Everything I learned about eating just went out the window

[UpperWestSide 3]

So after the surgery I was careful and could figure out exactly how to eat without getting stuck. But I had my first fill last week and I just keep having trouble. I went through the 4 days post fill of moving from liquids and mushies to solid food. Yesterday was the first day of solid food and I made the mistake of having a bite of steak. That got throughly stuck and scared the hell out of me before it finally passed.

Today, I ate a shake for Breakfast and cottage cheese for lunch. I had a sea bass filet for dinner and tired to chew carefully. But now I am sort of stuck. I already threw up once and really can't see myself eating anything for the rest of the night although I have only eaten about 2 oz.

Am I too tight? Should I be able to eat something or am I expecting too much so early in the process. Did things swell because of the stuck steak yesterday and I should be eating only liquids today? I have a 10 CC band that has 5 cc's in it.

When people speak of restriction does it mean getting to the edge just before the inability to eat or is restricition just feeling full.

I feel so angry at myself for being sick after I eat and afraid that I will slip my band. Help please.

[emjay 8]

One suggestion is to preview any solids with a warm bowl of a brothy Soup - something like french onion soup or a few sips of coffee or hot tea. It should help open up a bit and perhaps your solid food would go down easier. Just a thought. Also, I notice that very cold drinks will give me much more trouble than room temp liquids. So don't drink anything too cold before you try and eat solid food. Good luck and as I'm sure you've heard a 1000 times - small small bites and chew chew chew.

[Brockbabe82 0]

Well having that stuck feeling really sucks, everyone experiences it though. I know not very fun. My doc has you wait at least a week or two after a fill to see if it is too much. I mean if you are not able to get anything down , he will do an unfill, but if you are able to eat some things, try that for a couple of days, probably more of a mushie diet. I hope it gets better and if not get on that phone and call your doc. good luck

[RestlessMonkey 7]

I think you're learning. I went through that for a day or two. Don't give in to the "slider" stuff (shake, cottage cheese)...just CHEW the devil out of whatever you have. You'll learn! :smile2:

[UpperWestSide 3]

I am going to try to have some warm liquid before I eat and see if that helps. I actually have been drinking some cold Water before each meal to get in some of my Water needs.

I really don't want to get unfilled as I know I need to have restriction for this to work. I will try to concentrate on having smaller bites and chewing more. One problem is that if I have gotten to the point of being really hungry it is harder to do that. Perhaps i should have a small snack before I really have a meal.

[RestlessMonkey 7]

Each doc is different; mine is adamant about no Snacks so that "meal before the meal" thing wouldn't fly for me.

What I did is this: i cut my food up before I sat down, in smaller bites than usual. I sat down and thought "now concentrate". I ate alone the first few times.

I took a bite and chewed it well, then kept on. I counted once; to get to the proper texture is about 40 chews. NO I don't count each time; but I'm easily bored so I counted a couple times for "entertainment".

I'd swallow, then sit for about 10-15 seconds and see how it "felt". If all was good, I'd have another bite. Etc. Until...I started to think...hmm one more and it may not go and then I quit.

I PB'd like 2 days in a row when I finally got restriction. It was mechanics (PBs almost always are) not "too tight".

Give yourself a chance to master the basics better. You may have practiced them before but there's still a learning curve.

[Padanelle 2]

Hi UWS,

I had my 2nd fill last week. So far, I have not had any problems, but today the inevitable happened. I had a small episode. I finished my mushies yesterday, and back on solids today. I had just finished a bowl of Cereal, and as I was mindlessly watching TV I started to munch on the dry Cereal. What was I thinking!!!

Fortunately, after about five minutes some saliva came up and the pain went away. Glad it wasn't worse. I'm probably going to stay on mushies for another day or so, so I don't further iritate anything.

I understand steak is one of the more difficult foods for bandsters to handle. I tried it several times about 10 days after my first fill, cut it in super tiny pieces, and had no problems. When I saw the nutritionist afteer my fill last Thurs, she reminded me that just because I was able to eat something after my first fill, doesn't mean I will not have a problem after this fill. I guess we need to start cautiously after each fill to see wheich foods we can tolerate.

Joan

[elcee 3,341]

It can also be a problem if the food is too dry. I ate some fish after my 2nd fill thinking that was soft and would be easy but it hurt like hell! It was better once I added some sauce to it.You also have to aim for the balance between not too dry and not too wet as otherwise it slips past the band too easily and then you won't feel full.

Try steak done in the slowcooker rather than grilled as it is a lot easier to eat.

[UpperWestSide 3]

Thanks to everyone for their support and advice. I am constantly learning things about myself and my habits as I go through this process. One early learning was that I am compelled to finish what is on my plate. Somehow I just can't leave food that is available. So I bought small bowls that are just the right portion size and that helped there. The other learning is that I like the feeling of having a full mouth. So these little bites just don't yet provide the satisfaction I need with eating. But they will have to eventually.

But I had a NSV today. A month before the surgery we went away to Italy to Celebrate my 50th birthday. I needed to buy some bigger clothes to feel comfortable on the trip. Today I tried them on and I cannot be seen in public with them or they will fall off my tuch. Yippee!

[Grandma26 1]

That must be the best feeling in the world!! I haven't gotten anything new yet but my old clothes fit better with 25 lbs off. I can't wait for winter shopping in smaller sizes!!

Keep up the good work!

[JuneAct2 0]

I understand steak is one of the more difficult foods for bandsters to handle.

I think it's more about how dry the steak is, and the size of bite, and how well you chew.

I eat steak at least once a week, (banded 9 months) and have never gotten stuck on it. However, ground meat just won't go down. I think that's because they grind other tissue besides just meat into the ground meat. No matter how much a chew, it just doesn't chew up.

And, I agree with OP about the little bites. It IS an adjustment...but you will adjust! Think of it like this...remember "back in the day" when we went on first dates and "ate like a bird"...that's us again now! Woohoo!