rumar

Great!! Thanks for your responses. I couldn't imagine giving that up as I loved Spicy foods!!!

I've not had my 1st fill yet (going tomorrow--yippee) but I've not had beef or pork since being banded and just in the last 2 weeks settled on baked fish. It's easy to un-thaw and quick to bake. It's not that I hate beef/pork but I just made a conscious decision to eat mainly fish, turkey and chicken but primarily vegetables. You should try black beans.............they are my favorite and full of protein and other good stuff. I eat it at least 4 times a week. The funny thing is before being banded, I loved Pinto , Blackeye and Crowder peas but after pureeing them one day I gagged and just don't want them anymore. I also eat a lot of green beans, turnip and collard greens............yummy!!!

I have never had any problems with constipation. As a matter of fact, most days it's 2 or 3 times (I'm up now at 4 a.m. EST because of going 3-4 times already---Geez i hope this translate to more weight loss). Anyway I do try to get in the protein but I focus more so on veggies.............I eat a lot of black beans, green beans and turnips/collards. I rarely eat carbs with my meals with the exception of grits for breakfast. I do snack sometimes on those baked potato chips as long as I stay in the 1000-1200 caloric count. I also eat either apples, peaches, pears, watermelon, banana and strawberries for snacks. I drink anywhere from 60-80 ozs of water daily. I don't get my 1st fill until tomorrow so I'll see how it goes afterwards. I've lost about 30 lbs and walk 5 days or more a week.

I can't say for sure but it just gradually went away. But I will warn you, you will have more gas than normal post banding as I do now at 7 weeks post op. That's because I am eating healthier and more fibrous foods with tons of water. Make sure you walk. That helped more than anything. Also try the Gas-X strips. It's 4 a.m. EST and I am up due to guess what? GAS and several Bathroom trips. My intestines seemed to be doing somersaults!!!! I do hope you feel better soon.

Cookielover, What you are feeling is normal and it will subside. With each passing day you will feel better and better. You probably have a lot of gas and you will need to walk even if you are creeping slowly. Gas will make you feel as if you are having a heart attack. Also you may want to try the Gas X strips that disolve on your tongue. I am 6 weeks post op today. There are times even now my stomach will make weird noises (like today as I ate peaches for the 1st time since being banded). Hang in there. It will get better......it may not seem that way now as you're in a bit of discomfort but it will pass.

I get my 1st fill 10/12. I was banded 08/23. I'm praying all goes well and I too am interested in how brandottie01 is doing. I am praying for her as well as the rest of us bandsters.

One more thing.....I don't have a lot of restriction either and can eat anything if I wanted to. With th exception of Sundays I take in about 1000 calories a day. I am walking now about 2 miles (fast pace) daily. I'm just trying to do the best I can to overcome head hunger and bad eating habits, especially white carbs.

Hello August Bandsters! I finally got a date for my 1st fill, Oct. 12 (8 days before my birthday). The scales have been fluctuating lately to the point where I really have stopped getting on them except once a week. I'm going to make my weigh in day Friday since I'll be able to measure the next phase of weight loss from my fill date. As far as eating, I'm doing pretty good but find my weakness during the evenings when I come home from work. This week I've started preparing my food way ahead of time (enough for 3 days). That way I won't be starving when I get home and start munching. I've been mainly eating a lot of baked fish especially this week. For Breakfast, I normally have a pk of instant cheese grits and 1 egg scrambled. lunch is normally a meat and a vegetable, dinner is a meat and vegetable (and sometimes a carb like potatoes). For Snacks I have yogurt or fruit. I am very afraid to try beef or pork even though I will be 6 weeks out this Thursday. Plus I figured fish, chicken and turkey should be my main source of meat/protein. I am still doing 1 Protein Shake a day which gives me 28 grams of Protein. This supplements my meals and gets me up to the 72 grams my dietician is recommending at this stage. I'm very excited about my fill even though I'm a bit nervous as well. However I did find out it will be done under fluro. I'm still trying to meat my goal of 30 lb loss by my birthday and think I can do it. I have about 5-6 pounds to go in 3 weeks. Good luck and God bless you all!!

Much love to you Pmmegm!!! You're doing great and I think we both can meet our goals. I forgot to mention I'm going Saturday to join a 24 hour gym as my doctor also suggested along with walking to do full body weight resistance training.

