14 Days Out - Appetite and Mood different by the minute

Of course, as a former biochem major, I sort of shake my head when I see "non organic produce." I mean, did it grow on a plastic tree or something without carbon? It's just.... odd.

Everyone must assume if we buy food, even organic food, that is a larger brand in a grocery store, it's farmed on an industrial scale, most likely, which means 1) pesticides are being used almost assuredly (pyrethrins are some of the "organic" pesticides in use for instance) 2) huge farm equipment is being used because in farming volume is how you make $, and 3) animals are killed in the process of harvesting crops, particularly grains. Deer get baled up in fields too, and other larger critters, because many machines are now driven by GPS and other mechanisms. Even if you are eating vegetarian, chances are any large-scale convenience food is not animal cruelty-free entirely...forget saying it's automatically pesticide free if it says organic.

I am similarly dubious about farmer's markets. There is no way to verify what they are saying, sadly.

The only way to know, and assure, you are eating what you think you are is to kill and/or grow it yourself. Living in society and using a supermarket means we must accept the fact our food is not sourced out and cultivated with care 95%+ of the time - it's industrially produced and shipped hundreds of miles if we are lucky...and more often thousands of miles, after being grown using migrant labor that is paid slave wages for the privilege of doing so.

and people wonder why I eat mostly meat....

I also think it's funny when people say they don't want to ingest chemicals.

I was only able to eat half of it. The mushy-bean stealing husband got the rest of it. LOL!

No need of throwing it away.. Mine does the same service for me...sometimes LOL

Many post-op plans say you should/could be eating more than is feasible. At 14 days post op, I was still on purees and I could eat about 1/2 of a large scrambled egg and nothing else or 1oz of canned chicken. Both of those things also took me longer than I should have been sitting to eat for (my plan didn't specify a time). I wasn't eating 3oz of dense protein for a long time (months or more?). At first I was getting about 300-400 calories for a normal day, most of it from protein shakes. I think I was 6-8 weeks out before I was up to two meals of solid food and one shake per day.

I'm 17 months out and last night's dinner was 3oz of cooked pork tenderloin and 2oz of weighed veggies. I was totally, 100% full (maybe a little over full) after that.

Interesting how much variation there is in post-op diets! Of course, I recommend you follow your nutritionist's guidelines, but just out of interest, here are the guidelines I was given.

day 4 : start liquid diet (can easily be drunk through a straw)

day 14: start pureed diet (completely smooth, no lumps)

day 28: start soft diet (small lumps, can be mashed with fork)

month 2: start normal diet, but low fat and low sugar

At 14 days out (which is tomorrow for me), I will begin my puree diet. To be honest, I started introducing pureed foods a week early because my nutritionist said this was a guideline and I could use my own judgement. However, I added water or other liquids to make sure the food was pureed to a somewhat runny consistency. The only solid food I've tried eating was a ripe banana. Well that, and I *stupidly* ate a few baked chickpea chips, which I chewed thoroughly, but they were too hard on my stomach. I could probably manage some well-cooked cauliflower, but I think those green beans would be too stringy and fibrous for my new stomach at this stage.

Again, I'm only providing my nutritionist's plan because I find it interesting to compare; I'm not recommending it to anyone.

True! The variance is amazing. My nutritionist kind of asked if I?d already gone to puréed at our 2wk appointment. I told her since that day was the day to start, I wanted to talk to her first. Got the impression that many advance themselves. I asked a lot of specific questions about specific foods on the menu and she did admit that some guidelines are generalized, as there is variation in individuals and who tolerated what/when. I feel like my doc and team are conservative, but I figure I?m paying them to tell me what do, so going along with it. I do have some real hunger and some head hunger. I was at a party with taco caterers yesterday and it smelled so good?and I?m like..guess I?ll just eat my mushed egg whites and hummus! :/

Banana is not a great choice-- too many carbs, even if they're "natural." You're much better sticking with something with 10g protein per 100 calories!

My nutritionist is aware of what I eat, and I follow her guidance. She knows my health history and dietary restrictions.

Please be careful with the using your own judgement on a diet plan. Using our own judgement got all of us onto the operating table. We are really bad at it.

Using our own judgement always has us go from 2 weeks to 7 to 10 days on a diet schedule. Why is it that our judgement never stretches it from 2 weeks to 3, or 4? Because our mental default is always more, and more often.

You can get away with anything right now. But it will bite you on the ass, eventually.