Guess who's coming to dinner

We sent our son out the door this morning, headed off to prepare for his return to Iraq. HH and I have decided that the best way to make these next 400 days go by faster is to keep as busy as possible. I'll probably burn up this blog, I'll be yakking so much. Anyhoo....

...a lot of folks have been asking about my post-op LAP-BAND diet so I figured I'd post it here. It's important to remember that the kind of diet you're allowed post-surgery varies a lot from surgeon to surgeon; I hadn't realized just how much until I found a LB forum and saw the wide variety posted. But here are the guidelines I received from my surgeon: The first week postop was a full liquid diet, which included cream soups (with no bits thicker than could be sucked through a straw - even though you're not allowed to use a straw anymore, ever), protein drinks, Carnation instant breakfast, skim milk, pudding, unsweetened applesauce, and mashed potatoes very, very thinned out with milk or water. I will tell you truthfully that by the end of the first week, although I wasn't hungry, but I was starting to miss texture. Actually, I was on that diet for nine days rather than seven, just by virtue of my follow-up appointment date. The maximum intake per day was set at 48 ounces. No more than 24 ounces of that could be from the calorie-containing list and at least 24 were to come from the non-calorie containing list (decaf tea with artificial sweetener, flavored or plain water, etc.). Since last Friday, which is when I entered Phase II of the LAP-BAND diet, I can eat scrambed eggs, moist white meats like chicken, turkey, and fish (pureed), soft-cooked vegetables that are pureed, soft fruits that are pureed ( are you seein' a pattern here?), mashed potatoes, cottage cheese, and V-8 juice. No gas-producing foods! I can eat these foods up to five times per day with a limit of no more than 2 cups per day. The amount to be taken in at any one time is 2 ounces. There's no limit on non-caloric intake, which is a real boon for me since I sip on water all day long.

I think that the reason I'm not experiencing "bandster hell" is because my surgeon does allow a rather generous eating plan. From what I've read at other sites, some surgeon's keep patients on full liquids for 2-4 weeks. Being allowed to have meat, fruit, and vegetables means that I get the sensation of having a full meal if I balance the ounces I take in just right. One ounce of protein paired with a half ounce of veggies and a half ounce of fruit means I can eat what my family eats, just not as much of it.

Another thing that's helping is the motivation that comes from seeing the scale move downward some each day.

Today's weight: 222.2 (-12.8)