This is long past due!  My first “doctor supervised diet” appointment was actually on Friday May 15^th, so about a week and a half ago.  The appointment wasn’t really as I expected.  I excepted it to be somewhat like nutritionist appointments that I’ve had in the past, where you discuss your current diet and then they give you a new eating plan to follow until the next visit.  Instead, we discussed my current diet and then the nutritionist went over how my current diet will be different post Lap Band.  She discussed with me the different phases of post-op life.

• 3 Meals a day
• 2 Protein Shakes a day
• Start with ¼ cup of food per meal, and then add as necessary, with 1 cup of food per meal being the maximum.
• Chew, chew, chew and then chew some more.
• No drinking 30 minutes before, during, and then 30 minutes after eating.
• Initially I’ll be on liquids, then progress to mushies, then slowly adding in “real” food.
• My doctor doesn’t want mushies to be baby foods or even baby food consistency since it slips so easily through the band.  Initially things can be that smooth of a consistency when switching over from liquids, but it should progress to things that can be mashed with a fork (think anything from a crock pot, over cooked veggies, etc.)
• Rice and breads are to be avoided since they tend to expand in your stomach and could potentially get stuck.

The Nutritionist felt that I’m going to be a great Lap Band candidate since my eating tends to be more about volume.  I’m not particularly a sweets person, and since sweets tend to be “slipper” foods, that’s a good thing.  I tend to eat high quality foods, just massive volumes of them.  That’s not to say that I don’t sometimes go on an ice cream of fast food binge, because ‘ello, I certainly do.  But my normal day to day life doesn’t include that.  I am 100% a volume eater, and the band, if I let it do its job, will stop me from doing that (unless I want to be throwing up on a regular basis.)

My next nutritionist appointment is a group appointment.  We will begin going over more specifically pre and post op diet requirements.  I am looking forward to the information!

My consultation with the actually physician is this Thursday and my sleep study (hospital requirement, not insurance requirement) is Saturday night.  Each thing I check off the list is one step closer to getting approved.  In some ways I’m nervous about the approval process, but I’m making sure to follow every requirement, so that it will be easier for them to approve me.