Am I the only one truly struggling with this?

[cheleand3 0]

I am only on week two of my lapband journey.... and although today is the first day I am not physically in pain... I am starving.!!!!!!!!! And you know what? I have had bits and pieces of things I am not supposed to have. I don't have too much , because I don't want to get sick.... but a bit of this and that...oh and a few tablespoons of peanutbutter. I know its awful and lacking discipline, but I swear it's so hard to learn NOT to revolve your life around food. I realilze it's all I have ever done. In any other case, I would not be able to do a 2 week liquid diet, followed by another two weeks of a little less strict diet... If I could do it, I would have ended up overweight like I am. I am really struggling, and I feel very depressed.... oh gosh, what to do... I am craving sold Protein and salty Snacks so bad... Is it just me? Most of the people say it's ok, hand on... but I tell you what , I think I feel more of a loser now than when I didn't have this in. Any feedback? And next week is mushy stage.... any food ideas????? Thanks and good luck to everyone!!

[merred 0]

You are not the only one struggling. I was ready to kill someone last week for a bite of food. I am just at the end of my two week liquid stage and it has been beyond a struggle. Mood swings and hunger pangs are the worst. Everyone says, "drink a shake." I'm literally about to throw all my shakes out of a moving car! I was fortunate enough to make it through without cheating (even though I wanted to every minute of every day), but I get it. Next step is mushies which again seems limited, but at least it's better than those damn shakes!

[sassybandster 1]

During the mushies stage, I ate yogurt, sugar free Jello, cream of wheat, instant mashed potatoes, canned chicken breast smashed up and mixed with a little bit of cream of chicken Soup so that it is pretty soft. I got really creative with shakes, adding sugar free jello powder in different flavors to vanilla to make it taste better. You can blend in Peanut Butter into chocolate Protein Shakes and it adds more staying power to it. Good luck and don't give up! You can do this! One day at a time!

[gingy 3]

Today is day 14 post-op for me. I have struggled with hunger since day 5. I was supposed to do 3 weeks all liquid diet... well that lasted 6 days before I had a soft/mushy food. I couldn't stand it any longer. So I bought some low fat cottage cheese and ate a few bites to settle my hunger. Then a few days later I tried some refried Beans. I can't tell you how much better that made me feel just to have something "normal" again. I don't eat much of it at a time. 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup. I still let my Protein shakes be my main source of nourishment. I am keeping a food journal and I'm getting about 600 calories a day with 60 - 80 g of Protein. But i honestly could not stay on just liquid. My doctor's office would not be happy with this if they knew I'm eating it real slow and real small bites and making sure I don't do anything to get stuck.

Feel free to message me if you wanna talk and we can try and keep each other on track

Gingy

[cheleand3 0]

Thank goodness for you!! I don't feel so alone. I just can't seem to not have some sort of whole food, I get so week and down. Thanks for sharing and for not makeing me feel so alone!

[cheleand3 0]

thanks!

[cheleand3 0]

thanks!

[gingy 3]

i know i have to change the way i think about food. during these past 2 weeks i've realized just how much emphasis i put on food. so now i'm making a conscious effort to change that. i want more than anything to be successful at this! i'm gonna succeed!!! so i'm learning... as will you... what is acceptable to do now that we are banded.

[bzbrown 1]

Today is my 2 week also. I kept to the liquids up until a couple days ago, and added soft foods because I was beginning to feel weak and disoriented. For me the "cravings" were just habit. I just wanted to chew lol. Each time I wanted to chew I just had 2 oz of Protein shake and that fills me right up and the fullness overrides the desire to eat. I'm not hungry, just bored I guess. I found that coming here, and reading the success stories of others and my desire not to "mess this up" has helped. Today is mush day. The 22nd is my first fill. I'm past the crazy "I gotta chew something or I'm gonna flip out on someone stage". I be sure to drink plenty of Water, especially when I'm cooking for my kids so I have that nice fullness going for me, and no desire to consume a bit of whatever I made them....

I think the hardest part for me was giving up my nightly glass (or 3) of wine I'd grown used to having. But I haven't had even a sip since pre-op!!

