Hi Everyone,

I know that most people here don't drink with their meals, but my dr. has advised to take sips of Water when eating to help liquify the stuff. Also, I'm banned from any form of Fiber vegtable and salad stuff for six months.

This was quite a surprise to me, but she's the doctor. I was wondering if anyone else has doctors orders that seem to go against the grain of what I've been reading about.

Thanks in advance.

I've never heard of anybody whose doctor recommended or even allowed liquids during or after a meal. Are you having trouble getting food to go down?

Isn't it amazing how almost every doctor has their their own guidelines and theories of what is allowable. Since this is still a relatively new procedure, we are, after all, just guinea pigs in a giant experiment. I put as much confidence in my fellow bandsters (the successful ones!!) advise as I do most of the doctors.

I drink with my meals and the surgeon said that's fine. I don't find not drinking helps to keep me "full" any longer than if I do so what's the point? Different people have different experiences with the band and I think we all find what works "best" for us as we experiment.

My doctor follows the no drinking rule until 1 hour after meals. Says the drinking causes the food to wash through and cause hunger sooner. But they did say that if you absolutely had to drink, keep a glass of ice by you and just sip the water from the ice cubes.

I think the best thing to do is realise that since every doctor has their own odd little rules and beliefs, that they cant ALL be right. So you proceed slowly and cautiously and work out what is best for YOU. I could handle salads very early on and there's no reason in the world not to eat them, they're good for you and going without fibre isnt.

You get the general drift from reading on here, you get to learn the pros and cons of all the practices - for me drinking near mealtime makes not one scrap of difference, so I do it. I dont believe in the Protein first thing so I dont do it - and I'm not malnourished and my hair isnt falling out. I certainly CAN eat carbs and lose weight, maybe the next person cant.

So figure out which beliefs sit well with you and work out your own routine. Listen to your doctor for guidance but dont be afraid to discount or ignore certain things he/she says.

There's so much differing information out there. I have come to the conclusion that I will play it by ear and learn for myself what works and what doesn't.

My surgeon had me on solid foods 4 days after surgery (only 3 days of clear liquids). He said this wouldn't cause any problems with "healing" and that the reason he now advises an early start on solids is so that patients don't get accustomed to liquid or soft food diets. Although I was very grateful to be eating normal food so soon after banding, I do regret that I didn't get the head start on weight loss that a liquid diet would have given me in the first weeks. I also felt awkward going against the general trend of recommendations given in the literature, or by other bandsters' doctors....

I was told not to drink with meals or too close beforehand, not for the reason of flushing down the food, but because if I drank with the meal, I wouldn't be able to get enough food in (I'd be feeling full on the liquid). I do pretty much follow this recommendation, but, on the odd occasion, if I feel like drinking during a meal or just before, I do. If Soup were on the menu, I'd be taking in liquid during the meal, so frankly, where is the problem?

I haven't heard anything about avoiding fibres, only that when I get to a certain level of restriction, I may have problems with some things (asparagus and grated carrots were given as examples). To date, though, no problems. I was told to eat plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables unless I had a problem with them.

I would say follow your doctor's recommendations, and question the reasoning for them if you find them odd, but also do what you feel is right for you, based on what you can/not tolerate (within reason, of course).