Hi All,

I know every Doc is different, but I am a bit curious...

I am on my second week of liquids and HUNGRY! I have to wait two weeks until I can start mushy foods. I see some have started mushy foods eariler and some start later.

my Dr. started me liquids 1 week , than soft soilds(mush stage) on day 7 and day 15 I started regular food.

I was on liquids for two weeks, then went to mushies / soft foods for four more weeks.

At six weeks I was able to begin regular foods... Yep, each surgeon is different... :eek:

My dr. suggests 7 days liquid only, 8 days mushies. However, I was starving and 'ready' after day 5 and everything was great. I just ate very very soupy plain mashed potatos for 2-3 days and I have no regrets!

Week 1: Clear Liquids

Week 2: "Full" liquids (which are just thicker like Protein shakes)

Week 3 pureed foods ( you could protein in a blender and drink it. Yuck, I stayed on full liquids.

Week 4: Mushies: scrambled eggs, cottage cheese.

I followed the first two weeks fairly strictly, Third week I stayed on full liquids a few extra days and then one or two meals a day, I started to slowly add things like tomato Soup, scrambled eggs. By week four, I has turkey meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green Beans eaten very slowly and well chewed.

At almost seven weeks out and just after second fill, I still eat mostly soft food and still drink a meal here or there, to get my protein in.

My diet right now consists of mainly, Protein drinks, soft lean cuisines ( like meatloaf) scrambled eggs, salmon, turkey meatloaf, green beans, some Soups and yogurt.

I am careful right now since I just got a fill and trying to figure out what my band will tolerate right now.

I also track my calories and protein daily.

Two weeks would have been hard for me too.

I started mushies on week 2.

Hang in there. This too shall pass.

C.N.

That is a popular question:

http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f9/how-many-days-before-mushies-30582/

http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f17/how-soon-mushy-foods-1187/

http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f84/why-do-some-doctors-allow-you-eat-mushy-1-week-post-op-44909/

http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f84/how-long-before-you-were-eating-mushy-food-27508/

Does it matter? It seems we are trying to either trying to validate our cheating on OUR doc's post-op diet ("See, someone else can have mushy food in three days, I was okay to eat those mashed potatoes, etc...") or it is to see if others have cheated with us, or it is find other to commiserate with ("My doc is sooo strict, yours is too? Thank goodness someone else understands.").

Really, does it matter? You should be STICKING like GLUE to what YOUR DOCTOR (or nutritionist) told you to do. I wasn't allowed mushies until after three weeks. I could do pureed after two weeks. I think. I don't honestly remember and it's only been six months. See how it fades? It seems awful right now (and it was, that part I DO remember), but this is your life and your BAND. Stick to the diet, please. PLEASE do not get jealous of what someone else can do and think it's okay for you to do it, too.

And please please please do not fall into the trap of "I chewed it really well, it went down fine, I feel fine, so it is okay." It's NOT okay. See Wendell's thread in the FAQ section about how the band really works for a good description of why eating early is bad. A year or two down the line someone may have a slip (they rarely know what causes slips), then I wonder if they think back to when they had that piece of pizza "chewed really well" and wonder if that contributed to it.

I honestly believe that a)surgeons are sick to death of hearing us food addicts (I'm including myself here, otherwise I wouldn't be fat) whine and cry and piss and moan about how we can't possibly go a week or two or three on liquids so rather than have us cheat and eat something like fried chicken or pizza or steak they relented and went for the lesser of the evils and gave us the "mushy" phase a litle early. b)the other thought is the surgical technique has improved over the years and the sutures are a bit better and the new AP band and the Swedish band (Realize in the US) and the Midband are wider bands and thus should stay in place better and have less of a tendency to slip. But do we know that for sure yet? Hoe long term are the studies (and are there any large studies that demonstrate that shorter liquid and mushy phases do NOT contirbute to band complications?).

I think it NEVER hurts to go a bit longer on each of the stages, especially the liquids stage. It gives your stomach a chance to heal and from scar tissue around the band to hold it in place (they can only suture on the front of the stomach, not the back, scars must form to hold the back in place) and to allow a "groove" to form for the band to settle in. The more you eat of food with more substance (yes even if you chew it really well) the more churning your stomach does to produce acids and enzymes to break that food down. Think about it. You walk into a bakery, you smell something wonderful, your mouth starts watering. You've started that digestive process. It's your body reacting to preparing for food. If you eat something you have to chew and chew, the body is producing lots of enzymes to break down that food. Producing those acids and enzymes causes (to a degree) some movement of the stomach muscle. Now I'm not saying it's in there running a race, but keeping the movements of the stomach to a minimum in the early days after banding is never a bad thing.

I second what Faith said. I can say without a doubt if my surgeon had told me to stay on liquids for a month I would have. I paid 15,000 for this band and there isn't anything I wouldn't do to make this work.

No matter how much you may miss food right now; you will miss your band more later if it happens to slip!

That being said I do wonder why there is a vast time difference in food stages?

I never said I was NOT going to do what my doctor said. He has his plan, and I trust him. I am just curious as to what other doctors say.

Wow, its amazing to see the difference among surgeons.

My doctors regime:

2 weeks Pre Op - very low calorie diet - Meal Replacement drinks/bars and low carb veggies, lean meat.

liquids week 1 and 2 (thin veggie soup ok)

mushy/pureed weeks 3 and 4 (where I am at now - its amazing what you can puree! baked Beans, eggs, lentils, hot dogs (the low fat type of course!))

Full diet week 5 onwards - anything you want. However he did say most of his patients find fresh white bread and Steak hard to digest.

I found I got really bored and hungry on liquids, so I started added flavour where I could (I love chilli, garlic, spice etc) So I used tabasco sauce, wasabi, liquid garlic etc to make it interesting. Surgeon said this was ok, if I tolerated it ok pre op, no problem doing it post op.

Looking forward to toast! I am craving toast (with vegemite of course - that salty brown spread the only Australian's love!)

LOL... vegemite I always wondered what that was (men at work) Good for you I can't believe you can eat wasabi I sprinkled a little garlic salt on my chunky soup last night and oh man am I paying for it this morning.

My surgeon's plan was -

For 2 weeks post op - Liquids

Weeks 2 to 4 - Mushies

Week 4 onwards - Solids

My doc requires 2 weeks of full liquids (cream soups, jello, pudding, etc.), then 2 weeks of puree'd foods (baby food consistency), then 1-2 weeks of soft foods (basically anything you can eat if you didn't have any teeth). However, the nutritionist said very clearly that if 2 weeks of puree's is too difficult, then you can shorten that to just 1 week of purees followed by 1-2 weeks of soft. She said not to determine anything until it comes right down to the time, though.

Mine was 2 weeks clear fluids, 2 weeks full fluids, then mushy starting with week 5.

I was told to have clear liquids for 48 hours and then fuller liquids for the next 5 days. After one week I could start the "mushy" phase. I cheated and started the mushy phase 4 days after surgery. I have had no problem and feel much more satisfied and sane.

shortgat, I am on the same plan as you, I will be printing out your post and use it as a guide along with my Drs. plan. I am 12 days out and cheated a few times, 1Tbs scrabled egg(become bloated) had a couple oz sliced turkey yesterday(just because) delicious. but am back on track. My appetite is returning slowly, hoping not to open the gates to food hell.

faithmd, sometimes we just need a kick in the ass Thank you