Bragman

See, now I've had the opposite experience. I, too, have a Braun stick blender, and I find it doesn't do nearly as complete a job as my Oster blender that I bought at CostCo a couple weeks ago. I used a stick blender for my bean soup, and it was not what I'd call completely smooth, but used the Oster for the pea & ham soup, and it could not BE any smoother. Guess it really just depends on which blender you're using... I'd recommend checking out Consumer Reports or Prevention.com to see which blenders are rated highest! That's what I did, and I love my new blender!

Three things to try (all available at Whole Foods Markets): The best chicken broth: Imagine Organic Free Range Chicken Broth (FAR better than any bouillon) The best beef broth: Pacific Organic Beef Broth And why not add a little miso soup to your retinue as well? Whole Foods sells miso soup in packets, and low sodium versions too.

Hey folks, Just wanted to share something I've discovered in my local bookstore (a Borders): http://www.amazon.com/Eating-Well-After-We...6958&sr=8-1 It's a cookbook called "Eating Well after Weight Loss Surgery," by Patt Levine and Michele Bontempo-Saray. The author was a foodie (like me) who got really fat (like me) and had the lap band in 2003, to great results. But like me, she didn't want to go through life eating substandard food (let's face it, I like to eat, I like to cook, and I like to use high-quality ingredients!), so she developed her own cookbook specifically for people who've had lap-band implants! Last night, I made a lasagna using zucchini slices instead of pasta, Italian chicken sausage, spinach, mushrooms, and cheese... and it was fantastic. My partner and our guests really loved it, and I put my portion in the food processor (I'm still on Phase 2 diet) and it was flavorful and wonderful even there! All of the recipes have been designed to be appealing and tasty even when pureed! Highly recommended!

My experience was a little different (I had mine done here in the States, at a local hospital's weight loss center program). I started on what they call "full liquids" 10 days prior to the surgery. This means things like soups, oatmeal, polenta, cream of wheat, puddings, etc. The goal is to lose some weight, but also to shrink your stomach and your liver too--some obese people have EXTREMELY fatty livers, and it makes it more difficult for the doctor to get in there & rummage around in between yer organs if your liver is too big. Twenty-four hours before surgery, I was on clear liquids, things like broth, tea, water, sugar-free Jello. Boring, yes, but necessary to make sure you're emptied out. Once you've had the surgery, you're on that same kind of clear liquids diet for about 3-5 days after, so that the band isn't stressed and can heal properly. To me, this was the hardest stage, as I seriously felt bloated & could hear it all sloshing around in my tummy! Don't worry about hunger though, 'cuz by this time, you're just generally not hungry at all while you're healing. After the 3-5 day clear liquids (depending on what your physician or dietitian tells you), you go back to full liquids for about two weeks. It's not so bad, 'cuz there's plenty of variety of stuff out there, and you'll be amazed at how little it takes to actually fill you up anyway! Your focus and attention will start to wander to other things besides food; food just won't be the most important thing in your life anymore. About 3 weeks out, I started a "purees" phase, according to my doctor's rules. Prepares me for more solid foods, gives some bulk back to the diet, but is still smooth & chopped up enough to pass through easily. This is the phase I'm in now, and I just found a great cookbook that is making pureed food eminently tolerable! Last night, I made a zucchini and chicken italian sausage white lasagna using the sliced zucchini instead of pasta; the flavor was outstanding, even after I put it in the food processor! And about 4 weeks after my surgery, I go back to "normal" foods, albeit with vastly different eating habits. And it's working so far quite well, this morning's weigh-in was 31 lbs. lighter than when I started that pre-op diet on June 30! Not too shabby!

A word about the protein bomb! I brought one to the local weight loss center's monthly group meeting (I got my procedure done here in Detroit as part of a larger group that also does gastric bypass), and the staff dietitians has a warning about these things! A few things concern them, they'd just read a newly published paper on the use of these things for patients with weight loss surgery: 1. Some of them have 25g of protein, others have 42g of protein. Might as well go for the 25g ones, as the research shows you typically don't digest more than that over the span of a couple hours anyway. Half of the 42g vial will basically pass out of you before you get a chance to digest it. 2. The protein used in these vials is collagen-based, and is NOT whey protein. The paper they quoted to me said that it does not provide the same kind of replacement protein as whey-based drinks (either milk-whey or soy-whey). So not only can you not really digest all of it, it's not performing as well as other kinds of protein drinks would. In a nutshell, my dietitian said that these things are useful as supplements to your diet, but should not replace all of your protein intake, as they may not work as well as whey-based drinks according to the research. I take one 25g one a day, just because it's quick & easy to do so, and does help guarantee I get more than enough protein. But don't drink three vials a day and think "Okay, now I have my 60g+ of protein a day, I'm out of the woods!" Just passing along what I was told. Good luck!

