Hi All,

Banded on Jan 21 and I've lost 22 lbs! Okay, had one week clear, one week mushy and 2 weeks pureed - 3 oz, 5 x per day. Now, I'm supposed to start on real food. Guidelines are 1 cup ,3 x day and 1/2 Protein bar for a snack. I made some high protein Soups today to last through the week but I'm looking for more choices. Any suggestions? And, is this keeping with the "normal" food plan most people are given?

Can I smush a piece of pizza into a cup? HA!

Thanks!

If you're past the healing stage, I'd skip the Soup and move on to solid foods. My typical day looks like this:

Breakfast: scrambled eggs or small eggbeaters omelet with a little cheese and vegies or Kashi (protein fortified) oatmeal

Lunch: deli meat, lettuce or spinach, grated carrots, a little lite mayo, and maybe a little cheese on a sandwich made of Mountain bread (a flatbread, thinner than a tortilla, that doesn't cause me problems)

Dinner: salmon or other meat with cooked vegetables or Kashi Golean mixed with greek (high protein) yogurt and a little honey

Snack if necessary: yogurt or an ounce of cheese or a piece of deli meat

I figure it's good practice to mostly eat the solid Protein that will help me stay full when I reach ideal restriction, so I stay away from soup and Protein drinks and try to make more solid choices.

You can make a small pizza using mini pita bread or a small tortilla as a crust, if that's what you want to eat :-) Pita, sauce, sauteed vegies, sausage or pepperoni (I use the vegetarian versions), an ounce of mozzarella. Yum :-)

Maybe instead of thinking about a cup, think about 8 ounces? My nutritionist's suggestion was to try to stay within 4-6 oz per meal, with half of that made up of protein and the rest vegies and complex carbohydrates.

Hope that helps - you've made great progress so far - congrats, and keep up the good work :-)