What to eat???

Hi everyone, I check out the May surgery board everyday. I had surgery May 10. I love reading what everyone is doing. One thing I'm surprised at is some of the foods you are eating. I haven't tried any raw veggies, hardly any fruit except nectarines and watermelon. I try to eat mostly protein. Just this week I started eating chicken breasts. I eat a lot of canned meat like tuna, chicken, turkey, etc. mixed with a little light Miracle Whip. I wouldn't even think of eating cheese except string and a little mozzeralla on my scrambled egg whites. Some said they've had steak, etc. That just really shocks me. I'm in the last 4 weeks of the special diet. I thought about eating a weigh****chers meal today, but still not sure. Am I being over cautious or not?????? Some of the "regular" food does look good, but I know it's not good for me. Another thing..........Do any of you count calories? My dietician told me that 800 is what they've found to be the best so you can lose the most. I use fitday.com to total my calorie intake. It is a wonderful sight. I usually am between 500 and 600 but my protein intake has been above what it should be. Tammie Hetland

Hi Tammie! You'll find that everyone's after-surgery diet is different. As for mine, at 10 weeks out, I'm allowed fresh fruits and blanched veggies. I'm good to go for salad at 12 weeks but my nut asked me to try it early so we can discuss at my 12 week follow-up. I have had the occasional slice of cucumber, green pepper, etc. I was allowed chicken, beef, turkey, etc. at 4 weeks although I only tried beef recently. I found that while I can TOLERATE beef, I don't really care for it any more. Too dry and bland, no matter how I prepare it. Shrimp is my favorite, followed by chicken. Follow your doc's protocol and eat what he/she tells you and you'll do fine! As long as you're getting in your protien, etc., eat whatever makes you comfortable. As far as calories, I also use Fitday. It's a great way for me to monitor my calories and protein. I wasn't really given a calorie count to follow but was told to try to keep it up close to 800. That's been almost impossible for me, though.

hey tammie, I never really followed the special diet ( I prolly shoulda). Ive had steak, all kinds of fruit(apples, peaches, cantalope, strawberries, kiwi) I try to limit fruit to two servings a day no more than 4 oz each. Ive also had raw veggies like tomatoes, broccoli (chewed very well), cucumber, celery, bell pepper etc. Ive eaten tuna till Im abot sick of it. I have counted my calories before and I usually get anywhere from 800-950 a day. I try to follow the bariatric food pyramid. I think if you wanted a weigh****chers meal youd be alright to have it. Youll never know till you try. I can eat about a cup of food at a time depending on what Im eating. I think your doing great sounds like. good luck to you, candy

Isn't it amazing how all of the surgeon's have different post-op eating protocols? My surgeon was and is very conservative. No raw veggies at all for me until 6 months out! I allowed fresh fruit if it's soft only, no skins/rinds/seeds. I was on a clear liquid diet, full liquid diet, pureed diet and now I'm considered "soft" food diet. Follow your doc and nutrionists orders. Good luck with everything!

Hi, Tammie! I have a pretty conservative surgeon. I haven't had any fruit yet except a banana (ordered by him because I was low in potassium). I am not allowed to have any beef in any form until the 6 month mark. I don't eat any cheese except string cheese, mozzerella, and other lower fat cheeses. My surgeon's office says that any cheese that is surrounded by grease when you melt it is a no no . I'm allowed to have high protein cooked veggies (spinach, green beans, carrots, etc). Even at my local support group, the eating protocol varies tremendously. Some surgeons allow solid foods as tolerated right off the bat. Some encourage six small meals per day, some say three with two snacks, and some, like mine, say three meals period. No snacking. Every single one of these docs seems to be different, and all of them have reasons for their orders that make perfect sense when explained. So, who knows? All I can do is follow my surgeon's advice and do my best. I count calories on fitday.com also. I had been around 600 calories per day until recently. Now it's higher. Julie

Hi Tammie! As you can see by all the replys you have gotten, everyone is different. I think we all probably just experiment on our own and if we eat something that makes us then we stay away from it, otherwise if you just remember to chew everything that goes in your mouth many times, u should be fine. I wasn't really told I could have fruit when I tried it, but being the stubborn person that I am...I tried canteloupe, watermelon, and have had peaches too and because I chew them well they have done fine. I also have been eating tomatoes from the garden just fine. At first I peeled them, but sometimes I just can't resist the temptation to just wa**** and take a big bite, if the rhine doesn't want to be chewed up well, i spit it out! I can't tell you how many calories I have a day because I have no clue. But I will tell you that I am almost 3 months postop and have lost 63 pounds and have gone from a 26/28 to a size 20 in some things. I owe that in part to staying active all the time. Remember, the old saying....burn more calories than you take in. Its really not that hard to do on a daily basis if you walk 2 or 3 miles a day then if you over indulge a bit, you have exercised to save yourself from gaining!!! I actually started doing arm exercises everynight too with soup cans along with my 40 crunches EVERYNIGHT!!!. Good Luck!!

Hi Tammie, Well once again every surgeon and every "body" is so very different. I was allowed regular foods at 6 weeks out. THe only thing I was told to watch was sugar grams ...no more than 3 grams per mealand fat grams and to eat 6 miny meals per day. Well it didn't exactly work out that way for me. I was doing some regular foods at 3-4 weeks out because if i had to puree it the look alone made me naucious(sp). But mind you when I did do those regular foods they were in tiny portions and if it didn't go down well, I spit it out or didn't try it again. I've been extremely fortunate. Water is easy especially in a squeeze bottle, I love corn, spinach, greens etc. For the most part fruits and vegetables have been my friends( corn god I love it, peas, beans, spinach, greens, string beans). Meat ...well some days I eat it and some days I don't. Fish is extremely hard for me, beef has been great I eat mostly ground, turkey diced in salads has been wonderful, but the only chicken i eat is grilled or bbq'd with the skin removed. I've done turkey and cheese lunchable meals which I can only have 2 crackers with cheese at a time. I've also done small portions of baked potatoes with cheese that was yesterday, cheese potatoes with velveeta, and just regular old cheese slices on a 1/4 of a piece of bread. Food now seems to only be a priority for its protein because it tastes soooo different. Heck some days I have to force myself to eat...never thought I'd say that lol. Proudly I am finally getting up to 40-50 grams per day. Mind you for the first 6 weeks I wasn't really getting any. So I say do what the surgeon asks but at the same time I don't think this far out it would be so bad to experiment in minature portions. Just my 2 cents worth. Morgan 295/250/160