I read on here were so many people can't tolerate so many foods but so far I'm not one of them.....what's wrong with me? I've been on soft foods for a week today and I've even eaten baked chicken and bake pork chop in small bites and chewed like the dickens and they are fine. I don't blend things, I just try to stick to really soft easy to chew foods but so far, it's all been my friend. I even ate a helping of Turkey chili and was fine. I even ate a little bit off a pork rib from Sonny Bryan's and that was fine too. Am I a freak????????

Becky, many people are like you and can tolerate those foods with certain level of restriction, but as the level of restriction rises it becomes a little more time consuming ot eat thosefoods, it requires a lot slower pace, much smaller bites. How much fill do you have...you will notice the more fill you have the harder it becomes, I could eat steak with no problem with my 1st and 2nd fill but my 3rd fill I stay away from steak, it gets stuck no matter how much I chew or how small of a bite I take.

LaMadam's right, Becky. What people can and can't tolerate changes dramatically over time. The only thing I've had a problem with from the very start was scrambled eggs. But now that seems to have settled down a bit and I can eat them in small amounts.

It's not a hard-and-fast thing, restriction. Over time you'll find out what your body likes and doesn't like, what your band lets you eat and what it wants you to think twice about. It's an ongoing learning curve.

Becky, are you saying that you are in the "soft food stage" and have just recently been banded? If so, please be careful and follow your dr's eating instructions. It's important not to eat foods that require a lot of digestion before your band has had time to anchor. This is to avoid problems later on down the road.

I was able to eat everything an anything before I got my first fill! You're supposed to stick to liquids and mushies for the first couple of weeks and I did for the most part but I would occasionally cheat and I found out I could eat everything before I got my fill.

Well, You might be a freak, but I am one too... I still haven't been filled and I can eat everything I've tried, including cheeseburgers and french fries

My DH insisted that I had some restriction, but I told him everything, and now he's kinda peeved Peeved in a loving way of course ...

Okay, I have some perspective here that might help you, Becky, and I'd like some feedback from others as well...

I have been banded 6 weeks now, so I am off full muchies and on to regular food. For the past several weeks I had been sticking to "full mushies" which was pretty much anything with small bites, chewed to bits, and eaten slowly. I ate guacamole and tostitos, Soups, well chewed, oatmeal, Beans, chili, very mushy chicken salad, mushy mexican (beans, guac, salsa, w/ fajita juice and chopped chicken/onion/pepper) and the like. I had been doing fine, even added in salads (which take forEVER to eat) but tolerated all this well. Just like you have.

Well, these past two days I have been experimenting with heavier foods, eating the hard protiens first, etc. Boy, do I feel my restriction now!!!

The difference is, I am no longer eating to get past the band because of healing. I am eating to fill the pouch, right? Still chewing like mad, small bites, slow. But the hard protiens are killing me!

Last night I had a yummy dinner, 6 small nasty little meatballs in mushroom gravy, maybe 1/3 cup green beans and 1/4 cup corn. No rice, no dessert, nothing else, but I did drink coffee after dinner and I didn't wait 2 hours. Okay, maybe an hour tops.

Later that evening, I hopped on the computer and brought with me some chicken salad my sister made. Not the mushy stuff, this was the chunky, large pieces of white meat ckn with grapes, walnuts, apples and not much mayo, just enough to coat. YUMMY!!!! So I had maybe 3 bites and started sliming. Not the golf ball stuck, but the "I ate one bite too many" slime. And I spit up that last bite of slimed up well chewd chicken salad. EW.

Now THAT, is restriction, right? Tell me folks...do I have this right? Do I have the difference between eating to go through the band and eating to stay above in the pouch? I have to say, eating to go through the band is really easy to do, as you can attest, Becky. I'm pretty sure you were banded just a few weeks after me, so maybe this will help you.

I read on here were so many people can't tolerate so many foods but so far I'm not one of them.....what's wrong with me? I've been on soft foods for a week today and I've even eaten baked chicken and bake pork chop in small bites and chewed like the dickens and they are fine. I don't blend things, I just try to stick to really soft easy to chew foods but so far, it's all been my friend. I even ate a helping of Turkey chili and was fine. I even ate a little bit off a pork rib from Sonny Bryan's and that was fine too. Am I a freak????????

I could tolerate anything until my first fill -- then I couldn't tolerate carrots just by themself.

So far, with my 2nd fill, I have been fine-although chicken is kind of hard.

You probably won't have issues until you start getting fills and having better restriction.

jayme

Kathy....thanks so much for your post. I'm like you, I don't know what I'm supposed to be doing right now. I just eat until I start feeling full then I stop. I wait until at least an hour or more before I drink anything and I just pray I'm doing it right. I've been told the first several weeks after surgery it's all about healing and not weight loss and I keep telling myself that over and over but I count every calorie that goes into my mouth. The most calories I've had since surgery on April 29th in a day was 900. I've had baked pork chops one time and I tolerated that fine. Other than those I've pretty much stuck with chicken or tuna from the can and I mash those to doodle dust before I eat. I read every post on here so I can gain insight into how other people did it so I get it right. I just hope and pray that I am cause I so want to get the weight off forever!

Now THAT, is restriction, right? Tell me folks...do I have this right? Do I have the difference between eating to go through the band and eating to stay above in the pouch?

Ab-so-TIVELY, Kathy! You've got it, exactly. Now comes the hard part--really internalizing the fact that your small dinner IS dinner, and that you really don't have room for any more snacks/munching later in the evening. That's the real head work.

You're a bandster now, bestme!! :)

the key is in the CHEWING and EATING SLOW!!! I have been learning this ALOT lately...even after 7.5 months!!

Ab-so-TIVELY, Kathy! You've got it, exactly. Now comes the hard part--really internalizing the fact that your small dinner IS dinner, and that you really don't have room for any more snacks/munching later in the evening. That's the real head work.

You're a bandster now, bestme!! :)

Wow! Thanks Alex! It's hard to believe I have this right, and it concerns me that it hurts to eat the yummy chicken salad my sister made. I fed it to DH for dinner, so hopefully the bowl will be empty soon, hehe! It really only takes eating maybe an ounce or two of that chicken (plus the other stuff in there) to get full. Hard to believe, see Becky, this is what you have to look forward to!!! It works!!

Now THAT, is restriction, right? Tell me folks...do I have this right? Do I have the difference between eating to go through the band and eating to stay above in the pouch? I have to say, eating to go through the band is really easy to do, as you can attest, Becky. I'm pretty sure you were banded just a few weeks after me, so maybe this will help you.

Kathy you worded that perfectly

You are right on