Post Lap Band Diet
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Lap Band Post Op Diet
Your post lap band diet requires changes in HOW you eat as well as WHAT you eat.
Your lap band surgery diet will require some behavioral changes:
- The size of your bites
- How fast you eat
- How well you chew
- How mindfully you eat
(Find out more about WHAT to eat on the lap band surgery diet.)
If you're used to inhaling your food and/or mindlessly eating, you're going to need to re-program your eating behavior if you're planning to have (or have already had) stomach band surgery.
That's because eating quickly and not chewing thoroughly results in big CHUNKS of food (yuck) trying to get through the narrow passage created by the gastric band.
If the chunks can't pass, you'll be very uncomfortable and/or vomit.
Persistent vomiting isn't good because it can:
- Cause the gastric band to slip
- Result in dehydration and nutrient imbalances
- It's gross
Post Lap Band Diet: 5 Basic Principle of HOW To Eat
- Take Small Bites
- Eat Slowly
- Eat Mindfully
- Chew Thoroughly
- Stop Eating as Soon as You Feel Full
Lap Band Post Op: Take Small Bites
Think eraser size bites!
Placing a small bite of food in your mouth means a small bite and only a small bite of food will find its way down to your stomach.
Having a small amount of food trying to pass the stomach band will lessen your chances of causing an obstruction.
To make your lap band surgery diet easier, I suggest using baby utensils.
You'll have no choice but to take small bites if you use baby forks and spoons regularly.
Diet After Lap Band: Eat Slooooowly
This will prevent you from overeating, which can cause you to vomit and/or cause your pouch to stretch. A stretched pouch means you'll need more food to feel full on your lap band diet
Here's a fun way to train yourself to slow down.
Play a game with a sand timer:
- Take a bite of food.
- Turn over the sand timer.
- Chew your food slowly and thoroughly as the sand shifts.
- After the sand has run out, and ONLY AFTER THE SAND HAS RUN OUT, take another bite.
- Turn over the sand timer again and repeat.
- You may feel pressure or fullness below your ribcage
- You might feel nauseated
- You may feel pain or pressure in your shoulder or upper chest (some people also describe it as a "heartburn" feeling)
- Take a small portion of food and serve it on a small plate/bowl.
- Sit down at the table.
- Cut the food into small, eraser size bites.
- Take a bite with a child size or baby size utensil and chew 25-30 times.
- Pause. Really pause.
- Repeat.
- Continue eating until you feel a slight pressure.
- Stop eating.
(It's a great game to play with the kids too!)
Post Lap Band Surgery Diet: Eat Mindfully
When you eat...eat.
Sit down and focus on what you're eating. Avoid eating while standing, driving, or working. Avoid engaging in other activities at the same time that might cause you to become distracted (and therefore overeat), such as watching t.v. or reading.
Lap Band Post Op: Chew Thoroughly
Try chewing each bite 25-30 times. Chew foods until they are unidentifiable...aka "mush" or almost liquid.
Chewing thoroughly in this manner is just one more strategy to help you slow down, avoid overeating, and minimize the chance of obstruction caused by large food particles.
Diet After Lap Band: Stop Eating as Soon as You Feel Full
If you don't, you may get sick...
...as in you'll get a second chance to taste your food as it comes back up....
Yuck.
How will you know you're full on your lap band diet?
Learn to recognize the unique signals your body sends when it's full!
Overeating can stretch your pouch
Not good.
A bigger pouch requires bigger portions (i.e., more food, more calories) to make you feel full.
Keeping your new pouch small should be a lifelong goal. This is easily accomplished by stopping as soon as you feel full.
Post Lap Band Diet Tools: Small Dishes
Avoid overeating by starting out with small portions. Make those small portions look appealing by using small dishes.
Let's face it. 1/2 cup or 1 cup isn't a lot of food.
The gastric band operation doesn't effect your brain. You'll still be able to look at 1/2 cup of food and know it's not a very big portion.
However, a 1/2 cup portion looks much bigger in a small 1/2 cup souffle cup than on a 12 inch over-sized dinner plate.
Make small, portion controlled dishes part of your post lap band diet regime.
These Yum Yum Bowls are my favorite portion control bowls. They're so cute!
They're fun and colorful and kindly remind you, "Yum Yum Time is OVER" when you get to the bottom of the bowl.
If you love them too and decide to purchase them, enter the coupon code "portion" at checkout to receive a 10% discount!
See ALL the gastric band "tools" I recommend.
Post Lap Band Diet: Pulling it All Together
A meal should proceed something like this after stomach band surgery:
The whole experience should last ~ 1/2 hour.
Start practicing your new post lap band diet "eating style" at your very next meal!
More Of My Professional Advice You May Find Useful
Everything You Need to Know About Gastric Band Diet
Lap Band Surgery Site Home Page
