pmcw

HI, I was banded on Jun. 30th, so I feel your pain(or HELL that is:eek:) My dr. did let me go back to regular food after my post-op check 8 days after surgery, because I told him how hungry I was, he advised me to stay away from starchy carbs like on the pre-op diet, and eat solid foods to feel full longer, and be sure to get enough protein. I find I do best by eating solid foods, like meat, fruits & vegetables. Things like soups and yogurts go threw too quickly for me, I do drink a protein shake betweem breakfast and lunch, I just sip it slowly starting on it when I first feel hungry after breakfast and make it last a good long time, like an hour or more. I do what my dr said and only eat when I feel hungry, eat a small amount of something solid, and stay away from most starchy carbs, and I am still losing, just not as fast as I want to. Since I started eating real food again, 8 days ago, I have lost 2 lbs, I wish it were more, but hey, this is bandster hell time, as long as I don't gain I will be happy:rolleyes2:

How are you doing now? I think I am doing good, though my weight loss has slowed down, I keep telling myself I haven't had a fill yet, so I need to be patient. When I went to see my dr for my post op follow-up last Thur. (8 days post-op). I told him I was HUNGRY, when I would eat(well really drink since I was still on the full liquid phase, which did include creamy soups) I would fill up quickly, but it would only last a short time and I would feel hungry again. He told me I was in the phase known as "Bandster Hell" because I had the surgery, but none of the benefits of the fill yet. He gave me the go ahead to eat anything I wanted, as long as it didn't make me throw-up. He told me to stick to the low carb foods and I should still lose weight, and I could get my first fill sometime the last week of this month. I do feel better now that I can eat real food, I still can't eat very much at a time( I mean this in a good way, that is why we have the surgery, RIGHT!), but I stay satisfied longer now, I just have to remember to eat slowly and chew everything REALLY WELL, or I have experienced the PBing, it is not as bad as throwing-up, and it does give you some warning, sort of like a lump in your chest and feeling like you need to keep swallowing, but before too long you basically burp up some saliva, and you better excuse yourself and go spit it out because if you try to just swallow it back down it comes back up with more, so I advise with the first signs just go take a bathroom break for a couple of min. until it settles down. I think it will be mostly a learning thing, when I get distracted, while I am eating , I have more problems, when I stay focused on chewing things go much more smoothly. let me know how things are going with you now. Pam

Hi Nicole, glad to meet you, good luck with your up coming banding. Don't be too afraid, the pain was very minimal, and since I also had the HH repair the dr told me I probably had more discomfort than someone who did not have that, and I still didn't think it was bad. Just be sure to drink/eat everything slowly, and stay sitting up for a bit after you have anything or you get heart burn(at least I do). I have moved on to a full diet now, and I feel better, but I do have to remember to chew everything very very well, or I have experienced what they refer to as PBing, it is not too awful, not the same as throwing up, but depending on where you are when it happens it can be very inconvenient. Keep me posted on how things go for you! Pam

I'm so sorry it has taken me so long to reply to you, how are you doing now? I saw my Dr on Thur. the 8th, for my follow-up appoint. I told him I felt good but was HUNGRY! He gave me the go ahead to eat "anything that doesn't make me throw-up" he said the phase I was in was called "bandster hell" because we have had the surgery but not the benefits of the fills yet. I feel better now that I can eat, but the weight loss has slowed down too. Let me know how things are going for you now, I'd love to compare especially since we were banded on the same day. Pam

Thanks! Ordinarily I am not much of a juice drinker, I just felt like with this liquid stage I would need the extra nutrition I felt it was better to drink juice than eat a popcicle that was basically koolaid and that may have been true the first few days when I was strictly on a clear liquid diet, but now I can get my nutritional needs met w/o the high calorie juice, so it will be greatly reduced, I will continue to use a small amount of it to help me get down the yucky liquid medicines, but I plan to reduce my intake to no more than 8 oz a day. I am feeling more satisfied today, and not so panicky.

I'm a bit worried and confused. I was banded on 6/30, so am only a week out, I have been reading some posts that have me concerned. Right now I am still on a "Full Liquid" diet, but have added a bit of cottage cheese from the soft food phase which I will be moving into. I am hungry! True when I eat/drink I don't take in more than like a cup at a time, but it doesn't last long, I am hungry very soon after. I was looking forward to the point where I could eat real food and feel satisfied again, but now I am reading posts that say it is all about will power, and you never REALLY feel satisfied again:frown: Is this true, will it always be about will power:confused: One post said you will fill full more in your chest than in your stomach, it will be like you don't want to eat because it will be uncomfortable but not really a satisfied feeling:confused: Right now I am feeling a little panicky, did I make a mistake:scared2:

I went into this expecting to self pay, so if my insurance pays anything at all it is just a bonus! I totally understand what you said about losing the weight only to regain it, that is me, I know I can lose weight when I am focused enough, and believe me I have lost and regained a lot of weight over the years. I am praying this is the last weight loss plan I ever have to do. I don't have very many other contributing health factors, I have high cholesterol, and arthritis in my knees, other than that I am just obese, but I have a 13 year old daughter and I want to be able to be active with her, whether she likes it or not:wink2: :thumbup:

You're a smart man, you are absolutely right, I really used the wrong word, what I meant to ask about is feeling satisfied, not "FULL" which is not a pleasant feeling. If I can remember the true goal here, which should be as you said "to see how little you can eat and not be hungry for about 4-5 hours." I will do just fine. I just had been feeling really hungry and started to panic, plus even though I am down 11 lbs, I haven't lost a thing for two days, and felt like I was eating next to notrhing, well, I examined what I had actually taken in as far as calories, fat & carbs, and while it is true I hadn't eaten much, I had managed to take in a little over 1000 calories and 137 carbs. I couldn't believe I had consumed almost 400 calories and 89 carbs from juice :thumbup: believe me today their will be a lot less juice and a lot more Water, if I am going to consume 400 calories it is going to be with something that sticks with me a lot longer than juice!

OK, I am still learning this site, I hope my original LONG post doesn't copy again:rolleyes: Anyway, nice to meet you! I started out weighing 252, I am 5'7", and I think my BMI was 39. I am a 50 year old female, I would like to weigh no more than 160, so far I have lost 11 lbs, so I still need to lose 81 lbs. I had to do my surgery self pay, because my insurance, doesn't pay for any of these type of surgeries. I do plan to still turn it in to them though and maybe get lucky, as it turned out I also had a hiatal hernia repaired so maybe that will get me something? So Far I am not regretting my decision at all, but will admit I am still scared I might fail again:frown:. I am curious, if you don't mind my asking, if you only need to lose 60-70 lbs aren't you afraid after 4 month of dieting you won't weigh enough to qualify for the surgery? or maybe afraid isn't the right word, because if you were to lose the weight on your own, wouldn't that be good too? What ever your outcome I wish you luck, please keep us posted on what is happening with you!