I've been reading alot on here about struggling bandsters. And alot seem to be the same. Over and over I read, "all I can get down is blah, blah" its always something bad, ALWAYS! I am not trying to be hatefull but how is it there are no healthy foods a struggling bandster can get down but a long list of unhealthy ones? I am new and was curious.

Let's start a list of healthy alternative slider foods....

I just had a fill and almost went for a milk shake at Chick-Fil-A....opted for the Yogurt Parfait instead....not the best choice but much better than the shake.

Anyone else with examples to help with alternatives??

It's not that healthy food can't go down, it's that you have to work a little harder to get them down. For me, healthy food such as chicken has to be chewed really well, and you have to take your time. I eat a lot of salads with no dressing. Some people struggle with salad, but I don't have any problems. Bad foods like icecream and chips slide through easily, so they are convinient and people may choose them over taking 20 minutes to eat half a chicken breast. I love my band and wouldn't give it up for anything. You just have to remember it isn't a diet, it's a new life Good luck to you!

Muelle you have done an amazing job, congrats!

hi all i eat a lot of home made soup,and i eat salmon with cottage cheese seems to be ok fo me but everyone is different in what they can eat,i do eat a lot of crap as well choc and ice cream but the weight still come off just slower

Healthy foods go down, you just have to take your time. chips, Cookies, icecream go down easy because they melt or chew into mush or dust. And those who have trouble with solid foods like chicken or steak think they can't eat it. (i'm not saying some people can't) People learn what goes down easy and it just so happens to be the foods that got us to our over weight status in the first place. What we really need to learn is that solid protien is part of what makes the band work. We take small bites, we chew the dickens out of it slowly and it fills us up and keeps us full. I struggled like hell my first months with solid protiens... I can now eat anything... ANYTHING as long as I follow the eating rules. Small - Slow - Chew.

I love my band but I am the only thing responsible for making the choices that make weight loss with the band work.

And yes, I eat cookies sometimes, and I have ice cream sometimes but I know these things can not be a regular part of my diet.

Best of Luck to you!

I was told I learned to eat around my band, and that it was rare. Reading these posts, I think that is untrue. You can and very many people do learn to eat around the band, resulting in slower weight loss. I even had yo have fluid taken out of my band because of it. I was very upset and even cried about it. I went in thinking I was going to get a fill because my weight loss was slow and I was hungry. The problem was that the band was too tight, do instead of eating proteins that made me choke, I was eating softer stuff, and not the healthy soft stuff. Now I can eat solid protein, very small portions. I feel more satisfied. I'm still learning to make better choices, but now that I am understanding where I went wrong I feel much better. Example...I love Starbucks...classified under liquid calorie danger...I now drink regular brewed coffee with Splenda and 1 or 2 international delights single serve flavor packs. Satisfies my sugar and coffee craving. doing this, even when I was drinking low fat and skinny lattes, I went from between 120~300 Cal drink to 40!! Now my process is learning how to do that with other foods.

I was told I learned to eat around my band, and that it was rare. Reading these posts, I think that is untrue. You can and very many people do learn to eat around the band, resulting in slower weight loss. I even had yo have Fluid taken out of my band because of it. I was very upset and even cried about it. I went in thinking I was going to get a fill because my weight loss was slow and I was hungry. The problem was that the band was too tight, do instead of eating Proteins that made me choke, I was eating softer stuff, and not the healthy soft stuff. Now I can eat solid Protein, very small portions. I feel more satisfied. I'm still learning to make better choices, but now that I am understanding where I went wrong I feel much better. Example...I love Starbucks...classified under liquid calorie danger...I now drink regular brewed coffee with Splenda and 1 or 2 international delights single serve flavor packs. Satisfies my sugar and coffee craving. doing this, even when I was drinking low fat and skinny lattes, I went from between 120~300 Cal drink to 40!! Now my process is learning how to do that with other foods.

Very good point! Being to tight is not the answer to the lap band working either!

Very interesting topic!

I sometimes get concerned because very few foods get stuck for me. I can also eat pretty much as fast as I want. However, I feel VERY full after a small portion. My weight has plateaued short of my goal, but I am still losing slowly (but not gaining)

Of course, how much I can eat fluctuates from day to day (sometimes meal to meal)

I did the "too tight" thing for a while and was miserable with night coughs and heartburn.

I found that when I have those tough days, eating soft Protein rich foods helps. Cottage cheese, tuna w/ light mayo, salads w/ light dressing (for some reason), weight control oatmeal w/ protein added.