Is It Normal?

foutngirl · April 18, 2008

I am starting week 2 of the lap band. I can't get full. No matter how many liquids I drink I am hungry, so hungry that it hurts. I've thought about cheating but I don't dare because I don't want my band to slip!

Is this normal? Does anyone have any advice?

Stacy:bored:

Socalbandit · April 18, 2008

It is very normal to be hungry considering that you are still on liquids. In a week you will be able to transition to mushy foods and that will make it easier. You still will not be full though. Even when you start on regular foods you probably will not be full. I have had 2 fills and am 13 weeks out and I am still hungry. You might as well get that stuffed feeling out of your head because you will probably never get there again. You need to try to take the importance off the food. I know that is hard when you can't have any right now. But the band is only a piece of the puzzle and you need to change so many things about the way you relate to food. To me now my husband laughs at me because food is math now. I figure out what to eat the day before and I sit down with my calculator and do my budget. I get between 900-1000 calories and keep my carbs at 10%. And I have lost 44 lbs in 13 weeks doing it that way. I have only gone out to eat 2 times because that for me is a trigger and I choose not to do it. I am so happy that I have lost this much weight so fast that I am ok with the fact that I am hungry sometimes. I know I need to work out 5-6 days a week and I try to focus on the positives and how much better I feel and how much more energy I have. I still have a ways to go but for the first time in my life I know without a doubt not only will I get there, I will stay there. I also do not have any restriction now, I am taking the fills very slow because I know I need to change me. Good luck and just try to focus on one day at a time. You will get there.

Edited April 18, 2008 by Socalbandit

brown bear · April 18, 2008

Wow! Check the amount of Protein in your liquids. Adding some Protein Powder or some other form of protein to a Slim Fast can make it more filling, etc.

kbinaz · April 18, 2008

You feel hungry because you are hungry! They empty you out for surgery, then put you on liquids!!! Of course you are hungry! Plus, your band is empty- it is not doing the job is was designed to do yet. It was designed to limit the amount of food you can ingest and so just having a band unfilled is exactly the same as not having a band for most people. You are normal! Some people don't get hungry right away because of swelling from surgery. I got hungry by day 4. (real hunger, not head hunger...I do know the difference.) Hunger is actually a good sign - your body is supposed to feel hungry when it doesn't get food, and it is also a sign that you are healing from surgery. Most doctors won't give you your first fill until your hunger has returned. So in some ways you are lucky, you heal well! BUT now comes bandster hell, before your first fill and feeling hungry... not so much fun trust me. I don't know when you are allowed to eat, every doctor is different, but once you are off liquids things should improve. By day 4 I was allowed soft Proteins which meant I could eat cottage cheese, chicken, eggs, refried Beans and low sugar yogurt. We were told it was not necessary to feel hungry, and once I was allowed those foods I wasn't. I agree with that philosophy, why be miserable? Why make someone walk around starving? My surgeon is highly respected and has a Center of Excellence with very low complication rates and she allows us to eat starting on day 4. After two weeks, I would think you would be moving on to at least a mushy stage. I hope that happens pretty soon for you because lets face it, no matter how much liquid you cram down and no matter what that liquid consists of (even Protein shakes) you aren't going to stay very satisfied on them for very long. I am so happy I didn't have to do liquids for two weeks, I would have gone insane. I don't think feeling unbearably hungry is necessary to achieve weight loss with the band. Once I got my fills and reached a good level of restriction I was able to eat very small amounts of food and stay very full. But before that I was pretty much the same me as before surgery and it would have been kind of senseless to go through major surgery for this wonderful weight loss tool, then have to suffer starvation to lose. Eat regular food as soon as your doctor allows it and schedule your fills as often as you can and soon you will be on the road to weight loss AND not be hungry!