Hello All,

I'm soon to be a banded 42 yr. old male. The surgery date is Aug. 9th! I'm still very much in the dark about what consists of a normal meal (once whole foods are incorperated). I hear different things; from a couple of bites to a plate full. I'm sure it's somewhere in between. Can ya'll give me some example of some daily meals? I'm having all these anxieties about how much , what, when, and how to eat! Any comments will be greatly apprecited. I'm glad that I have found this board! There is so much to learn.

Ray

Dr. Snow

Fort Worth, Texas

280/280/180

Its a bit anxiety provoking isnt it?. I keep thinking I'll never ever be able to enjoy food again if I do this.

Well I am only 9 days out and I am having ground turkey with mashed potatos for dinner tonight. After about 3 or 4 oz I am pretty full, but I am also newly banded, and still a bit swollen. I was told that after a fill I would be able to eat 4-6 oz. After I eat I remain full for 4 or 5 hours and then I start to think about eating something else. I am not starving ever 4 hours like before I was banded and I am not snacking at all. When I finish a meal I am not already thinking about what the next meal will be, that is a big step in the right direction for me. Like I said I am only 9 days out but I feel great and I am already thrilled with my band~Mandy

A sample menu for me right now is:

breakfast: 1 scrambled egg with some lowfat cheese melted in

lunch: 1/2 cup cream Soup or pureed chili with some crackers crushed in

Dinner: ground turkey mashed potatos and instant gravy (no fat)

I also have a protien shake each day just to make sure my protien is getting in there and loads of Water or diluted cranberry juice. I have also startd drinking decaf iced tea and decaf iced coffee with skim milk and splenda or stevia (a great sugar subsitute)

I think you will find a great variety of meals from different people and at different times/stages. The post surgery and healing time is described here alot. After that, people have different levels of restriciton. Until I had my second fill, I could eat anything I wanted. I just didn't want alot of the stuff I used to eat.

I think you will have various stages of eating and work through them. The big issues is that the band will be your friend through this - but for many of us, food was our friend and making and adjusting to new friends is difficult.

Read the messages around here and you will find lots of information. Good luck on your journey to good health.

What worries me about this process and the food selection afterwards is it sounds very heavy on the Protein very light on the fruit and veg. How on earth do you get your recommended 2 fruit, 5 veg in?

I can honestly say that if it involves minimal fruit and vegetables and being unable to eat many grain products like bread, that would probably make me lean towards not doing it personally. I feel like I may be of normal weight then, but not necessarily healthy. There's not a lot of long term studies of the effect of years and years of a diet like that.

I really dont believe in the virtue of high protein diets and whether or not you're at your proper weight, you cant eat eggs every day of the week and maintain normal cholesterol levels surely?

What about cereals, fruit, lean red meat?

I think I've changed my mind again. Sigh.

Jachut - My doc said; eat protein first then veggies. I'm also taking a bunch of vitamins since I'm not consuming the same amount of foods. You should talk to a nutrionist who is well informed about the lifestyle after gastric banding. You are the only one who can decide if this is right for you or not. I just got banded on 7/26 and went out tonight with 14 people for dinner. I felt fine and wasn't bothered by everyone ordering appetizers and desserts. I had a broiled fish platter and ate until I was full, about 4 oz and I was done. I did ate a little of the baked potatoe but I wasn't hungry. There may not be a lot of long-term studies, but it's been around for a long time (10yrs+) and even longer in the UK. There are many studies that confirm

obesity has negative effects on a healthy lifestyle and can even cut one's life short (heart attack, diabetes, stroke, etc..). Only you can decide what choice to make. Remember, this is a reversible surgery - God forbid you get sick and need to eat more. Good Luck!

According to the food guide that I was given you can eat almost anything that you want after you are healed. They reccomend avoiding lots of bread, rice and pasta, you should have the protein first but fruits and veggies are not out of the diet. I am also allowed cereal after 4 weeks, but it is just too hard on the stomach right now, like I said I am only 9 days out. Eggs everyday are not recomended, there are other options like oatmeal, cream of wheat and other warm cereals right now, and then cold after the healing time. I can have ground beef, but I prefer turkey or chicken, I can also have steak later on but that can be troublesome to some bandsters. I am also allowed lamb or fish, I just havent gone there yet. My family was never big on red meat or bread so this has been easy for me, it may not be for everyone and far be it from me to say that it is, really give it some time and read as much as possible before making any decision. Good luck in your quest for better health. ~Mandy

Thanks everyone for the great info. Like I said, I seem to learn more and more from this site. I'm excited bout My band date, Tue 9th. I'm going nuts right now on this pre-op liquid diet!!

