I love Mexican food. Can I have fat free refried beans with spicy salsa when I'm ready for soft foods? I'm still on full liquids and am so sick of shakes and dreaming about real food.

I think refried beans with salsa would be great for mushy stage, it has protein and fiber which are both really important. The fat grams would be the least of my worries because you won't be able to eat that much anyway. One thing that I have noticed (not immediately after surgery, since my second fill only) is that heart burn is a lot more common and worse with any kind of spicy foods. I NEVER had heart burn before the band, not even when I was pregnant. This is probably caused because the food "settles" almost under your left breast which is higher up near your esophagus. I can feel the food where it sits and it seems like it is my throat sometimes. Another experience I am having is that spicy food is almost too spicy for my pallet anymore. My hubby thinks it is because I don't eat as much or as many different foods as I used to and I am just not used to spicy anymore. I used to LOVE green chiles, jalapeno's, green chile pork, hot salsa etc. Now I can barely handle medium salsa and forget green chile pork! Everyone is different but I think fat free refried beans will work just fine for mushies. Also you can chicken tortilla soup either campbell's or wolfgang puck's and run them through a food processor or blender, they are not that spicy but I am sure you can add some spice to them. That was what I ate everyday for about 2 months and I still eat them for lunch. Good luck with your journey!

Audrician. Thank you for sharing with me your experience with spicy food. Can anyone else tolerate spicy foods?

Everyone is different with the band. Before the band I could not eat anything spicy. Even a plain old hotdog gave me heartburn. I am very very restricted (3.6cc out of a 4cc band) and I never get heartburn from foods. I eat the spiciest food I can tolerate with my mouth right now and it is exciting. I do get heartburn but from the craziest thing - any kind of chapstick known to man immediately causes insane heartburn. In essence, we are all different and believe me - every fill is different.

I eat spicy stuff all of the time. My husband makes homemade salsa and I get the fat free refried beans to sooth my spicy food craving. Also,yo might want to try making Chicken tortilla soup without the tortillas. Every band is different, but mine is allowing me to eat spicy. Take it slow and see what your tummy can handle.

The spicier the better for me. Ive not had any issues with spicy food. Its sometimes a bit challenging to wait a few hours to drink something after a spicy meal though.

Oh. I never thought of that-having to wait an hour after eating spicy foods. I may have the break that rule now and then.

Audrician, I just ran across your posts from last Sept. on the low BMI boards. Has your husband accepted your lapband surgery? From the lasts posts that I read, it seems like he was.

I ate so many FF refried beans on the mushy stage that my husband thought I would start speaking Spanish:) I would heat them with a little salsa and ff cheese. Then I would put some ff sour cream on the top. It was so good. Never had any problem with it. Still don't and I have had two fills.

I really like fresh jalepenos, I just like to bite them with whatever I am eating, I will chew them real good.