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I hear what you are saying! I was banded at Christmas, and have lost some but have reached a point where I will lose 3 pounds to regain it. I am always hungry. I have no restriction and I have had 2 fills in a 4cc. band. I realize I have to change my eating habits and have made huge strides in the right direction. But still have been disapointed that the band is not helping me at all as of yet. I have lost weight but basically it was what I lost the first month on liquids and has been sheer hard work to keep it off---no I am not eating fast food like I did before, no chips, no pop, no I am not stuffing my face on icecream and Cookies, or bread.....all these habits I gave up, however, I eat salads, veggies, yogurt, meat and have healthy meals and still I am at a stand still.... it is very frustrating. I guess we just have to hang in there until we finally get restriction and the band can start helping us out. It is easy to get overwhelmed with it all....seems I am more obsessed with dieting now then I used to be but I just do not want to go backwards. Hang in there!

I tried this once and it wasn't bad-- I mixed vanilla Greek yogurt with sugar free chocolate pudding. I pretended the yogurt was whipped cream, LOL It was OK, and SUPER filling!

@@OKCPirate thanx for responding to my post always heard that max protein at a sitting is 40 gr i never heard/knew that too much protein can hurt your kidneys its soooo frustrating, upsetting for me to "know what to do"/who to believe (not talking about you @@OKCPirate) so many different opinions/advice of course everyone says "THEIR" rules are right - don't listen to anyone else but me Protein Shake 25 gr i usually eat my chicken, fish, meats with plenty of protein why or is it better to eat your protein, instead of drinking i enjoy drinking my protein shake for Breakfast not understanding why some NUTS etc say "that's" not good i am in a "mood" now that is bothering me about all the different rules/answers/opinions written in articles/computer boards, links etc. people, docs/NUT says their way or the highway venting now no smileys gotta get away and have my Fage yogurt kathy

I am 3 weeks out and finally on purees. It is wonderful to eat something and feel full. I was stuffed after lunch today, and still not really hungry. That being said, I go home where everyone is eating chips and cookies, and it smells soooo good. My advice is to tough it out. I mean, this will not go on forever, and think about other diets you went on. You usually last what, a month or two? Pretend this diet will end in and week or two (which it kind of will) and you go on a new diet. I loved my refried beans, cheese, and spinach today, because all I could eat before was cottage cheese, yogurt, and soup before. One step at a time...

Hi - I agree with all of the info in the previous posts. Also, please try not to drink anything while eating or it will flush things right through and prevent you from feeling full. Anything that just crumbles up will go through also. You really need to focus on protein items. I know yogurt, cottage cheese, etc. isn't exciting but it stays with you longer. After awhile when you are eating regular foods you will notice that regular food items like potatoes, meats, breads, pasta will def fill you up and possibly get stuck so make sure that you don't forget and take big bites and not chew. The problem is that when you get these items stuck in there drinking will not flush them through, it will make them come back up. It is a learning game and it really takes awhile to learn all of the dos and don'ts. Don't give up!!!

I'd call the Dr. or nutritionist - you might be lactose intolerant following surgery. I am. There are varying levels. I can tolerate whey Protein, yogurt, and hard cheeses, but not milk or cottage cheese. I switched to soy milk in my Protein drinks and felt better. I still had diarrhea the first couple of weeks, but I had less gas and I went poo less often. Lynda

I'm guessing peanut butter is a bit too thick yet. Tempting because the protein count is good... I would think yogurt is closer to the texture advised, but each doc is so different .

If you're going crazy, so am I - it's not constant, but I certainly seem to be a lot more sensitive to sewage smells post-op than I was before. Some other smells too: I had some rugrats over and for a week afterwards, I'd suddenly get a whiff of berry tube yogurt. My sister later told me one of the kids had spilled a little on a couch and she'd cleaned it up, which I'm sure she did, since I'm the only one in the entire family who keeps smelling it. I'm also pretty sure one of my perfumes has turned, though no one else thinks it has. So maybe it's just a sharper sense of smell?

I know puree foods are not always the best looking dishes. However after working 6 years as a cook in a nursing home I learned some tips to make them a little better. Whatever meat you are pureeing use that kind of broth(not water) chicken broth in chicken of turkey, beef broth in beef or you can use the low fat gravy in a jar for the liquid. If you get them to thin use some instant potatoe powder to thicken them back up. Use plenty of seasoning. We even went to the extreme sometimes of putting the puree in a pastry bag and made the food back to it original shapes. I know it is still not the same , but it is only temporary. Somethings don't have to be pureed to qualify for the mushy stage...Grits. oatmeal, potaotes, cottage cheese, yogurts, applesauce,banana's, jello and creamed soups. Campbells has a large variety of creamed soups. I had cream of shrimp yesterday and it was good. I know we are not prfect and I did take a few bites of regular food before I read all these post and after thinking about what some of them said have decided it is not worth a "maybe" to eat food. I tried it my way for 39 years, so why not try it the docs way for a while, after all I have lost 40 pounds his way...Good Luck to you all..

