Let me start by saying I love my band and the results. At 3 days shy of being 1 month post-op, I think my band and I have now become "one". I no longer "feel" it or feel concisious of it.

I've won the mental battle and it's been great. I feel great. I constantly find myself looking at food going "Wow that's too much." so portion control isn't really an issue.

I have found though that I need to stick with what works for me. My church has been on a spiritual fast of fruits and veggies. I felt like I was actually gaining weight, and started to see some weight come back in my face. I believe this was because I wasn't getting enough calories to burn or protein. So while I'm still sticking to the fast as much as possible, I've realized that I REALLY need to do what's right for me.

If that means 3 days fasting, 2 days eating, or whatever it is I need to do to complete it I will.

Also now that I'm back on a full schedule of traveling with my clients I've realized how difficult it can be to constantly eat out and stay not only on the fast, but within band friendly foods.

I was working and traveling with clients from Monday straight through til the following Monday. That was ALOT of eating out. ALOT of Cheesecake Factory, Houston's, Bing Crosby's etc.. Lots and lots of lil' eateries between AZ, Cali and everywhere else we went.

I managed to do well at all of them, and oddly enough, nobody ever noticed or mentioned that I never finished a meal and always had left overs.

Since I was eating salad mostly, it was easy to explain not taking them back with me. But some foods not so easy, people look at you crazy like "why aren't you eating that?!?!!??!" Or why are you skipping dessert..etc...

Or my personal favorite because I used to think the same way... "How do you come to the cheesecake factory and NOT get cheesecake?!??!?!?" lol funny how your outlook and priorities change.

In other news: I am READY for my fill on Monday. I don't think I need much of one, as I'm still full off small amounts but I ate bread last night, no problem. I had my initial "full feeling" after eating... waited a lil' while and the bread and butter was CALLING me. Hot crispy on the outside, soft on the inside sourdough and soft butter... I slowly and carefully ate 3 small slices over the course of about an hour (i was at home) but after eating an hour before hand, that's not something I should have been able to do.. so I would definitely say it's time for a fill, and for me, it's coming right on schedule!

Other than that I'm off to verizon for a new phone, since I managed to break mine in half.. then I'll be back to catch up on the blogs. Looks like some of you have been BUSY while I was away.

Great job on the eating out...that would have been tough to do! I've got great restriction, but I could easily eat 3 small slices of bread between meals. Sometimes it's not how much you can eat, but rather if you were actually hungry between meals that determines a fill...or was it just that devil head hunger calling you? Good job on the week of meals out! -BG

Really? That's good to know about the bread, because I was becoming a bit concerned. I have NO problem eating different types of food and I haven't experienced any sliming or PB'ing, since my 1 week post-op McMuffin getting stuck issue; which was COMPLETELY my fault. But other than that I can eat anything set in front of me, just MUCH smaller portions. As for the bread last night, No I wasn't hungry, it was completely head hunger because I knew the girl put the bread in the bag, even though I said I didn't want it, and I knew it was in the kitchen and still hot.

I'm also a hormonal eater, so for example this past monday I wanted french fries and a cheeseburger. Which I ate. Well mostly.. I ate a small fry, then just the patties and cheese of the burger. But I later (2 or more hours later) ate the bun (I was alone in a car driving from state to state) instead of stopping to get something else.

I know why I was craving the red meat, I do it every month about two weeks before I get my period; and being an O- blood type, my body naturally craves red meat.

It seems I can eat more at different times of the day for example on the same monday, I ate an orange and 1/2 of an apple and it was WAYYYYYYY too much. But a few hours later I was able to eat the fries and burger patties.

I'm still getting the hang of this thing but I'm SO glad to say that I can eat regular food with no issue, I'm healing nicely and my scars are almost non-existent!

i love the shrimp scampi i never go for the cheese cake even now..but it gonna be hard to give up the scampi..i can't wait to make the change!!

hi.. since my surgery i have not eaten bread. i could probably do it...but i am already having to much touble staying away from my munchies( crackers, corn chips..) i can live with out the sweets but never without the salty/spicy food!

my biggest probles is cooking for my family and rice.. this is a staple in my house and i just find it very hard to just have a spoonfull of it. because of it i have had to episoded where it got stuck...luckily is did not last long.

Good for you that you can go out to eat and reframe from pigging out!

I have my 2nd fill next week. I hope with this i will feel full faster and for longer.

Great job on the eating out and keeping it under control! I never get cheesecake at the cheesecake factory anymore ever since I looked up the nutritional info one time. Its like eating two Big Macs or something horrendous like that. I would love just ONE bite of the white chocolate macadamia nut cheesecake, but they don't sell it in one bite servings. LOL

BTW, I get my first fill on Friday. So excited and a little nervous at the same time!