Jachut

thicker liquids. And your body needs real food - Protein shakes are great but they are not in and of themselves a complete Meal Replacement, your body needs carbs for energy too (in varying degrees depending on where you personally fall along the whole low carb diet thing). I felt so much better when I just moved onto thicker liquids in a more traditional 3 meal 2 snack routine. I made good hearty Soups like lentil and vegetable - some protein, carbs, Vitamins and minerals - blended down to an acceptable consitency which of course thickened over the 2 weeks. I gave up on the Protein Shakes, they didnt keep me feeling good. I included some V8, some prune juice, plenty of Water and a bit of tea and coffee and really didnt suffer the hungers, nor when I moved to mushies did I regain since it wasnt really a calorie jump at all, I just no longer blended so much what I was eating. It wont hurt your weight loss either, you'll still be eating far less than what you were beforehand and it will keep coming off.

Hi Serene, I was banded December 9th too. All's going well so far, I'm so happy I did it.

You do lose your perspective a bit though dont you? I keep thinking I'm pigging out by eating an ordinary bowl of breakfast cereal! And then nothing for five hours afterwards! I'm eating at most 1/3 of what I used to and because I'm not starving I have to keep telling myself I'm doing well, not overeating. The scales are showing I'm definitely not overeating!

I havent noticed much like this yet - but I'm unfilled, perhaps I will later. But I wake up hungry, unlike previously, probably because I havent overeaten the night before. All I could say is that in the morning, I get full quicker, but I dont have any trouble eating.

Liquids is a pain, the soft foods not so bad. There's lots you can eat if you think about it.

Trouble is that things like chicken, and occasional red meat are valuable foods in a balanced diet. I dont understand why they should be avoided in any form, I'll be arguing hard when/if I get to that point. Its my body and I can lose weight at the rate I want, I'll take slower weight loss for greater variety in my diet anyday. I'm doing this for my health afterall. Nobody really needs fluffy white bread, what a shame, lol. Or any other processed carbs for that matter. What a shame we cant make the band sensitive to just certain foods, or turn it off for a few hours when we really want to eat something. I think its a matter of learning to cook meats differently though, I will definitely miss a nice piece of barbecued sirloin but I've just made chicken burgers to take to a New Years Eve bbq tonight that were done in the food processor and are very suitable to a mushy diet. Where there's a will there's a way! I'll pull my finger out and post the recipe, because I tried one at Mums the other night and they were very nice.

I'm feeling fantastic and I cant wipe the grin off my face. This operation has been like a magic pill to me, suddenly, all the hold food had on me has evaporated into thin air. I dont think about it anymore unless I actually get hungry. I've ignored instructions and been back in the pool (supposed to be 4 weeks I made it 3) because it's stinking hot here in Melbourne. I swam my regular 40 laps without a problem, definitely ready for a vigorous cardio load now, although I've been going on very brisk hour long walks, I've hurt my ankle again. Note to self: my cardio MUST be non weight bearing until a lot more weight is off, I'm ready to hire a spin bike and get those spin DVD's going, go back to my Friday deep Water running class and swimming laps. I'll wait till I've seen the surgeon on 19th Jan before I go back to the gym. My weight loss has been fantastic -well to me anway - being a lower BMI patient, it's nowhere near as startling as others have enjoyed, but 8kg in about 4 weeks (including my preop half arsed try at Optifast) is better than I've ever done before and the NSV's are coming now, people noticing, old clothes fitting, suddenly I have 4 pairs of jeans to wear again rather than just one. Best best best thing I've ever done!

