Lapband surgery can be an excellent alternative to gastric bypass for the morbidly obese. Gastric bypass, regardless of modern technology, is still a risky proposition. Sectioning off part of your stomach with a less complex lap-band procedure could be just the thing to reduce your food intake and help you lose weight. But lapband is still no walk in the park and the initial post-surgical diet is restrictive. to say the least.
Immediately After
The first two days after lapband surgery it's advised that you do nothing more than drink small sips of water or suck on ice cubes. Vomiting can stretch your surgically-shrunken stomach and cause it to expand above the lapband.
Weeks 1 and 2
Once you've moved past the first two days of post-operative lapband recovery you can start to eating...if you call drinking your dinner through a straw eating. That's because the only diet that your stomach will tolerate is a liquid one. Lots of water is advised to keep your body hydrated, and you can supplement that water intake with fruit juice, clear broth (no chunks of anything) and milk. If you're dying for something solid, a popsicle is about as close as you're going to get.
Weeks 3 and 4
After a couple weeks you still won't be ready for solid foods, but you can at least start in on some puree. If you're not sure what qualifies as puree, think of baby food. Because you haven't had anything substantial in a couple of weeks, focus your appetite on foods that are high in protein. If you still have room, follow up with vitamins and minerals. Start with some pureed skinless fish or chicken and then move on to some mashed potatoes, peas and yogurt.
Week 5
Solid foods, albeit, soft ones, finally come at week five. Whatever you eat, make sure that you cook it so it's soft and that you chew it well. Not only could food cause an upset stomach or vomiting, it could cause a stomal obstruction, which is a clog in the bowels. If you vomit, doctors at the University of California San Diego recommend that you go back to a liquid diet and slowly work your way back up to solid foods.
