ElfiePoo

How much restriction you have is up to you. I have 8.5cc in a 12cc band and I have restriction. Yes, there are some foods I can't eat. Pie dough is a thing of the past so goodbye chicken potpie. I have no problem with rice. In fact, I made Beans and rice the other day and discovered it's a slider food for me. .

I was on clear liquids the day of surgery. For 2-3 days after surgery I was to be on liquids, basically nothing thicker than tomato Soup. Then purees for 2-3 days. The doctor described a puree as something that was still pourable. If you pour a bit on a plate, it should not hold its shape. It would be more of a thick milkshake consistency. Then 2-3 days of mushies...mashed potato consistency. Then 2-3 days of soft food but no need to mash. Towards the end of the 2nd week I was back on solid foods. I've heard others here say their docs had them back on solids within a couple days after surgery. One lady said she was on liquids for a month after surgery. As far as I can tell, it's arbitrary based on the doctor. .

To be fair, I don't think anyone claims that the pouch test is a diet. A diet doesn't last 5 days and then is done. The 5 day pouch test is more of a cleansing program in that you are eliminating the junk from your diet and reducing the amount of food you're eating. I've gone on cleansing programs and know that after a few days I feel better which motivates me to be more concientious and thoughtful about what I'm eating. .

So you don't eat because you're hungry and then continue to overeat because you don't get the full signal? Your excess eating is a compulsion to binge? Less to do with food and more to fulfill a psychological/emotional need? .

I think I may have hit my sweet spot. A week ago I went for another fill and now have 8.5cc in my band. Up until yesterday, I've been getting stuck a couple times a day on random foods...even ones I shouldn't have and I've been very very careful about taking small bites and chewing well. My meals were about 1/2 cup or less (lunch one day was 3 boiled shrimp) and one bite more than that and I felt like my food was in my throat. I stuck it out though, waiting to see if it was just swelling or if I actually needed to get .25cc taken out. As of yesterday morning, the problems have all gone away but I'm still restricted...I think. For Breakfast yesterday, I had my Protein shake. Another one mid-morning. For lunch I had 3 fish fish sticks and 1/2 cup of grapefruit (Del monte cups). For dinner I had a 3 oz baked fish filet and 1/2 cup of broccoli. Oh and Protein shakes between meals but not in the evening. Today, I had a Protein Shake for breakfast. My husband took me to lunch and I had a small bite of his cuban (sandwich), 3 sweet potato fries and a cup of seafood chowder. For dinner, 1/2 of a bacon and egg on toast (homemade bread sliced thin). No protein shakes between meals today. I *think* this means I've hit my sweet spot and I should cancel my fill for next week and just try this out for awhile. It just feels good to be able to eat again after almost a week of hardly eating anything! I finish my meals within about 25 minutes and I'm not drinking with them and I'm 'content' but wouldn't say I feel full. There's just something that tells me if I take one more bite, I'll regret it. I am 'full' for 4-5 hours after meals. I have to admit though that after a week of eating almost nothing, I feel like I'm pigging out. .

What you're describing doesn't sound like vomiting, but then I (and my doctor) make a distinction between 'vomiting' and PBing with sliming. This past week has tested my patience in regard to the latter because I've been pretty tight since my fill a week ago (temporary swelling) and eating anything was like playing Russian roulette. I never knew what was going to go down hard and need to come back up. When I vomit, my entire stomach heaves and I feel like I'm going to throw up my toenails. With Pbing and sliming, it's simply a matter of taking a big gulp of Water. It goes down and comes right back up, many times with the offending item...or at least moves things around so I'm not stuck and in pain anymore. No stomach heaves. .

Here you go. .

The only thing I use to determine whether or not I need a fill is whether or not I am able to eat to excess within a 20-30 minute meal. If you can still do that, then I'd go for the fill but the 5 day pouch test couldn't hurt to get you back on track making good choices. .

Every doctor is different. Some put their patients back on solid foods within days. Mine had me on each phase of the diet for 2-3 days and back on solid foods by the end of the 2nd week. I doubt they would give such advice if there was a risk of band slippage. Perhaps the doctors that fear band slippage are those who do not fold part of the stomach over the band as mine did. I asked him if I had to worry about band slippage and he said that unless I was persistently 'vomiting' (as you do when you have a stomach flu), there's no risk of slippage.

Nope...you're normal. Until you get fills you won't have any real restriction and your pouch isn't really a pouch yet. .

Be careful. I thought I'd hold out a bit longer at one point for new undies too. Fortunately, I was wearing slacks the day I was walking across the room at a family gathering because I felt my undies slide right off my hips and the crotch of my pants was the only thing that kept them from sliding down to my ankles. I almost wore a dress that day. :thumbdown:

I've had a problem with bread since surgery but if I slice my homemade bread *very* thin and toast it, and take small bites and chew well, I can eat it. I consider it a treat because most of the time it's just a PITA to deal with.

I'm pretty sure she thought people here had a sense of humor and were smart enough to know she wasn't being serious. :scared2: .

Loved your post and you made some great point! I'm one of those who doesn't care that I'm only losing about 2 pounds per week. I just want to eat like a normal person and never have to diet again. I've had 20 years of watching good examples (since marrying my husband) in my husband's family. Not one is overweight. Not one works out. They just live active lifestyles and don't sit on their butts in front of the tv and they make good food choices and don't worry about the goodies they eat because they live by the motto of 'all things in moderation.' .