Gosh the exact same thing happened to me a fortnight ago - just a week out of surgery. I got home from a birthday party for my son's friend and Fraser came out of our ensuite and said he'd thrown up, disgusting, undigested hot dogs everywhere. I assumed he'd just overeaten, but I was cautious anyway and Doug did all the cleaning up. I followed him round with a can of Glen 20 (aerosol disinfectant). Anyway Fraser proceeded to get sicker, we realised we had a gastro bug, I didnt touch anything, Doug wore gloves, we went through bottles of bleach and cans of Glen 20, everything Fraser touched, I sprayed. Doug did all the washing, the whole works. All was fine Saturday, then on Sunday afternoon, Doug got sick, its a nightmare he's a huge baby when he's ill, Ewan followed on Monday. On the saturday morning I went to the doctor and got a script for an antiemetic, when Doug came down with it on Sunday I started taking it, its a lot easier to avoid your kids than the husband you share a bed with. I had an awful weekend obsessing over whether I felt sick or not - in the end I just wanted to get the bloody bug and be done with it, a couple of hours of vomiting couldnt be any worse thank thinking you were going to, lol. Anyhow, I did feel pretty crappy Monday and kept taking the pills, on Monday night I had a few hours of sweats and chills, my temp spiked at about 39 degrees C and felt a bit nauseous but never vomited. It's passed now thank goodness, I feel I did catch the bug but the pills worked for me. I've still got about 20 in the bottle, they dont expire for a couple of years so I'll take them definitely next time.

Hi Selena, there's a few Aussies on here. Talk about hot, its going to be 42 in Melbourne tomorrow. Thank goodness for aircon!

And for an update, in the last day or two I have eaten All Bran with chopped tinned apricots (normal Cereal, YAY), tuna mornay, and tonight the kids had tacos so I had refried Beans, heated, topped with chopped skinned tomatoes, about 1/4 of an avocado chopped, taco sauce and a big dollop of natural yogurt. Tomorrow I'm going to a New Years Eve BBQ, I'm taking tandoori chicken burgers (they're supposed to be made from pureed leftover Christmas turkey but dont have any), had a taste at Mum's today and they're smooth enough to pass as mushy. Yum yum yum. I'm loving mushies! There's really very few foods you cant eat if you put your mind to it. As to regaining, my weight's started moving down again so I havent regained at all but I"m paying mind to serving sizes - I'm measuring out my cup of food strictly and I do not eat between meals - at all. It's literally falling off. I find I'm full after a cup anyway but as the restriction diminishes it would be too easy to start to eat more.

I can feel mine, I was BMI 35 at surgery. I can very very slightly see it as well, when I look down (well if I fling my boobs over my shoulders I can). I'm pretty sure it will stick out afterwards. I"m not too worried, but will ask about it if it becomes really obvious.

I didnt buy in anything - but I did go nuts filling the freezer with food for the rest of the family, lol. It was bursting. But I didnt have to go shopping or cook a single meal for two entire weeks. Even that wasnt necessary - I was perfectly capable of both - but it was nice.

You probably wouldnt have to exercise that much for the rest of your life anyway, most people can cut back a bit just to maintain weight but to keep it coming off requires a pretty big exercise commitment. I've pretty much told myself in my head that this year, I'm giving myself permission to put it before anything!! Part of the reason (apart from having an almost 3 year old and 2 other kids) that I've decided to continue with part time study, even though I initially planned at this point to go full time, is to give mysef time to get to the gym.

Well you just answered my question, lol. I felt terrible on that amount too - I'm on mushies now, getting in more like 1000 and feel loads better.

It's not standard practice in Australia either. Some doctors do it, a lot dont.

It would make sense in a way that diabetics were at greater risk becuase of slower wound healing.

Stop and think why you did this!! Is that really what you want to do? Mushies can be very enjoyable, you can have nice enough foods and enough variety to satisfy your tastes and lessen the likelihood of binging, you just have to put some effort into it. You are just at the very start of your journey, you do not want to begin it like this. All those foods can come in a week or two, you just have to take it slowly. I dont know whether the damage is done but you surely dont want to push it any further. You're doing the right thing by taking it easy.