Alex10, I'm not a Dr. but that sounds either like your gallbladder or you may have Acid Reflux. Missy, I am 5 weeks post op today and to be honest I've had all kinds of funny feelings here and there on the left and right side and even my bottom . They come and go and my doctor said yesterday that is normal healing sensations.

I had been suffering from swollen feet for about 6 years pre-banding (one doctor finally told me it was because of my weight). I was taking diuretics and it did the trick for a while but then about 6 months prior to banding it just stopped working. No matter what I did, decrease salt intake, increase water, they still would swell. Well, I am 4 wks post-op and according to my diet tracker I am taking in only 1/4 of the recommended daily sodium so why are my feet still swelling? I'm drinking sometimes well over the 8 glasses of water, I walk about a mile 4 Xs weekly. I've lost 25 lbs. Has anyone else had this problem before banding and if so how much weight did you lose before it stopped swelling? I'm currently not taking any meds , not even Tylenol.

I went for my post op today to see how I am doing and to possibly schedule a fill. I've lost 23 lbs but as you all stated, that was primarily on the liquid phase. I've lost 2 lbs since being on Pureed despite taking in around 1000 calories daily. With that said and with the ferocious return of hunger, my Dr. said I am ready for my 1st fill. The nurse will call me to let me know when. I'm still pushing to lose 8 lbs by 10/20 for a total of 30, then 40 by Thanksgiving and 50 by Christmas. I wish everyone continued success and God bless us all!

This by far has been the worse day as far as eating for me. I fell way off the wagon. I am almost 5 weeks post op and suppose to still be on mushies at least until my next post-op appt which is Wednesday. Today we go to O'Charley's for my husband's birthday. I'm thinking soup and baked potato, right? How about I ate the entire bowl of baked potato soup, ordered a meal with Chipolte baked Salmon and a baked potato. So I eat 1/3 of the Salmon and half of the baked potato and think to myself, Geez why did I just stuff my self like that (honestly I wasn't really full and could have eaten more). I got home and had no really bad sensations from eating too much other than a little cramping and pinching in my stomach. So I reason with myself and say, ok, I'm not eating anything else the rest of the day other than drinking my water and maybe a applesauce. Well, I go to the store and this 3 oz bag of Chili Cheese Corn Chips start calling my name. These are my absolute favorite. I get them and say only 1 or 2 as I've never eaten anything crunchy or cheated like this since 08/20 (and I thought it only took 21 days to make a habit). I just downed the entire bag of chips and praying that I won't be miserable or that it does any harm. I've not had any fills yet and wasn't suppose to come off of mushies until Wednesday. I am so mad at myself. What is wrong with me? Geez!!! I know I am on pure will power at this point but I've been so careful. I know it does happen, we all fall from time to time but OMG, help me Lord!!!!

Thank you all for your words of encouragement. I went to the Dr. today and he said the strong since of hunger was expected as the swelling in my band has subsided and there is no restriction. And since I've only lost 2 lbs in the last 2 weeks on Pureed (despite only taking in around 1000 calaries with the exception of Sunday, of course) that it is time for a fill. I love this Dr. Steinberg as he was so reassuring and patient explaining to me it will get easier once I get my 1st fill. I know it will be days where I will fall but thank God for you all. This forum has meant so much to me. I wished I had more time to read and respond to all of the wonderful posts. The nurse is going to call me to let me know when my 1st fill is. Until then I will do just as you all said and that is to take one day at a time.

I went to the doctor today. I'll be 5 weeks post-op tomorrow. This past weekend it felt like someone turned on a hunger knob in my stomach as I started to become so hungry. I still stayed around intake of 1000 calories with the exception of Sunday. With that said since being in the Pureed stage the last 2 weeks I've only lost 2 lbs. I lost 21 lbs in 3 weeks on the liquid stage. My doctor said my returning hunger was expected and that means I am ready for a fill. So they will be calling me to tell me when. Again, from reading posts all doctors are different.

