Hi, I am a newbie on the boards, and I had lapband surgery in 4/08, and I am having issues with the band. I lost about 70 pounds on the band, but the choking at night and acid reflux has caused me to want to take it out. I can not lose weight right because either it is too tight or too lose. I am tired fo this, I need rest. I will have the band removed, but was thinking of getting the gastric sleeve done while they are in there. On the band I could bearly eat salad, hardly any real veggies, and no fruit. Also, I could bearly eat eggs on the band. Can you eat "real healthy" foods with the gastric sleeves, like broccoli, cabbage, real food? I love healthy foods, just could not eat many of them on the band. A 1/4 of a cup is fine for me, I just want to eat some squash, and okra.

yes according to the diet that I was given that you can eat vegetable and salads after a certain period of time. I also miss lettuce salads but they are at least 4-6 months post op for me according to my diet. It is possible with the sleeve and I too had the lapband before I had my sleeve. I certainly do not miss the vomiting.

Everything you mention are regular parts of my diet. As a matter of fact, for lunch I brought a salad with romain/spinach, diced chicken, blue cheese crumbles and honey mustard dressing. It is about 1.5 cups, and it will stuff me full taking me about 1/2 hour to eat. I started with salads at about 3 months and didn't settle too well at first. You have to remember, the stomach is the mechanical part of digestion and it is difficult to break down, especially the more fiberous it is. So, I introduced slowly. Iceburg at first, then romain, then spinach. Now, I think I am ready to add kale. I bought a package two weeks ago, but chickened out. Oh, well. All we can do is try.

Other veggies? You bet. They are my primary source of carbohydrates, so I gotta eat 'em. Squash, okra ... name it. I'm eating it.

Thanks so much for your responses andersonlj and pdxman. I've waited 4 years to eat good veggies and fruits, I can wait 4-6 months. I can live off of salad, even though we need more nutrients.

Everything you mention are regular parts of my diet. As a matter of fact, for lunch I brought a salad with romain/spinach, diced chicken, blue cheese crumbles and honey mustard dressing. It is about 1.5 cups, and it will stuff me full taking me about 1/2 hour to eat. I started with salads at about 3 months and didn't settle too well at first. You have to remember, the stomach is the mechanical part of digestion and it is difficult to break down, especially the more fiberous it is. So, I introduced slowly. Iceburg at first, then romain, then spinach. Now, I think I am ready to add kale. I bought a package two weeks ago, but chickened out. Oh, well. All we can do is try.

Other veggies? You bet. They are my primary source of carbohydrates, so I gotta eat 'em. Squash, okra ... name it. I'm eating it.

Here's a question I've been tossing around...In all my various dieting days, i used to make "green smoothies" to be sure to get lots of Vitamins and Calcium and such...I would put dark leafy greens and maybe a little carrot or other veg in the blender with a bit of fresh juice and some apple or pear to sweeten it a bit. It's a very quick way to eat a lot of fresh vegetable if you have trouble getting in enough vegetables. (I'm talking a pre-surgery stomach).

So, here's my question- after surgery, when the time comes to introduce fibrous veggies, do you think this would be a good way to break them in? Start out with them mostly liquified, then blend it less and less and see how it's received?

Here's a question I've been tossing around...In all my various dieting days, i used to make "green smoothies" to be sure to get lots of Vitamins and calcium and such...I would put dark leafy greens and maybe a little carrot or other veg in the blender with a bit of fresh juice and some apple or pear to sweeten it a bit. It's a very quick way to eat a lot of fresh vegetable if you have trouble getting in enough vegetables. (I'm talking a pre-surgery stomach).

So, here's my question- after surgery, when the time comes to introduce fibrous veggies, do you think this would be a good way to break them in? Start out with them mostly liquified, then blend it less and less and see how it's received?

Dooter, good question. That probably would be my approach, because I am so surgery conscious after surgery.

I love salads, too, but one of the reasons I like them is

because I CAN add all the tasty things to make them more nutritious. Protein, carbs, cheese all together in a fresh, fiberous salad ... YUM!!

Yes, I think any way that you can assist in easing the mechanical part of the stomach function, the earlier you can probably introduce those things. A lot of this is trial and error. Small sample and see how it goes. If you have a NUT available, run it by them, but I think it would be fine.

I have a can of V-8 everyday 'cause I'm too lazy to blend it up myself. It has a lot of sodium, but I don't use salt in any of my cooking (baking, yes, when called for). Don't even have a salt shaker.

Dooter, yes, that's what I did and do still sometimes; I make my own "gazpacho," since my sleeve loves tomatoes but didn't (and doesn't) like carrots--I zap it all in the blender and slurp away slowly.

My sleeve is particularly picky and didn't tolerate a lot of different kinds of foods until around 6 months or so. Now, at 9 months, I can eat salad, broccoli, cabbage, cucumber (tolerated better now than pre-surgery--go figure!), and the only things that give me pause are raw carrots, raw celery, and raw onion, but I can eat all of these cooked.

If you find something bothers your sleeve at some point, try it again in a couple of months--I know it really did take what seemed like forever for my sleeve to accept raw veggies, but now I'm LOVING it!

Good thread. I am four weeks post-op and missing my vegetables. I want to eat them raw. When I read on Facebook that my local produce guru has two kinds of arugula and a special delivery of awesome tomatoes, I want to run and get some, but at this point, what would I do with them? My family isn't into vegetables quite like I am.

Now I am hopeful!

some of us are lucky (as my name says) and have sleeves of steel! Nothing bothers this sleeve. I eat salad nearly everyday :-) and I have since 2 months out.

Cool! Sorry to hijack your question Trells, but I hope it helped you too. It seemed like the right time to throw that in there.

I'm 2 months out and I eat salads. As a matter of fact I had a salad at the Olive Garden's today and some minestrone soup, only a small amount but I still had it with no problems.

So PDXman and Sleeve of Steel, do u mind telling me how far out u guys are now and how much u have lost?? I am 3 weeks out and wondering about what to expect and when. I am a band revision and it is soooo different. Excited about this new journey! Thanks!

Blittle, all my stats are in my signature.

6.5 months out. Down 105 lbs, but I work out crazy amounts. Run 15 miles a week, do spinning and lift 3x a week ... my results may not be typical.

At 4 weeks post op I was down 30 pounds

I have a band and am currently considering a revision to a sleeve. When you say your sleeve may give you trouble with certain foods what exactly do you mean? With the band that means that you are stuck or you have to vomit - is it the same with the sleeve?