sewenup1

Hi, Yes it will get better when you have a fill. In the meantime, do you have a slow cooker (or crockpot) not sure what you might call it. I cook chicken thighs, beef, and lamb shanks in it. Put it on in the morning before work and when I get home - dinners ready. The meat is so tender it falls off the bones - great for bandsters like us, and the rest of the family enjoy it as well. Curries are great this way. If you like chicken curries and don't have a slow cooker just make it in a casserole dish in a very low heat oven. I put just about anything in it, normally I would add things at different times (if I was at home) but when I was on soft food I added everything at the start - chicken thigh fillets, chick peas, green Beans, carrots, mushrooms, onion, chicken stock and curry paste. My family loved it and was looking for more, I was eating the same as them - just a whole heap less and didn't feel that I was missing out. Hope you feel better soon, hang in there it will get better. Danna

I wasn't given any strict guidelines, but the 'suggestions' were similar to yours. I was told that as long as I eat low fat, lo-cal foods that I am free to eat whatever my band will let me eat - preferably healthy of course. Weight Watchers was ok to follow but she felt that there would be too much food but to follow their general eating plan and portion size. Danna

Hi Steph, I have heard a few of my banded friends say that they get hiccups when they are full so that probably is yours. Me, I just get this feeling like a pressure under my ribs. Dr said that is my signal that I am full. Danna:wink:

I'd wait and see what your Dr says, not all Drs expect you to go on the pre-op diet and why torture yourself if you don't have to. The purpose of Optifast is that it is very lo-cal (about 800cals) low in carbs and high in protein. the idea is to shrink your liver by making your body burn the fat stored there. This makes it easier to perform the op and helps with recovery. Often Dr will only want it if you have a very high BMI. The plus side is I lost 7kg before surgery. Danna

Chris, Hope you get your fill on 17th, already I feel less hungry (thank goodness). Also was told that I'm not actually eating enough so have increased my lunch to 2 cruskits instead of 1. Danna

Way to go!!! Well done, you should feel very proud!!! Danna

I started at 165kg (363pds)at Nov 1 and my specialist wants me to get to 99kg (218pds) so that is my first major goal. I would like to get to 65kg (143pds). This would be the higher side of normal for me but it was the weight I was when my DH and I first started dating. I am setting smaller goals the first being to reach 130 kg (286pds) by the beginning of June as DH and I will be going away for a few days and it would be nice to have lost a few pds before getting on the plane. I am then sort of staggering my goals, 130kg (286), then 115kg (253) and then 99kg (218). When I reach 99kg I am going to go tandem sky diving to Celebrate - they have a weight limit of 100kg max, so I think this will be a great way to celebrate. I have now reached 152.4 kg (335) and today I got my first fill, so hopefully the weight will now start to drop off. Sorry to waffle on so much. Danna

Just had my first fill - took 2 minutes max. My Dr poked and prodded till he found my port, grabbed the needle and ta da... I now have a 2ml fill - will go back in 2 weeks for more fill if necessary. Danna

Ok, I have one too. Saw a friend today that I haven't seen in about 2 years - she noticed!!! You've lost weight she says to me - did I do a happy dance in the middle of the city - YES I DID!! Danna

I read on a thread here somewhere the reply to give to anyone who says banding is the easy way out. Banding is a tool to help us achieve our goal results. Plumbers use tools to achieve results. Doctors use tools to achieve results. We use brooms and vacuums to achieve results. Do these people need to feel guilty because they are utilizing a tool to obtain a result? - No - tools are there to be used, so why the heck should any of us feel guilty for being banded. In my humble opinion, only a fool would refuse to make use of any available tool to reach their goal. Kylie, you say you have lost the fight to stay thin, remember that is only one battle, with the help of the band you can and will win the war against fat - even the best generals in the world lost a fight now and then, the important thing is that we pick ourselves up and start again (and this time we have our secret weapon - our body fat won't know what's hit it!!!:heh:) Sorry, will get down from my soap box now, I just hate that anyone should feel guilty about being banded - I still think we are the smart ones!!!! Danna

Hi all, I'm another 40 something. Banded Dec 3 going for my first fill tomorrow - currently I am starving and could eat a horse and it's jockey raw. You all seem to have been banded for some time so hope to be able to pick your brains on how you have handled the change. Danna

I'm starving too, but as I am going to the Dr tomorrow, hopefully for a fill and for sure to be weighed I am trying to be strong tonight. I am really hoping that he will give me a fill tomorrow so that I can go back to not being hungry. Danna:hungry::hungry::hungry::hungry::hungry::hungry::hungry:

Ok, so you lapsed a little yesterday - today is a new day and you are going to put yesterday behind you because you can't change what is already done. Today you are stronger and will be able to stick to the Optifast.:clap2: Don't be angry with yourself - after all, you are only human and sometimes we all have these slip ups - I know I did when I was on Optisludge. You're doing fine, just stay positive. Danna