I have been so busy that I find it hard to post in my Journal on a regular basics so I'll just post when I can. Today was not a good day for me. I ate entirely too much as I am only 5 weeks post op and no fill yet. This is what I posted on the Food Forum: This by far has been the worse day as far as eating for me. I fell way off the wagon. I am almost 5 weeks post op and suppose to still be on mushies at least until my next post-op appt which is Wednesday. Today we go to O'Charley's for my husband's birthday. I'm thinking soup and baked potato, right? How about I ate the entire bowl of baked potato soup, ordered a meal with Chipolte baked Salmon and a baked potato. So I eat 1/3 of the Salmon and half of the baked potato and think to myself, Geez why did I just stuff my self like that (honestly I wasn't really full and could have eaten more). I got home and had no really bad sensations from eating too much other than a little cramping and pinching in my stomach. So I reason with myself and say, ok, I'm not eating anything else the rest of the day other than drinking my water and maybe a applesauce. Well, I go to the store and this 3 oz bag of Chili Cheese Corn Chips start calling my name. These are my absolute favorite. I get them and say only 1 or 2 as I've never eaten anything crunchy or cheated like this since 08/20 (and I thought it only took 21 days to make a habit). I just downed the entire bag of chips and praying that I won't be miserable or that it does any harm. I've not had any fills yet and wasn't suppose to come off of mushies until Wednesday. I am so mad at myself. What is wrong with me? Geez!!! I know I am on pure will power at this point but I've been so careful. I know it does happen, we all fall from time to time but OMG, help me Lord!!!! __________________ Take it from me everyone, DONT DO IT. BE STRONG!!! The guilt is by far worse than the pleasure!!

I have been so busy that I find it hard to post in my Journal on a regular basics so I'll just post when I can. Today was not a good day for me. I ate entirely too much as I am only 5 weeks post op and no fill yet. This is what I posted on the Food Forum: This by far has been the worse day as far as eating for me. I fell way off the wagon. I am almost 5 weeks post op and suppose to still be on mushies at least until my next post-op appt which is Wednesday. Today we go to O'Charley's for my husband's birthday. I'm thinking soup and baked potato, right? How about I ate the entire bowl of baked potato soup, ordered a meal with Chipolte baked Salmon and a baked potato. So I eat 1/3 of the Salmon and half of the baked potato and think to myself, Geez why did I just stuff my self like that (honestly I wasn't really full and could have eaten more). I got home and had no really bad sensations from eating too much other than a little cramping and pinching in my stomach. So I reason with myself and say, ok, I'm not eating anything else the rest of the day other than drinking my water and maybe a applesauce. Well, I go to the store and this 3 oz bag of Chili Cheese Corn Chips start calling my name. These are my absolute favorite. I get them and say only 1 or 2 as I've never eaten anything crunchy or cheated like this since 08/20 (and I thought it only took 21 days to make a habit). I just downed the entire bag of chips and praying that I won't be miserable or that it does any harm. I've not had any fills yet and wasn't suppose to come off of mushies until Wednesday. I am so mad at myself. What is wrong with me? Geez!!! I know I am on pure will power at this point but I've been so careful. I know it does happen, we all fall from time to time but OMG, help me Lord!!!! __________________ Take it from me everyone, DONT DO IT. BE STRONG!!! The guilt is by far worse than the pleasure!!

50% is head hunger. Once you get past 1 week, it will get better. Hand in there. You can do it, just look at the long term (and I am telling myself that constantly too).

I just posted how I fell off the bandwagon today and hope I did not do any harm eating a full bag of corn chips. I was banded 08/23 and am to go to solids Wednesday. But I think you didn't do any harm doing it 1 day sooner plus you were very good in restraining yourself unlike me today. I went to O'Charleys for my DH birthdate............ did not good and worried about how my stomach is going to react to the chips which is bread. It's been about 20 minutes and so far, so good. I do wish you the best though!!

Today I am 4 weeks, 2 days post-op. For about 2 weeks it ached under and around the incision but then disappeared. When I awakened today my right side under my port was hurting. It is tender to the touch and like you I am a bit concerned. It also aches about 4 inches below in incision. I'm hoping this is just normal healing sensations just as KarenG stated but it has thrown me off a bit. That along with my right eye hurting and running makes for a close to bed day. I've been lying down mostly and only eating just because I need to (still on mushie stage). Maybe someone can shed some light on this too? I favor my right side as I sleep and am really trying to break that habit. Could this have something to do with it? I'm interested on any comments.