I don't think it's a case of redefining the definition, as choosing the right definition. That's only one definition. Another is: : a regimen of eating and drinking sparingly so as to reduce one's weight <going on a diet>. Yes we all have a diet (style of eating), but the normal weight people I know do not *diet* intending to lose weight. /

Hey there Bill... If Happy's calculations are correct and you're losing 2 pounds per week, then you're on track. Most doctors and nuts don't want you to lose more quickly than that anyway. My doc allows me to lose as slowly or as quickly as I want with the understanding that if I drop too quickly, it puts me at risk of possibly losing my gallbladder...so I'll take the slower loss. The question you need to ask yourself is...are *you* happy with that pace? If so, then tell your wife that while you appreciate her input, you are losing at an acceptable pace and this is not a race. I do not diet and if I want that cookie I eat it. The difference is that now I eat 1 cookie versus 6 or 1 piece of pizza instead of half of a whole pizza. I do not 'exercise' but I do get up off my butt more than I used to because I can. I do the Wii Fit or shovel snow or go snowshoeing across the fields...and some days I don't do anything...and yet I've lost 35 pounds over the last 3 months. I just hit restriction a little more than a week ago...oh wait...guess it's now 2 weeks...and am dropping weight more quickly because I'm no longer able to eat to excess...and that's why I got the band. My feeling is if I have to 'diet' and give up foods I like and exercise several days a week on top of it just to lose this weight, well you know, I wouldn't have bothered with the band. .

You're right. The band doesn't work by itself. We still need to follow the guidelines about drinking our Water, making good food choices, avoiding slider foods, etc...but, no, we don't need to diet. We *can* diet if we choose, but we don't *need* to. I can still have anything I want...just less of it because the band keeps me from eating to excess. I haven't dieted since being banded and I've lost 35 pounds as of last Monday. Now that I have restriction, I'm expecting to lose even more quickly...and without dieting. .

If you can't drink your Water, call your doc. .

As a general rule, I don't worry about fats or calories. I keep closer track of carbs since they most directly affect my sugar levels. On any given day I try to keep them below 60gm, but I lose more quickly if I can keep them below 30. /

Depends on what you mean by *exercise*. According to the experts, exercise involves things like target heart rate, cardio, yada yada. I can't be bothered. However, as the weight is coming off, I'm enjoying a much more active lifestyle. My husband, son and I have been competing against each other with the games on our Wii Fit. Who knew that virtual hula hoops was a killer?? Instead of sending my husband out to shovel the 14" of snow we got yesterday, I went out and shoveled steadily for 30 minutes and then spent another 15 minutes clearing off the car. Then we took the snowshoes down and had a great time slogging around the fields over 4' drifts and having a snowball fight. I just found out someone is teaching Tai Chi classes locally, so I'm going to sign up for them. Something I've always wanted to do but felt too ungainly and uncoordinated to do before. .

The 'number' of fills does not matter. It's the amount they put in on the fill. Some doctors only put .5cc in at a time so it will take many more fills to get to restriction than doctors like mine are much more aggressive with fills. If the swelling is going down within a week and you no longer have restriction, I'd make an appointment to get another fill. Some people say you can get a fill every week, but (and especially as you get closer to that sweet spot) I'd suggest every 2 weeks to make sure all the swelling is going down and let you get used to what you can no longer eat. Hang in there...eventually you'll get restriction and it won't feel like you're dieting. .

Bobby, Just curious. It's taken 6 *years* to get to restriction?? .

I've given up trying to eat breakfast because I'm too tight. It's just a Protein shake made with milk and a banana. I try to drink warm decaf tea through the morning and by lunch can usually eat solid food. dinner is not a difficulty. .

Every doctor is different. Mine does each phase of the postop diet (liquids, mushies, etc.) for 2-3 days each and by the end of two weeks we're back on solid foods. I've read where some here are back on solids within days after surgery. One lady said her doctor had her on liquids for 30 days. I don't know how anybody does it...and based on the posts here, strongly doubt that many do. .

My .02... I have a very active job. My surgeon told me I could go back to work in a couple days with lifting as normal after two weeks. Until he found out that normal lifting was 25 pounds plus. Then he told me no more than 5 pounds for the first 2 weeks...no more than 10 pounds for 4 more weeks and then...maybe...depending on how my port was feeling (as in soreness) 15 pounds. I was not allowed to lift 25 lbs for about 10 weeks. I went back to work the day after surgery and just did some desk work for a few hours before going home and crashing. The second day was better. I found that for almost 2 months after surgery, my port was quite sore at the end of a day because I was on my feet, bending, stretching, lifting and moving the entire time. I would guess this has been your major problem and it may have been compounded by falling on your part. I know when I leaned over too quickly into the washer and hit my port with the side of the washer, I was sorer than usual for a few days. I can't imagine how it must've hurt to fall on it. I wouldn't let him take it out just yet. I would start being very conscious of how much weight I'm lifting. If needed, ask for a note to take to your work that you cannot lift over 5-10# and give your port site time to heal. My surgeon could tell by looking at my port site that it was inflamed and most likely because I was lifting too much (or even not too much but for long periods of time). I've worked a checkout and there's a lot of upper body movement going on which may be aggravating your port. I was told to put a warm compress on mine in the evenings when I got home. You might try that. Hang in there.