Hi so i was banded on 8/10 and im getting my first fill on 9/17. I am a single new yorker and i love to hang with friends i was not letting the band get in the way of that. I refused to drink my meat so this is what i did. Im just sharing what worked for me this week.

@ a mexican restaurant i had( not all on the same day)

• a small cup of black bean Soup.(did not finish it all but it was good to get out the house)
  
• chicken enchilada another day. moisted the chicken with the refried Beans and fork smashed it. didn't eat it all but my friends ate the second one (since two came on the plate)
  
• a few spoons of guacamole on day it was a table appitizer so i just had a taste. no chips
  

On a coffee date

I ordered a smoothie, low fat milk no sugar, just fruits and veggies that was pureeed lol

Dominican Restaurant

I had mashed potatoes with chicken stew. fork smashed the chicken and the broth from the stew made everything very smooth. small portion only. Like the little butter plate.

@home i finally gave in and cooked.

Im dominican so i love mangu not sure if anyone else has had it. I took sweet ripe plantains and boiled them plain nothing added. then i took a fork and smashed it up like mashed potatoes i added some of the hot Water from the pot to make it really soft. then added some fat free cheese a lil sour cream. then took ground beef and cooked with ms.dash no salt seasoning, added one can of tomatoe sauce(small goya can) and made a tiny JOJO casserole. remember i still followed the rules my doc said.

I chewed, chewed, chewed until the food liquified for everything i ate. I set out at least 40 minutes to eat all of the stuff i just typed. and i remembered to keep everything low fat, no oil and salt free.

• I don't know if this helps anyone but i was tired of baby food. I was tired of drinking meals so i decided to just chew! i cut everything to tiny peices and i take my time so far so good. I will post after my first fill and let you know how my on the go band is going. I am to busy with work to cook everynight and babyfood is not that fun on the 5th day of mushy. Thursday i get to eat solid foods but im enjoying the forksmashing so i think i will continue to use it for a while.
  

P.S. I never drank and ate. I waited 25 minutes after my last spoon of food and then had a sip of water.

Another idea for Mushies at a restaurant is re fried beans , layered with Guacamole and cheese. The beans have lots of protein in them .

or tortilla soup ask them to blend it .

Lots of resturants will do things you dont think they would. such as blend soups for you . But my personal favorite is refried beans, quacamole and cheese with some hot sauce on it . Its YUMMY !

Another option is Chili or soups again ask them to blend it .

HTH

Mindy

When I was on the liquid phase of the diet I asked the resturant to strain the soup for me so I just got the broth. I am finding that most resturants are happy to help me with anything I need. I don't tell them I am banded, I just say I am on a special diet and they are happy to accommodate! I have even had some waiters/waitress suggest softer food and make special combinations for me. I thought my dining out days were over once I had my band, but that's not the case at all.