pmmeqmp, I know you are looking forward to your 1st fill and it's good to know you are doing well with the head hunger. I will admit that I have been stepping on the scale everyday and since I started pureed have not lost anything. I thought this to be strange as I am only consuming about 900 calories a day. I'm not sure how it works but according to my daily diet tracker to maintain my goal weight, I need to consume 2000 calories per day. A pound equals 2500 cal so I should still see at least 2-3 pounds per week. Not to mention maintaining the heavy weight I was consuming 3000-3500 calorie per day which means now I've reduced it by 75%. Shouldn't I still be losing? I only cheated twice, once at a football game, I had about 5 fries (soft) and yesterday I got really hungry and actually ate about 2 ozs of rotisserie (sp) chicken. I chewed it til it was mush but felt so bad afterwards. I pureed some crowder peas but think they did a serious number on me today. I was so bloated and just felt yucky all day. I decided to just have egg drop soup for dinner to try to calm my tummy somewhat. I wasn't in pain or anything like that, just that bloated, sick feeling. I do find myself hungrier more and more but considering still having reduced my eating got a bit discouraged with the scale. I think I need to just hide the scale and only weigh as I had planned once a week. Good luck to you on your 1st fill and let me know how it went, what it felt like......etc. I'll try to find out what type of band I have on my next visit and find out when I'll get my 1st fill.

Wow, pmmegm, you are already getting your 1st fill on 09/21? Your Doctor is definitely different from mine. He believes in waiting 6-8 weeks post surgery. I see him on 09/26 and he will schedule my 1st fill after that. Today is our 3 week anniversary!!! Hooray!! And this was suppose to be my 1st day on Pureed but I actually started Tuesday night. After being on liquids, I absolutely love pureed. So far, I've pureed black beans, chicken, black eye peas and Gorton Fish Fillets. I prefer the fish as it is easier to pureed. I'm to stay at this stage for 2 or 3 weeks. The funny thing is my 3 year old granddaughter is eating my pureed food. She loves it!! But boy are the beans doing a number on my bowels (LOL). But I love beans and they are full of protein also. I'm down to 2 protein shakes a day so along with the food it gets me up to the 72 grams they are wanting me to have in this stage!!! I'm adding one food at a time to see how I tolerate it. It does seem that I have a little discomfort the next morning after trying something different. I walk everyday during my lunch hour for at least a mile. For some strange reason today I was so stiff and sore (just like prior to losing some weight). That was strange and I wondered if it was because I added meat?? I hope you continue to do well and yes, let's keep up with each other's progress! Rumar

BTW. Pmmegm, we have the same band date and we're around the same age. I don't have a fill date yet. I'm to see the dr. on 09/26 and then he will schedule it.

I was banded 08/23 and will be 3 weeks post op as of Thursday. I can start pureed but I cheated and started today. I had some pureed black beans......delicious!! I'll see how my tummy feels tomorrow as today I did suffer from indigestion from eating creamed onion soup yesterday. Ranchgirl, I had a migraine only when lying down for a least a week post op. They finally subsided. Lynsay and Salsa, I am curious as to why you can't have any more liquids in the mushy stage. I'm still to get in at least 70 grams of protein.

My Dr. is the same as yours...3 weeks liquid, 3 week pureed, then solids. My appt is 09/26 so he says he might allow me to switch to solids 1 week sooner. I did start eating Yogurt this past Thursday and the 1st time I ate it it cramped me terribly and I got really really scared I'd caused harm. But since then I've had 1 yogurt per day and a yogurt smoothie and it has not hurt me. Now this is all under the supervision of my Dietician of whom I called Wednesday to see if there was anything else I could eat other than the standard broth, Jello.....etc and this is what she told me to add. I will admit on yesterday my granddaughter had a baked potato and I tasted a small tiny bite. I didn't feel any funny sensations but have not made it a habit since. You might want to try some Chinese Hot & Sour Soup (or wonton) and skim the juice off of it (I do Water it down somewhat). At least it gives you a bit of a spicy taste and it has 100 calories and 2 grams of fat (in my case less than that since I dilute it). This has really really helped me. I was told to put something in me at least every 2 hours and I shouldn't have a problem and it has worked when I followed that advice. I don't want to end up in Bandster Hell so I'm trying to be as good as possible. I am so counting down til Thursday when I can have some refried Beans....yum yum. I noticed some can have baked fish and I didn't know that was considered pureed but I'll ask my Dietician about it. I hope you continue to do well and hang it there. Rumar