I am 9 days post op and doing great but I have a question, will I ever be able to have pasta or pizza again. I have seen posts that say absolutly no pasta or bread of any kind

I can eat pizza, thin crust, I can even eat small amounts of bread.( a bite or 2), as for spagehetti, it is a no go for me, I can how ever eat, orzo, bowties and macaroni, you will have to experiment, I don't recommend doing it out to eat....you know just in case

I love my Italian food, too! I looked around in the recipe area here are found some ideas of what people do. I saw one person that made lasagna minus the noodles. They prepared it the same way, layered and all, then baked. I also saw pizza ingredients placed on top of a baked chicken breast that was pounded out a whole lot so it was like crust. It will be a long road for me - I'm not used to cooking at all. I guess creativity is key! I'm praying that I can still tolerate my macaroni and cheese post-op. <crossing fingers>

Amy

I am 9 days post op and doing great but I have a question, will I ever be able to have Pasta or pizza again. I have seen posts that say absolutly no pasta or bread of any kind

Unless you get stuck on it, you'll still be able to have it- just not as often, and not in the quantities you had it pre-band.

My docs say to relax about food and just eat things that are bulky and like to stay above the band longer.

chicken w/ veggie pizza is my absolute FAVE post op food! It works the best with my band since it's still pretty loose ( only 2 fills so far) and I get my carb, veggie and double Protein (cheese & chicken) all in one slice! 2 squares or one triangle of pizza is just perfect for me

Just depends how tight your band is, how it's working for you and that you keep it to a very small anmount!

<a href="http://www.myfitnesspal.com/weight-loss-ticker"><img border="0" src="http://tickers.myfitnesspal.com/ticker/show/909/6236/9096236.png" /></a><p style="text-align:center;width:420px;"><small>Created by MyFitnessPal - <a href="http://www.myfitnesspal.com">Free Weight Loss</a> Tools</small></p>

Unless you get stuck on it, you'll still be able to have it- just not as often, and not in the quantities you had it pre-band.

well that goes without saying, 3 bites of anything and I am full for 3/4 hours

I choose not to eat bread and pasta (although my band doesn't prevent me from eating them. I don't really miss it. When my family has spaghetti and meatballs, I just have the meatballs and marinara. I do the layered lasagna without the noodles and I have also put meatballs and sauce over spaghetti squash. The latest thing I found was shirataki noodles...they are made out of tofu, look like noodles and have a noodle like texture (and only have 40 calories per serving). The point is there are ways to get the flavors you want and still eat well.

I choose not to eat bread and Pasta (although my band doesn't prevent me from eating them. I don't really miss it. When my family has spaghetti and meatballs, I just have the meatballs and marinara. I do the layered lasagna without the noodles and I have also put meatballs and sauce over spaghetti squash. The latest thing I found was shirataki noodles...they are made out of tofu, look like noodles and have a noodle like texture (and only have 40 calories per serving). The point is there are ways to get the flavors you want and still eat well.

There are also another type of Shirataki noodles that have 0 calories. www.miraclenoodles.com

I've made lasagna using zucchini sliced long ways for the noodles.

And made pizza using "flatout bread" www.flatout.com

You may find either hard and then again you may not. I've had both experiences - I had my band unfilled for a big surgery 8 months ago - before the unfill, I'd gotten tighter than i realised. I had absolutely completely gone off pizza, even the thought of it turned my stomach, because it was a very uncomfortable food for me to eat - unfilled, I ate it again and it didnt nauseate me. Now I tend to make my own, I bake the base first so that its really crispy (like you might blind bake pastry), then I top it and bake it again. That way I really enjoy it - I like thin topping too and usually something a bit gourmet, dont really like a huge gutfull of processed meat and cheese like you get on a bought pizza. Its also not a particularly fattening food when you make it yourself, I might top it with rocket, pesto, just a sprinkle of low fat cheese, tomatoes, olives and onions on the thinnest base I can buy.

Pasta has never been a real problem for me, I dont generally eat creamy pasta sauces unless I make a carbonara with skim evaporated milk. We normally ea bolognaise - and I use turkey mince because you really cannot tell the difference from beef, and I generally use quite a lot of grated zucchini, carrot, broccoli onions and mushrooms and only half as much meat as the jar or recipe calls for. I'd only eat half a cup of spaghetti with that, so really, its an Iron rich, vegetable rich healthy high Protein meal, nothing to feel guilty about at all. I often make the sauce into lasagne using low fat ricotta as the cheese layer too. Strangely, i struggle a bit with short pasta such as penne, rigatoni or shells, but spaghetti is absolutely fine.

There is a super high Protein, super high nutrient, low carb, gluten free grain from Africa called Quinoa! It can cook like rice, but also be ground into a flour to use for any and all baking. It reminds me a lot of Cous-Cous.

In health food stores and online you can find it! My fave brand that I buy from Whole Foods Market is by Ancient Harvest -Quinoa Pasta, Flour & Flakes...(Just remember that the noodles need a much shorter cooking time because they cook faster and can get mushy.)

They taste the closest to white noodles as I could find and taste REALLY good. Most friends I serve it to actually prefer it to white pasta! I had forgotten to mention that. They mix the Quinoa with Corn flour to make the noodles, but I bet if you made the noodles yourself, you wouldn't even need the corn!

Here are a bunch of recipes that Whole Foods Market has on their website using Quinoa.

QUINOA RECIPES from Whole Foods Market

I still eat pizza and pasta and at times I am fine other times my band tells me no way. You just need to figure out what works for you.

The first pizza I had was a round table single serve (it was yummy) As for spaghetti, having it tonight, but made with ground turkey and useing whole wheat penne......gosh I love food!:wub: