Cross posting soft stage

[Guest guest]

Sharon: Almost everybody has trouble sticking to 2 or 3 or 4 weeks of

liquids and 2 weeks of soft food. You should be moving into the soft food

stage about now depending on your doctors exact instructions. Try foods

high in protein like a soft boiled or poached egg or even soft scrambled.

Try some soft white fish or tuna loosely mixed with non-fat mayonnaise.

Canned chili is another high protein food that might be find if it's not too

thick. Chew everything carefully and stop the minute you feel full.

I'm in the process of making up a list of liquids and soft foods because

people just can't seem to figure this out. I'll try to post it everywhere

next week.

A liquid is anything you can suck through a straw. Soft foods are anything

you can eat if you had no teeth. Anything you don't have to chew although

with a gastric band you ought to chew soft foods too. Runny yogurt and

soups were my mainstays in this stage. I also had an ice shaver and made

these snow cone like things with frozen juice. I still eat the low calorie

fudge sicles for a treat.

Your doctor's specific instructions may vary. Assuming you have an Inamed

band the official instructions are liquids for 4 weeks and soft foods for 2

weeks. There are some hints in the Inamed patient manuals and on their

website about what to eat. The idea here is not to follow some diet list

but to understand the principles and apply them intelligently. The first

month is all about letting your stomach heal up properly. It's not about

losing weight.

There is some evidence that people who eat real food too soon may have a

higher rate of slippage, particularly if you have to vomit frequently. My

thinking is: don't take the chance.

Craving is a head thing. If you are taking your multi-vitamin daily it is

most likely not a physiological craving. You have to figure out what you

are really wanting? Is it warmth, comfort, softness, attention,

companionship, relief of boredom? What would be a better way to meet that

need. I find a cup of hot milky tea to be extremely soothing and it's my

new comfort food replacing huge volumes of macaroni and cheese, ice cream

and that fully belly feeling. Going out to a movie, reading a good book,

calling a friend on the phone, cleaning and working on projects have also

helped me forget about eating. It's difficult but it's certainly possible

to channel your energies elsewhere.

Like Sandy says, if I really want it. I eat it. But I find one really high

quality cookie enjoyed slowly and consciously is much more enjoyable than a

whole bag of crappy cookies wolfed down unconsciously. I eat cake, ice

cream, pie, chocolate -- but rarely and in small quantities. I know if I

don't allow myself to have any treats I will feel deprived and over do it

later. I know if I go crazy and forget my goals and eat a whole box of

chocolates or a pint of ice cream I won't lose any weight and I will

probably gain. And I know I don't ever want to be fat again so I just don't

do that. Nothing tastes as good as being thin feels. Just because I CAN

eat it doesn't mean I should.

And if I have the urge to eat a whole bag of crappy cookies I know I've got

some unmet emotional need that needs work. I try to figure out what that is

and meet it head on. What's my problem? Why is this happening now? What

do I really want? How would a whole bag of cookies fix that? Do I want a

bandaid or should I heal this wound? Hunger is not just about food.