IMHO The hardest part of being banded.

Susan we are soul mates. Or lunch mates. I feel so bad too because I have a summer of lunches planned with two coworkers. Everyday it's planned that one of us makes or brings in lunch for the other two.

Today was aspargus phyllo wraps and salad. It was delicious but I could only eat half of one and a few bites of salad. (I just got an aggressive fill...) I don't want to back out from the meals but I also don't want to apologize all the time.

But they are good friends and know about the band. They love me.

The hardest part for me is not getting the right restriction level. I have had probably 20 fills and unfills over the course of the last 2 years. Sometimes I can honestly say it makes me hate my band. I am gaining and too loose, then I am too tight. Go figure.

Sounds like your having trouble hitting that "sweet spot" I keep hearing about, Julie. I say hearing because I haven't found it myself.

I did eat less not eating and drinking yesterday, but I'm not "there" yet. I have a fill in 15 days so maybe we will get it then.

I hope that your search for the perfect restriction comes to an end soon.

I am a SUPER FAST eater. I get the "lapburn" all the time. I am always working on doing the chew, chew chew.....

I have never followed the no drinking rule. I have always felt that the band should help me be a normal person and not drinking during a meal is not normal. I understand the benefits but when I had a good fill the fluids would fill me up faster so I drank less for that reason. I wanted the protein so I would cut back. Nothing against those that follows that advice I just didn't find it feasible.

I'm still pre-surgery but I worry about the small bites and slow eating - chew, chew, chew. I tend to be a fast eater and even though I'm pre-surgery, I've been TRYING to do the small bites, slowly and it's really HARD. So I'm worried about that.

I have a job where I have a lot of meals with others, I travel a lot and have business dinners, etc. I'm so worried that I'll be really conspicuous with what/how/how-much I am eating after surgery.

So the water thing - I thought that you couldn't have water during meals because it would cause problems for you when it pushes the food through the band (i.e. PBs and such). No? That's what I was told in the support group meeting I went to.

The reason for not drinking with meals is it pushes the food out of the pouch and you can eat more and will get hungry faster.

I always wonder if you're supposed to time it when you start eating or stop eating. My dr. said nothing to drink for one hour after meals. I usually look at the clock when I am done, and I do wait the hour. If I am really thirsty, I do take a sip.

If I am eating with other people who don't know I am banded, I do drink a little bit more. It helps so I don't get stuck. Anxiety is not good for the band, and I would rather not worry about food getting stuck than getting hungry faster.

i too have never followed the "no drinking during meal rule" - and it was also not a mandate of my surgeon. it took me 7 months post op to work up to eating over 1000 calories a day, i certaintly wasn't pushing food thru to eat more having a sip here or there...or better yet enjoying a great glass of wine with a meal. and the scale didn't halt my indulgence of a drink.
my biggest issue has been w/NSAIDS. i have a form of RA - can't take medication previously provided .. so i rough it out, i have not let up off my exercise routine since wk 10 post op. giving up aleve/advil & other medications has been work.

The worst thing for me is eating out with my friends, since none of them know about the surgery. I used to clean my plate- practically licking it clean. Now I can only eat 1/5 or 1/6 or 1/7 of my plate. I find myself trying to pack more food in so I will look "normal" to them. I also often find myself overdoing it, and having to go to the bathroom, sticking my finger down my throat and throwing up a few slime balls. I like it when we can go to a restaurant that has a soup and salad combo. The soup is easy to slide down and the salad slides down well in all of that greasy dressing. It actually looks like I eat a normal portion when I eat this. Luckily we only eat out once each week or every other week.