My surgeon said you only have to wait 20 -30 min. after a meal to drink.

When were you banded? I was banded on 4-4-11 and I just started the "mushy" stage as well!!! I'm feeling some of the same things you are. We can do it!!!!!!!!

I was banded 3-35-11. I went to see my doctor today and he gave me the thumbs up and told me everything was healing nicely and that I can stop stressing so much! Oh and he told me I could have rice with my sushi when I reach my goal weight! I can't believe I have to wait until 2013 for a grain of rice... welcome to the lap band experience :-) I'm so over the liquids!!! And yes we can do it! We are doing it!!

What types of things are you eating in the "mushy" stage?

On a side note, have you experienced any stomach aches on an empty stomach, before & or after eating? I'm with you, all these weird aches, pains, and grumbles freak me out!!!

I'm so over the liquids also...however I'm having a hard time getting my 60-80 grams of protein without them! The so called "tasteless" protein powder is hard to choke down!!!

Mushies are hard because they are either blended up grossness (blended chili is the worst), high calorie, carbs or canned meat!! Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled I get to eat something, but I'm not at all impressed with the extensivness of the choices. I have kind of gone back to the protein shakes (I know that sounds insane) and I mix in some mushies like yogurt and banana and the baked ricotta. I'm looking forward to baked chicked and veggies so I can eat AND keep the weight off. I've sacrificed so much to lose the 20lbs I've already lost and I don't want to pack them back on with oatmeal and potatoes. So I'm back on the shakes for breakfast and dinner and eating mushies in between. Plus, like you said, it's hard getting that protein in without the shakes or some kind of meat! Protein powder goes in the HURL catagory!

YES on the digestive pains, but they are getting less painful with time. I hiccup once every 10 minutes when I'm hungry and then twice when I'm full. I think people think I'm drinking during the day!!

How are you doing on the mushies?

Mushies are hard but I'm finding that I like a few things.

My "mushy" plan per doctors' orders is low fat, low carb and NO sugar! My paper says to eat 2oz. pureed meat and 2 TBSP veggies (for lunch and dinner) Breakfast calls for a mushed egg. Then 3 snacks which are 2-4 oz protein shakes...snack after dinner says yougurt, SF pudding, or processed cheese. I'm supposed to be adding protein powder to my eggs, yougurt, veggies etc...

The digestive pains are slowly going away! No hiccups but a lot of burping.

I'm doing pretty good on the mushies and feeling much better....here is what my food has consisted of this week thus far:

pureed ckn breast, apple, celery, salt, pepper and 1 TBSP low fat mayo. It is like ckn salad.

Mushy egg with a tiny bit of mild salsa.

Mushy egg with mayo, salt & pepper like egg salad.

Baked ricotta with a little bit of sauce.

My favorite veggie pureed is squash which goes well with the baked ricotta!

That is all I can think of for now.

After you eat your mushies, do you feel satisfied?

Wow, you sound like you have the mushie thing handled!! Good for you. I'm just not creative. I'm keeping a calorie counter on my iPhone and slowly increasing my intake so I don't gain weight, but my body lets go of starvation mode.

I'm not sure if I feel satisfied, but I definitely feel different than before the band after I eat.

I still have one week of mushies and I'm starting to loose interest!

WAH...hope I can come up with something different to eat that is low carb, low cal, low fat, and SF!