Ray

hELLO Mandy

You mean to tell me you had the band 9 days ago and you are already eating all this stuff. Really!

Eddra

Well I am only 9 days out and I am having ground turkey with mashed potatos for dinner tonight. After about 3 or 4 oz I am pretty full, but I am also newly banded, and still a bit swollen. I was told that after a fill I would be able to eat 4-6 oz. After I eat I remain full for 4 or 5 hours and then I start to think about eating something else. I am not starving ever 4 hours like before I was banded and I am not snacking at all. When I finish a meal I am not already thinking about what the next meal will be, that is a big step in the right direction for me. Like I said I am only 9 days out but I feel great and I am already thrilled with my band~Mandy

A sample menu for me right now is:

breakfast: 1 scrambled egg with some lowfat cheese melted in

lunch: 1/2 cup cream soup or pureed chili with some crackers crushed in

Dinner: ground turkey mashed potatos and instant gravy (no fat)

I also have a protien shake each day just to make sure my protien is getting in there and loads of Water or diluted cranberry juice. I have also startd drinking decaf iced tea and decaf iced coffee with skim milk and splenda or stevia (a great sugar subsitute)

Jachut - My doc said; eat protein first then veggies. I'm also taking a bunch of vitamins since I'm not consuming the same amount of foods. You should talk to a nutrionist who is well informed about the lifestyle after gastric banding. You are the only one who can decide if this is right for you or not. I just got banded on 7/26 and went out tonight with 14 people for dinner. I felt fine and wasn't bothered by everyone ordering appetizers and desserts. I had a broiled fish platter and ate until I was full, about 4 oz and I was done. I did ate a little of the baked potatoe but I wasn't hungry. There may not be a lot of long-term studies, but it's been around for a long time (10yrs+) and even longer in the UK. There are many studies that confirm

obesity has negative effects on a healthy lifestyle and can even cut one's life short (heart attack, diabetes, stroke, etc..). Only you can decide what choice to make. Remember, this is a reversible surgery - God forbid you get sick and need to eat more. Good Luck!

Hello Kari

You mean to tell me you also were just banded and are already eating fish. I do not understand everyone I spoke to and my Doctor. Have said to stay on all liquids for 8 day than yogurt then mushy then on day 28 solids. I am confused you are the second person that is saying that they are eating in only days. Who is you Doctor I want one like that LOL. I was banded 8 days ago 7-29-05 today was my first yogurt day and I was so happy. But now I read what you are eating and well it's not that great. Please Help!

Eversoqute

Doctors have different posop protocols. There is no ONE post-op diet, but essentially the rule is to start out with Clear liquids, progress to full liquids, mushies, and then solid foods. MOST doctors don't introduce really solid foods until the fourth week, but before that there's lots of differences in interpretation regarding what's "liquid" and what's "mushy." Mandy's menu could be considered "mushy" which is not that surprising for the middle of her second week out. Broiled fish, if it's soft enough, can also be considered mushy. Anything one can eat without chewing is a mushy food, and that list is surprisingly long.

As far as normal eating once we're out of the postop phase, you'll find that it too changes over time and with increasing restriction. It's completely unrealistic to say "only 4 oz at a meal" if you have no restriction--this is not enough to satisfy a normal person and amounts to a starvation diet. No one I know does this for any length of time.

But with good restriction, it is indeed possible that such a small amount will be enough for a meal. This won't happen until proper adjustment is reached, whenever that is. In the meantime, just concentrate on eating Protein first and then vegetables in whatever amounts you find satisfying.

It's an important habit to cultivate because when restriction is reached, unless we really eat the protein first it can be very hard to get the right nutrition. Two french fries can ruin a meal, just because there's no room for anything else after that.

To answer the question about fruits and vegetables, I'll tell you that it's very hard for me to get any meaningful produce in my diet. My normal lunch is the insides of a deli sandwich--that is, meat and cheese, garnished with lettuce and tomato. That lettuce and tomato is often the only produce I get all day. And it's not much. Sometimes I'll have salad for dinner but only if I know I've had protein at the other two meals and have gotten enough that day.