Today: First thing - cup of coffee Breakfast - mock danish (take an egg, and 60 g low fat softened cream cheese, beat together with some vanilla essence, and a touch of sugar or splenda if preferred, put a dollop of low calorie jam in the centre, microwave on high for about 1 minute 30) Mid morning - a piece of watermelon and a cup of coffee at a morning tea lunch - canned apricots and a strawberry Fruche (a low fat fromage frais thing) and a couple of plain potato chips Dinner: mashed veges and a tuna mornay

I was banded 9 December. I have an "appetite" for sure but I'm finding its within the bounds of the rules. I'm enjoying planning for and shopping for what I'll eat and I'm really enjoying eating it, everything tastes wonderful but I dont know why. Once or twice I've thought about things I shouldnt eat, I had some Christmas pudding and brandy custard over Christmas and I did eat a few potato chips today becuase I just reaaaaaaaally craved the salt - and I really enjoyed them. I dont feel guilty at all. But basically in between meals I'm decidedly unhungry and dont even think about food. I think for me the band is having a psychological effect as much as a physical one. I was at a morning tea this morning, and because most of that food is off limits well and truly (as I'm on mushies) I just dont even consider eating them and that makes it easier. No doubt it will be harder later but for now, I'm really enjoying what my band is doing for me. I was down on the scales again today after a week's plateau so that's doubly motivating. I'm also taking the approach that 1/2 to 1 cup is all I'm "allowed" to eat so that's what I stick to. I could eat more but I'm not going to try it. I'm satisfied after 1 cup, even if something was so yummy I want a bit more, I just dont do it. You'll never have to do this whole thing on willpower but I think all of us do have to use a little of it and just stop where we know we should.

I dont drink it and never really have, but I can sympathise. If someone told me I'd have to give up coffee, I honestly wouldnt have had the operation. Nevertheless, my 6-8 cup a day habit is now down to 2 cups a day, I just dont desire it like I did. I have my first thing in the morning cuppa and a mid to late morning one, from that point, I drink decaffeinated tea - that counts towards my Water intake afterall whereas coffee doesnt becuase caffeine is a diuretic. It feels a bit like being pregnant actually - I have to really desire the caffeine hit otherwise, it just doesnt taste quite "right" anymore after more than one or two a day. If it gives you discomfort or pain you'll give it up easy enough. Try it I guess and see but you may find it a lot easier to give up than you thought. I also was worried big time about bread but before my surgery realised my health would be much better without too much bread and since surgery I havent even missed it.

The follow up and any complications would worry me. Obviously, Mexico was never an option for me since I live in Australia, lol (and we have a great health system by world standards). But there's a similar thing with cosmetic surgery and Thailand/Malaysia here. You can get cosmetic procedures done very cheaply and have a wonderful holiday to boot. I wouldnt assume that just because it's in Asia or Indonesia that the hospital, doctors or staff would be substandard, but I could never have something like that done without actually meeting the doctor face to face, without him actually seeing me, without us both deciding what procedure would be best and without someone lined up for aftercare. To me if I cant afford it in Australia then I cant afford it. I may have felt differently about the band though becuase it's less personalised, less complicated than cosmetic surgery but it does require a lot of aftercare, forever. I'd only do it if I had local aftercare arranged.

I was thinking that they must be able to cap off the tubing and maintain your restriction - like they cap off an IV in your hand when you no longer need the hydration but are going to continue to need meds. So you should be fine as far as not gaining during your recovery period and hopefully continuing to lose?

I've not had a fill yet and I honestly dont know how my doc does it - whether he's aggressive or not. I'm sooooo happy with where I am right now. I can eat about a cup at a time which is enough to actually enjoy the taste of something, it keeps me full for hours, but no sign of discomfort, pbing and I just feel there wont be any problem foods as I try more and more things either. I feel like I'd rather have to employ a little willpower and still be able to eat a wide range of things than never to enjoy a steak on the barbie again, but I guess I've come this far on this journey, I have to see it through now. But I tell you, I'd be the one lining up to have fill taken out when I've lost my weight to see if I can maintain with less restriction, lol. I dont fancy the thought of lots of restriction but I guess I'll be ready for it when it's time.

Hi Fiona, boy I bet it's hot up your way. Its 35 degrees (celcius) in Melbourne today. You've done well so far, cant wait till I'm at the 20kilo mark.

I read something interesting on an Australian website put together by my surgical team about lack of hunger between meals. It's thought that the pressure the band puts on the stomach just by being there to a small degree has the same effect as the pouch being full, the pressure tells the stomach it's full so you feel actively "not hungry" a lot of the time. Of course, when your body really needs food it will tell you so. I get hungry for meals but not otherwise.