Do you use a food processor on ur foods........

I am thinking abt the lapband and was wondering if I used a food processor will the food get stuck as much......Anyone else use it......

To avoid damaging the band especially the first year of banding many people puree their food to avoid getting stuck and vomiting until they get comfortable with eating small bites and chewing with their bands. Honestly getting food stuck was never a persistent problem with me the 7 years I lived with my band and I had the much smaller tighter band, yes, I had food stuck many many times over the years but ALL times were preventable and was user error.

Sometimes living with the band can cause sliming if you are not paying attention and take a much bigger bite than you should or drink something very cold, cold liquids can further tighten the band and sometimes this may catch people off guard and have unexpected sliming or a stuck episode, but getting food stuck SHOULD BE RARE for most people.

Many people find the "MAGIC BULLET" to be a very useful tool to puree their foods especially in their 3-4 weeks post op while waiting for their band to heal and they still want to eat healthy nutritious foods pureed. But for me personally, I probably would not puree my food after 6 months post op because the band works best on SOLID FOOD, I would think learning how to eat with your band gradually, and purring your food is a good stepping stone to taking pea size bites and waiting and taking your time to eat and not rushing, this alone will keep you from getting food stuck. Many people never learn how to eat with the band and THIS CAN DAMAGE THE BAND if someone vomits and get food stuck every single day.

Unfortunately, my old 4cc band got damaged permanently about 7 years ago when it was filled too tightly and I traveled right after the adjustment in my car from Virginia to Atlanta to Florida and back and this caused edema and swelling which caused my band to further tighten and this dilated my pouch -- my band was saved from a full fledge band slip, but my pouch became too dilated for my band to work properly again, so I basically lived with a pouch dilation for the next 6 years and never could keep a good fill level very long, without having reflux and burning,  but even with the pouch dilation, it was manageable, with PPis and not staying too tight, and I went through many fills and unfills....so be very careful about filling the band too quickly and too tightly and you should do fine.

But  when people post and say things like, they vomit and throw up every day and NEVER LOSE WEIGHT, that is something that I could never figure out.

I am starting my journey over with a new AP band, i had the older model band --which I learned to love, and I am getting used to my new AP band, so I hope to learn from my past mistakes that caused issues with my previous band and hopefully my new journey will be a lot better. I have a Magic bullet and I will probably try it out in the next few weeks with tuna, egg and chicken salad, I've used it before and the food taste the same, just looks a bit gross though, but again, it all goes down the same way.

You need to blend food smooth for a few weeks post op but after that blending food would not only be pointless but would stop the band working as it is supposed to. We need to eat dense foods, especially protein to make the oesophageal walls work to push food through. This is what cons the body into thinking we have eaten more than we have.

Originally it was thought that we neded dense food to stay above the band to stimulate the vagus nerve to signal satiety to the brain. But research has shown that food passes through the band much faster than originally believed and it is th number of pushes made by the oesophagus that sends the signal. Blended food requires almost no effort to go through the band.

Being stuck should not be an issue. Some people are unlucky and their band does not work and they have major problems but for those for whom the band works as it should, as long as you eat with care, being stuck should be a rare occurrence.

In my 6 1/2 years of being banded, I have never had a painful episode but have had discomfort perhaps once or twice a week. I bring back a mouthful of food perhaps once a month, usually much less. It is always due to careless eating.

Kate

I used my food processor only during my post-op diet and when doing purees after each fill.

As Kate said, the band works best when you eat solid food, like dense protein, veggies & fruits. Soft or "slider" foods (yogurt, pudding, thin crackers, mashed potatoes, cottage cheese, etc.) don't provide much satiety even when they're nutritionally good for you.

I have had my band for 3 1/2 years, lost 130 pounds and never eaten puréed food.

I used the magic bullet thing to blend protein drinks at first, but not for very long.

at the soft food stage, I made tuna or egg salad by hand.  I ate soups and yogurt or pudding or applesauce.

when I got fills and had to be on soft food for a day, I bought some great Tortillia soup and strained out the chicken and veggies for the first day, then ate that part on the next day.

my band works with solid food .... Puréed food makes me gag and liquids go right through my band and don't satisfy me.

Like Kate and Jean have said if you need to blenderize your food longer than immediately post op you are needing to change how you eat or get a small unfill. The whole point of the band when working properly is to eat dense protein to make it work most effectively. I only used blended food for about 2 weeks post op. If you are getting stuck try taking smaller pencil eraser sized bites, chew till liquidy, swallow and wait a few seconds to make sure the bite is all the way down. Then and only then take another bite. We have to take very tiny bites, very slowly to avoid getting stuck. Good luck sometimes all it takes is a change in our eating. Good luck!

Hi Pamela!

I am 5 years out. Eating your food on going with a processor, will get very boring and really not realistic.

Also, as all the above posts, all who are great reliable sources at that, the key is dense protein!!!!!!Its about slowing down, paying attention to your body, being MINDFUL!

prek3

I use my food processor in cooking all the time...I've had one since 1978 and its an integral part of my kitchen tool kit.  Since being banded, there are fibrous foods that I can't eat without processing....spinach, kale, chard etc.  I integrate them into recipes by processing them so I can have them in my meal plan.

I also process veggies like zucchini, broccoli, etc and add them to meatloaf, meatballs, etc to get them into my grandkids.  Adding veggies makes them more moist as well as more nutritious.