Are you finding it easy to eat?

[Sally Johnston 357]

Last year I asked my Facebook followers the foods that were always on their shopping list since having weight loss surgery. Read more about their responses.

Last year I asked my Facebook followers the foods that were always on their shopping list since having weight loss surgery. Following were the most common responses:

• yoghurt
  
• mince
  
• avocado
  
• eggs
  
• porridge
  
• cottage cheese
  
• low fat ice cream.
  

What do you notice about this list? What do all these foods have in common? They are all ‘easy to eat’ foods.

This theme resurfaced in a similar conversation I observed recently about crackers. Following weight loss surgery, some people prefer to choose crackers over bread. It seems that easy to eat crackers, the ‘puffed’ varieties that dissolve in the mouth like Cruskits™, are a popular choice. You can eat them more easily, allowing you to also eat more of them, than a more challenging and nutritious cracker, like a grainy Vita-weat® or Ryvita®. So why are you choosing easy to eat foods?

The purpose of weight loss surgery is to feel satisfied on a smaller amount of food, preferably nutritious food. So I ask, what would make you feel more satisfied? Taking time to chew, chew, chew through the higher fibre, more nutritious, grainy Ryvita® or Vita-weat® crackers? Or taking half the time and effort for the Cruskits™ to dissolve in your mouth after a quick, half-hearted chew? It is an experiment worth doing. Perhaps also note how many of each of the crackers you need to eat to feel satisfied, as well as how long you remain satisfied after eating them.

In the hundreds of weight loss surgery clients I have seen I have noticed that after recovering from weight loss surgery some people never really progress past the ‘soft food’ stage of mornays, stews, casseroles and mince dishes. Or, they progress onto more solids foods but gradually slip back in to these softer, easier to eat foods, particularly those with a gastric band, as their band is adjusted and becomes tighter. I recall conversations with clients telling me they prefer the soft foods as they are “easy” and they “can eat more”. However, when we discuss this further, their true hunger is satisfied just as much on a smaller serve of a food, which is more challenging to eat. Eating larger amounts of soft, sloppy food or easy to eat, ‘dissolvable’ food is eating to satisfy our eyes, rather than our true hunger.

I am fully aware that some people with a gastric band have difficulty eating particular foods. I also believe however that there are thousands of people with poorly managed gastric bands that are not able to eat healthy, solid food. Unfortunately there is a misconception with gastric bands that tighter equals better, and that regurgitation is normal. Whilst I have no scientific studies to back this up, in my work the people I see who successfully lose and maintain their lost weight with a gastric band are those who can eat a good variety of solid, healthy foods, not those who must survive on Protein Shakes, Soups and juices as their band is too tight to eat anything else. If you can’t eat a range of healthy foods please speak to your team, or get a second opinion. It may be that you need to work on your eating technique, or you may need some medical intervention.

Unfortunately the perception that easy to eat foods are necessary has become quite widespread and is not only confined to the gastric band community and with many online weight loss surgery communities these beliefs spread.

Are you choosing easy to eat foods out of habit? Could you eat more challenging foods that will satisfy you more? Consider this ‘food for thought’ as you move forward on your journey.

[parisshel 1,892]

This is a timely article for me to read. I've always kept my band a bit looser, not so I could overindulge, but because I had a deep fear of ever getting stuck. Having a "looser" band allowed me to choose from a variety of foods (I still did not eat bread, Pasta, rice or potatoes, as these were poorly tolerated by my band and in fact I didn't need them in terms of calories). I greatly enjoy my salads, raw veggies, etc...things that bandsters with too-tight bands avoid. I never once had to reach for a Protein shake, Soup or other (except after a fill of course).

Now, due to an ill-advised course of anti-inflammatories that made my stomach swell immensely (the organ, not my tummy), I am living the way-too-tight experience. I cannot for the life of me see how someone would want to live this on a daily basis. I cannot even drink Water without PB-ing (unless it is warm, and unless I take tiny sips). I'm living on yogurt (takes 2 hours to eat a little pot of yogurt), hot tea, Soups (again, two hours to drink a bowl) and right now I've been staring into my tuna fish since noon. (It is 2:30 pm and I haven't made a dent in it).

