2muchfun

Congratulations! You've decided to pay attention to your dreams and not your fears as someone here once said. Welcome! tmf

I want to add, that I learned the old fashioned way. It was difficult for me to not drink in the beginning but I got used to it and it's really no problem now. Occasionally I'll have(sip) a beer or glass of wine with dinner. Never with Bfast or lunch though. I notice no difference in satiation either way. But this journey is different for each and every one of us so follow your doctors orders. Maybe when you feel like you've got a grasp on how this all works with you, the band and your results, experiment a little. tmf

Here's a different take on the drinking while eating question? This new concept hasn't been around long enough for USA bandsters to even realize if it works or not? For some, drinking and eating do not work at all. I understand this. But Dr O'Brien seems to destroy the idea that sipping one minute after a bite washes food through the pouch. See for yourself: Rule 5 Liquids

It can take up to 6 fills to find the green zone. What you are experiencing is normal but unfortunately we're seldom told about this part of the journey. How many CCs are in your band is irrelevent. I have no idea how many are in mine. I only know I have good restriction and I've been in and out of the green zone a few times. tmf

Sojourner said: "I love having crustless quiche for breakfast or lunch..." So glad I read this post. I used to make this all the time and forgot about it but thanks for the reminder. How do you make yours? I like to use egg beaters and then mix a few real eggs in with it. Low fat cheese and then load it up with veggies.

My doc has no restrictions on gum but I don't chew. But I do drink after and sometimes during meals. food stays in your pouch about 1 minute so the guidelines I follow allow me to drink after a meal. Saliva and Water shouldn't have any effect on feeling full unless you guzzle 12 ozs or so? If your doctor allows you to chew gum I see no reason to wait 30 minutes? Saliva shouldn't effect anything. imo tmf

I eat spicey. Extremely hot green chili stew, home made salsa with the hottest jalapenos and I put sriracha on all my asian dishes. What you can eat really depends on how small the bites are, how much you chew and do it all very slowly. Learning to eat small, chew big and slowly isn't something that comes easily to most of us. It takes months or maybe even years to change a lifetime of obsessive gorging. Pasta seems to be the easiest for me. It's what they call a slider food. Not recommended since it's high in carbs and low in nutrition. But, eaten within reason it's OK. A pasta salad with veggies is quite alright! For me, pasta slides right on through the band without stimulating the vagus nerve, so I can eat too much of the stuff. Now, if I ate real fast and took big bites, it might get stuck and eventually give me that stuck feeling. But that's not how you want to treat your band. Maybe your doc recommends you stay away from pasta since it's a simple starch that spikes your insulin levels causing you to be hungry shortly after? jmo tmf

Not ignoring you, I just have never seen anyone post an infection before but then I don't read all the posts every day. tmf

WW can be a good tool to keep on track and for the support. But simply going by their formula to lose weight won't work for most of us. The band helps you to feel less hungry for longer periods of time. Most programs like WW rely on fewer calories eaten and that includes Soups and slider foods. These types of foods won't help you to feel satiated for long. Just be aware of this and try to stick with solid Proteins with healthy veggies in your meal planning. I'm sure you can adapt and modify their program to work with the band if you look hard enough? tmf

This is just me, but it sounds like you've got one of those anti surgery docs with too little background with successful WLS patients. You should call your insurance company and find out what they cover and what you have to do to be covered. BMI over 40 usually is an automatic qualifier. tmf

Every food you mentioned with the exception of cheese, meat and eggs are loaded with carbs. Beans, oats, flour, yogurt, ice cream, lean cuisine etc are loaded with carbs. There are apps, programs and books everywhere that define and provide nutritional values for all foods. It does sound like you need more fills. And you're pretty much where I and many others were in the early stages of our journey. No worries, restriction and the green zone will come if you continue to get your fills. I would highly recommend you sit down with your nutritionist. It really helped me and I'm a know-it-all who thought he knew-it-all but didn't. Made all the diff in the world for me. tmf

Ditto. I can eat anything I want. Even dry meat if I take very very small bites and chew it to mush.