Yesterday I had a plum in mid-morning, and though it was delicious it kept me full way past lunchtime. So I didn't really eat lunch, and then at the movies in mid-afternoon I had popcorn. That kept me too full to eat a decent dinner and poof, my day was blown with regard to getting enough protein.

I once asked a nutritionist about whether we can measure our nutrients weekly rather than daily--the way parents are told to with our toddlers' diets--hoping this would let me have an all-fruit day. She said no, not really, because protein is an ongoing, constant need.

There are certain kinds of fruits I can eat, like watermelon, and those I just cannot, like pineapple. Vegetables can be cooked until they're soft, but then they're unappetizing. Them's the breaks. I take a Multivitamin plus a B-complex every day, and use Benefiber to help get enough Fiber in. If I'm feeling like a cold is coming on, I'll take additional Vitamin C. Fruits and vegetables are definitely not a staple of my diet anymore.

That's what concerns me I guess. My diet now is pretty A1 nutritionally, it just has lots of "extras", lol. I guess when you've got a really big weight problem, the risk to your health and quality of life is such that this is a fair trade off. I"m not sure that it is with me and my weight problem. I'm beginning to think I'd be losing more in terms of nutrition than I'd be gaining in terms of health from weight loss.

What I eat varies by meal/day. In the morning I'm usually pretty tight, so I have a Carnation Instant Breakfast, or Jello. Plenty of people eat Cereal or oatmeal or whatever they want for breakfast. Another example of a meal is those new South Beach Diet wrap meals. Oddly enough I don't do so well when I create the 'wrap', but if I mix all the insides up and eat them, I can THEN eat the whole wheat tortillas that come with it, which I think is good, because they are whole wheat. I don't eat a lot of produce, but then I never really did. I think that you could work plenty in to your day if you had fruits or veggies as Snacks. I bunch of carrot sticks makes a great snack for me. Or the other day I had a salad (110 calories all together) as a snack. I'm just a tiny bit too loose with my fill level, so those things works for me without ruining my meals, but I was too tight for a while, and I'd rather be just a little too loose, and count my calories than too tight, and it's helped me learn somethings as well.

Anyhow, hope this info is helpful to you guys

Alex - How many fills have you had? Hard to believe 1 plum would satisfy someone for hours & hours. Kudo's to you.

Alex - How many fills have you had? Hard to believe 1 plum would satisfy someone for hours & hours. Kudo's to you.

I've had several adjustments, three fills and two (I think) small unfills. It is indeed amazing that a plum can satisfy for hours, but it's true. Of course, "satisfy" has a new meaning than it used to pre-banding. I could feel the plum still in my pouch, which had the effect of rendering me not hungry. It sure didn't feel like I'd eaten a lot in the old way of thinking, but it was enough and that's what counts.

OK yesterday I had (remeber big sunday brunch)

before breakfast

large glass of grapefruit juice (unsweet) I love grapefruits and have problems at times eating any citrus- but I make my juices (12 oz) with morning medicines

breakfast

2 pieces of bacon

1 dollar size pancake with butter & powdered sugar

1 bite of my son's little hash brown (baked) - cause he made me littlerally

4 chuncks of cantalope (1 -2 inch squares)

snack

1 skim milk chug (2 servings) after a huge Water over 30 minutes)

snack

10 gold fish crackers- kids had to feed me again (I have four under age 5 who are afraid I am starving)

11 big grapes

dinner

1 1/2 oz queso fresco (it is crumbly and squissy and fits nicely)

1/4 of a small tortilla

salsa as desired

2 really thin pieces of round steak (less than 1 1/2 oz) *** I made everyone fajitas and quesadillas

1/4 cup refried Beans

and sauteed onins and peppers

large dollop of sour cream

SNACK (later) me bad with pms!!!! and in need of choclate

1/cup of ice cream W choclate sauce

but I am still nursing 1 1/2 kids so I need more fat and slightly more food than most! It is also why I am probably so successful! (I need extra 300-500 cal a day to nurse on top of regular calories- basically Adrian is also sucking my weight off)

But you are guy- so in the land of unfair thing you also need more calories a day too,

Most days I can not eat that much. But I do better with consisten loss when I am at between 1200-1500 calories than if I am lower, I also need about 75 mg of Protein