It's not all about me..

I'm thinking WAY ahead.  But, this morning, as the family ate our usual Sunday Morning Breakfast.  (Grits, eggs, toast and sausage)   I thought about what I would and wouldn't be allowed to eat after surgery.  My plan is to have RNY before summer of 2010.   

Now, I'm not going to expect my family to stop eating what they like, but if I can start changing some items around now, to things that I will be able to eat later,  then it will help in shopping, or at least they will know what to buy when I send them to the store. 

(am I making everyone confused?)  I'm thining of things like: 
*Jelly,  I know that I will not be able to eat the regular, sugared kind, so I'm going to switch to no sugar kind. 
* Butter/margarine:  Right now, I use the spreadable butter from Land o Lakes, any better suggestions?
* Bread.  I've read a lot, but when is bread allowed? 
* Juice,  I have found Tropicana Orange ade, and it's 0 sugars and non carbinated.  To me, it taste like tang.
* Grits.  Because my husband has been looking at food prices more than ever, he has decided that cooking grits on the stove is cheeper than the individual packs.  So, I'm already enjoying those, and learning how to put less butter, salt and pepper on.   

* Meats. I have started switching to turkey bacon, and that was ok with them.  The sausage was a big bust, but I only tried one kind.  

Any suggestions will be lovely.  

Thanks

 

 

It's good that your thinking about life style changes now rather than waiting.  You may surprise yourself and loose some pounds along the way.  The sugar free jelly is good, that's what we've been eating for a long time.  Use Pam when frying things if you can.  Olive oil is better than regular cooking oil.  As far as bread, you could switch to 100% whole wheat.  The Tropicana Orange ade is wonderful.  I drink it all the time. As far as meats go the turkey bacon is a good switch.  Not sure there is a "good" sausage.  Other good meats of course is chicken and turkey.  With ground beef I buy the leanest I can get, it cost a little more but for me it's worth it.  I also use ground turkey alot, in chili, tacos and have made burgers with it.  Veggies - any, all, cooked, grilled, they're good for everyone.  Fruits- the same.

Now for me, I had RYN May 19th so I'm a little over a month out.  You're going to find that surgeons and nutritionist are a little different.  My plan after surgery was 2 weeks full liquids (NO SODAS - which I miss more than food).  Full liquids include water, protein shakes, clear soups, sugar free jello.  Moved to soft foods starting week 3-4 so I added potato soup, soft scrambled eggs, grits, mashed potatoes, sugar free pudding and pureed tuna and chicken.  I didn't tolerate the tuna as good as the chicken.  You still have to make sure you get in the recommended fluids and proteins so the shakes still help greatly.   

According to my nutritionist I was suppose to be able to start eating more "real" foods starting the 4th week, but that really didn't work out to well for me.  Mostly because somethings didn't set well with my new little pouch and I couldn't get in my fluids and proteins.  My surgeon told me to step back and slow down to only eat what I could and if I still needed to chop/puree foods to do so but to keep up the protein shakes and fluids.  He said each level you go to each person is different on what they can tolerate and you might have to keep doing somethings from the previous level while slowing adding foods from the next level.

Anyway, I've done well so far.  Only got sick once and you just need to remember to take it slow when you start.  If your having RYN my surgeon said my new "pouch" was only around 1 ounce in size so you can't hold very much.  Good luck with your journey and do as much research as you can.  Just keep in mind, your family will be eating quite a bit more than you and you'll need to have your mind set that it's okay.  Hopefully with the changes your making their food choices will be better.

Thanks for the input.  I can read all day long, but the responses I get on OH mean more to me, because I'm speaking to the experts.  

I am a big soda person.  I've become a regular diet soda person, (Diet Mt. Dew)

But when all the new blooms started, (March?) I started having morning headaches, and thought it was just seasonal allergies.  So, I bought my usual pack of sudafed, and washed it down with my soda. When my headaches were bad, I would add a dose of Excedrin.

 One day, I picked up a regular Mt. Dew, instead of diet, and my headache went away faster, and I felt so much better.    So, I decided that the sugar added enough punch to help me make it in the mornings.   It helped a couple of times, but my headache never really went away.

At my annual gyn apt, my bp was a little high. The Dr. said that sudafed,and caffeine could make your bp go up, and that I shouldn't take it for more than a week or two.  So, I went off the sudafed and started back on the diet's, (caffeine free this time )  I was hoping that  the combination was the trigger for the rise in my numbers, but It wasn't,  and now I'm on bp meds, and NO HEADACHE. 

The sugar free items are going to be the hardest to 'slip in' on my two kids.  My husband will try anything, but the kids, (10 and 7) are kids.  They like what they like. 

I keep finding soft food idea's that I had not thought of.  I'm a big fruit eater, and in one of the books I have read, said that most folks cannot eat fresh fruit or vegetables for the first three months after.   That will be hard on me.  

My dream will be to get everything done, (nut, psych and preliminary) done before September of this year, and then maybe have the surgery around Christmas or after the new year. 
My not so good dream will be required to follow a 6 month supervised diet before they approve me.    I don't know for sure that BCBS will make me do that, but if I have too, I have too. 

Congratulation's on how good you have done so far, and I hope to chat with you soon.

Thanks again,,

Hope

Dear Hopen,

You aren't thinking way ahead... You have started your journey... You are on your way and that's wonderful! 