Kim, I don't think it's a slip. Some Dr's put a little bit of fill in when they place the band, others (like my Dr) don't. So some people may have more tightness than others depending on the size of the band, whether they have any fill in the band and how quickly their body recovers after surgery. I have been able to eat anything, but up until last week could only eat about 1/2 cup at a time. Now I can eat much more (trying not to though) and am starting to feel hungry. Everyone will have a different experience. Not sure what the symptoms of a band slip are. Danna:hungry:

Hi, You might have made them too firm - even though scrambled eggs are soft you will still need to make them a bit on the runny side for your first few attempts. Do you like soft boiled eggs - I found that these mashed up well were better than scrambled. Danna

Hi Jen, You can count me in. Have you dropped by the Sydband site yet? It's a bit quiet at the moment as a lot are on holidays but drop by and chat some time, we also arrange meet-ups and they are a great group - some have been baded for 18 months or more while others are just getting dates for the next few months. I have attached a link to their site. Yahoo! Groups Danna

On Optifast you can also add any diet cordials to the shakes to change the flavour or the flavoured essences you get at the supermarket. In a vanilla shake try adding pineapple and coconut essences for a Pina Colada taste. Cherry essence added to the chocolate tastes similar to a Cherry Ripe and orange flavouring will give you a Jaffa shake. Helps to get through the days if you can have different flavours. If you have the chocolate dessert I added mint flavouring and froze it - Choc mint icecream (well, sort of anyway). Danna

Hi, I had my surgery on 3/12 and was allowed to start full fluids on 6/12. So the first few days didn't feel like much at all, diet jelly, clear broth and lots of Water - don't forget a liquid Vitamin (Berroca performance or supradyn). Full liquids were much easier - Soups of all kinds - put through a blender and either milk or water added to make it thinner, drinking yoghurt, low fat drinking custard, diet cordial which I made into ice blocks to suck on, diet jellies and once or twice some 97% fat free ice cream. I lost about 5kg on this by 12/12 and was then allowed to go to mushies which was great. On mushies you can eat anything (low fat etc of course) so long as you blend it up and make it sloppy -so spaghetti with bolognese sauce - looks disgusting but tastes great - just made it with plenty of tomato juice added to make it sloppier. This stage is great as long as you ignore how the food looks. I'm on normal food now but even though I don't have any real restriction yet I find a grilled steak difficult as it takes for ever to chew - my solution is to cook it in the crockpot - the meat is so soft and easier to chew. I really recommend that if you don't have one to see if you can get one as it will make food much easier to chew and might mean you can eat foods that you wouldn't have been able to otherwise. Danna

Hey Jen, You'll have no excuse not to exercise will you - wish there was a gym across the road from me, but I will probably join She at Wynyard Station as I have to go through there of a morning to get to work. The 15th will be here before you know it. Don't forget to stock up on all your post-op needs before then, and get things like changing sheets done before you go into hosp as there is no way you'll be able to do things like that for a while. Good luck Danna

Julie, Its comments like those that make it all worth while isn't it. Way to go girl!!:clap2: Danna

I so agree Donna, now when I would normally resort to food I go for a walk. It's quite funny at work - I get a stressful phone call and instead of going to the fridge for food I tell my boss that I'm going for a quick walk and then do a couple of laps of the office. Everyone is now getting use to seeing me walk around the office and (being a very large organisation) I am getting to meet people I had only seen in passing before. So now I am 1) Not eating for comfort anymore 2) Increasing the amount of walking I do each day and 3) Making new friends - it's all good. This is something we all need to address or we will be back where we started. Some people have problems with what they can eat after banding others can eat the same food as pre-banding but in much smaller quantities. You need to remember that if your friends had treated you as badly as food has in the past you would have found new friends. Food is not a friend it is an addiction just like drugs, alcohol and smoking - just that there really are no clinics or Patches for our drug of choice. One day, the world will recognise that overeaters need just as much help as any other addict. Sorry about that, I tend to get on my soapbox. But really I felt the same way before surgery, I am now 2 weeks on normal food again and I really am not missing out on anything. I have lost nearly 30lbs and I am hoping to have my fiirst fill next week. Once you see the weight dropping off you won't worry about what food you can/can't eat, you will just be so happy to see the scales going in the right direction - DOWN. Danna:D

I want some fill too!!:cry Danna

I agree with Sheila, you won't feel any restriction until you start having fills, at the moment your Dr will be more concerned with you healing after the operation. Check with your Dr, but I was allowed to start thickening my food as I felt hungry - so that I was gradually working my way back to normal food. Perhaps your Dr will let you do this. Danna

Hi UG, Well done and happy birthday for tomorrow. :happybday2: Danna

I started real food on Christmas Day - so about 3 weeks. At the moment I can eat anything and I want a fill NOW.:hungry: For those who really want (and are allowed red meat) try cooking it in a crock pot (slow cooker) don't know what they are called in the States. Also try it with a low fat, low cal sauce/gravy as this will help it down. I cook all my meat this way including chicken. Cooked lamb shanks on the weekend - cooked for 7 hours - the meat just fell off the bone it was that tender - so loved it. Danna