food questions

Hi everyone,
I'm two and a half weeks post op, so I'm now on pureeds. I'm also down 36 pounds!! Yeah!! I've been going a little bit slow. The doctor said I could try each stage for 4-5 days before moving to the next one, but I've actually been doing a week or more on each stage. I've done clear liquids and full liquids. Even on full liquids I only added my protein shakes, once I had tomato soup, and twice I had SF pudding. Other than that I was still just drinking flavored water. Anyway, now that I can move on to pureed I've had a scrambled egg and then tonight I had some mash potatoes. I'm still doing protein shakes and water. DH and I went on our weekly grocery shopping trip tonight and I bought the things on the list from the doctor (canned chicken, ff refried beans, SF applesauce, grits, cream of wheat, mashed potatoes, baby food meats, veggies, and fruits). I know this is not an all inclusive list, so if anyone else has any other suggestions I'd love to hear them.

Also wanted to know, can I put FF sour cream on my refried beans? Does anyone eat anything else with their refried beans or just eat them plain? Can I add a little butter to the mashed potatoes? Can I add mayo to the canned chicken? I've been very cautious and skeptical about trying new things. I'm so afraid of getting sick, but so far I've not been sick at all. Thank goodness. Anyway, I'm starting to gain a little confidence as far as my eating, but definitely not even remotely interested in cheating. As a matter of fact I think maybe I've not been eating enough due to my skepticism. I've also not had much of an appetite. No head hunger, no cravings. Any answers and advice now that I'm feeling a little bit more adventurous would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Heather

Congratulations on your 36 lbs!!!  I love to put salsa and cheese on my refried beans.  I'm sure FF sour cream would be fine too.  The chicken needs to be moist but I'm not sure about adding mayo to it.  Just take it slow and remember to chew chew chew!!!  Good luck!  I am over 6 years post op and never got sick.  Some say I'm lucky but I kinda wish I would have so I could stay away from a few things that tempt me now (we're never happy huh?)...  Anyway, again... Congratulations and keep up the great work!!!

Hi Heather,

Congratulations on your 36 lb loss. What a great start on the journey of a lifetime.

First of all, let me tell you that the dietary guidelines are probably the biggest variable from one program to another. For example, my husband and I went through the program at DukeWLS and with their program you can't have anything but your protien shakes and clear liquids for the first 3.5 weeks. We never move to a pureed food stage, so we never eat baby food meats, etc... This is not to say that one is better than another, but I just want you to understand that you can get significantly differing information from one person to another because they are associated with different programs.

Once I was able to have soft foods, I could have anything that was soft and lowfat. So, to answer your question. I did use a bit of FF or LF Sour Cream and some taco sauce with my beans early on. Then, I got to a point where I could add mexican shredded cheese and salsa.

I used a FF or LF mayo when doing a chicken or tuna salad. You can bump up the flavors with herbs, lemon, etc...

My program didn't allow mashed potatoes until I was about 6 months post op because the 'real estate' or room for protien is so limited and mashed pototatoes just don't have much. If you are going to try them, you might try adding LF cream cheese or sour cream instead of butter... just a thought and they taste nummy.

Of course, go slowly and be sure to chew, chew, chew.

Wishing you all the best and continued success,

I too had my surgery at DWLC.  This first 3 weeks is killer for me.   I can't believe someone lost 36 lbs in 2 1/2 weeks.  I thought I was doing great at 11 lbs in 2 weeks.  Is that dramatic weight loss normal?????  I am excited about my 3 week - soft food stage by a little nerveous!  I move to soft foods next Tuesday.  

Hi Heather.  Congratulations on your 36 lb loss!   I had my RNY on 1/12/09 with Dr Naziri with Southern Surgical.  I am also on purred foods now.  My nutritionist gave me a lot of ideas.  Right now I am eating 1/4 cup of ricotta cheese with 1/4 cup spagetti sauce.  It tastes like lasagna.  Also, 1 oz of beef with green beans and cream of mushroom soup is really good.  I have a mini chopper that someone gave me before surgery and it works great for pureeing anything.  If you would like more ideas, let me know.

