samomom

Head hunger and boredom eating are tough. Its weird to not be physically hungry, but you think you need food. That is going to be the toughest obstical for me. I've done pretty good so far. I have done a ton of grocery shopping and cooking to get used to being around food that I don't need to eat. Its been helpful and surprising. Ive done well. Tomorrow onto soft foods. I hope I can keep up the good work.

I agree that putting the whole family on a healthy 'diet' or really a new healthy way of eating is beneficial for everyone in the long run. Since I was banded two weeks ago my house has become incredibly healthy and no one has made a fuss. My husband has wanted to lose 10-15 pounds( I know, we all wish that was all we needed to lose) so he said salads for lunch and many dinners would be good. He isn't a big carb fan which is great because Im a carb whore and that is what got me into so much trouble. I've been feeding everyone a lot of veggies and protein. My kids have always eaten healthy anyways so the veggies aren't a battle. I've stepped up the organic food shopping even more so which is totally free of nasty junk and preservatives. Having really nutritious foods and no really snacky trigger foods has made me two weeks in the liquid diet so much easier. I know that when I'm on to my two weeks of soft food and then on regular foods, keeping the temptations out of the house will be the key. I have no more willpower than anyone else here, but I am taking this band so seriously. I will not mess up my stomach and my life for food anymore. I'm trying to keep myself occupied when I think I need to eat.

You have a kidney/bladder infection and need to see a doctor today. Don't wait until they can see you. Go to the ER if you have to.kidney infections can go bad fast. I know people who have ended up in the hospital from them.

I was banded on Sept 28th and I was tired for about a week. I am back to normal now and it feels so much better.

First of all, I don't know you personally, so I can't tell you that you are stupid or a lost cause. I highly doubt that you are either of those though. You are here, like the rest of us because we have issues with food that have lead us to a dangerous and unhealthy place in our lives and we all made the conscious decision to take charge of our health and get better. Do I think you made a not so great food choice right after surgery? Hell yes. Are any of us perfect? No. I think you need to question what your frame of mind was when you ate those foods that are not healthy for anyone on a good day, but satisfy those pleasure points in our mouth and head. Two weeks after surgery isn't the time to be eating solid foods like that at all. You need to physically heal and not blow the work that was done to your body. Now is the time to latch on to friends,a therapist, nutritionist, and family members. You have gone too far now to turn back and allow yourself to sabotage the potential to lose a lot of weight and get healthy. If you don't have anyone to lean on you need to find someone quick who can listen to your frustrations and help you deal with your food issues. Now is the time to get a little cocky and arrogant toward food and feel great about yourself. F@^$ the food!!! Food is the crap that got you in to trouble in the first place and you don't need to let it run and ruin your life. I can say for the first time in my 36 years, I have been proud of myself these past 13 days that I haven't eaten real food. I allowed myself to believe that I am better than a damn chicken tender, bowl of Pasta, Big Mac and coke. It's all shit to me now. My life is more important to me, my kids and my husband than to shove a piece of food down my throat because I have nothing better to do. Get an attitude!!!!!! I think maybe some tough love might help set you straight. This is a long journey girlfriend and there are gonna be some hard bumps in the road. You can hit them and let them knock you down or you can get some help to teach you to fly right on over them. You didn't risk your life during surgery to continue eating the same stuff that lead you to surgery in the first place did you? You can't justify eating a fish sandwich two weeks after by saying that you typically would eat fries and a coke, but didn't this time. That's like a drug addict saying that they only did one line of coke instead of three. You can't go there anymore. Do it for no one else but yourself. Melissa

I'm just a week and a half out of having been banded, but I want to get some good feedback on certain foods since I can start eating again on Tuesday. I love soy/veggie burgers, tofu, edamame, etc. I'm wondering what experiences you all have had with these foods. I really enjoy Morningstar Farms veggie sausage patties for Breakfast and their veggie chicken patties too. I think the sausage patties will go down easier because they are more soy based and crumble quite easy. I'm a bit more concerned about the chicken patties since they use texturized vegetable Protein and it is almost a bit tougher.I know that Im going to have to chew like mad regardless, but I want to know if anyone has had a problem with either of these. Next, I'd like to know about tofu. I know that the softer silken tofu will not be an issue, but what about the extra firm? I have an obsession with these amazing sesame tofu sticks from Whole foods. They are these tasty marinated baked tofu slices that I affectionately call ' crack sticks' in my house because you can't open the fridge without eating another one. I guess if you're gonna have a trigger food tofu isn't such a bad thing! Is it harder to digest the extra firm tofu? I'm thinking yes and no. Tofu is so much Water anyways, but the extra firm has been pressed of a lot of it so it could go either way. Last is edamame. Yea or nay? Do these have too much Fiber to go down or can I eat a few pods? Thanks for the feedback!