Should be okay for the liquids stage, but you really should be choosing the sugar-free ones once you're into the "full liquids" phase. You don't want to get full on fudgesicles, as the sugar is just empty calories. It's like trying to lose weight by eating lots of ice cream... which you'll do, but if you're ONLY eating ice cream, that's not what you're lookin for, heh!

I haven't tried that one yet, but I'm rather partial to their cream of chicken. The Campbell's Select Parmesan Tomato is really quite good too.

What's an NSV U-turn?

Just had my first post-op visit to my surgeon here in Detroit, one week after banding. I'm absolutely AMAZED at how quickly my recovery has gone, it hasn't been NEARLY as bad as I'd feared. The incisions no longer itch, the port site is only a little bit tender, I'm moving, sleeping, and generally acting just as I have before... but with more energy than I've had for the last nine months! And the official weight loss tally: 25 lbs. since I began the pre-op diet on June 30! Woohoo!!! This, I gotta say, has really been a fantastic decision!

Are these the condensed soups from Campbells? That sounds really high fat... I may be making my own cream of potato soup sometime this week (from scratch, it's infinitely better!), but I might just try this as a good stop-gap measure! :-)

Heh, no problem hon. I've actually found an interesting way to simulate meat n' potatoes... I used some high quality beef broth to make these instant mashed potatoes, added in a little shredded cheddar cheese & a dusting of garlic & onion powders, and lo n' behold, it tastes like shepherd's pie! It'll tide me over 'til I can have the real thing. Besides, my actual craving for these past three weeks hasn't been steak... it's been fried chicken. Bigtime.

Frankly, if you're three weeks post-op, and it's still painful to the point where it actually stops you in your tracks, I'd go get it checked out. I'm one week post-op, and the swelling & pain has pretty much gone down daily, it's finally not tender when I touch the area there (not too bad, anyway, still feels... weird... tho)... But not painful. Three weeks post-op shouldn't be seeing significant pain, in my opinion. Never hurts to get it checked out by the professionals.

I second what Bobbi says about walking. The more you walk, the more you move around & not just sit there, the better off you're going to be! It seriously gets easier as you do it, it's quite amazing. A good yardstick I measured my progress by was the woman in the hospital room next to mine when I had my procedure done... we had it done just about an hour apart last Monday morning, but I spent a LOT of my Monday afternoon and all Tuesday morning walking around, moving around, doing laps around the hospital ward where we were. She... well, laid in bed, and whined a lot. As a result, I was home 24 hours after my surgery, while she was still just getting up out of bed. Yah, this process does require a little brevity, but the more you master it & make it work for you, the faster the recovery will go, no joke!

I'm now beginning week 4 of the full liquids phase. Two weeks pre-op, one week post-op completed. I. Want. Steak. *growl*

Hey hey, It's been one week exactly for me since I was banded (heh, sounds like I've been tagged by a group of field researchers, like some kind of penguin!), and I understand your fears about pain afterwards. I had mine done here in Detroit at a small local hospital that has a good weight loss center, and was thoroughly impressed with the staff. I wouldn't say that I really felt much pain exactly, but I'd better categorize it as "discomfort". You'll move or stretch a certain way, and it will be tender, kind of like you've pulled a muscle. But this is really just the incisions twinging from the sutures; everything INSIDE you is pretty much invisible. One week to the day after my surgery, and I'm moving almost like it never happened! A little tenderness in spots, but certainly nothing intolerable. When I came out of surgery after the banding last Monday, they had me on a dilaudid pain pump, one of those things where you push a button if it hurts every few minutes, and it zaps you with some serious narcotics. Well, they had to pull me off 'em, 'cuz it was making me sicker than any pain would have! Long story short, I was home the next day with some liquid vicodin, but stopped taking it the next morning. Went to liquid Tylenol, and even stopped that after a day. One thing you'll notice is that the discomfort lessens every day; you'll wake up in the morning and go: "Hey... this is noticeably better than when I went to bed yesterday!" It's that surprising! So don't fear the pain of the procedure; it's really not that bad at all. And having gone 3 weeks now sticking to the "full liquids" diet and having lost nearly 30 lbs. (results not typical!), I can definitely say it's been worth it!