New Here - Couple of General Questions

[jennybean 175]

Hello, new here. My surgery is scheduled for September 26 and I am so excited! I have been dieting since I was 15 and now 44. I am sick and tired of being sick and tired!! I hope this works for me! Crossing my fingers!

I have a couple of questions......

Are you restricted to taking sips of Water or can you drink normally?

The second is, questions about eating slowly...how long would you take to eat a hardboiled egg? And how do you slow it down to the pace that is required? Also, how much to you have to chew the egg?

I have been reading tons of info on this site. Thanks very much!

[Adrienne21 106]

after surgery you will have a lot of swelling. So they usually say sip your Water. As the swelling goes away you can try to return back to drinking normally. just don't gulp your Water. (it took me over a week to be able to get a full bottle of water. after that I was able to drink fine. )

for an egg I spend about 5-6 mins eating it. just because we are suppose to take small bites and chew it well, about 20-30 seconds per bite. your whole meal should take about 30 mins to consume. so if you have chicken, the piece of chicken shouldnt be bigger that your hand. for your sides they should be a cup each. so if you have two sides I take ten minutes for each item. sometimes with meat you might want to take your time and really chew it. so if you need extra time, please take it. you don't want to hurt yourself or the band.

just remember to take small bites and chew really well. as long as you use Portion Control and take small bites you will be fine. good luck!!!

[skb123 308]

My surgeon told me to take a small bite chew it well than wait a minute till I take the next bite, that way I won't over eat. But I'm still on liquids till next Wed. Won't be on solids for a good 3 weeks, than it is limited as to what I can have. Five weeks before I resume normal foods. But my normal is no processed foods, fresh fruits and veggies along with fish, chicken or turkey. I'm really into smoothies made with various greens. I do not eat sugar or white starches at all. It's a lifestyle change that makes this work. I lost 176 on my own, now I got banded so I can finish my journey. Best of luck to you and enjoy! Oh when it comes to eggs I only eat the whites. One egg white is 17 calories a whole egg is 90, so I use 3 egg whites for scrambled eggs.

[Toddy 758]

Everybody is different so we can only give you general answers. Yes, you will need to sip your Water right after surgery until your swelling goes down. Once the surgical swelling goes down, you may be disappointed to find that not much has changed with your ability to eat. During this time, though, you should concentrate on eating small bites and chewing well, even though you may not be restricted by your band yet. It may take several fills to actually feel like you're banded.

As far as drinking when I'm in the green zone, I can take a normal drink of Water, but I can not take two or three drinks at the same time. It's like having to wait a couple of seconds until the first drink goes through the band before I take another one.

As far as food bites, I take a small bite and chew it until it is about the consistency of applesauce, then I swallow and wait a minute before I take a second bite. As I said, these are my experiences, but everyone is different.

[PrettyThick1 1,860]

Hello, new here. My surgery is scheduled for September 26 and I am so excited! I have been dieting since I was 15 and now 44. I am sick and tired of being sick and tired!! I hope this works for me! Crossing my fingers!

I have a couple of questions......

Are you restricted to taking sips of Water or can you drink normally?

The second is, questions about eating slowly...how long would you take to eat a hardboiled egg? And how do you slow it down to the pace that is required? Also, how much to you have to chew the egg?

I have been reading tons of info on this site. Thanks very much!

Every band and every bandster is different, so here is my input:

Congrats on the decision to put an end to the yo-yo dieting, I think we have all been there before: great weight loss followed by substantial gain within a short period of time. Have no fear, the band was designed for people like us. I also worried that, the band wouldn't work for me...that I would be one of the unlucky few who couldn't change their eating habits and thought processess. Well, I'm here to tell you that you have to do some pretty serious screwing up for the band not to help you. Some people lose faster than others, but eventually the weight will start to come off - again, every band and bandster is different. Try not to judge your progress based upon someone else's experience. To do so could be counter productive and lead to discouragement which leads to set backs.

Water: you can't gulp Water anymore, but you can take in more than a sip after you have healed from surgery and after you've had a fill for a few days. You'll learn your own individual patterns of this though. It didn't take me long to adjust the way I drank, now it requires no effort, it comes naturally. You will be the same way, it's about forming new habits - like everything else this adventure entails.

Ahhh, boiled eggs - how I miss being able to eat them alone. I've tried a couple of times (you can't chew them long enough - I did until they felt like liquid) and it was so unpleasant that I've given up trying. I have to smash them up in grits and add a tiny bit of butter - YIKES...yes, I said butter. So, if you can manage to get them down on their own - I am jealous of you...from the bottom of my heart. But if you find that you can't, try them with grits I find that one boiled egg and a 1/4c of grits is probably more than you can eat in one sitting. You can also mash them with canned tuna for even more Protein. You just have to see what will work for you, it might be totally different from what works for me.

I actually have a challenge with getting enough calories in, so I have regular butter (not margarine), I drink 2% milk and I don't always opt for fat-free dressings an other things. I nibble on burgers - a single white castle filled me up last weekend, I even ate the bread without a problem. I don't get to eat them often because I'm in Texas and we don't have the restaurant here - so I really wanted to eat 2, but I am disceplined enough already to be able to stop when I'm satisfied. You will learn quickly to stop before you get full - it only takes you once or twice to overeat and the effects will stay with you forever...trust me.

Enjoy the time before your preop diet, make sure you have a list of everything you think you will miss and pig out on them. Although there isn't very many things you won't be able to eat after the band, you won't be able to eat the quantities or at the same rate you are now. I watch others eat now and see how they have huge spoonfuls or fork fulls of food and I'm like...WHOA...YOU CAN'T DO THAT!!!! And I actually have to keep myself from saying something, because I have to remember - not everyone in the world is a barriatric patient. LOL

Good luck, enjoy your journey and get ready to welcome the new and improved you!

[jennybean 175]

Thanks for all the great answers. I am a little worried, but ready for this. I have tried just about everything and hope that this is finally the answer for me!

[beccaboo79 1]

My advice for the first 2 weeks is drinking through a child's sippy cup. And sip slowly. It really helps regulate how much Fluid you consume. I also bought the gerber graduate utensil set to help me eat slower and take smaller bites. Every bandster is different. You will feel a lot better after 2-3 days. Just follow your doctors orders. I was banded on December 19th of 2012. I always had my sippy cup with either Water or a Protein Shake next to me. You will get really bored of being on the liquid diet-stage 1 for 2 weeks or at least I was. In the first 2 weeks, I lost about 15 lbs. Getting banded was the best decision I ever made. Good luck with your surgery!

[jennybean 175]

Thanks beccaboo, the sippy cup and kiddie utensils are a great idea!

[Bro Rob 43]

First of all WELCOME and congratulations on making a decision for a healthier lifestyle! Like many others have said - Everyone is different, so you may see a wide variety of answers to any given question - that doesn't mean anyone one is wrong - they are just relaying what has worked for them, also, I would like to add if you are getting advice that conflicts with your doctors instructions, always follow your doctors advice, (but be sure to ask questions on your next visit).

My doctor advised to drink from a straw, especially early on, and I have never had any problems.

As, for the hard boiled egg, I can't help you much on that one - as I have not tried it yet....but I do know, that the moister the food is, the easier it is to eat...once again depends on the individual. Also, you may find that your taste buds change with the surgery, so once you can actually eat that hard boiled egg, you may not like it as well as you did before surgery.

Best of luck on your journey!