Drinking and eating? I'm always the odd man out on this one There are some very reputable surgeons who allow you to eat and drink. Watch this video and make your own decision? BTW- If you can find time, watch all 4 of Dr O'Brien's videos. They're each about 9 mins long but well worth it. Rule 5 Liquid

You hijacker you. I think frozen foods can make the lining of your pouch less pliable causing food to get stuck. But it should only be a matter of minutes. Monitor it closely and call your Dr if it doesn't get better. Sometimes our pouch and esophogus gain strength from working so hard and can pulse the food without getting stuck. But it takes time i would think.

I too have lost weight on my own but it was so painful. Strict diets where I was hungry all the time. Denying myself foods I wanted and then after losing 50 lbs, put in right back on when I went back to my old habits. Dieting my whole life isn't how I wanted to live. You could say I'm dieting now, but I'm seldom every hungry. I eat healthy foods now and it makes me feel better. That feeling of being uncomfortable because I wanted to eat crap is no longer my companion. If I get hungry now, I eat an apple and I'm OK for two hours. 3 years ago it would have been a half bag of chips and a huge ham and cheese sandwich. Do I miss those foods? Yes, sometimes but it's fleeting and controlable now. If you truly believe you're in control of your own weight, you should not have surgery. imo But be very honest with yourself? Losing 62 lbs is very good but at what cost and for how long will it last? tmf

Read my post previous to yours. What you are going through is normal and has happened to most of us. You won't start losing weight until you get a fill that gives you enough restriction to feel satisfied with less food.

I don't know what a gastric balloon is but it sounds like something that was inserted inside your stomach and I can see a lot of vomiting with that. The band is external so the situation is very different. tmf

No. Not at all. I've always thought most of these post-op diets are far too cautious. I was allowed to eat pureed and noodles 4 days post op and mushies 8 days post op. However, I see many people post here who find it hard to even drink Water a week post op. If your doc says it's OK, follow his guidelines. tmf

Why did you ask about throwing up? Throwing up with the band can be a death knell for the band. When you have a violent vomiting episode your stomach above and below the band goes through a convulsion to extract bad forces in your stomach. Since the opening between the two is so small this can dislodge the sutures holding the band in place causing your band to slip up or down. Vomiting is discouraged needless to say? tmf

That may be a signal but that is not what you should be looking for. And, it takes time(months) to be one with the band for most of us. You should simply feel like you aren't hungry any longer. Feeling full as you describe it could mean you ate too fast, too much or failed to chew properly. food backing up in your esophogus and pouch is not good. But yes, it does sound like restriction. Just keep listening to your band and your body. Too many overfilled episodes can lead to a dialated esophogus or pouch. tmf

If looking at food can make you gain weight, I gained 3 lbs just looking at the pictures! Yummmm!

In the future you should post a comment like this as a New Topic otherwise very few people will see it. But welcome and if you go to the forum tab at the top left and click on the first tab "Tell your story" many more people will see it and wish you welcome. And 35-40 is still more than you would have lost without the band. One more thing? Fill in your profile so we know you and can advise you better? Click on your name at the top right and in the drop down menu click on "My Profile" then click on "Edit my Profile on the right side of the next page. Good luck and welcome again. tmf

OK, tell the truth? How much more are guys hitting on you now? Do you tell them to take a ticket and maybe you'll call? tmf

That's so funny, I've often thought of the same analogy. $10K-$14K to live longer, live with less pain, more activities and more self respect is such a bargain. I'd throw it all away again if I had to(but I don't). Crap, that's less than a good used car and it'll wear out in 5-7 years and you'll still put $thousands into it before you get rid of it. tmf

Cheryl is so right on. Forum members are probably sick of me posting this but your topic/comments scream this guy's sentiments. And I don't recall his name: "In my case, the most fearful thing I had to do in order to succeed with my band wasn't switching to skim milk, surviving a liquid diet, or giving up bread. The most fearful thing was giving up my emotional attachment to food. In the nearly 5 years since I was banded, I've made a lot of progress with that, but the attachment is still there. It forms one of the innermost layers of my turtle shell. Working on that layer will probably be a lifetime job for me. At times I'm not even sure I truly want to get rid of it altogether. At times I'm afraid that if I shed my shell completely, I won't be able to survive. On the other hand, I seem to be doing fine without that thick old b***h layer. So I'm going to pay attention to my dreams rather than my fears and pray for a miracle. And why not? It can't hurt to try!"