need help??

Okay so hubby and I are doing good . we had our lap-band surgery on July 16th. saw doctor Taller on the July 30th and said that we were doing and looking great we could now move on to soft foods. I have one question how much at one time should we be eating? should we be weighting our foods not really feeling much other than if i eat something to big not chewed well enough. plz help want to make sure we are doing it right.! thank you for all your help and support. :) 

Didn't you get any more specific direction that to move on to soft foods?  That's kind of scary!  Usually the nutritionist or the Bariatric practice will have handouts of approved foods and will discuss calories and portion size.  I would call and ask if you weren't given any specifics. 

My instructions were to eat 800 calories a day, no more than 1/2 cup at a time.  Honestly, before I had restriction I was eating 1 cup of soft foods.  Once you get to solid, dense protein then you need to keep it to 1/2 cup of food or less per meal so you don't stretch your stoma pouch.

You should be able to get 60-80 g of protein with soft foods without protein shakes, but if you can't go ahead and supplement.  My nutritionist does not recommend shakes once you move on to real food.

My doc defines soft foods as anything you can cut with the edge of a fork.  I have a list of soft foods on my blog if you want to check it out, just make sure you friend me first for access.  I also have other food lists of things I eat and my daily routine.  Check it out if you think it will be helpful.

Keep in mind that you will get many varying responses to this question, that's why I always recommend following the instructions given to you by your surgeon's office since they are providing your after care you want to stick to their rules.

Enjoy your soft foods.  I never thought I'd be so excited about eating FF refried beans with cheese but after 3 weeks of liquids post op I was sooo grateful for something with substance. 

Also, remember your husband should have more calories, but not bigger portions.  His pouch also only holds 3-4 oz.!

Take care!

Lisa O.

Excuse my ignorance but I am learning more & more each day about my band... Why would our stomach pouch only be holding 3-4 oz if we don't have a fill yet? isn't it basically just sitting around the stomach at this point not creating any type of restriction as to the amount of food we consume?

My surgeon gave me the go ahead to eat whatever I could (1000-1200 calories) just chew, chew and chew some more at my 2 week post op visit and said I should try to get in 60-80 grams of protein. He wanted me off any type of liquid protein ASAP.

I felt so confident in his instructions since him & his wife have been banded but most of what I read on here contradicts what they have told me to do. I wasn't required to see a WLS nutritionist but am thinking I should pursue one on my own if I want the success I read about on here. 

So confused.....

Never apologize for asking great questions. 

While it's true that you CAN probably eat more than 3-4 oz., it doesn't mean you should.  Start early practicing the skills you will need when you do have more restriction and it will be easier in the long run.  Even if you eat more often because you're hungry or trying to reach your calorie goal, keep the portion size small. 

It depends on your surgeon, but some do what's called a "primer fill" at surgery.  My surgeon gave me 3 cc.'s during surgery.  That with the swelling and healing taken into consideration we all have some restriction from the very beginning.  At least your anatomy has changed enough to create a much smaller pouch than the stomach you had before.  Eventhough you feel no restriction you still have a pouch built to hold 3-4 oz., (about the size of an egg).  Overfilling the pouch consistently over time is the number one cause of band slips, as I understand it.  You're not going to hurt it with one or two over-sized meals, but if you are consistently packing too much food in the stoma then it will also back up into the esophogus and you may have dialation there as well.   I'm not saying this to scare you, but portion size is SOOO important that I always try to put emphasis on portion size because it was the hardes thing for me to learn.  

You may be eating 1 cup of food today comfortably, but when you have restriction it will be 1/3-1/2 cup per meal.  Take out your measuring cups and really look at what that means when you measure solid foods.  

I generally measure my meals by number of bites now that I've had a lot of practice.  Each meal for me is generally 5 bites!  The miracle is, that it's enough!  I feel sated and full enough to go 4 hours between meals.  

This is just one person's opinion, so keep asking good questions and once you start to have restriction you'll find what works for you. 

Best~

Lisa O. 

do you us a scale ? if so what brand?