My doctor insists on liquids for 3 weeks. Why do some doctors allow more to eat after 1 week than others? My surgery was 11/1 and I'm starving! Is it OK to have some soup broth and really soft foods? My doctor is very strict.

Cindy,

I was also banded on 11/1. My surgeon requires 2 weeks of clear liquids, then 2 weeks of full liquids, then pureed. So I have an even stricter schedule than you! We need to stick with it because the longer the band has to scar into place the better. If you start eating even soft foods, the stomach has to churn to start the digestion process. As it churns, it moves around. You need to stay off the food so the bad can seat itself. That's what I have been told. They told me to sip on diluted fruit juice constantly. Don't worry about the calories right now. Now is time for healing...

Find the strength my friend...it will be better for you in the long run.

Hi Cindy, I was banded on the 1st as well and I was told I could now have thicker Soups but must be blended so my sister cooked me up some vege soup and blended it for me. I found I could only have 1/2 cup each time. If it gets too thick, I Water it down slightly. I am also now allowed jelly and light custard... had no trouble eating them and don't feel hungry.

I must say, I'm amazed at what some people are eating in the early stages but if their doctors say they can. who am I to say they shouldn't.

my dr starts out on mushies while still in the hosp. Go figure!

Truly... I couldn't imagine eating anything those first few days... only just managing thick soup and it's day 10 for me. I guess 1/2 cup of mushies would be ok now.

Be grateful! I don't get mushies until after six weeks!

As to why the variation, I can only assume that each doctor is making adjustments to his or her schedule based on the results seen in the office. In fact, while I was leaving my initial consultation, my doctor decided to move blended soups to the second phase when I can have full liquids instead of in the first two weeks. I heard him tell the nutritionist that too many of his patients were reporting problems. I also don't know if we might have a tad more restriction in the beginning with the new AP band.

Anyway, as tough as it is, I'm going to follow his schedule.

I was on full liquids for the 1st week. The 2nd week I could have mushies and I was ready by day 6! Sorry that you dr. is so strict.

I would recommend that you call the dr. office and talk to a nurse and tell them you are really hungry and ask if you can have a little mush.

Just a forewarning...I gained 3 lbs the week that I started back on mushies. My body jumped right out of starvation mode and was hanging on to every calorie.

Wow, every doctor is different! You would think there would be one set of criteria. My doctor doesn't want us to ever have soup or broth. Something about the salt and that it goes through the stoma too easily. He wants his patients to lose as much weight as possible in the first few weeks to get a good start. But I'm feeling weak and malnourished. I would rather lose at a slower pace and feel healthy. Blended soup sounds like Heaven at this point!

Cindy, it's hard to help because you should listen to your doctor but at the same time, you could have had your surgery with any one of our doctors and doing it differently. I think it is a good idea to speak to your doctor's office and see what they say. I only started on thicker soup because I spoke to the nurse about what I was eating and she said that it was okay to have that now and as I mentioned earlier, jelly & light custard. I agree that you should be doing this the healthy way. It sounds like he wants quick success stories... remember it is a business for them and the more you lose, the better he can sell it. A little cynicism doesn't hurt I guess.

i was banded yesterday morning, nov 9. my instructions are 2 days clear, then days 3-7 full liquid, then mushies for 2 weeks. today i have sipped gatorade and had a few bites of jello, and about a cup of broth.

Sades, I also think that my doc likes quick success stories. His nurse told me that I could have Dannon yogurt smoothies. I'm having a cup of soup broth right now and it tastes great! I don't plan to fess up to him however. I just have to drink really slow so the gas doesn't come back. If I starve his way for 2 more weeks then I'm afraid I'll want to go crazy once he allows mushies. Just like Tulipstar said, your body goes into starvation mode and then tries to hord the calories at first. I'll be happy with a steady, consistent weight loss. It's almost winter anyway so we could all look forward to a more comfortable, slimmer summer.

The way it was explained in an article about my doctor, he believes that we have fewer problems if we don't introduce solid foods too soon. He is very conservative about fills, too. He encourages his patients to have as much food as they need in order not to feel hungry. So when you look at his total philosophy, it does not necessarily result in fast weight loss. He told me, when I asked, that he rarely has to do an unfill and his patients rarely get stuck, PB, or slime. I chose him for this approach as I had begun to think that the band worked as some sort of aversion therapy diet.

I haven't been hungry at all so far. There are certainly some foods I wish I could eat but it's not from actual hunger. I can see this long break from normal food helping me break the bad habits I used to have and appreciate healthy food as it is reintroduced into my diet. His approach is not the only way but it seems right for me.

I'm not knocking the process Longhorn, I understand that we need to follow what rules our doctors give us but from what I've read here over the last couple of months it seems that the standard is 2 weeks fluids, 2 weeks mushies. In Cindy's case, her doc doesn't believe in having broth... so what makes him more right about this than any of our drs. I'm just saying you also have to make sure that you are not being starved by a doc who actually said he wants his patients to lose the weight as quickly as possible.

I'm not knocking the process Longhorn, I understand that we need to follow what rules our doctors give us but from what I've read here over the last couple of months it seems that the standard is 2 weeks fluids, 2 weeks mushies. In Cindy's case, her doc doesn't believe in having broth... so what makes him more right about this than any of our drs. I'm just saying you also have to make sure that you are not being starved by a doc who actually said he wants his patients to lose the weight as quickly as possible.

I didn't think you were knocking anything, Sades, and I'm sorry if I sounded argumentative. I just wanted to make sure that I had presented a complete picture of my doctor's philosophy because, while I believe that what you're saying may very well be true for some doctors, I haven't had any indication that my doctor is looking for quick success stories. In fact, he has cautioned me that weight loss should be slow but steady. I didn't have to do a severe pre-op diet, either -- just a low-carb diet, high Protein diet. I lost a whopping three pounds in that two weeks! :P

I didn't think you were knocking anything, Sades, and I'm sorry if I sounded argumentative. I just wanted to make sure that I had presented a complete picture of my doctor's philosophy because, while I believe that what you're saying may very well be true for some doctors, I haven't had any indication that my doctor is looking for quick success stories. In fact, he has cautioned me that weight loss should be slow but steady. I didn't have to do a severe pre-op diet, either -- just a low-carb diet, high Protein diet. I lost a whopping three pounds in that two weeks! :P

I also don't want to upset anyone. Besides I was talking about the comments Cindy's doc made. In the end we all have to follow our dr's rules, which I must say I am doing to the letter and it seems to be working fine for me.

i've discovered that if you add a few drops of A1 to your beef broth it greatly improves it!