Day 21 of Liquid Diet (Post Op)

[AshleyMarie]

Today is my last day on my post op liquid diet and I start on solids tomorrow. I am very nervous but excited to be able to eat again. Does anyone have any tips or suggestions as to how to start out? Right now, I am not even hungry. Will this change once I eat solids? I am a little curious if this happens. If I do not get hungry after solids should I still get a fill after 6 to weeks?

[nothereanymore]

I was like you, I wasn't really hungry and I didn't have any cravings. I started out with scrambled eggs with my veggies to the side. It really didn't taste very good - it was odd.

I think my advice would be pick what sounds good, what's good for you and take small bites - the hardest part is chewing 30 times (and not drinking while eating - remove all liquids from arms reach when you eat - or old habits jump in) and eating protein first, Veggies, fruits then carbs. (we're so use to mixing up our foods)

So really practice - for many of us we're not too tight at first and it’s hard to feel the band until you get a good fill. So that's why we really measure our foods and prepare then practice.

Congrats on making it through the liquids faze and this part can really be fun if you make it that way. I was totally into organizing and measuring - got a little bit caught up in it - but had fun - you're learning to eat in a different way than ever before!

[DEC]

I was like you, I wasn't really hungry and I didn't have any cravings. I started out with scrambled eggs with my veggies to the side. It really didn't taste very good - it was odd.

I think my advice would be pick what sounds good, what's good for you and take small bites - the hardest part is chewing 30 times (and not drinking while eating - remove all liquids from arms reach when you eat - or old habits jump in) and eating protein first, Veggies, fruits then carbs. (we're so use to mixing up our foods)

So really practice - for many of us we're not too tight at first and it’s hard to feel the band until you get a good fill. So that's why we really measure our foods and prepare then practice.

Congrats on making it through the liquids faze and this part can really be fun if you make it that way. I was totally into organizing and measuring - got a little bit caught up in it - but had fun - you're learning to eat in a different way than ever before!

I have been interested in knowing when the hunger starts as well....I am almost to the two week point, and thus far all the hunger is in my head. I have my first fill scheduled for 6 weeks out as a matter of convience. It seems from some of the posts that the fill date is driven by how hungry they are....or maybe how much they can eat without restriction. Congrats on finishing the liquid phase!

[nothereanymore]

I never got that real hunger back. Its odd, I dealt mainly with the emotional hunger. But since I’ve had my band – I haven’t gotten the real hunger in my tummy signs. It'll be 3 years in Oct. (Emotional hunger took me about 3 months to figure out, I finally started being more vocal about things, if I couldn’t eat through my hunger – I needed to express them in other ways…. My poor husband…..) I was really eating on a schedule and food just became my fuel.

I just went through this educational eating program and you focus on healthy eating but one of the requirements is you only eat when you’re hungry. I was friggen flunking that part of the class, I had no clue when I was hungry – I couldn’t get myself to that old true hunger stage (I was finally eating at 2:00 PM because I was getting loopy at work). I finally had to meet with the doctor and I eat based on the signs my body is giving.

We’re just all so different – and once I started getting fills I really kept up on them – never too tight or too lose (I was a fill flunky too, I have the VG band and had a lot – too many by Dr Ortiz’s standards) I'd still get your fills, there's nothing worse than being to lose (or too tight for that matter) but there are always supper cautious on the first one.

Congrats – and good luck with your journey!

Lisa

[jhawkchick75]

Totally agree...just take it slow and chew really well and have small bites. All my hunger was in my head at first. I didn't really start getting really hungry until about a week before that first fill. My recovery seemed to be a bit harder than others and so I think that might have had something to do with it. When i'm not feeling good or am in any pain, I really don't have any appetite. I had no food restrictions until after my 2nd fill and that was only bread. That is still about where I am now.

Here are a few foods that I had early on and I had no problems: tuna, eggs, chili, cottage cheese, and oatmeal

Good luck! This is where the fun begins! The trial and error as you go along is very interesting.

[DEC]

I never got that real hunger back. Its odd, I dealt mainly with the emotional hunger. But since I’ve had my band – I haven’t gotten the real hunger in my tummy signs. It'll be 3 years in Oct. (Emotional hunger took me about 3 months to figure out, I finally started being more vocal about things, if I couldn’t eat through my hunger – I needed to express them in other ways…. My poor husband…..) I was really eating on a schedule and food just became my fuel.

I just went through this educational eating program and you focus on healthy eating but one of the requirements is you only eat when you’re hungry. I was friggen flunking that part of the class, I had no clue when I was hungry – I couldn’t get myself to that old true hunger stage (I was finally eating at 2:00 PM because I was getting loopy at work). I finally had to meet with the doctor and I eat based on the signs my body is giving.

We’re just all so different – and once I started getting fills I really kept up on them – never too tight or too lose (I was a fill flunky too, I have the VG band and had a lot – too many by Dr Ortiz’s standards) I'd still get your fills, there's nothing worse than being to lose (or too tight for that matter) but there are always supper cautious on the first one.

Congrats – and good luck with your journey!

Lisa

I am somewhat suprised at how many successful bandsters eat chili....I love chili but was prepared to give it up as I had read that spicy foods can be poorly tolerated when banded...I will be very happy if I can have a few bites of the spicy food I love!

[AshleyMarie]

You and me both. I LOVE spicy foods. We will see how long that lasts lol. I think I have learned the difference between physical hunger and hunger in my head. I have not yet scheduled my first fill and do not know when I should. I must say today was fun starting to eat again. I went to my favorite restaurant and barely ate a thing. I am very proud of myself and think I am doing great so far. I did however take too big of a bite of my dinner and felt it got stuck. I then went to the bathroom and made myself throw up. I don't know how good that was for me, but I felt so much better after.

[bigbear]

Be very careful to chew every bite thoroughly and only eat about one fourth of normal then stop. Even if you aren't full, stop. Wait 20 minutes before eating any more. Remember what they told you about PBing. Its true. Watch soft breads, I make sure they are liquefied in my mouth before swallowing, and eat them very slowly. Otherwise good eating.