Thanks Cheri. They have been a staple in my house for years. I've progressed to the organic ones at Whole Foods which are twice the price, but have no hidden MSG. Now that I can't eat as much I can afford them more often.

Cold is a good thing. Cold means you are losing fat. Every time I have ever really tried hard to lose weight I got cold. 5 days out and you will be tired. I'm 10 days out and I have energy again. I've been shopping, cleaning and cooking, yes, cooking. I'm finding that making really good healthy food for my family is actually very therapeutic. I know that they are eating well and I'm happy. I smell the food, but I don't really want to eat it. Don't worry about anything but letting yourself sleep, rest, and heal. You will feel better in a few days. The days I knew I was getting my 60-80 grams of Protein in and drinking enough are the days I feel good.

UGH! Ditto here. I had mine done on 9/28, had just two days of pre op liquid diet, lost 10 pounds on day 5 post op and today, day 13 of no real food, I gained a pound back. I know that 1-2 pounds fluctuation is nothing in the scheme of things, but when you aren't eating more that 400-500 calories a day, it just pisses you off!!!! I'm feeling slightly demoralized right now. I was hoping to go into the weekend with another 3 pound loss since nothing has come off since Sunday. I hate that it puts that sense of failure in my brain. What if this damn band doesn't work? What if I made a mistake? What if I'm the tiny fraction of people who this doesn't work for?

Ha ha! I was going to ask the same thing. I actually licked the hummus spoon yesterday and I'm only 1 week out from surgery. It wasn't much, but that strong garlic taste killed the horrible ketosis acetone mouth taste that I've been having. If the hummus is good enough I can eat it without anything.

I don't know what each insurance company requires. I saw the doctor for the first time on Sept 14th and was approved the next morning with the insurance nurse asking the office staff just one question. Just had surgery on Sept 28th, so I had a two week turn around which is unheard of. They had never gotten a approval that fast, ever! It will depend on your police as well. Just because one person with Aetna got denied doesn't mean that the next person will even if they have the exact same weight and medical history. It depends on what your specific policy covers. I have BCBS and my husband's company brags about how great of a policy they offer us and they have every right to. We have amazing insurance that I will never have issues with. But the guy down the street may have BCBS and his employer may not opt to cover the proceedure. Insurance is such a tricky complicated monster.

Losing fat releases estrogen which will make you moody. I told my husband that I will be a skinny bitch along the way!

If you need the bread to fill an emotional need, chew it and spit it out. You'll get the taste, texture and pleasure, but you won't have the pain. I totally understand how you can be frustrated with the lack of bread. I'm a carb addict!!! I know that I will have issues with the breads when I can eat real food again.

I've found that the only shake I can stand is the powdered dark chocolate Muscle Milk. I use milk instead of water for calories, more protein and calcuim. I don't make it as thick though. I find that it tastes better closer to the consistancy of chocolate milk.

I think you are very smart to research the nervous system. Maybe a trip to a neurologist would be in order.

No, you just haven't eaten enough to be 'normal'! The anesthesia will slow your intestines down and the utter lack of starch and chewable protein will cause you to not have to go nearly as much.

Good news. I hope that it gives you some relief soon.

Wow! Where is the nastiness coming from? This poor woman is having issues and people feel the need to say something snide. Please think before commenting if you can't be supportive or at least pretend to be nice. Would you say the same crappy comment to someone who ended up in the hospital dehydrated or with other complications. Please explain then how ' doing your research' would have come into play.Guess those who feel the need to be mean have had everything go perfect and expect everyone else to be the same. Sheesh!

I lost a ton of hair with each of my kids. It's totally normal even 9 months out.

You have to remember that you basically just starved your body and the reaction is to store the calories you just fed it to protect itself. When your body recognizes that it has been given enough calories to survive you will start to lose again. It's just a survival mode thing. Don't get upset, your bodly can't physically gain a pound of fat unless you have eaten an excess of one pound in calories.

I'm just wondering why you have fluid in your band. Mine refuses to do it until the 4 week mark. I'm guessing that is why you are so miserable.

No, I just had the surgery last week. I was told that my doctor kinda pioneered the whole mesh thing so that the port would have a really hard time flipping over a period of time due to the scar tissue holding it in place. He does it for everyone the first time. I hope you get it resolved quickly and painless.

Do you know if the mesh was placed over the back side of the port? Mine has a patch of mesh that will cause scar tissue to grow and hold it into place. My doctor apparently was the first to do this in response to port flipping.

I was under the impression that the band is placed unfilled. Mine is not filled and I had it done last Tuesday. I won't have my first fill for another 3 weeks. Try some GaxX if you feel bloated and tight. I had to take some yesterday after a sudden bout out bloaty gas pain. It worked its magic.

You are so right! If there were a standard that all doctors would agree to we wouldn't be on fourms like this trying to figure out what to do. I had a much better day today. I found the Protein shots at Rite Aid and liked them much better than the shakes. Off to shop for more tomorrow.