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Curious...what Could You Eat Before Compared To After The Lapband?



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Just really curious as to what and howmuch people could eat before surgery as to afterward? I know personally I can eat eat all day and never really feel full (I haven't been banded yet) Thanks!

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I don't go for the bread like I used to!

My hubby has adapted to my eating habits since I got my last fill, I was pretty open prior. Now he splits a chicken breast, tuna steak, split a steak and I always have some left over and sometimes he helps with my leftovers.

i can put down a pretty good amount of salad if eaten alone and I make it with Romaine lettuce and chew it alot. It goes down to not much but the Fiber works good for me. I have also found it helps if I am having something on the dry side to eat salad with it...

If we have a potato we split a baked potato and usually have some left over. I do make bison chili at home so I know what is in it. I usually eat about a cup of it... (I don't load it up with cracker, but on occasion will put in maybe 3 tortilla chips the restaurant style ones for crunch.

If we make bison burgers I eat a half, and we do use wheat buns.. I eat a portion of the bun and toss the rest away.

Pre i would have eaten a full salad, bread, a full steak, a full potato... compared to now..

part of a salad, about 2-3 oz of steak, 1/4-1/3 of a potato depends on the size. I will take it home and usually eat off it for 2-3 meals and that is sharing with hubby.

I didn't usually order Desserts out anyway, so that was not an issue when going out.

I find that on my main plate I now always go for the Protein first.. I will have a bite here or there of the other stuff.. but it is my primary concern...

My go to food when I do not know what else to eat is Morningstar farms veggie Protein fake meat products..and cottage cheese. I put some cilantro on the cottage cheese for a bit of a zing to it.

Snacks...

Or I opt for part of a Protein shake (hubby and I split them, some string cheese, sometimes some cottage cheese with a few slices of banana mixed in.

We try to shop on the perimiter of the grocery store! The main exception is the Morningstar farms (we try to keep out of the frozen section) stuff or black Beans , broth.. salsa etc..

Hope that helps some

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i cud have binged all day... every day.. and be comfortable... after being banded.. i think it honestly depends on what i eat.. um like if i eat yogurt.. imma be hungry in 2 hrs.. ( and by yogurt i mean 6 oz) if i eat 6 oz of beef.. i would more than likely be full for a good 6 or 7 hrs.

my meals are pretty much abt 6 to 8 oz of anything on any given day.

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I used to eat pretty much non-stop all day.

A good example: Yesterday I went to Red Lobster for lunch. Before I had the band, I'd have ordered the dinner sized serving, had at least 2 cheese biscuits, some Soup, an appetizer like fried cheese sticks, and then dessert after. I would have ate every single bite, too.

Now, I had a lunch sized serving and was only able to eat about 1/3 of it. My kids wanted cheese sticks for an appetizer- I only had one. I also had about 3 bites of cheese biscuit. I was TOTALLY full and satisfied eating only a fraction of the food I used to eat.

My eating habits have changed very dramatically.

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unfortunately I still CAN eat all day - if I graze I can put away over 2000 calories quite easily. So obviously, I have to avoid doing that.

At one sitting - a small sandwich would really fill me (I hardly ever would eat one), whereas before i'd eat that, a piece of fruit and a piece of cake or something at one sitting. I could easily go out and eat a three course dinner, now I'd stick with an appetiser and a coffee.

I eat my dinner off a bread and butter plate and dont load that overly. Before I ate off a full size plate.

I eat Cereal often in the morning, but I have a small bowl for that - I'd only eat the 1/2 cup serve listed on the pack. Before I had a massive bowl full.

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Ok scratch the 1/2 tuna steak! Hubby just made a really nice marinated tuna steak that we split... two small bites of that which i chewed well..and have a lovely time with a PB and a slime episode. SIGH>>

First grilled tuna I had since the last fill, and looks like I will have to keep with another way to cook tuna maybe just tuna from a can and non fat mayo.

Guess we will keep to Salmon which I have been able to eat since the fill!

Hubby is very supportive..and feels bad.. and said.. Well.. we will stick to Salmon!! Can I make you anything else? Love him to pieces!

