I was banded in June 1996 and through much trial and error have slowly weeded out foods that are certain to cause problems: all fruits (except bananas), any vegetable with a skin (including legumes and beans), lettuce, kale, cabbage,any vegetable that requires a lot of chewing (raw carrots for example), crackers, scrambled eggs, any dried fruit or dried meat (like jerky), fish, rice, pasta, anything that will swell or expand later (ground flax for example), avocados, potatoes (unless they're mashed), mushrooms, popcorn, ground beef, lean cooked meats, tortilla shells...off the top of my head. I can eat dairy products (milk, cottage cheese,yogurt,cheeses, pudding), easy over eggs, puréed soups, oatmeal, nuts,and almond butter without ever having any problems. I purée fruits and greens in my magic bullet in my morning smoothie so that I get some healthy antioxidants...the rest of the day it seems I mostly eat dairy products. I don't have much fluid in my band--anything less and I get hungry too fast, so I'm really not wanting to unfill. Any suggestions for foods that work for you (that aren't also on my no-no list)? This is getting old.

no foods should be off limits

you can eat what you want in smaller amounts

but def make an effort to eat better foods (proteins' date=' fresh fruit/veggie

def stay away from as much processed as you can..gram is right, a visit with

a nutritionist will work wonders[/quote']

Carolinagirl, I'm so excited to see a profile pic!! You're beautiful!!!

Thank you--I'm so glad I came here and posted my question--y'all are tops! Four meals later--with all of your advice and the help of an easy-to-use app (Eat Slower), I've greatly expanded my food choices: roast beef, turkey breast, lettuce, English cucumber, roasted beet, cooked carrot, rye bread! Tiny bites, one minute apart and chew, chew, chew. My eyes continue to be bigger than my stomach...I'm a great cook and I love everything about eating good food. I guess I wanted the diet to be "over"--surgery or no surgery. And yet another layer is excavated...

I always cook too much too. I call myself the "Queen of leftovers"