Hi, I am getting banded on Thursday and have been getting some of the things I have seen listed on this site and from my doctor. I was wondering when were you able to eat lowfat cream Soups? What are some of the things you wish you would have had on hand when you were banded? Has anyone tried any of the recipes on the bariatric recipe site for in the begining? (I saw a puree vegetable soup) on there.

One of my friends swears by the vita mixer... it is quite expensive and I am wondering if it is worth it? Do you like have a juicer and if so what kind do you use? I have a food processor and was hoping that would be a good thing.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I am excited and also scared "Am I doing the right thing". Thanks for any advice,

Heidi

heidshosh@aol.com

Hi, I am getting banded on Thursday and have been getting some of the things I have seen listed on this site and from my doctor. I was wondering when were you able to eat lowfat cream soups? What are some of the things you wish you would have had on hand when you were banded? Has anyone tried any of the recipes on the bariatric recipe site for in the begining? (I saw a puree vegetable soup) on there.

One of my friends swears by the vita mixer... it is quite expensive and I am wondering if it is worth it? Do you like have a juicer and if so what kind do you use? I have a food processor and was hoping that would be a good thing.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I am excited and also scared "Am I doing the right thing". Thanks for any advice,

Heidi

heidshosh@aol.com

Whether or not you are allowed cream soups seems to vary by doctor. My doctor was fine with cream soups and defined a full liquid as anything that you can easily get drink thru a straw (but don't use straws - they can cause gas). So it goes without saying, but always check with your doctor. I pureed soups, and still do after a fill, and my favorite new (to me) and inexpensive product is the magic bullet. May be the only infomercial product I bought that I liked, but I love it. I bought it at costco and it came with lots of extra individual serve size containers.

I got the following:

Protein drinks Optimfast

sugar-free Jello

Progresso chicken Soup and strained it for the broth... bullion cubes suck

Vitawater 10 (Lemonade is my favorite)

Gummybear Vitamins

Good earth tea

Gas-x strips

I wouldn't buy a juicer just for the procedure-- you'll probably be on a liquid only diet for 2-4 weeks....

I have a juicer (a Breville) and I bought a bunch of veggies planning to juice stuff for my liquid only phase. So far (only 2 days post-op I really don't feel like drinking any veggie juice.) I'm hoping they don't rot in my veggie bin.

My grocery store sells quite a number of veggie-only juices in the organic section, and I kinda wish I'd gotten some of those instead of all the fresh vegetables (which aren't fresh anymore).

After the liquid only phase, my nutritionist said that it counted as "drinks with calories" and that they would prefer that I eat actual vegetables at that time.

Hope that's somewhat helpful!

Oh, I found a heating pad handy for my shoulder pain the first night.