Hi everyone. I'm seriously considering getting the band in the next few months, but I have a question about eating "real" food.

I know that my more successful dieting attempts have included being able to eat "real" food just in smaller quantities. I try to avoid a lot of fake sugar and overprocessed low-fat things. (I'd rather have 1/2 an oz of "real" cheese than eat a ton of low-fat.) I'd rather go without sugar or have fruit than eat a lot of artificial sweeteners.

Is it possible and reasonable to eat whole, real foods with the band? I don't mind picking leaner options as long as they're natural foods. (Ie, we're looking into buying local grass fed beef, eggs from local pasture raised chickens, veggies from local farms, etc.) I have a little one and we're trying to start eating whole, organic foods as a family and try to develop some good eating habits as he grows up.

I know that there's a period where shakes/smoothies are necessary, but I'm wondering how many people end up living off of "diet" food and supplimental food after the healing process is done.

Just the opposite for me, I no longer do any sort of shakes, did them for a short period of time while healing is all.

The goal for me is just what you speak of. I find myself choosing quality now as opposed to my old mind set of quantity. I prefer to pay for a nice tender, juicy filet, and know it will be more than enough food. I prefer to go to the farmers market and buy a few select fresh veggies in season, than buy canned or frozen. With the amount of money I save in quantities of food, not to mention the chips and Cookies, etc....and then add in the savings in prescription meds---it is not an issue to buy higher quality, better tasting, more nutritious foods.

When you know you only have a small space to fill---you want to choose the best nutritionally packed food you can for that space. And when you only eat small amounts, you find you want as much flavor as possible packed in that. I love spicy mexican food! You get to really taste your food when you chew it to the consistency we do. You choose ones that taste good! Every now and then you grab something from your past--my latest was a bite of my granddaughters Little Debbie cookie----it ended up feeling like I had smeared grease on the roof of my mouth and my teeth, it grossed me totally out!!

Yes you can eat real food---that is the goal.

It is working for me!

Welcome to LBT!

Kat

I eat all kinds of food, just finished a small peice of steak and a sweet potato. Sometimes I eat diet food, sometimes not. You can certainly be successful with whole natural food if that is your preference!

I'm a wholehearted advocate of just what you're suggesting.

There is no way I got banded to spend my life on a diet, living on diet food.

I eat natural, whole foods, plenty of them healthy and some of them more treat foods. I eat fibre because I eat grains, bread and plenty of fruit and vegetables. I make up my calorie deficit with exercise rather than being ultra tight so that I can fit those foods in. I've also been lucky becuase sometimes what your band lets you do and what you plan to do are two different things. Many people simply CANT eat some of the foods I do.

But I eat the whole fat version of most things (except milk, cant stand full cream milk). I dont eat artificial sweeteners, if I want something sweet then I have it. I just eat much less than I used to eat - although I was quite a healthy eater pre band, I had way too MANY treats, and I've had to work to avoid those.

I take a Multivitamin because lets face it, we dont eat a hell of a lot once we're banded. Its insurance. But I find no need to supplement with Protein, have never had a Protein shake, probably eat around 50 to 60 grams of protein a day which is no doubt "not enough" for my 160lb frame and activity levels, but hey, I"m healthy, I have energy, I have not wasted away all my muscles and I didnt lose my hair.

Nobody will ever convince me that Protein shakes, avoiding carbs etc is necessary. Just eat less and move more, it works.

Thanks ladies! That's exactly what I was hoping to hear. I"m calling the doc's office tomorrow and hoping to get this all going by April !

I'd have to qualify that by saying if I wasnt a dedicated runner and exercised hard and regularly all the way through, I dont know that it would have worked so well as it did for me. It really was necessary to make up a lot of the calorie deficit by activity.

But in the end, its only calories in/calories out, no matter what you eat.

That is the same thing i was wondering. I have been thinking about having the surgury too. I have an appointment March 3 to see about it. I didn't know if I would ever be able to eat "real" food again. This information has really helped me.

Terri

I attended a seminar last night (my DH is thinking about banding now, and after I accompanied him to see the surgeon for the first time, the surgeon asked me if I would be the speaker).

