Answer this question before you read my response!

1) Why is salad not a good choice for banded patients?

Answer:

Everyone thinks that salad is a healthy choice, but as a bandster, it is very important that you unlearn this. SALAD IS NOT A BAND-FRIENDLY CHOICE. In the first place, it violates the number one rule of Lap-Band eating: Protein First, since salad is served first. But here are a few other reasons to avoid it on a regular basis and tips for doing so.

• Most salad is VERY LOW in nutrition. The plain iceberg lettuce that is the foundation of many salads is mostly Water and some Fiber, which can be tough on a band.
  
• If you choose a salad, the greener and darker the better. Choose the mixed field greens or spinach salad.
  
• Eat the tomatoes. They are high in a nutrient called lycopene that may help lower certain cancer risks.
  
• The salad dressing can pack a big caloric punch! Choose the vinaigrette if possible. Avoid the creamy and cheesy ones, like ranch, buttermilk, or peppercorn, that are very high in fat. Even their low-fat versions still have a lot of calories.
  
• If you just can’t give up ranch dressing, then ask for the dressing on the side and use just a little bit.
  
• Ask them to bring the salad with the main meal and eat your protein first. Chances are, you won’t feel like eating the salad afterwards.
  
• Ask if you can substitute the iceberg salad for something else with protein in it, like bean salad.
  

The preceeding was an excerpt from my new book, Ultimate Lap-Band Success: the Support Surgeon's Guide to Getting the Most From Your Gastric Band. If you found it helpful, you can order the book directly from my website at www.morefrommyband.com/resources. I will also autograph it for free! Or you can email me at morefrommyband@gmail.com to get a 15% savings!

Best of Luck,

Dr. Vuong

That's not what he said. And you are welcome to move along any time you want. Nobody is keeping you here.

For those of you who have lost 100 to 120% of your excess weight, I would like to know what your typical food log for a typical day looks like and your age/fitness level.

I know that not only diet, but exercise fits into this equasion salad or no salad, Protein or no protein and our diets should be adjusted accordingly by our nutritionist.

This is a very PERSONAL thing and our diet shuld be tapered to OUR own particular lifestyles.

That is what we pay our doctors for. Whether anyone else agrees or not is moot.

Edited May 15, 200917 yr by maryrose

For those of you who have lost 100 to 120% of your excess weight, I would like to know what your typical food log for a typical day looks like and your age/fitness level.

I know that not only diet, but exercise fits into this equasion salad or no salad, Protein or no protein and our diets should be adjusted accordingly by our nutritionist.

This is a very PERSONAL thing and our diet shuld be tapered to OUR own particular lifestyles.

That is what we pay our doctors for. Whether anyone else agrees or not is moot.

i lost 100% of my excess weight w/in10 months - i will be 40 next month.

for the most part, i eat a balanced meal of fish/lean meat - veggies & grains. not at every meal, i pretty much eat what i'm in the mood for and i enjoy fruits & veggies very much. some nights like last for instance, i just wanted some of the fresh sugar snap peas i bought....i roasted them and ate an entrie bowl. no protein, i do good to get in 50grams a day and i never lost my hair.

i exercise regularly. weight train twice a wk, and cardio an additional 3......i even had a cast on my right ankle till this past monday and was still in the gym. for me, i like food too much that exercise was important to my weightloss.

as far as salads go - i eat them often! i never use ice berg lettuce, rather field greens, spinach, lots of veggies, fruit, nuts, cheeses, Proteins.

not sure about others, but if i don't add a certain amt of fat into my meals.....i'm hungry sooner. i believe in balance, i don't like to cut any food group out, they all have their place (minus bad carbs) and i still enjoy my wine.

Thanks Luluc! Congratuations!

10 months - WOW!

Thanks for the pointers.

I know I need to work out more. I work 7 days, 50+ hours a week, so a brisk 2 mile walk for me being almost 55 years old is a lot, but I'll keep trying.

They have a kickboxing class I may try at my center.

I wake up exhausted every day, but my morgage has to be paid

I to will not give up my salad!! I PREFER spinach salad and wild field greens, and I also add all kinds of things to it. Pickled beets, sweet peppers, avocado, grape tomatoes, cucumbers, almonds. I also like to put my protein on top. Lump crab meat, grilled salmon, grilled chicken or boiled shrimp. It all goes down together. No problem. I love balsamic vinegrette, and some of the others out now. There are so many to choose from, and some are naturally low in calorie. Considering all the vitamins and minerals in raw veggies, I think this doc is giving some very bad advice. These raw foods combat a multitude of illnesses, and help prevent the dreaded bandster constipation. Personally, I think a lot of U.S. bandsters suffer from constipation because of the preoccupation with protein. Fiber and whole grains are just as important. what's more, my doctor and nutritionist would agree with me.