This is what is on my plan: Blenderized / strained soups sugar free yogurt without fruit sugar free pudding thinned oatmeal or cream of wheat Protein powder or non fat milk powder can be added to soups day 12 replace full liquids with soft, moist, diced, ground or pureed protein foods as tolerate Pureed chicken, fish, mashed scrambled eggs, pureed baby food meats Fat free cottage cheese apple sauce or pureed baby foods fruits pureed vegetables or baby vegetables then it changes on day 28 to as tolerated be very careful on fibrous foods as they can get stuck

6 days post op and hungry.. Burn out on protein, sugar free pudding and broth.. Oh jello-o and let's nt forget the yogurt... no regrets just so darn hungry....

Yesterday my whole schedule was out of whack. We went to the OAC meeting in LA, good but very poor turnout. I was off on my food schedule, Vitamins, etc. They had free food, fruit, hard boiled eggs, yogurt, etc, so I ate, and a little while later ate again, I could not stop, just like I used to do before sleeve 8/3 of this year. Was full but managed to eat twice while we were there for about 3 hours. Later that day I was so hungry, have been hungry since week 2, yes I get all my liquids, Protein 100gms or more and vitamins, and pepcid, cannot take a PPI. I snacked in afternoon on some cheese and triscuits, we are allowed to have them. Anyway what was worse we went to dinner and I soooo overate, just kept shoving in the salmon, chicken and some veggies, all good stuff, but this was the first time I really thought it was coming back up. Still feel full this AM. Does anyone else do this and how do you stop. I am so grateful for my sleeve, but yesterday it felt like it was not 100% working. Feel depressed and so guilty, any comments or suggestions will be very much appreciated.

It entirely depends on your program. Some surgeons emphasize a very low carb approach, others don't. Mine doesn't, she gives me a Protein minimum and a calorie range. My carbs these days come from dairy and veg, mostly dairy such as yogurt and cottage cheese. I don't have much room for veggies yet.

I had my surgery on the 16th as well. I wouldn't eat any solids until your doctor allows you to because after going through this you wouldn't want to have to go through it all again to have something fixed. I'm on full liquids right now and I was starving for the longest time until today. I got some soup from a Chinese restaurant and it was extremely satisfying (strained of course). I was told I can also have things like instant mashed potatoes, pudding, applesauce, and yogurt so if you're on full liquids maybe some of those might satisfy you until you are on mushies. It's hard, extremely hard, but it will pay off!

You will find out when you start eating more and feel the restriction. Since you just had surgery not to long ago, you really won't be eating any large amounts of anything for a while, no matter how hungry you feel. I think it took me at least 6 to 8 months beforeI felt like I could eat a decent amount. Now I do well to eat a full chicken sandwich from Chick-Fil-a. Usually there is always some left. When my co-workers are with me, they don't order much food because they know I'm not going to finish everything and they have become accustomed to eating the rest lol. Yogurt is one of my favorite foods. I have honestly never tried cottage cheese. When I get a hunger craving now, I eat either yogurt or drink a boldthouse shake which has 32 grams of Protein in it. The shakes/smoothies have a lot of calories but its better than alternatives.

Is anyone else having a problem with dairy? Not the actual eating/getting dairy products down, but the digestion? It almost feels like I am lactose intolerant now!! I had a yogurt, cheese, and some ice cream (not all together!) but in total today and my trips to the bathroom have been more than frequent (to be polite! :kiss ) Anyone else have any input on this?

what are you folks eating?..im getting real sick of yogurt,pudding,jello and oatmeal..and water

Wow - so much has happened since I was banded. I am taking notes and writing it all down! Kellymovingon, thanks for keeping up for me! You all are doing so wonderful! I was banded on 9/19 and had a problem with nausea. I am doing much better. Make sure to walk walk walk. That will help so much. I got to have yogurt this morning and it tasted so good! I have lost 12 pounds since last wednesday! I feel great! I hope you all have great success as well!

