Any surprise foods you did not tolerate? In other words, foods no one warned you would cause a blockage but they did?

Do you still eat citrus? If so, do you just cut off the outside of the membrane (the white "skin" stuff, not the rind of course?)

Do you drink with your meal (against advice?) If you did, did you lose despite it, or feel hunger due to the food not staying in your pouch? If you did not cheat with drink, do you think very teeny sips just to wet your mouth and help you chew would affect your weight loss? (The reason I ask this is because I am prone to anemia and do not want to stop eating beef; which would likely happen if I could not moisten my mouth for chewing purposes.... but I would not want to cheat!!! There's a reason I want to do this surgery, and it's not to cheat! :thumbup:)

No real surprises on tolerances....I have had problems when I ate too fast (which would be regardless of what you ate) and with soft bread and Pasta.

Yes, I do eat citrus (love grapefruit). I usually by the "citrus salad" in the individual cups (DelMonte and Sundia). The sections are already peeled in those.

I had a hard time at first not drinking with meals. I tried very hard to limit it until I felt comfortable giving it up. I have no idea if I could have lost more or not when I was doing that. And, perhaps I felt hungry a little sooner but, again, I can't be sure on that.

I don't have problems with meat that is moist. If I eat beef, it is usually steak, cooked rare...which isn't too dry. But if you need a little Water in those circumstances, I doubt it would be a huge problem.

No surprises with food for me yet. Pretty much if I eat too fast or something is just a little too dry or a little too sticky does it cause problems.

I've only eaten grapefruit so far, so I haven't eaten any of the white skin on the outside as of yet to find out if it would cause any problems. Though I imagine a big strip of the white outer part could cause problem if it when down.

I don't drink with my food any more. Though it is hard to resist sometimes. Having a bit of gravy or a couple sips of Water to make it moist wouldn't be a problem I don't think. Its when you take drinks through the entire meal that would defeat the band. As long as your not taking so much water that the meat is just washed through the stoma. When I forget and take a drink of water too soon after eating I do get hungry faster.

When in real doubt though just ask your doctor, that's what they are there for :thumbup:

Edited May 4, 200917 yr by Boliele

I'm at the point where I CANNOT drink too soon after eating or everything comes up. I guess that means my pouch is working and is full...

I have not even tried steak yet--have a hard enough time with chicken. I only usually eat boneless skinless thighs now. I am a dark-meat eater anyway, thank goodness! I do love it and when I get up the nerve, will marinate overnight in Italian dressing and keep it medium.

Surprisingly, I will pb on Cereal with milk now...I'm not happy about that. That was my favorite Meal Replacement... :thumbup:

well I do have a few sips of water I always feel dry. I really don't think it does much. BUT if you have the stuck feeling your first thought is to drink something!!! NO! NO! NO! I did it a few times and OMG the pain of it all... I eat beef but really take my time and CHEW.... I eat a meat then a small bit of my other food on my plate. mix it up so to say. I know the rules say meat first. But if I eat all the meat first it's tuff going down. from what I read here every one has things that bother them more than others. When I was first banded I seen posts of people that could not eat shrimp... Oh Gezzz I was SAD. I love shrimp and was depending on it for protien. Well I was at a party and they had nice large steamed shrimp. I thought well here goes nothing. I took my time and really chewed it up and well it was fine! The P.A. @ my Dr.s office said the same thing seems like all the banders have diffrent things they can and can't eat. we were given a NO SHEET and I do think some of the food on it was something that MOST people had allot of trouble with. Be for you can be banded by the dr. who did mine and my son's you have to attend a seminar. The Dr. goes over allot of this and tells stories of some of the food he has had to go after with a scope! so you kind of LISTEN to that! Last thing you want is the Dr. to scope you!!! big no was white bread and white pasta, rice. He says it tends to form a ball of starch and blocks the opening... you know cause the band is like a funnel.... hope this helps!

wow I can do cereal...... I just have to take it slow. wha kind are you eating?

I can eat anything but chewing is the key - oranges do not bother me -- we were told to get a glass of ice with meals and as it melts - drink the melted - just to wet your throat and mouth - I have restaurants bring me a glass of ice in a"to go" glass and then they don't drive your crazy wanting to fill it

Honey Nut Cheerios... I've always been able to eat cereal until this last fill. Maybe I'll try very little milk and see how it goes. I love my cereal. It's always my standby when I want something sweet. Just a little 1/2 cup usually does it. Very painful right now though, unfortunately.

So far then it sounds like the only surprise for some people has been cereal. I am glad I broke my cereal and Pasta, white bread and rice addictions already. My 2 year old son was dx'd last year with a bunch of allergies so I just avoided buying those items... now they are saying he's not allergic anymore but thankfully those things aren't staples right now.

I really like fruits and veggies. In fact, if ever someone got fat eating fruits and veggies, it's me. :tt2: LOL! (I can sit down and eat 6 clementines, just woof them down... hence my fatness!!!) I don't even need butter or margarine on my veggies, I just love the taste and texture :ack2: (but I find a little dab of butter makes me satisfied better) But anyway...

Thanks for answering. I have been practicing taking small bites and chewing like crazy. Well, now that I am eating again... the past week I'd had gall bladder troubles so haven't been able to eat much other than apple juice and apples. But yesterday I had some roast beast and some for lunch today (real roast beef, not deli style stuff) and so it gave me good small-bite-lots-of-chewing practice :thumbup:

I can still eat anything that i ate prior to being banded and im filled to 9.2 in the large VG band. Can i eat alot of it , no way. If there is one thing i have learned is that i can be just as happy with 3 or 4 bites of whatever.

Scrambled eggs were a surprise for me. I thought I would use them to get in some extra protein, but I haven't been able to eat them at all since getting banded. I don't know why. That, and spaghetti. I can do other pasta, just not spaghetti. Go figure.

Yeah, I just had a glass of apple juice and it came back up. I really struggle with juice, which I dont drink regularly anyway, but I dont get why it wont go down when cold Water will.

I also struggle a lot with yogurt, it takes me hours to eat a yogurt.

And weird though it is, I too can eat any shaped Pasta but spaghetti! Also ice berg or cos lettuce is fine, but forget about those gourmet salad mixes.

As for drinking with meals, well I found it made no difference to me for the longest time, it didnt stop me feeling full, it didnt make me able to eat more and I didnt have any trouble losing weight. But eventually, you get to a point of restriction where you CANT do it - apart from maybe a couple of tiny sips of wine or whatever.

As for eating meat, I've had no trouble. I dont need to moisten my mouth to eat it but I dont cook it in ways that dry it out either.