:grouphug: I believe that's what Dr. Vuong was originally saying. Everyone just went a little overboard on their assassination of his article. Can we move on now?

No, it isn't. In an article titled "Why You Shouldn't Eat Salad", his opening lines are:

"Everyone thinks that salad is a healthy choice, but as a bandster, it is very important that you unlearn this. SALAD IS NOT A BAND-FRIENDLY CHOICE. In the first place, it violates the number one rule of Lap-Band eating: Protein First, since salad is served first. But here are a few other reasons to avoid it on a regular basis and tips for doing so."

This is NOT good nutritional advice. It is only when you read further into the article that he acknowledges that "IF" you must eat salads (like "gee, if you really have to, but I recommend you don't!") go for darker green leafy veges and eat the tomatoes. Good nutritional advice would be recommending a range of salad veges to include in your diet and EAT REGULARLY, not making it sound like salad should be a rare indulgence if eaten at all.

I was banded July 6 06.

I still eat salad and have no problems. I have been able to maintain my weight eating from all the various food groups.

I am surprised at the comments made by the Dr.

Tom, Toronto

134 lbs lost - at goal - 4 fills in total

LoneStarRedHd, was that ugly message on my message board really necessary?

You know, LoneStar, after reading your message on Beth's board, I don't think I've ever seen a clearer case of "when you point a finger there are three fingers pointing back at you". That message you wrote describes YOU to a T!

LoneStarRedHd, was that ugly message on my message board really necessary?

classy!!!

think the dr needs some PR help w/either his patients or coordinators.

PS - they're are many lapband drs in TX, you don't necessarily have to go to one who does raffles for a "free lapband"....

I think the title of this article is all wrong. It should have been something like, "How to enjoy salad even with the band" or something like that. This was just a terribly written article.

I am not going to get into a snippet exchange with someone like you.

Too late. Most of your responses have been snippy. As a moderator, I am strongly suggesting that you take a break from this thread and not come back until you can read disagreement with your doctor without taking it entirely too personally and feeling a need to strike out at others.

Edited May 16, 200917 yr by MacMadame

LoneStarRedHd, was that ugly message on my message board really necessary?

*shakes her head sadly*

The reason you should eat Protein first is blood sugar levels. Look into the Glycemic Index. Certain foods raise blood sugar high. When you come down off a high high, you will crash and get a craving for something - usually something naughty.

Eating protein first sort of braces your body for the higher glycemic loads (blood sugar rises) and it actually will decrease the raising of the levels if you eat it prior to ingesting the higher GI food.

Thus, when doc says eat protein, then veggies, then carbs - there is a reason and you should do it. You won't have as many cravings and if you do they will likely be psychological and not physiological. Because, believe it or not, some of this desire to overeat is not just in your mind, your body is telling your mind to do it for identifiable reasons.

If I had a dollar for everytime I've heard the glycaemic index manipulated and misrepresented like that I'd be wealthy. It the glycaemic index of the entire meal that counts - not the individual glycaemic index of something (unless you eat it on its own). If you eat a Protein source with your meal and by and large avoid really high GI foods - white bread, rice, sugar basically, then the glycaemic load will be moderate and it will be a slowly digested energy providing meal that doesnt give you a big high. But you can in fact eat sonething like white rice and as long as you eat it with low GI foods, it balances out the entire load.

And that's why many people dont believe high protein diets are necessary at all. You can achieve similar blood sugar effects with an overall low GI diet - one that is not focussed only on protein.

Especially with a band. food sits in the pouch, its not even in the main part of your stomach being digested for a while.

People must think their bodies are magic. I mean a few months back we had a so called nutritionist who had it completely arse about and insisted that your body digests Proteins for energy first and in preference to carbs and that's why carbs are fattening. Um, okaaaaaaaay. I'd suggest nobody visits HER! Now this - do you really believe your food drops neatly from your pouch into your stomach in exact order of the mouthfuls you ate it, to be digested in that order? It all gets churned up, mixed around and digested as a mass. Your stomach cant pick out which bits are which!

Edited May 16, 200917 yr by Jachut