solids too soon? low carbing questions???

Hi everyone!

I am recovering very well after my surgery last tuesday. I think i am ahead of the curve with regards to healing. i worked two days since, but took it easy. I am healing up very well. my diaphram area is still sore, and the healing of the incisions is sometimes a little like getting little stabs but nothing I cannot handle. I still have some trouble breathing deeply. But that too gets better every day. Sleep really helps in healing. I was able to sit up this morning with ease, its the changing of position that is hard... all my internal belly fat against the inside work they did... as long as I go slow I am good.

my issues today are about food. I started some mushy solids today. hoping its not to early. it feels great. I want to get back to low carb as soon as possible. and the soup portion of last weeks menu and the increased liquids has been hard adn they all seem to have  higher calorie count.... this was beginning to worry me... the whole liquid calorie thing.
so i measured out a mini meal this morning at 3/4 cup and could not eat it all. I like that. I got rid of it pronto so I would not eat it later. ( sweet potato/ breen beans/ chicken thigh)
when I lost weight with atkins I was diligent in monitoring my carb intake and free with fats. I lost alot... i want to get back to that way of eating.
i like eating atkins style. i was just wondering if anyone else does this and wonder if anyone has had problems with fat intake... good or bad.

I have not consumed more than 1200 calories a day in the last week.I plan on keeping at this rate....I am not sure about weight loss as I am staying off the scale. My tummy is still swollen... so in a week I will measure!

And the best part so far is that I am diet coke free for over a week now. I am so proud of that.

Hi there,

So glad you are doing so well !!!! You sound just like me when I had my surgery it was easy for me also :o)

One thing is you dont want to start your food phases till your doc tells you no matter how many people tell you one here what they did .  What I did for my food phase your doc might not want you to do so just dont start anything without asking your doc.

I was not allowed to start the mushy stage till three weeks post op . 

Most important thing is please dont worry about calories or carbs the first six weeks post op.  Right now its more important to heal then worry about them things.  I was  very high in carbs the last three weeks of my food monitoring and I gained 6 pounds .

You will gain weight or at least I did and if you do dont get frustrated or quit eating.  It's your body getting use to reg foods again :o)


I ate alot of re fried beans with cheese, mashed tators I lived on them two meals for a week because the thought of pureeing meat grossed me out lol.

You dont want to start taking measurements till you are about a month out also .  Your body will be swollen also from the surgery and you dont want to get false readings or get yourself upset.

I had my surgery done late Nov and I didnt do my first measurements till the day after Christmas .

Dont rush yourself give yourself time to heal and the weight will come off .  If you work yourself back to early on foods , start to exercise, or anything like that , you could end up doing damage to the band and going back for surgery again and we dont want that :o)

here is what I follow

800-1200 calories per day

NUT said 65 carbs per day but I usually stay around 40-50

50 grams of fat per day

I dont really pay attention to my fat intake I pay more attention to my carbs then anything else.

Sodium watch out for that no more then 2000 a day .  Sodium is a killer for anybody trying to watch their weight I have been fighting the sodium bug all last week lol

Now remember this is after 6 weeks post op till I got healed up pretty good

You should be following the post-op diet that your surgeon has given you.  If you think he has you eating mushies too soon then take another day of full liquids. 

As far as carbs go.  I stay on the low side (around 40 a day).  I also stay away from simple processed carbs and eat more complex carbs...because the complex carbs tend to be lower in calories and are better for you.  Meaning you are better off eating an apple than a cupcake.  

Diet Coke or any products with artificial sweeteners are not good for you.  Artificial sweetners make it hard to control calorie intake.  Our bodies usually rev up our metabolism in preparation for a meal. Researchers think that artificial sweeteners may disrupt the body's natural ability to use sweeteners as a measure of caloric content. The artificial sweeteners trick the body into thinking sugary foods are low in calories...leading you to overeat and your metabolism never gets fired up... In lab tests rats served only artificial sweeteners were fatter than rats that were fed natural sugar... I was a Diet Coke addict for years and haven't had even one sip since surgery two years ago.  If I had a sip I would go right back to drinking all of the time...so I don't even have a little.   

Do not allow yourself to be tempted away from your doc's post -op plan.

Research studies (Stroh and Monger) have shown that eating soldis too soon post-op is a contributory factor in later band slips. But that is solids, not mushies!

And don't be disappointed if you find the scales have not moved - that often happens early on!

Kate

thanks everyone. Mushies it is... i maybe feel a bit ****y because i am going so well. but I definitley don't want to rush anything and disrupt the healing. I needed that reminder.
I will be on mushies all week. AND i am actually beind very aware of chewing my food. I thought I would have had more problems with that. I do still gulp my drinks. its a process though right? I can't be perfect out of the gate! I am not drinking with my meals which is a huge challenge. and i am logging everything. which is working quite well. then i will enter it into fit day.

im on the frustrated side a bit because I do feel back to normal. i know I have to keep reminding my body that i am only 6 days out of surgery. I want to get back onto the elyptical and lifting my weights... but i know its WAY too soon.

Funny, i am so happy that even if the weightloss is slow... i am intellectually ok with that. I am so happy to have this restriction... its forcing me think about my food consumption. something i hardly did...even when trying so hard to lose weight. i am really enjoying the process.

AND as far as diet coke goes... i don't plan on ever consuming it again. I am not even tempted. i was tempted by fresca the other day though... :( 
thanks for the thoughts on artificial sweeteners. that is very interesting information!

Talk to your surgeon's office -- I was allowed back on the elliptical as soon as I wanted to --- and was there within a week.

I was not allowed to do weigh lifting or crunches of any kind for several weeks, but all aerobic activity was allowed and encouraged.

I just progressed from mushies to a chicken breast on Sunday, or a piece of one as it were!  Anyway, I too was quite worried about various aspects of my food intake.  I have been worried about taking in too much mushies and the liquids is a real challenge.  Several times I've been worried that the diet as given by the hospital in Montreal just seems alot??  I'm also not having trouble eating anything, even if I forget and swallow pretty fast.  Of course, it's all pureed, mashed or liquid, isn't it?  I get really worried that I've done or eaten something that will cause damage and impede weight loss.  I posted to this effect tonight and received great assurances that I'm on the right track even if weight loss has slowed down, hopefully temporarily.  I drink crystal light which is made with splenda, a sugar derivative.  Hopefully, this will not have the same effect as the chemical sweeteners.  I was told that carbonated drinks of any kind can eventually permanently damage your pouch so stay away from the Fresca!  Keep me posted,ok? 

 So your Doctors plan is for mushy food after just aweek? 
Nice I had 2 weeks of liquid... 
Do not rush..the food OR the weight loss.  
After a week you still might have fluid weight ... Good luck