[slm2007 7]

Geesh, this is what I have to look forward too, huh.....yikes. I know this is hard, for all of us. I'm even dreading the 5 day liquid before surgery, I'm grateful that it wasn't two weeks like some I've read about. I don't know how I'm going to make it through two weeks of liquid....seriously! I'm going to try my hardest but I have a feeling that I would also be one of those posting "guess what I did" posts. I won't do anything stupid but if it is a choice of killing the next person who tells me to "shake it" or having some cottage cheese (which I also despise but will adjust too), then I'll opt for some really soft food to avoid a jail sentence.

Good luck, hang in there and don't over do......We can do this and we will stop the cycle...food won't win in

[BrendaTx 0]

I am only on week two of my lapband journey.... and although today is the first day I am not physically in pain... I am starving.!!!!!!!!! And you know what? I have had bits and pieces of things I am not supposed to have. I don't have too much , because I don't want to get sick.... but a bit of this and that...oh and a few tablespoons of peanutbutter. I know its awful and lacking discipline, but I swear it's so hard to learn NOT to revolve your life around food. I realilze it's all I have ever done. In any other case, I would not be able to do a 2 week liquid diet, followed by another two weeks of a little less strict diet... If I could do it, I would have ended up overweight like I am. I am really struggling, and I feel very depressed.... oh gosh, what to do... I am craving sold Protein and salty Snacks so bad... Is it just me? Most of the people say it's ok, hand on... but I tell you what , I think I feel more of a loser now than when I didn't have this in. Any feedback? And next week is mushy stage.... any food ideas????? Thanks and good luck to everyone!!

[BrendaTx 0]

Hi there!

I'm on week two as well, and you are not alone. I totally feel like you do as far as wanting solid food. The diet looked so much easier on paper, and I thought to myself oh losing the weight will be a snap, no problem since I'll have the band put on. Well, I still get hunger pangs and my car still wants to turn into McDonalds all the time I drive by, but I know nothing good comes easily so we just have to stay strong together!

Good luck to you!

[gingy 3]

Just checking on everyone... how's it going with staying strong and disciplined? How are you emotionally/mentally? I think I'm starting to snap out of this funk I've been in. Instead of looking at it like I've "lost" something... I'm trying to remember that I'm getting a new outlook on life with a great reward at the end (when I reach my goal). I've stopped weighing myself daily and I will only weigh once a week. I'm being very faithful at getting in my 60-80g of Protein in to help me stay full.

Stay strong and we'll do this together! OK?

Gingy

[TerriF 9]

Just checking on everyone... how's it going with staying strong and disciplined? How are you emotionally/mentally? I think I'm starting to snap out of this funk I've been in. Instead of looking at it like I've "lost" something... I'm trying to remember that I'm getting a new outlook on life with a great reward at the end (when I reach my goal). I've stopped weighing myself daily and I will only weigh once a week. I'm being very faithful at getting in my 60-80g of Protein in to help me stay full.

Stay strong and we'll do this together! OK?

Gingy

Gosh my doctor told me that I would be on liquids 2 days then on to mushy and by the end of the first week he wants me on moist solids. Eat slow, chew chew chew and no liquids right before and 30 mins after a meal. The nutritionist said they were changing the way they do things because they have learned so much about the band and are relaxing the guidelines.

I think those of you that had to be on liquids 2 weeks are saints!!!! and super disciplined....

[merred 0]

After the gnarliest two weeks EVER, I get to start my mushie phase today! I'm waiting until I get home for work so nothing awful happens and I'm not at home. So I'm excited!!

That said, it does look so much easier on paper and I think it's because of the excitment of the future and losing weight. Once the surgery is done, it's like OUCH! where's my comfort food when I need it most? And even though I'm moving on to mushies, I still feel as though I'm not through the woods yet. So far, I don't feel any restriction and have no idea if I had a passive fill or not. My first post-op doc visit is next week. And now that I've been on the message boards, I have a lot of questions.

I thank God every day I found this message board so have people who can relate to what I am going through :-)