Well with the holidays I found I CAN eat non pureed food. So why do we have to do the pureed stage? Any ideas would be appreciated!

I would love to know that too. I found I can eat solids, more soft food right now I really have not tried solid hard foods yet, but if we have to chew our food to a mush anyways...whats the point of pureed?

My doctor always said it's because your stomach needs time to rest & heal. If you up your diet too fast, it can cause complications.

Your band needs time to form scar tissue around it to help secure it from slippage. You have went thru a very drastic step in order to loose weight, dont cheat yourself and risk complications now.

There's varying ideaology on this.. while I'm not going to tell anyone what to do and I say follow what your doctor has told you to do.

Some of the leading WLS surgeons in the world say there's no issue with eating after the first 48 hours. There's certain foods that are completely off limits within your first month like corn, starches (bread,pasta, etc...) red meat, etc.. but if you do your OWN research and listen to YOUR body. I'm sure you'll do fine.

Very good insight. Thanks. A good point was raised thow that if your chewing really good whats the difference. Im on mushies, but I am an curious person too. Thanks

My doctor always said it's because your stomach needs time to rest & heal. If you up your diet too fast, it can cause complications.

Wow ! 102 lbs lost! Great Job!

There's varying ideaology on this.. while I'm not going to tell anyone what to do and I say follow what your doctor has told you to do.

Some of the leading WLS surgeons in the world say there's no issue with eating after the first 48 hours. There's certain foods that are completely off limits within your first month like corn, starches (bread,pasta, etc...) red meat, etc.. but if you do your OWN research and listen to YOUR body. I'm sure you'll do fine.

Thanks for this post. I was feeling badly about Creamed Soups and Cream of Wheat. I'm 10 days out but had all the Fluid from my band removed the day after surgery. I have stuck to my diet and the weight is coming off but I did cheat a little. I have also tried scrammbled eggs and a half of a banana. Both were chewed and chewed. We must listen to our bands though and know when your full or hungry.

Thanks for this post. I was feeling badly about Creamed Soups and Cream of Wheat. I'm 10 days out but had all the Fluid from my band removed the day after surgery. I have stuck to my diet and the weight is coming off but I did cheat a little. I have also tried scrammbled eggs and a half of a banana. Both were chewed and chewed. We must listen to our bands though and know when your full or hungry.

Exactly...our bands are now part of our body, it's very important to listen and take heed to what it's telling us. For example I KNOW redmeat is on the absolute "do not eat" list during month one, regardless of the idealology you're following for post-op diet. However, my body CRAVES redmeat, being an O blood type it is a necessary. I feel ill and sluggish without it pre-band and post. There are ways to prepare it to make it almost "mushie" and I have. Last night and today the left overs of it. I had 4oz of it and I feel better than I have since surgery. And my body and band has processed it and digested it just fine with no problem.

It's important to remember what our bands do... our bands don't digest the food, we still have a stomach for that, they just monitor the amounts of food we can put in at one time.

If I told everyone what I ate yesterday they'd all want to put me on timeout...But the band is about living your best live and achieving your best you, and that's exactly what I'm doing :thumbup:

There's varying ideaology on this.. while I'm not going to tell anyone what to do and I say follow what your doctor has told you to do.

Some of the leading WLS surgeons in the world say there's no issue with eating after the first 48 hours. There's certain foods that are completely off limits within your first month like corn, starches (bread,pasta, etc...) red meat, etc.. but if you do your OWN research and listen to YOUR body. I'm sure you'll do fine.

exactly I agree with u. I had 2 try n see what solid foods n meats I could eat b 4 the doc gave me the okay. Everyone is different n u have 2 listen 2 ur body. there is an exception 4 ever rule. Doctors r here 2 help but they dnt know everything. what may work 4me might nt wrk 4 u. just be careful

Very good insight. Thanks. A good point was raised thow that if your chewing really good whats the difference. Im on mushies, but I am an curious person too. Thanks

I have a theory that the reason why most docs make their patients take a month to get back to solid foods has less to do with healing and more to do with controlling, as much as possible, how (and how much) their patients eat...knowing their patients haven't shown much common sense in that regard in the past or they wouldn't be in need of WLS.

My doc had me back on regular food within 2 weeks...but I was told to chew everything to mush, take small bites and eat slowly. He trusted me to do that. I think many docs don't (or perhaps the band makers don't since it is their recommendations that most doctors follow).

.

I feel I did good today. I pureed left over turkey and gravy, 1/4 C greenbean casserole, 1/4 C mashed potatoes and felt full. Im keeping up with my calories since I dont feel any restriction yet. Of course I have no fill and no fill was put in at surgery. I ate 900 calories today. My weigh in day is tomorrow, so Ill post an update then and see how it all comes out after the holidays!

I was allowed to eat almost anything 4 days post-op. The only exclusions are red meat and starches for the first month. I can have any other Proteins, fruits, and vegies (cooked only - no salad yet). And, I'm told to avoid juices, alcohol, and other 'slider' type foods that go right through the band and contain calories. So, I ate cottage cheese, deli meat, cheese, chicken, and broccoli all on my 4th day post-op without problem... chewing a lot, of course.

My theory on why different docs take it slower is that it takes a lot of teaching and working w/a patient to have them fully understand how to eat properly w/the band. I had six months of working w/a nutritionist to learn new habits that will work w/the band. Of course, this counted as my 'diet' required by insurance, but it really was not traditional dieting at all. It was more psychological training and focused on forming habits that are specific to the band. My surgeon also required a 5 hour pre-op class, 3 hour post-op class, attendance of at least one support meeting, etc. to make sure the rules were not just explained once, but repeated over and over so there is no confusion about anything or any chance that we could forget what we are supposed to do. I think a lot of surgeons just cannot commit this much to education so they just have you take it slow instead. If you think about it, its a lot easier to just tell your patients to drink shakes and blend stuff up than to actually teach them how to eat. And, if you aren't actually eating, you won't ever get anything stuck so you'll never have a problem eating and you won't ever need to call your surgeon's office either.

Exactly what others posted.

Your body needs time to heal and the sutures holding in your band and port need time to grow scar tissue and become part of you. The swelling inside takes 4 weeks, per my surgeon. You wouldn't want to risk having something happen prior to that.

I know some doctors have different diet recommendation post wls but mine is strict with Clear liquids, full liquids, pureed and then soft solids. I just started eating normal food and I'm a little over 6 weeks post op.

Better to be safe than sorry I guess.

Well, today was my weigh day and I lost 1.5 pounds through Christmas week. {pat} {pat} patting myself on the back. : P