feeling restriction, FINALLY!

Hi all, My surgeon cleared me for "heavier" foods last week and I am finally feeling some fullness/restriction when eating, say, chicken salad -- I can get in anywhere from 3 small bites during some meals . . . to 1/3 cup other meals, depending on the time of day. Weird. Amazingly enough, now that I am allowed to chew (!), I am still gravitating towards softer foods (yogurt and the like) because I can't stand that uncomfortable feeling of not knowing exactly how new, heavier stuff is going to affect me. I'm still not cleared to eat bread yet. And, broccoli and cauliflower are on the no-no list as well, he says they are too difficult to digest. But I can eat shaved ham/turkey from the deli, broiled fish and a couple of other things new. -BJ

SWEETY AS LONG YOU CHEW EVERYTHING AND EAT SLOWLY YOU CAN EAT ALMOST ANYTHING EXCEPT BREAD IT JUST FULLS YOU UP QUICKLY AND ITS A UNCOMFORTABLE FEELING. BUT I EAT MEAT, RICE ONLY A LITTLE BIT BUT JUST REMEMBER CHEW AND WAIT A FEW MINUTES BEFORE YOU PUT THE NEXT BITE INTO YOUR MOUTH.

Hi Barbara! I've just quickly wanted to touch on that subject of sometimes eating more, other times less. I had that same issue and asked my dietician, she explained to me that some foods actually stay in your stomach, sometimes even over night, your pouch may work on that chicken from last night for about two hours, trying to "grind it" and then get tired of it and stop. Therefore, you still have some left and when you eat the next meal, you'll still have food in your stomach and therefore you won't eat as much. This can also lead you to "dumping" one half an egg in the morning, even if you've previously had a whole egg to eat for breakfast. So don't worry, you're completely normal. I have that issue with my favorite food, I think I can eat tons of refried beans w/ lowfat cheese, but when it comes to chicken, I take a few bites and I am totally full and satisfied. Love the broiled fish too, and roll some cheese inside of deli turkey and heat it up, it's amazing what we come up with when our choices of foods are limited LOL. I was cleared for regular food now, anything I want but veggies as long as they are well cooked and I chew them up good, I can have. However, I'm still hesitant, besides, I am doing well the way I am, I'm gonna keep up what I am doing and eventually try new stuff, but not just yet. Good luck and best wishes, Andrea