foods out of your house, at least for now.

I'm a little over a year out of surgery, and I've had my pitfalls. My worse was this summer when we took my son and a few of his friends on a trip, and TWO families sent brownies. Of all junk food, that's my cat nip. While the teenagers ate a brownie here and there, I kept cutting pieces off until we had two pans of brownie bites..lol (smaller pieces = fewer calories).

When you find yourself hungry, have nutritious Snacks at your fingertips. Those terrible cravings do subside (probably not 100%) over time. chips, snickers, and your other triggers, shouldn't be in your house. If you want an occasional Frosty (for instance), and it won't trigger a binge, have a small one or split one with somebody. Of course, you may be different, but for me, it helps to know I can have an occasional "treat", but the more time I put between eating junk foods, the less I tend to even think of them.

Make it an effort to get your hands on high white carb/high calorie/non nutritious foods. Also, keep some good alternative foods around for those times you want something "decadent". Fat free hot chocolate, FF chocolate pudding, SF chocolate Protein shakes, etc (obviously, my biggest trigger is chocolate lol). A great crunch food for me is Khashi or Fiber One Cereal.

Good luck, and I hope you can get a fill today, and that your cold is better. I'm sure there's a few that have never fallen off the band wagon, but I bet it's in the minority.

Edited October 29, 200916 yr by kiz

I can't add to what everyone has said except to say that you can't do this to yourself. You have worked too hard to get to a surgery date, had the surgery, and are now on a life's journey to better health & weight loss. Be kinder to your self! Don't give up. Rethink what you're eating and the "whys" of what you're eating. Don't you realize that a snickers & chicken skin isn't worth it? Now start again and be strong!

I'm totally the same way - I don't even like to at meat now because it makes me feel so uncomfortable. But, to eat ice cream and chocolate (which I never craved in the past) but I guess due to lack of bread (that has sugar) and lack of just eating real food in general I turn some to the chocolate and ice cream just to get satisfied. I don't do it much..but, definitely a lot more than I did prior to my surgery.

So, what I do now... for this past month is make alot of meats in Soups and shred it or cut it really really small with scissors.... almost to the point it melts in the pot. They don't want me doing soups but i'm sorry i'm gonna get my Protein one way or another and this is the only way that I can and feel comfortable doing it. Also, I cook lean ground beef and get it so fine while i'm cooking it I mash it with a fork over and over until it is so fine.... there are tricks to it.... I have learned!!!

You have been given some excellent advice. Sometimes you need to rely on good old "will power".

I suggest you go through your refrigerator, freezer and your cupboards immediately and get rid of all the bad foods that you should not be eating. Give them to a neighbor or donate to the homeless shelter but DO NOT KEEP THEM IN YOUR HOUSE.

If you focus on your Protein then you should not be hungry. Cut up all your meat before eating it into tiny fingernail size pieces. Concentrate on chewing each piece until it is a paste consistency in your mouth before swallowing. If you do this you will be able to eat any meat.

If you are hungry (real hunger not head hunger) between meals then you most likely need a fill.

Don't give up. Just start again and do what you know you are suppose to be doing.

YOU CAN DO THIS!