I went to get my band unfilled but the radiologist who read the fluoscopy said my band is fine. It's not my band that is tight, it is my stomach that is swollen. With double doses of Nexium over the next weeks, the swelling should go down so he suggested I just tough it out until then rather than get an unfill, and then a refill...etc etc.

This episode has given me a real taste at what some people opt to do with their lapbands and I just can't understand why they'd do this by choice. It's certainly not enjoyable, nor no way to live in the longterm.

[2muchfun 8,927]

Well said. I suffer from morning tightness, so any tighter and I'd be in danger of filtering out many of the good Proteins I need. I keep my band just tight or loose enough that I don't have to rely on a shake for Breakfast. I can eat an omelet, or an ham/egg on flatbread sandwich.

I've seen far too many people who have failed and had to have revision due to what I would consider a "too tight" band. They're posting here daily where they did so well for 2 years and now their band slipped or their pouch or esophagus is dilated. They're tired of the stuck episodes and constant vomiting. If this is how your journey is developing, it's time to re-evaluate how this lapband thing is supposed to work.

And I do believe, for many years, the band was sold as a restrictive tool. And many use it this way. It's not restrictive. It's supposed to assuage our hunger, not stop food from going into our stomach.

I would like more restriction, but it's just not worth the risk. I plan on using this band for at least a decade. I may not have the restriction I've seen so many others have, but, my band is dimming my appetite enough that I can still lose weight if I exercise hard and eat healthy.

tmf

[lisacaron 5,075]

I can say I am in the same boat and at times the tide is in and others the tide is out. I have some days where I am more restricted because of allergies or cold/flu though never to the point that only liquids can be taken. I have had that once after being sick, and it was not something I could or would want to live with for any extended amount of time.

Thankfully it cleared up and I did not have to have Fluid removed. I'm at a good place with my band today. I am able to eat solid foods, and keep the portions in check. That's right where I want to be. When I have days where stress cinches my band because all the rest of my body is tense, I know it already and I will take it easy on my choices of foods, and lets just say I won't be eating a steak or dry chicken breast.

I have learned even before banding that when those days come along, it's better to eat light and easy. Before banding I would get very sick if I ate heavy while under extreme stress, and now I have to say I'm glad that with the band I just can't get it down cause at least I am not sick for days

[steph2012 252]

I couldn't agree more. I have always wanted my band as loose as possible so that I could eat whatever I wanted but still contine to lose weight. There's obviously trade-offs. I have difficulty with certain foods but CAN eat anything if careful. Saying that, I have chosen not to eat breads, pastas, etc because they take up far to much space in my stomach and offer very little in terms of nutritional value & satiety.

I haven't lost as quickly as some of my more restrictive friends but I'm still able to enjoy life & food & eating in public.

I've also seen many friends that have come to a complete weight loss halt. One has to remember that a certain level of caloric intake has to be maintianed for the body to function properly & not hold on to fat reserves.

[2muchfun 8,927]

I agree with all of the above statements. I just wish doctors would filter their lapband patients more carefully. Maybe using a psychologist with extensive WLS knowledge to advise these patients as to how complex WLS can be. Especially how complex the lapband experience can be.

I'm not saying it's complex for everyone, but for those who do not succeed, the complexities overwhelm them. Many of the obese who never understood basic nutrition and how their health interacts with nutrition and activity, should never be introduced to the lapband. But so many were and are sold on the lapband as a quick fix that makes them eat less. So not true.

Sorry for the rant.

tmf

[Sally Johnston 357]

Thanks to you all for reading and more importantly, for sharing your experiences. I enjoy learning more and more from people living with weight loss surgery. Sally

[swimbikerun 1,037]

Wow. I never would have guessed any of those foods. Mine is always salad, veggies and fruit, with lean Proteins. If I want anything fattening, then I make it. That means a cookie or something and I make it to share with others. I'm not a chocolate fan.

Tonight, I went and got salad with chickpeas, Beans, peas, egg, and then some chicken. I also got some fruit. I'll eat off this until tomorrow. I have some other left over salad I'll eat too. Most people would put a good amount of cheese on it but dairy and I don't seem to get along any more.

That really surprises me.