Rachel

Hi Rachel,
The ricotta cheese with spaghetti sauce sounds delicious!! Do you heat all of it or just the sauce and then add it to the ricotta? Do you add tasteless protein powder to everything or are you just trying to get your protein strictly through your food? This morning I had no sugar added applesauce and added some tasteless protein powder to it. It was good, but I'd like to add a little cinnamon to it next time. Is that allowed? The green beans with the cream of mushroom soup sounds good too. Thanks for the ideas and any other ideas you come up with please let me know, I'd love to hear them. Thanks.
Heather

Heather,  you really should go to the recipe forum and look at all the great recipes. One of my favorites is the Black Bean Soup that I found there.  It is a pureed in the blender and is great!  I will include it here incase you cannot find it.  I do not know who posted it to give them credit, but it  is great.

BLACK BEAN SOUP (Makes 12 cups pureed)

 

3- 19 oz can black beans, drained

1 tbsp oil

3 cloves minced garlic

2 onions, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped (I did not use, don't like it!)

2 tsp chili powder

2 tsp chopped fresh or pickled jalepeno peppers

1½ tsp dried oregano

1 tsp ground cumin

6 cups chicken stock

1 can stewed tomatoes 14 oz can

¾ tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

½ package Low Fat  Hillshire Farms Smoked Sausage diced

4 tsp lime juice

Sautee garlic, onions and celery in the oil until transluscent.  Add the chicken stock, the spices and the beans.  Boil gently for 20 mins.  Add the tomatoes and the sausage and gently boil another 10 mins.  Add the lime juice just before serving.  Puree and serve with a dollop of fat free sour cream.  Freezes well after it’s been pureed as well.

Heather,  I added ricotta cheese and sauce to the chopper, pureed and then heated. 

Cook 6 oz of skin-less, bone-less chicken thigh, added whatever spices you like, 1/4 cup onions, 1/2 cup carrots (I used canned) and 1/2 cup ff chicken broth.  I cooked it in the toaster oven in a meatloaf pan on 350 for 45 min.  After it's all cooked, puree and divide into 6 sevings. 

Another:  Scrambled eggs with cheese:  I used 2 egg whites and 1 egg yolk (I tried just egg whites and didn't like it), 1 oz of cheese( I used 2% cheedar).  I used the chopper to get the cheese in small pieces, scrambled with the eggs using cooking spray, then pureed with 1 T of 98% ff cream of mushroom soup.

Another great idea that came from my nutritionist and others:  use ice cube trays to freeze and then put in freezer bags.  I divide what I cooked evenly into the ice cube trays, take one serving out to eat that meal and freeze the rest.  This will be really helpful when I go back to work on Monday. 

I believe any spices are ok to use.  You need to be careful with condiments since a lot have too much carbs and sugars. 

I ordered some unflavored Unjury and am anxiously waiting for it to be delivered so I can add to pudding and everything else.  I am not getting all the protein I need yet, especially on a day like today when I took a 4 hr nap! 

I hope this helps you get through the pureed stage. 

Rachel

 This may not apply or it may depending on how you need it but as I began on more stable foods I found that it helps to coat it up a little with something. It may sound like horror but I would add a little mayo to my scrambled eggs to cream them up a little. I would also use a little ketchup other items as I added them to my list of edibles. I guess the wierdest thing for me was potatoes. I can eat a few fries but cannot eat baked or mashed potatoes very well. So oddly as it may sound you will find that as your food list grows in the weeks to come that your diet will become quite customized. It wont take a great deal of time before you will know right off the bat if you can eat certain types of food. Congrats on the 36 pounds as well. 

Greek yogurt is a great substitute for sour cream.  I did use FF sour cream on my refried beans too, but now that I've discovered how great Greek yogurt is, I won't bother with FF sour cream again.  Greek yogurt is not only richer than FF sour cream, it's also got lots of protein which FF sour cream doesn't have.