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The most likely answer is that you won't be wanting to eat those things very much any way. And we do go through phases even after "solid food". Mostly those are crap items that really are horrid nutritionally, and led to most of us being long term members of the Tribe of the Morbidly Obese. Emotionally we all fear giving up what we perceive as comforts of what we are used to doing. I can eat all/any of those things....but far more often just am not interested. Pasta used to be one of my main staples. Now spaghetti once every month or 2; maybe a bit of pasta salad now & then. It really isn't that appealing a food group once you examine your own palette. And our tastes DO change. pizza, that all time favorite I would eat 3 times a day preOp, now maybe A piece a few times a month. That's plenty. chips? Mostly another compulsive eating and binge item. Couldn't really care less for them now, but might have a few with some Beans & rice at a Mexican restaurant....if I can find some good chips. Never buy them by the bag or have them at home. No sense of loss. chocolate is a fantasy I've never really cared for anyway. Yes I can eat it, and do, maybe 1 or 2 times a month. And not much at that. Gave up brownies etc as they are universally too sweet for me. If you are like other Bandsters, you are going to be too busy being active in your new life to waste much time on Bad Old Eating Habits. I've learned to appreciate salads, Soups, and small portions of hard Protein far in preference. Cheers on your journey

This afternoon my fiance went to a christening for his cousin's daughter. We took some pictures and after looking at them later on I thought to myself "Hey, I don't look half bad!" It's amazing I actually let myself have my picture taken in the first place because normally I hide from the camera at all costs. Definitely an NSV for me!

Thank you for sharing your journey with us. It's good to find people who are willing to talk about the good, the bad, and the ugly. We need to hear all of it....do you have any idea what caused your plateau in the first place? I can see that making me so discouraged that I'd stop trusting the process after awhile, and going back to my bad old habits. I'm a newbie...I am just starting the process and reading all I can so I can learn all that I can. I know it's difficult to not be able to eat the things you want, like sweets and breads, etc...and I wonder if we learn coping mechanisms to fall back on when things aren't going right and we're stressed and craving the bad stuff, and falling off the proverbial wagon. Do you think you were properly prepared for the drastic change in lifestyle when you had your surgery? What kind of counseling and nutrition assistance did you receive before your surgery? Is there counselling support post-op if you need it?

I have *some* restriction, but I already have an appt to go in on June 2nd for another fill. I have PB'd, in fact I don't think a day has gone by that I haven't PB'd in some fashion - usually because I don't chew enough and I eat too fast. That's been a lifelong habit that is so freaking hard for me to break. Usually what makes me PB is either bread, Pasta or meat. Hamburgers in any form are completely out of the question now, I have to only eat the meat in small bites and throw the bun away. Which, considering I am a major carbaholic and bread was my downfall all these years, it's a good thing that I can only eat small bites of toast or it comes up! I have to consciously pay attention every time I take a bite of something, and sometimes I am distracted. I've stopped eating in front of the TV because that's a trigger for me to just mindlessly stuff my face, but I was also used to drinking a lot of whatever was in my glass while I ate, and now I try not to do that so I'm not washing everything through and not feeling satisfied. So things get stuck. Rarely is it more than once, and I find that after doing it I'm usually done with the meal, not because I'm in pain but it's like everything in the pouch moves and hits that "I'm full" button. Good news is that I've never had anything really stuck and I've never not been able to get it out of me within 30 seconds of feeling stuck. The weight loss is driving me crazy. One day I'm up 4 lbs, three days later I'm down 6 lbs - I'm just glad that I'm losing, albeit very very slowly. But my goal is to lose 10 lbs a month, and so far I'm still ahead since my surgery date. Since my fill two weeks ago I've noticed my portions at meals are slowly getting a little bit bigger, and I'm trying to keep on track with how much I put on my plate. I still use a salad plate instead of a dinner plate and I'm tracking my food on Fitday.com. I do cheat now and then, but nothing on the scale of what I used to be able to do. Lately my port area has been very tender, and my stomach dimples/creases where I have the scar from the surgery and it really bothers me to see that. Surgeon said that won't go away till I lose weight - but dang it's ugly. I actually have to be careful about wearing a clingy shirt that will outline that area because it would be noticable. Well, have a great Sunday all - I'm going downstairs to do my 15 minutes on the treadmill. I'm working my way to 30 and slowly gaining stamina, maybe today I can do 20!

Hi David Thanks so much for your detailed description of your first 8 months post op. I am in to be banded this TH. Your ticker is exactly like the one I picked!! Haha! I hope to ask you many things as a resource after the banding.. Am grateful for your feedback and experiences. Mike

That is so excellent!!! You must feel so great! Be proud of yourself. I also started at 18/20 and my goal is to be back to a size 8, what I was when I got married! Can I ask how long it's taken you to get to this size??

Jen, unjury (www.unjury.com) makes a Protein Drink that is chicken soup flavored. It's really pretty good. Can only get Unjury online.

My story is a little different, but yet similar in that I too have PCOS and I had the Lap Band done. My surgery was on October 26, 2009 and I have lost 75 lbs. so far (currently at 185). My whole reason for getting the surgery was to lose the weight so that I could have children. My husband and I only waited 6 months before we started trying and unfortunately we were not successful on our own. We tried for 6 months before seeing my OBGYN. She put me on Clomid, a fertility medicine to try to get me to ovulate, since I wasn't doing that on my own, due to the PCOS. And we all know that without ovulation, pregnancy is impossible! So, we tried the medicine for 2 months with no luck, so my OBGYN sent me to a fertility specialist. We waited a month before going, so this brings us to our 10th month of TTC. The Dr. had us take a whole bunch of tests and take a different medication that was also supposed to help with ovulation. This time the medication worked and I not only ovulated for the first time, but also conceived! I just found out 3 days ago that I'm pregnant! I know that I still needed the help of the medication to make this work, but I whole heartedly believe that it would have been near impossible without the surgery. There have been times that I've thought to myself that the surgery was a waist since it wasn't helping me to get pregnant at all, let alone with the medication, but when I look back on it, I never should have started trying so early after my surgery. I hadn't lost all the weight that I should have, and if I would have waited longer, it's possible that my ovulation could have come back on it's own. Either way, I'm still so very blessed to even say that I'm going to have a baby when it seemed so far away and almost impossible to achieve, Praise God!

I cant tell you how much the lap band has changed my life!