My doctor told me to be on clear liquids 1 week, then thicker liquids 1 week the solid were ok, I CAN EAT SOLIDS OK, WHY DO WE NEED TO STAY ON LIQUIDS FOR SO LONG. NO ONE HAS YET TO EXPLAINE THIS TO ME.

It's because your stomach needs time to heal, and the band needs time to seat in place. Basically, parts of your stomach are sewn over the band to hold it in place, I read somewhere that it's like belt loop kind of. They need to heal, and eating solid foods make your stomach move and work to digest, and that isn't good for it at this point.

I had 2 days clear liquids, 2 weeks full liquids and then 2 weeks mushies before I could eat solids.

It's a mystery to me why doctors seem to gloss right over the importance of sticking to liquids during the healing phase. If they told us WHY we have to do it, it wouldn't be such a burden! Obviously we want to give our bands the best possible chance to succeed and stay with us over the long term, and healing in place properly is KEY to that.

Mark, your stomach is a muscle and if you've ever injured a muscle you know that immobility is called for. solid food makes the stomach move around, and you want it to stay as still as possible during the healing phase. So follow your doctor's advice and stick to liquids as long as necessary.

Congratulations on your banding!

It's kinda like "Because I said so"!!!!!!!!!! Not really, I heard to that it was due to healing. My doctor requires 4 weeks of full liquid.

The explanation I got was for healing and to allow the band to settle. Once you start solids it is human nature to test the limits and IF you push it before you have had time to heal the complication rate goes up alot! NO vomiting- so stick to the liquid so your new tummy doesnt have to work until the band is scarred into place. Liquids run thru and do not require work .

That was the explanantion I received from the surgeon!! Good Luck to you.

I share(d) your annoyance with the lack of explanation on why. I'm now 10 weeks post op and I think (maybe) it is also to get a clean break from your old (bad) eating habits and get a genuine fresh start. Now that I can eat more normal foods, I'm having a hard time not eating my old favorites that got me into this mess.

Like the wise heads before me have said, the liquid then mushies rules are all about healing. I find it unbelievable how many people come here to LBT and haven't had this explained clearly to them.

Your stomach needs time to form a good bed of scar tissue around the band so that it will not move, causing a slip. Band slippage can be caused by other things, such as vomiting, at any stage, but if it is firmly secured from the start, then your chances of a slip later on are greatly reduced.

Think about you internal healing by looking at your external scars. When you look at your scars at 3 weeks out, they are still red, just knitted together, but not yet fully scarred up or strongly bonded. Your stomach and around your port site will look the same, just on the inside. We put bandaids and later Vitamin E on the outside to help healing, but the inside needs care by being allowed to rest - hence the liquid diet. I was also told no heavy lifting for 6 to 8 weeks either, for the same reason.

I had 1 day clear liquids, 3 weeks full liquids and 3 weeks mushies / transition back to normal food (our dietician has a 3 week transition program to follow during the mushy phase).

Thanks for all the explanations everyone. I was had the same question! Makes sense now!