I have to tell you that the fact that I normally wear a size 6 now, after decades of wearing a Women's 20 something is just the whipped cream and cherry on top. Please forgive the food analogy! ;-) Seriously, the things that I consider my greatest successes aren't really related to my size or even the improvements in my quality of life. The greatest successes for me are

* the fact that my Type 2 Diabetes is resolved and the spector of the health problems associated with that no longer loom over me and,

* my daughter, who was 13 when I had my surgery and was wearing a misses size 13/14, now is 15 yrs old and wears a size 8/10. The longer term health benefits for her are immeasureable. 

During the first year post op, to be honest, you will make many changes, but many won't be permanent. For many, what you do during the first year, is a radical departure from 'normal' eating, but necessary to strip away the excess weight. As the year progresses, you will probably move from the stringent diet you will follow post op, to a more 'normal' diet. But that diet is not likely to resemble how you ate before you started your journey because to be quite honest, those of us with signficant weight issues may think we eat 'normally' while we are fat, but we don't. We make a plethora of choices that often include high carb, high fat, calorie dense foods in much higher volumes than we could have imagined. I would say that I now eat normally, but that doesn't mean that I eat the way I used to eat, if I did, I would eventually regain my lost weight and that isn't going to happen, if I can help it. 

Please know that probably the single greatest variable from one program to another is going to be the early nutritional guidelines. While you can come ask what others do to get an idea, you'll need to stay the course with whatever program you select.

Some allow you to start eating whatever foods you want/tolerate within a week or two. 

Some require you to puree foods.

Some require liquids only for the first month post op.

Some .... you see what I mean. 

So... Let me address some of the food type questions you had as they relate to me.

Jelly... I use a splenda sweetened jelly. It tastes the same to me and works fine. It was great early on to flavor things like cottage cheese, cottage cheese pancakes, etc... I still enjoy it. I didn't start using until I was about 6 to 8 weeks post op. 

Butter/Margarine... I didn't really use any for the first 4 to 6 months. Then I switched to the Land 'O' Lakes light butter and tend to use it sparingly, but I do use it. 

Bread...I didn't use bread for the first several months. Last night I had part of a sandwich from a favorite sub shop in CA. I just had much less of the bread because I need to load with protien first. Early on, you'll probably need to toast breads to be able to handle them, if you have them at all. There are a couple of reasons for avoiding breads during your first 6 to 12 months, but mainly you need to be so focused on  protien, that there just isn't much room for carbs. My rule is protien allotment first, complex carbs such as fruits and vegi's second and then I can have simple carbs/fats as space allows... Not my to be honest, if/when I follow the rules.

Grits... I'd have to say the grits will generally fall into the same category is breads, rice, and potatoes... Because they tend to be simple carbs, you probably won't be having much of them early on. I still made them for my family; I just didn't have room for them. 

Meats... I enjoy all meats. Early in the process, you'll need to tread lightly. The biggest issue will be learning to not overcook meats so that they remain tender. I'm able to enjoy chicken, pork, beef and seafood without issues. One of the earliest 'meats' that really worked for me were deli slices of turkey or lean ham. It was reliably and predictably easy and packed with the protien I needed. I also became a big fan of shrimp. I enjoyed shrimp ****tails often and still do. ... Re: sausages... try a few more different kinds. Another thing, I've done is mix the lighter turkey version, with a leaner pork version. You might try that starting with a 70/30 blend and gradually moving them towards a 30/70 blend. Sometimes, it's a matter of what you become accustomed to eating.

I hope that this helps some and I look forward to getting to know you as you make your way on this incredible, life-changing journey.

Wishing you all the best,

Thank you.  All the information that I have learned and continue to learn, on OH is wonderful.
Thank you so much for replying.  

I don't have too many problems with my kids eating, but if you tell them it's 'healthy', then they give it a second look, and your really don't know if they 'don't like it' because of the taste, or if they are just saying that because I changed something.

Thanks again, and I will be on, I know, with more questions.  

Love,

Hope

The change in eating should not hurt your family in any way. We americans tend to eat too much, too sweet, and too much fat. Your new eating habits should help your family. Although my DH blames me for his 10 pound weight gain. (he eats what I can't) I do not miss soda at all. There are so many good drink sources on the market with plenty of good flavor. I can not have soda  but I buy diet soda for my family. No one needs all that sugar. Once and a while ...once you have been out from surgery long enough..You can have a little of your fav. foods but little is the key word. Sugar and Mayo are 2  things that I have found to make me sick. I am Ok with things with less then 10 grams.  But all in all, wls is worth anything I had to do with out.....for me....and my family. Everthing will work out wonderfully.
Good Luck
Myrtis

It's so funny you mentioned your dh's weight gain.

My hubby has said in the past that he was interested in the lap band, but after reading my 'weigh loss surgery for dummies', he has decided that he will be my 'leftover' person, and take what I can't eat. 

Thank you for the reply.  And I'm most likely going to post more questions. 
I'm like a kid at the end of the school year.  I don't know what I'm going to do in the future, but it's going to be the 'bestest'!

You may be surpised that you need VERY little modification of your menu.  At 16 months out, I can eat almost anything that your described in your original post, just a WHOLE LOT less than before.  In fact, your Sunday morning breakfast sounds similar to what I enjoyed just this past weekend at a family member's house (except I had half a pancake too!)  I had about 1/4 cup of grits, one small scoop of scrambled eggs and a slice of toats with peanut butter.  Not saying preplanning is bad, but don't restrict before you know what you can or cannot tolerate. 

As far as carbonated drinks...NOBODY loved diet pepsi more than me.  It was the first and last thing I put in my mouth everyday.  I haven't had one since my surgery.  It was hard to put it down, but now...I don't even think about it.  The EXTREME pain I feel when I take a SIP of it now may have something to do with that.  LOL

Good luck!

Jason