The paramount guideline in eating solid foods is to eat slowly and chew foods until they reach a soft feel. Swallowing food in too large of pieces may block the lap band/stomach opening and prevent the passage of food. The following are hints to help you eat more effectively and safely after your surgery.

• Learn to cherish the taste, texture, feel of those small bites of food.

• Remind yourself when eating to Eat Slowly. Make a sign that you can set in front of you for reminding.

• Family members need to be aware of why you are eating slowly, as to provide moral support and general understanding.

• Cut food into small bites, no larger than a teaspoon.

• Make sure you allot 30 minutes to an hour to eat each meal.
  

• When eating, chew all food a count of 30 times or more before swallowing.

The overwhelming theme here is to chew your food. This will help control bite size, intake problems, and the speed you consume, helping to tell you when your new appetite has been fulfilled.

Once you’ve made the decision to undergo the Lap Band procedure, there is a wide array of information you must absorb to further your results and maintain health both before and after the surgery. An issue that arises quite often before the procedure is, what can I eat in the days after the surgery? Here are the dietary guidelines you should follow after undergoing Lap Band surgery.

Diet During Hospitalization

In addition to water, your post surgery will consist of clear liquids, including gelatin, clear juice, and broth. In time, you will progress to blended and pureed foods. These foods are recommended so that the opening, now limited in width, does not get blocked, which could cause vomiting.

Diet At Home

After your hospital stay, the first and second weeks after surgery you will continue to eat pureed foods in small amounts. During the third week, slowly, you may add soft fruits, vegetables, baked potatoes (no skin), rice, macaroni, noodles, crackers, ready-to-eat corn or rice cereals, and crisp toast. When adding solid foods, CHEW SLOWLY, as not to block the opening to your stomach, possibly causing vomiting.

You can add cheese - sliced, cottage cheese, hard boiled or scrambled eggs, and fish in addition to the pureed foods such as blended meat, yogurt (excluding raspberry or other types containing seeds) in addition to pureed foods and liquids. Once you reach the fourth to sixth weeks after surgery, you may begin to include meats that are ground after cooking, such as chicken, veal, beef, turkey, and pork, to your diet.

Foods To Avoid During The Diet

These foods and your effects with them change from person to person, however these seem to pose the most consistent problems with post lap band surgery patients. These foods include: a) tough meats, hamburger more than any, b) fibrous vegetables such as corn and celery, c) oranges or grapefruit, d) fried foods, e) skins, seeds, or cores of fruits and vegetables, f) bread, g) milk – should be consumed in the form of pudding, yogurt, etc., and h) spicy foods.

Alabama is one of the most beautiful and rich regions in the South. From the lush greenery of the northern part of the state to the beaches of Mobile, there is no shortage of activities and sights to behold. These sights, as alluring as they are, sometimes cannot be visited by those whose weight problems keep them immobile.

Lap band surgery can assist these folks in not only achieving a better lifestyle, but also to do the things they have always dreamed of doing. Before losing weight, many want to travel, but are imprisoned by their body and lack of energy. However, only months after the lap band procedure, many patients find the energy and stamina to get out and see the parts of our great state that they have always had the desire to see.

These are some of the areas, cultural experiences, and beauties that lap band surgery has enabled people to see.

• USS Alabama Memorial Park – Resting its battle-hardened flanks in the harbor at Mobile, the USS Alabama offers visitors a unique and insightful look into the Navy and one of the more experienced battleships in its fleet. Commissioned on August 16, 1942, this South Dakota-class destroyer has seen her share of action, having won nine battle stars for heroic service during the Battles of Leyte, Okinawa, Gilbert Islands, and others in the Pacific Theater.

• Ave Marie Grotto – With construction spanning 40 years, Benedictine monk Joesph Zoettle managed to build a four acre site consisting of more than 125 miniature reproductions of famous churches, shrines, and buildings. Located in Cullman, Alabama, this truly distinctive stone and concrete “Jerusalem in Miniature” offers a religious experience at $7 for adults.

• First White House of the Confederacy – For the history buffs out there, Jefferson Davis and his family lived in this house when the capitol of the Confederacy was in Montgomery, serving as the white house during 3 months of Davis’ Presidency. Free to the public, this Montgomery house, across from the Capital, channels the historic nature of the era with authentic period décor coupled with an eerie reminder of one of America’s darkest times.

• Coon Dog Cemetery – Despite a natural morbid quality to visiting cemeteries, this resting place is the Alabama dog owner’s equivalent to Le Pere Lachaise. Only allowing for a particular hunting dog, pure breed coon dogs, to be buried there, the cemetery consists of graves dating as far back as 1937. This area sheds light on the Southern affinity for these animals, with graves ranging from a cross made of sticks to matching marble headstones.

• Hank Williams Museum – If country music helped to shape the South, then Alabama’s Hank Williams is considered by many to be the architect. Located in downtown Montgomery, the museum houses William’s famous 1952 Cadillac as well as other priceless artifacts. The Oakwood Cemetery, the resting place of Hank and Audrey Williams, is located only five minutes away from the museum.