I wanted to ask the banders how has life been after no more steak?

At the Lap-Band Seminar surgeon mentioned no rubbery food, such as steak, shrimp and calamari.

Needless to say I'm a little bummed out about the steak. My wife and I usually get our Birthday Steaks from our local steak house I guess we will need to come up with new tradition.

all depends - i eat shrimp almost daily & just had a big steak the other day.

everyone is different in how they handle these foods, i've had no issues.

I have very good restriction, and I can still eat those foods. As far as steak, it has to be lean, and I have to be careful not to swallow a big half-chewed bite, and I can only eat around 3 or 4 oz. Everyone is different though. I've had to have several cc of saline to get to good restriction, whereas others have trouble even with Water with a much looser band. You would want to be well healed from your surgery before trying steak or any iffy band food (and with your doctor's okay), but if you take it slowly, it's not a given it'll be off your diet.

Also, I don't these often, and I can't even remember that last time I felt a Protein food was going down rough, but I always have Papaya chewable pills just in case. (I have Papaya pineapple chewables from Trader Joes, but I think you can get these just about anywhere that sells Vitamins and supplements including Walmart or off the internet).

Good luck with your surgery!

I guess it shouldn't be much of a problem if you cut it in really small pieces and chew it about a thousand times.

I have very good restriction, and I can still eat those foods. As far as steak, it has to be lean, and I have to be careful not to swallow a big half-chewed bite, and I can only eat around 3 or 4 oz. Everyone is different though. I've had to have several cc of saline to get to good restriction, whereas others have trouble even with Water with a much looser band. You would want to be well healed from your surgery before trying steak or any iffy band food (and with your doctor's okay), but if you take it slowly, it's not a given it'll be off your diet.

Also, I don't these often, and I can't even remember that last time I felt a Protein food was going down rough, but I always have Papaya chewable pills just in case. (I have Papaya pineapple chewables from Trader Joes, but I think you can get these just about anywhere that sells Vitamins and supplements including Walmart or off the internet).

Good luck with your surgery!

What does the Papaya pills do? :blushing:

Luckily those are only birthday steaks so it will probably be very rare, I guess we can skip the birthday steak that comes that first year of the surgery.

Honestly, this was the only piece of information I was truly bummed about.

It's weird how my mind has created these crazy relationships/associations to food.

Edited September 9, 200917 yr by junbug178

I'm 3 weeks post surgery and unlike lots of people on here my surgeon doesn't do the usually mushies after surgery. By the second week you are on solid food. I've been eating shrimp and steak on a regular basis since the surgery. I have no problems with anything. Not sure that is a good thing though. I'm so ready for my first fill. :blushing:

I have had 5 fills, not quite to sweet spot yet, get my 6th fill today, but so far I can eat anything I want as long as I take small bites and chew well. Of course that does not include calamari as I consider that ewwww... LOL

It has become really hard for me to eat steak so I hardly have it anymore. Seriously my jaw hurts from cheawing so much. So I rather not.

...Im allergic to shrimp so worries on that & calamary.. I have it once in a while.

I really have not had to say goodbye forever to steak and shrimp, or really any specific food item. sometimes it's more of a concious choice as to whether I want to invest in the work involved to chew it, but nothing is really completely off limits for me. Shrimp requires alot of chewing for me, so unless I'm really in the mood for it, I will skip it. Steak I do okay with it if its tender cut and not overcooked. You'll probably be able to share your birthday steak with your wife and still have some to take home! Love that about the band!

What does the Papaya pills do? :blushing:

They break down Protein. The pills are chewable and they actually taste pretty good. It's not something you'd want to ever use routinely because it's not good for you to eat food that tends to make you feel stuck, and you want your food to stay in your upper pouch area for awhile to signal your brain that you're full. However, especially during the learning phase, it was a big help for me. Other people have suggested pineapple juice in a pinch too.

I can eat steak, just dont very often as I'm not that fond of it.

Shrimp, not a daily feature on Australian menus.

I will probably NEVER eat calamari again though. I'm deathly afraid of it. I had the worse ever pb on that, it took about three hours, it happened in public..... dont want to scare you, lol, but it was awful.

I eat steak, shrimp, calamari all the time!

I had strip steaks this morning with an egg. lunch I had 2 shrimp with my blt lettuce wrap.

You can eat ALMOST anything if you take small enough bites and chew very well.

Bread is a no no for me though.

Im not banded yet but you can pretty much cut a medium rare filet minion with a fork YUM

Ugh, not the way I cook it.

Truth be told, i do struggle a bit with steak, it has to be very very tender, and for that, I have to go out for it. I cant cook steak at home that I can really eat.

But you do adapt too. I have a bit of a wicked relationship with lamb cutlets, mmmm, the tiny little ones. I've always preferred lamb way more than beef anyhow, its probably the eat we eat most in Australia.

Personally, I can have all three. It IS hard on my band, but I've learned that with the right portions, it's not an issue. In stead of a 1 lbs steak, I can have 1/4 lbs of steak (maybe not that much lol. I don't actually weigh it out). For me, it's all about moderation. However, something my doc didn't tell me was that steak isn't allowed until after 6 months. :blushing: Good luck to ya!

Just finished a rib eye for dinner, well done. Have shrimp often (just with cocktail sauce, or fried) Don't like calamari.

Like others have said; we're all different. MY doc said "the goal is for you to be able to eat anything post band that you did pre-band, just less. Some have trouble with things like white bread or stringy red meat, but not all".

I went in figuring I'd still be able to have anything, and 1 year out, great restriction, I can.