You dont need to "understand it" if you are doing fine with your own diet. As for myself and others we are not purposely trying to sabatoge our bands. I'm a week out now and approved for full liquids and mushies. According to some lap band doctors you only need to be on clear liquids for one day after you've left the hospital. So it's not that you cant eat full liquids in mushies you just have to be careful not to over do it. And yes, listening to your body IS important. Not everyone here is in their situation because of band choices they've made and it's not entirely their fault for being over weight. So if you say something like "hasn't following your own advice up to this point caused you harm?", you may be only talking about yourself and not everyone else since you only know YOUR experiences and YOUR choices. It's been our advice and our choices thats gotten us to realize we need help and to get the band. It's our band-less mind that will continue to help us make the right choices. Whats right for you is not whats always right for others. So whether or not you "understand it" now, thats the explaination.