Today (day17) I just completed post surgery All Liquids. Now I can have mushy/puree for next 2 weeks. I drank nothing but liquids and nonfat greek yogurt (plain with some splenda) Clear broths, chicken,veggie, beef, SF popsicles,SF jello cup, Crystal lights and for Breakfast & lunch costco Premier Protein shakes. I did NOT do jello, pudding. Put you mind to it and you can do it. I lost 14 pounds since surgery on all liquids, 48 pounds total. I would question your doctor on NO yogurt, becasue it has protein (as long as its greek plain yogurt).

I'm still pre-op, but during my assessment with NUT, when I talked about eating sweets in the evening, she suggested trying Yasso Greek frozen yogurt bars. I've tried the chocolate and they are soooooooo yummy. I have the sea salted caramel in my freezer now. I got them at wal-mart.

You can still have a peach yogurt smoothie! Torani has a sugar free peach flavoring: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_12?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=torani%20peach%20sugar%20free&sprefix=Torani+peach%2Caps%2C142

In a typical day: Breakfast: Container of Greek yogurt with 1/2 cup Kashi Cereal mixed in Lunch: Tuna with light mayo on a couple of Wasa crackers or 1 cup turkey chili dinner 3-4 oz lean Protein (chicken, fish or pork) and 1/2 cup veggies If I am hungry in between meals I will have a serving of almonds or a small banana with 1/2 tbsp of Peanut Butter as a snack.

I think you guys should really watch out with how much Protein you're consuming. I understand that many of you are on a low-carb diet and that it's important to replace much of the carbs you're taking out with protein. But, as always happens, people think that if something is good for you, a lot of it must be great. Excessive protein consumption can place a lot of stress on your organs and bones. High consumption of animal protein can raise your risk of kidney stones by a whole 250 percent! At least make sure that a good amount of your protein is coming from eggs, legumes, whole grains (if you're eating carbs), soy, dairy (cottage cheese and Greek yogurt are great), and quinoa. Also, you guys should be aware of research that showed that insufficient carbs have a negative effect on brain function. A study comparing low-carb (less than 130 grams of carbs) and low-calorie participants found that the low-carb participants had slower response times in tests and worse memories than the low-calorie dieters. The low-carb dieters had worse results than even their own pre-diet scores. A week after the participants reintroduced carbs, their brain functioning returned to normal, pre-diet levels. I know how quick and satisfying the weight-loss can be on low-carbs. I just want to make sure that people go in to it knowing the cons and maybe give it a break the week before any challenging mental tasks are to occur (tests etc).

I am very grateful for this site. I just read this whole blog and relate to every bit of it. I was banded in Oct. 2007. Got all this the same responses from my surgeon and bariatric team...eat dime size bites, chew chew chew, shoulder pain unrelated, you're eating to fast, etc. Maybe this team should read this site. These symptoms are way to common in post-banders to say the symptoms are unrelated. To this day, I've never been able to eat much solid food. I've always had to live on a couple of bites of food...always with discomfort. I've never been able to eat sitting down. So going to dinner parties, vacations and restaurants are out of the question. I just went for my first unfill a few weeks ago. I notice mild difference. Still can't tolerate solids very well and still have to stand up. Only difference is I can eat about 2-3 extra bites than before. So I will have to probably get another unfill. Yes, the financial aspect annoys me because I am a self-pay. Paid for this surgery and fills and now have to pay again to undo what I've already paid for. BUT, I don't dwell to much because after all said and done, I am paying to try to be comfortable. This band is a love hate relationship. I've been able to lose weight but I am worried that I am not eating nutritious food. I eat whatever can get through. I can only tolerate very small amounts of meats and forget any potatoes, pasta (except small amounts of rice) and bread. My carbs most come from yogurt and crackers. Ironically, I can eat some junk food without difficulty...but hate eating the stuff. Yet when I am hungry...I am eating what I can. I hate fish and my doctor always says "Can you eat fish?" Well, I didn't get this band to live off fish....but I will say I ate swordfish last night and liked it. I sat down but could only get about 3oz of it down without anything else. Went to a movie and was able to get popcorn down. so I was thrilled just to have those two things and nothing else that night. This isn't how I want to live yet I don't want to put weight on again. If anyone out there is having the same fear of unfilling because of putting on weight, I relate...BUT it won't stop me from doing what's necessary. I say that because I don't want to eat junk...I want to be able to eat small meals and be satisified...not rade the cabinet. I also have heartburn. I know I can't remain like this because I will have further gastric issues if not treated. Again, this site and especially this blog has encouraged me to perservere and get whatever unfills necessary.

I did not have any protein the first 10 days. It's pretty common and my nutritionist was more concerned with me getting my fluids in. In order to feel a little better I would have apple juice 3 oz in the am and for lunch. Once I could have yogurts and puréed foods I was so much bettet