The advice they gave was that once banded your daily menu should look something like this:

breakfast: a small bowl of wholegrain Cereal

morning tea: fruit

lunch: half a sandwich with Protein and salad

afternoon tea: yogurt

dinner: a palm sized piece of protein and a cup of steamed vegetables.

The advice was that you should be able to handle SOME bread, in small quanities, Pasta and rice too. That eating meat was down to chewing properly. Of course we all know that sometimes in reality there's just foods you cant handle.

One lady attending was American. She spoke up about protein first. The surgeon running the seminar said they've been doing lapbands here for over 13 years, they've NEVER seen any proof that protein is any more necessary than any other nutrients and that in fact high protein consumption is dangerous for bone health becuase doubling your protein doubles the excretion of Calcium from your body (which is why it can cause kidney stones).

She said following the basic food pyramid, eating a wide variety is still the way to go.

Now I know you guys get different advice and who knows what is REALLY right and wrong, but 13 years of successful banding in Australia on people who are NOT advised to follow that sort of diet, and who on the whole are statistically as successful as anywhere else has surely got to indicate that you can indeed eat real food and carbs and never drink one of those shakes and still lose weight!

I have to be honest -- Protein shakes are very helpful in the beginning because they go down very easily and provide protein, nutrients and carbs. I can't imagine what I would have eaten in the very beginning of post-op if I hadn't had my shakes. That being said, I didn't opt for the completely carb-less shakes. I used a soy protein blend and mine had carbs and averaged about 300 calories each (mainly because I made them with milk). The important thing is that I felt fine and I was eating what I felt was less "fake."

Now, I'm onto the mushy phase and haven't had a protein shake yet in this phase. I typically eat egg salad, hummus, chicken salad, tuna salad, mashed potatoes, refried Beans, fresh fish (sole and tilapia) and yogurt. I could probably stand to eat more vegetables, but I feel that right now I'm making good food decisions and am able to eat real food that isn't overly processed. I, too, take a multivitamin (Viactiv chewables).

Oh, I'm fine with shakes, etc at the beginning. I just don't know if I'd choose this option if I was going to spend the rest of my life eating shakes and highly processed diet food.

It's not even so much a carb issue for me as just a normal "food" issue. I'm not a huge cheese freak, but it makes for a good example. :thumbup: Right now I'm doing weight watchers in anticipating of surgery in a couple months and I'd WAY rather spend a couple points on a little goat cheese or sharp cheddar cheese (1/2 oz is plenty for flavor) than four times that much fat free cheese or a bunch of fat free dressing.

ABsolutely, without a doubt, being fat is a huge health risk for me--the biggest risk. But I think we're going find over time that a lot of our fake/diet/sugarfree foods aren't doing us any favors in the health department. I can bet my future on small amounts of real food. Not sure I could do the same if I knew my future consisted of Protein shakes and splenda.

Thanks for all the input!

I eat very similarly to you, and I am doing fine. My doctor put me on 'soft proteins' starting on day 4 after surgery and I never had a phase where I had to drink protein shakes or do mushies. I was allowed to eat chicken, turkey, fish, beans(legumes,not green), cottage cheese, low fat cheese, low fat/low sugar yogurt. I followed this until my first fill. Once I had my first fill (and did liquids the soft foods again for a few days) I could eat virtually anything. I could eat all vegetables and fruits (being careful with the ones that are common troublemakers for banders, like citrus and asparagus). Basically, because I'm trying to lose weight, my diet consists of proteins and vegetables, then fruit if I have room. I avoid starches pretty much, but sometimes have brown rice or whole wheat pasta. Basically you can eat anything with the band that you can tolerate. Weight loss comes faster if you avoid starches.My doctor is a strong advocate of eating real food and we are not advised to eat any protein bars or drink any protein shakes. Have you chosen a doctor yet? That might be something to consider as you look for one. I am very happy that I have been encouraged to eat real food. One of the best parts of the band, for me, is that since my portions are so restricted I have to be very particular about what choices I make and it has gotten really easy to choose wisely. My diet is very healthy now.