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I used to eat 6 - 8 Weetbix for Breakfast. Now it is usually one, sometimes two. I would make scrambled eggs with four eggs - now it's two and the dogs get the leftovers - and no toast with them any more. Always two potatos with dinner - now, half to one-third of one. Used to be a massive slab of steak - no more red meat. fruit was once or twice a week, now it's twice a day, minimum.

Junk like pizza, McDonalds, KFC was several times a week for lunch. This weekend I used a flour tortilla and made a chicken and avocado pizza - yummy and first pizza since being banded.

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Just really curious as to what and howmuch people could eat before surgery as to afterward? I know personally I can eat eat all day and never really feel full (I haven't been banded yet) Thanks!

ive had some restriction all along post surgery. more so after my first fill. now my second fill is this week, im finding that im eating about 1 1/2 cups per meal. im losing weight slowly but steadily. im assuming that my portion size will be cut back drastically after this next fill.

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Post op habits are a dramatic change; you have to become mindful and aware while you eat. That's to say that you cannot allow yourself to become distracted or rushed while eating. if you don't chew your food thoroughly, you risk having something get stuck...not fun.

I am allowed only 3 oz of Protein and 2 oz of Fiber carb with every meal...measured by volume after cooking. I have felt restriction since my surgery, and now that I have had my first fill, frequently I am unable to finish my carbs (always eat your Protein first!).

Everyone is a little different...until you get your first fill, you have to learn to manage your hunger with will power and drinking your "free fluids", which for me is water- 80-90 oz every day.

Best wishes on your journey!

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It is not even comparable for me. Prior when I WAS dieting keeping it at 1700 seemed impossible and if I wasn't dieting I could eat anything and rarely ever felt full.

I used to eat 1/2 or more of ribs, tonight I had one with 1/2 cup broccoli and was completely full. I used to eat 1/2 a large pizza and just stop so I didnt look like even more of a pig, now I avoid it but did eat one piece and was full. It is a nice difference and I feel satisfied where before I don't think I ever did unless I gordged myself.

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This is a really helpful post to me. I'm still pre-op, but have been trying to curb my eating already - which isn't that effective, I've been having some major issues with head hunger. I did weight watchers for almost a year and a half with no good results, but I can definitely tell when I'm full, and estimate how much food it will take to get me full.

If I'm eating greens, I can eat a fair amount - I can eat almost a lb of broccoli or asparagus or peppers all on my own. If I'm eating Proteins on their own, I eat around 6 oz, if I have them with veggies it's usually 3-4 oz and if I eat carbs... well, I can't seem to stop eating carbs when I start. I cut them out almost completely for the past two months, but last night I slipped up and ate almost a whole loaf of garlic sourdough by myself (dipped in olive oil and balsamic vinegar, oh my gosh!), and it was heavenly. It tasted so delightful, but my stomach did not appreciate it. Usually I would have one or two slices and call it good, though. Carbs make me so sleepy and bloated though, I really try hard to avoid them... I just don't always succeed.

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Great post, before surgery I could eat a healthy 12" from subway, I could probably fit another 6" if I wanted to but I've never tried.

Just a few days ago, I had my surgery 5 weeks ago and I've had one fill so far 3cc's, I made a turkey provolone open faced sandwich on toasted wheat. I ate one half and the other half was out of the question, not because I was stuck but I was just satisfied enough that I didnt want the rest. Normally I'd have to clean my plate or I'd be mad at myself, not this time! Pretty good deal I'd say.

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Thinking about what I ate before the lap band actually makes me ill.

For Breakfast I would eat two huge bowls of sugary Cereal. lunch was a fast food meal, complete with a huge greasy burger or chicken sandwich, fries, and soda. dinner was usually similar, except I would wash it down with ice cream or candy. Add to this loads of unhealthy Snacks like candy, chips, doughnuts, Cookies etc. No wonder I weighed 251 pounds at my highest! I was probably eating at least 5000 calories a day.

Now breakfast usually consists of oatmeal or a greek yogurt with some sliced almonds. Lunch is often a Boca Chik'n patty and steamed veggies, and dinner is a lean Protein with veggies. I do snack but I try to keep it healthy, like almonds. I'm not perfect, but WAY better than I used to be.

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      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
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      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

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        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

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