Here's something that often crosses my mind as I'm going through the purreed/soft food stage. What's the different between actually making it pureed or super soft, and making it that way in your mouth by chewing a really long time? Is it just that the Dr want to make sure we don't accidently swallow a large bite of something not soft, or is there another reason behind this that i'm missing. The first few days I spent a lot of time making things extra fine and mushy, but now I feel I can make the same consistency by chewing.

Thoughts?

Great point! I hadn't thought of that.. Now I'm curious lol

Banded 7/5/2012

I confess..I didn't purée everything and I just made sure I chewed til it felt puréed and still ate very soft food.

so glad you posted this! I am starting this phase tomorrow or soon after and there is no way I can drink my chicken or green beans. So hopefully by taking tiny bites and chewing very well I will be ok.

The reason for the puree/soft food phase is that your still healing. If you don't "puree" the food enough before swallowing you could cause damage.... Is it worth the chance? I say follow your doctors orders, it's not forever.

I'm aware that I'm still healing, and I'm very careful, probably too careful when I chew lol. I figured I was going to get the typical follow your doctors orders answers. It was just a thought, I'm not suggesting everyone does it!

My thoughts are that you are already looking for ways around the instructions that you have been given, that is never good.

The mushy stage is designed so that your digestive system does not have to churn to move food through. This assists with the healing process and allowing the band to settle into place.Chewing at this point can cause the band to move. Not enough that it would be noticed yet but enough that it could contribute to a slip further down the line.

So best to follow those instructions even if they do not seem to make sense. If you really feel that you can't then speak to your Dr and see what he says.

I am not trying to get around instructions that I was given. I know you do not know me, so it's easy to make a quick assumption about me. I'm very strict on the lap band rules that my Dr gave me. I did the liquid diet for 5 weeks, never cheated even once (not even a bite!), healthy low fat soft foods suggested by my Dr for the past week and a half. I'm three weeks post op and down 26 pounds, so clearly things are working well for me. This was just a thought I had while eating my purred chicken salad, and then finding a peice of chicken that was not purred compeletely and realizing that the consistency of it being chewed was the same as the rest of my chicken salad that is purred.

I've never once heard that chewing causes the band to move, I also can't find anything on the subject when I research this. We're still supposed to chew the purred food and soft food thourougly, so I'm not chewing any more than I would if it were purred.

I do appreciate the input though! Just wanted to give you a view into my world so you can erase the assumption that I'm looking for cheats or an easy way out.

so glad you posted this! I am starting this phase tomorrow or soon after and there is no way I can drink my chicken or green beans. So hopefully by taking tiny bites and chewing very well I will be ok.

Chicken and green beans are not a mushy. Canned chicken or canned tuna would be a mushy. Being on mushys sucks but if that's what your doctor wants then you should stick to it.

chewing causes the release of saliva as the body is preparing to digest food I'm not sure if churning starts automatically as part of this...

I found this topic to be rather interesting as I read, so I took out my handy dandy pamphlets my surgeon gave me and this is what "MY" surgeon recommends. *** Please Note this is what "my" Surgeon Recommends***

Stage 2 - Soft Diet (mushy stage)

3 meals a day plus one snack (stop taking the Protein supplement)

No liquid with meals if soft food is included (you must wait at least 45mins for the pouch to empty before drinking)

Chew well!!

Eat Proteins first

Examples:

Fish: (tuna, white flakey fish)

Egg whites or egg beaters

boiled Beans

fat free cottage cheese

Cooked vegtables

Mashed potatoes

soft Pasta (well chewed)

toast or crackers

salad (finely chopped)

Its funny, because even looking at this I don't see anything really mushy, except 3 items. I think I am going to have to use my best judgement and puree many of these foods. Do I agree with my Surgeon? Not on everything. Besides, this is the beauty of this site we can all share things like this. I would feel much safer eatting super mushy foods at this stage than trying to each salad or even crackers... Goes to show you different strokes for different folks, LOL